AH guys - ask me anything?

[whiteymet]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Fred:
This was my exact question as well. I bet there have to be a few Auction Houses that would at least give it a try.

Hi Mark

Yeah, and those that have the option of making an offer to past winners, I don't get the feeling the few times I have asked them to try that they put too much effort into that either. I never get a reply unless I press them then I get a generic reply saying just that it didn't work out etc. Like they never REALLY checked with the winner.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by whiteymet

Hi Mark

Yeah, and those that have the option of making an offer to past winners, I don't get the feeling the few times I have asked them to try that they put too much effort into that either. I never get a reply unless I press them then I get a generic reply saying just that it didn't work out etc. Like they never REALLY checked with the winner.

I would imagine a generic blank fillable box of text with a send button that is linked to an auction winners email isn't too difficult to implement. Obviously the member would have the option to enable or disable the feature. And their email would be private unless they decide to reply.
I am not sure but I believe HA has this feature but I assume it only goes through the website? Could be dead wrong, I'm not certain.
But who's checking the website on their 5 year old auction winnings for offers? Not many people I would bet. And if it's heritage staff relaying messages themselves then that's even worse. But nearly everyone is checking their emails.
As somebody who is a single player collector I have scowered easily 100 auction houses for rare, unique and one of a kind items. Many I have found I would love to reach out and make an offer. But none give the option.

If you read this and own an auction house, please add this feature.

[ALBB]

interesting topic, but sadly the " juicy " questions or crazy stuff that has happened...might not be in " best interest" of AH guys

[timzcardz]

Why do auction houses so readily accept my registration?

Don't they realize that it will cost me money?

[Casey2296]

I would like to see an easier way to opt out of receiving auction catalogs, maybe a prominent button on my account page. Those things are expensive to produce and I'd rather save the paper, shipping, printing cost for the AH if possible.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by casey2296

i would like to see an easier way to opt out of receiving auction catalogs, maybe a prominent button on my account page. Those things are expensive to produce and i'd rather save the paper, shipping, printing cost for the ah if possible.

+1000000000000000000

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I would like to see an easier way to opt out of receiving auction catalogs, maybe a prominent button on my account page. Those things are expensive to produce and I'd rather save the paper, shipping, printing cost for the AH if possible.

Huggins & Scott has been doing that for many years. If you would like help (and save $10 per auction on your invoice) just let me know. While catalogs are still important, they are a strain on paper, shipping and environment.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

Huggins & Scott has been doing that for many years. If you would like help (and save $10 per auction on your invoice) just let me know. While catalogs are still important, they are a strain on paper, shipping and environment.

Yes, I don't receive yours, I must have opted out when I registered. But yours is a good example. I did go to my H&S account and while there is a substantial amount of info provided there isn't a place to opt-out of catalogs or maybe I'm missing it. Not sure how easy it is to add another box but if I was receiving your catalog, it would be a simple thing to just change in my settings from opt-in to opt-out. And great idea to give a little discount to those that choose not to receive a catalog, thank you.

Good luck on Thursday, great stuff in the auction!

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I would like to see an easier way to opt out of receiving auction catalogs, maybe a prominent button on my account page. Those things are expensive to produce and I'd rather save the paper, shipping, printing cost for the AH if possible.

Opting out of the annoying calls with the click of a button would be even better.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Lucas00

I would imagine a generic blank fillable box of text with a send button that is linked to an auction winners email isn't too difficult to implement. Obviously the member would have the option to enable or disable the feature. And their email would be private unless they decide to reply.
I am not sure but I believe HA has this feature but I assume it only goes through the website? Could be dead wrong, I'm not certain.
But who's checking the website on their 5 year old auction winnings for offers? Not many people I would bet. And if it's heritage staff relaying messages themselves then that's even worse. But nearly everyone is checking their emails.
As somebody who is a single player collector I have scowered easily 100 auction houses for rare, unique and one of a kind items. Many I have found I would love to reach out and make an offer. But none give the option.

If you read this and own an auction house, please add this feature.

Lucas,

Are you thinking of the Heritage feature that allows registered members to go on their site and view past auctions, and then make offers to past auction winners? I know that during the height of the pandemic's card price surge I got a few offers at close to double what I had paid for items I had won in prior Heritage auctions. The email offers came through Heritage and allowed you to accept or decline each specific offer, or opt out of ever receiving any such offers at all. There was no cost to the auction winner receiving the offer, if I remember correctly, but I assume they weren't doing it for free and were charging people making the offers some type of buyer's premium if an offer was accepted.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by BobC

Lucas,

Are you thinking of the Heritage feature that allows registered members to go on their site and view past auctions, and then make offers to past auction winners? I know that during the height of the pandemic's card price surge I got a few offers at close to double what I had paid for items I had won in prior Heritage auctions. The email offers came through Heritage and allowed you to accept or decline each specific offer, or opt out of ever receiving any such offers at all. There was no cost to the auction winner receiving the offer, if I remember correctly, but I assume they weren't doing it for free and were charging people making the offers some type of buyer's premium if an offer was accepted.

Bob,
That’s exactly what I was thinking of. And as I hoped wasn’t the case is of course the case. They want yet another cut.
But at least they have the option...

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Lucas00

Bob,
That’s exactly what I was thinking of. And as I hoped wasn’t the case is of course the case. They want yet another cut.
But at least they have the option...

I don't know for sure if they were charging the potential buyers a fee or not. I'm just assuming so. Otherwise, why would an AH offer to help sell things that otherwise might have been consigned back through?

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by BobC

I don't know for sure if they were charging the potential buyers a fee or not. I'm just assuming so. Otherwise, why would an AH offer to help sell things that otherwise might have been consigned back through?

Heritage charges the seller a 10% fee, and there is no fee to the buyer.

As an example, if Buyer and Seller agree on a $5,000 sales price, the Buyer pays $5,000 and the Seller receives $4,500 ($5,000, less HA's $500 cut).

This is a significantly lower commission than Heritage receives in a traditional Auction. In certain circumstances, it can be a "win-win-win" for buyer, seller, and auction house.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Heritage charges the seller a 10% fee, and there is no fee to the buyer.

As an example, if Buyer and Seller agree on a $5,000 sales price, the Buyer pays $5,000 and the Seller receives $4,500 ($5,000, less HA's $500 cut).

This is a significantly lower commission than Heritage receives in a traditional Auction. In certain circumstances, it can be a "win-win-win" for buyer, seller, and auction house.

Thanks, my bad and I had it backwards. Shows you how little I paid attention to the offers I got through Heritage, and how quickly I said no thanks.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by BobC

I don't know for sure if they were charging the potential buyers a fee or not. I'm just assuming so. Otherwise, why would an AH offer to help sell things that otherwise might have been consigned back through?

Just wishful thinking on simple customer convenience. Not everything needs monetized. I would certainly be more inclined to consign with an AH who offers free email contact. And I think many other people would be too.

[brianp-beme]

Interesting thread with some good input, but I have to admit that because of its title:

AH guys - ask me anything?

I assumed Steve was wanting Auction House folks to ask him questions. Which made me think...at some point in our lives I guess we all want to be interrogated.

Brian

[Vintagedeputy]

Here is my question. If I have an item that I am thinking of consigning, is there a service where an AH will give me a round number of what they think it will fetch? Not looking for an appraisal per se, but a simple "I think you may be able to get X dollars when all said and done".

[sb1]

Of course.... and you will get a variety of opinions, just as if you asked the same question here. Some AH's might promise you more than they can deliver in an attempt to get the item.. Seller beware.