Heritage Auctions?

Anyone ever buy through heritage auctions? I'm not sure I get how they work. Is it that first you bid against people online and then the coin goes to a live auction and the starting price of the live auction would be the highest price of the online auction? I'm a little confused on how the whole thing works.

 

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I have bought from Heritage many times but not in one of those "live" auctions- I will be interested to see what others say

 

Yes, I have. Many times.

You are correct, the coin is bid online, then floor/live bidding (provided you are NOT looking at an internet-only auction) starts at the internet high bid.

My advice: Figure out what your maximum bid is long before the coin goes live -- then fire that bid online and forget about it. Don't get caught up in auction fever, and if you can, have the coin viewed in-hand by yourself or a trusted set of eyes....before you bid.

 

As always, you must consider the consequences of not being present to view the coin in hand and actually see some of your bidding competition. Internet bidding has many downsides. That said, the advice previously given, should be taken very seriously.

 

So don't the people bidding in person have a clear advantage in terms of just winning the auction? I'm thinking its almost impossible to win just bidding online because you have to figure even if you win the online bid there has to be someone in person that out bids you.

 

Little off topic but i am bidding in items in World Coins Ny Auction for Jan 2nd and 3 days left and already most items are near their estimated selling price (in spite of gold and silver being down over 5% since the auction was listed), i don't think i can find any bargains in this one

It is way of getting people to attend the live auction, generally people tend to spend more $$$ and overbid in live auctions.

 

There are many collectors and DEALERS who bid online for themselves and possibly for another, as they do in person also. It is my opinion the strongest and most reliable bidding comes from those persons in attendance. They have all the advantages. . That is not to say that using the Internet bidding or Live Auction features don't have their benefits and sometimes, nice rewards. . Think about it, when was the last time you went to a live floor auction or had a dealer bid for you ?

 

From what I have seen, most of the coins go to online bidders from Heritage auctions. However, there is a slight complication. The one auction I was at, there were people there in the room bidding on their laptops. I suspect they were just bidding on future lots, but still?

 

Or possibly bidding in another independent auction all-together.

 

No! They were definitely online to the auction I was at because Heritage were having problems keeping it online and these guys would often tell the auctioneer they had lost their connection.

 

I don't disagree with the fact that sometimes those present, in-person too utilize Internet bidding. However, bidding in another separate auction could be one reason why one might see the use of laptops also.

 

And dont forget Heritage adds a 15% surcharge (buyers premium) to your high bid ... this is not bad if the price of the coin is low (a few hundred) ... but if you buy a $4000 coin, the buyers premium adds $600 (wow) ... so keep that in mind

From my experiences, if the coin is nice (esp with PCGS graded colorfully toned coins), you will pay through the nose on heritage (it's rare that you get a bargain).

 

I have used Heritage for buying coins (primarily Bust halves) with decent results.
The main thing about Heritage is that it is the Costco of coin auction houses (I would have said the WalMart of coin auction houses, but I didn't want to imply any Chinese connection). While they promote their sales of famous collections (e.g., Walt Husak's large cent collection), the vast majority of their coins are from collectors like you and I. The advantage of being physically present at their sale is that you can preview the coin in person. My personal experience is that the photographs, while quite good, don't tell the whole story. Only by examining the coin, preferably with a 7-10x loupe, can you gauge the true value of the coin and determine what your upper limit for bidding should be.

If you are selling, Heritage will charge you, not only the (I believe it is) 5% seller's fee, but also the cost of slabbing the coin. And, unless you have a well known collection that will hammer at many hundred's of thousands of dollars or individual coins that will go for near or well above $10,000, don't expect much more than an standard ("canned") description of your coin. My experience with Heritage is that they push quantity. Knowing this, and seeing the coin(s) in person, can allow you to cherry pick items where the coin's description is lacking in descriptive information.

That said—for early copper—any Heritage description where an equivalent grade is marked as MKB-##, you can assume that that grade is solid and meets the much more rigid standards of the Early American Copper (EAC) grading standards. (the MKB stands for Mark Borckardt - Heritage's copper expert).

 

Are there a lot of foreign bidders in HA? And is there some discounts for dealers that we don't get?

 

So far as I am aware, there are no dealer discounts. However, there are dealer only auctions (by invite only). They are mostly inventory building coins. i.e. albums, rolls, other loose coins, and miscellaneous that do not fit their auction standards well.

 

If you have upper end items, the 5% sellers fee is negotionable, even waved if they are high end rare coins. It's worth the prestige to them in advertising. The buyers fee is always added.

 

large buyers fee tacked onto the final sale price. they charge the buyer for shipping, and the buyer pays tax if they live in CA or NY (I <think> those are the only states). That all adds up.

 

I have both sold and purchased in Heritage Auctions. Normal sellers fee is 10% not 5%. It is negotiable. I recently advised a non-profit org. in selling some U.S. gold and the sellers fee was 0.00.
Doug has it right, all things considered, Heritage offers the fairest results for either seller or buyer.
I have bid on-site and internet and never been disappointed with my purchases. In fact, the coins I "won" via internet have usually been more pleasing than expected - and I love that kind of surprise. They also offer what I consider the most accurate and detailed pictures of any on-line auction. BUT, you still have to do your homework and resist the urge to bid in the auction moment - set your limits!
The only "negative" for Heritage is the length of time for recieving payment as a seller. Don't sell if you need the $$ quickly.
Our comments here on CT will help in Heritage familiarization but I suggest you try out bidding on an inexpensive item to get your toes wet. I think you will find their practices and procedures to be very professional and "super" user friendly.