Auction House thievery Lelands style

[jethrod3]

This reminds me of some shenanigans I recently experienced with Beckett regarding insurance and shipping. A few months ago Beckett came to our local show. They did onsite grading and accepted cards that they would take back with them for grading and autograph authentication. I rarely grade cards, but I had an autographed card that was starting to rise rapidly and I wanted to know where it stood. So I submitted it for grading.

The cost of the grading and slabbing was reasonable. What wasn't was the insurance and shipping costs. I put the value at $2K (I wasn't quite sure what grade would be returned and felt this was accurate as I assumed it could come back even with a "6"). Insurance was $28 which seemed steep, but whatever----I accepted it. But I asked for the cheapest shipping method with a signature to be requested. It was suggested by the Beckett rep that I go with FED-EX 2-day delivery rather than FED-EX ground (because of "increased risk of jostling"), and that they would request a signature before leaving the package.

Not only did the FED-EX delivery person fail to attempt to get my signature, but they left just the package on my doorstep without knocking or ringing the doorbell. Even more concerning is that apparently they didn't even approach the doorstep. I have RING, and when we viewed the recording, there was no evidence of any delivery person entering the doorway area. This means that the person must have tossed the package onto the doorstep from several feet away, outside of the camera's view. To Beckett's credit, they had packed the slabbed card very well. There was no damage. But I felt it was wrong to pay an exorbitant rate for a service that was not provided. So I contacted Beckett. I received an email response from a lower level rep telling me that I was free to contact FED-EX myself, but that Beckett had nothing to do with the issue. So I emailed again, told them that this was hogwash because they arranged for the shipping, and asked to talk with a supervisor. The supervisor called me, apologized but gave no real reasonable explanation except to say that there have been other complaints about FED-EX by Beckett customers, and then offered to give me a credit of $7 toward my next submission. I have yet to receive an email confirming that.

The only happy ending is that the card came back faster than I thought, and with a grade that was much better than I expected (OK, much better---I'll never understand how people grade chicken-scratch autographs!!!) However, I remain soured on the overall grading card experience; something like this doesn't make me want to submit cards again any time soon.

[robertsmithnocure]

What is a fair price for shipping and insurance? I am not a customer of Lelands, but I spoke with a friend today who just won an item in their auction in the $20K range and was charged nearly $200 for shipping and insurance. The item is small and weighs less than a pound, so the standard UPS shipping portion of it is negligible.

He asked me my opinion and I said that I thought that 1% seemed exhorbanant to me, but I do not play in that league.

I was just curious as to what other's opinions are on this subject.

[cgjackson222]

I am no shipping expert, but I think the cost is for the insurance.

[robertsmithnocure]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

I am no shipping expert, but I think the cost is for the insurance.

Yes, I corrected my post. I should have been more clear and said that the fee was for shipping and insurance. My guess is that shipping is probably on ly $20 for his item, but the insurance is nearly $200. The insurance portion is what he was questioning.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by robertsmithnocure

Yes, I corrected my post. I should have been more clear and said that the fee was for shipping and insurance. My guess is that shipping is probably on ly $20 for his item, but the insurance is nearly $200. The insurance portion is what he was questioning.

UPS insurance cost on $20,000 would be $230 (though of course they only honor insurance on cards up to $1000)

Postal Registered would be the way to go, the insurance is much cheaper on a registered packaged. Declared value of $20,000 would be postage plus $42.10

I imagine, like most auctions, they have private insurance, so guessing costs is tough, but if you know the other options you at least have an idea.

[gzman]

Hi Scott,
Is there any reason for an auction house to have a separate % insurance coverage if they have a policy covering their entire operation like Collectibles Insurance?
Mailing and Shipping – For shipments to your customers anywhere in the world. Temporary and permanent shipping coverages are available to accommodate your delivery needs.
Thanks for your insight!

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by gzman

Hi Scott,
Is there any reason for an auction house to have a separate % insurance coverage if they have a policy covering their entire operation like Collectibles Insurance?
Mailing and Shipping – For shipments to your customers anywhere in the world. Temporary and permanent shipping coverages are available to accommodate your delivery needs.
Thanks for your insight!

Because that policy isn't free so why would you get the coverage for free? It costs thousands of dollars a quarter, even for our coverage which I am sure is lower in dollar value than the huge companies. We basically figured out, over the course of a year, what the insurance cost us compared to using postal or carrier insurance per package and pass along a HUGE discount (less than 50%) compared to the various carrier rates.

We lose a good amount of money on shipping every auction (we charge actual postage or shipping plus the discounted insurance rate plus $5, which in most cases doesn't even cover the supplies let alone the labor) so the idea that now we're going to insure for free is a non-starter. But I get it, half of the posts I respond to seem to take the point of view that auctions don't deserve to make money because they make too much money...