A record for lines in the bill for a foreign auction

I just purchased a nice RR coin in a foreign auction, see below the sellers pics and my description. I surprised at the number of lines on the invoice (and my spreadsheet tracking my costs).

1 Hammer in XXX
2 Buyers Premium
3 live bid premium, I did not have to use this as my website bid was enough
4 GST on premium, I think this is tax on the buyers premium
5 Postage and Insurance
6 Other
7 Sub-total in XXX
8 3% charge for cc by seller
9 Total in XXX
10 Sub total in USD
11 Foreign transaction fee by my cc company
12 Total paid in USD

I have seen folks discuss the pros and cons of foreign auctions. I have found that is where I have to go to find some of the I want for my collection.


Roman Republican Denarius
Mint Rome, 140 BC
Moneyer - M. Aufidius Rusticus
Obv - helmeted head of Roma right, XVI (mark of value) behind RVS before
Rev - Jupiter driving a galloping quadriga to right, holding a whip, sceptre and reins, M AVF below, ROMA in exergue
Crawford 227/1b, die estimate 6 obv / 8 rev
Grueber – 924 – 925
Sear 105
Sydenham – 446
RSC / Bab – Aufidia 1
RBW – 953

Post your XVI coins, revalued coins or stories of buying from a new dealer / auction house.

 

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Lol, sorry but that is why I avoid the overseas auctions unless it's eBay, and even then I don't care to buy overseas.

Bad enough a cleopatra bronze never arrived recently.

Fees like you listed would make me resent the coin and the auction company, possible country too.

 

An early imperial As revalued to 42 nummi in the early 6th century. A very rare type.

Domitian, Roman Empire (revalued under the Ostrogothic Kingdom)
AE as/42 nummi
Obv: CAESAR AVG F DOMITIAN COS II, laureate head left, countermark XLII (42) in left field
Rev: VICTORIA AVGVST, Victory advancing right, standing on prow, holding wreath and palm branch, S-C across fields
Mint: Rome (struck 73-74 AD; revalued 498-526 AD)
Ref: RIC 677

 

Nice OP-coin (congrats) .... ummm, but sounds like a pretty poor OP-transaction with all of the extra bells & whistle dings, eh?!!

 

L. Julius AR Denarius. Rome, 141 BC. Helmeted head of Roma right, XVI in lower left field / Dioscuri on horseback riding right. Crawford 224/1; Sydenham 443; Julia 1. 4.23g, 19mm, 10h.

 

Always nasty to have a shock, especially when you think that you are bidding for a bargain. I know people that do not record the price paid for postage - where as I figure that the coin costs what it actually cost for it to arrive in my hand, or with the extra postage/fees split between the coins if buying multiple.

Hopefully the seller was upfront with the costs prior to the hammer going down?

 

That's an Australian auction house, isn't it? What was the total extra percentage you had to pay compared to the actual price?

 

Nothing really stands out other than the GST on the invoice. Usually you don't have to pay a GST unless you live in the country.

None of the fee charges even seem that outlandish. It just turns into a lot of lines on the invoice (minus the last two since hose wouldn't have appeared on the actual invoice).

Just need to make sure you read the terms of the auction house or send them a quick e-mail asking them about the fees, shipping, etc so there are no surprises. The USD isn't too bad right now compared to other years so I wouldn't avoid overseas or Canadian auctions.

 

I see two completely different factors at work when considering here I buy a coin. There are coins I really, really want and coins I would not mind having. Since I am not a dealer, the factor of price is not always the one of first importance. Hassle can easily outrank a few dollars. I have written off several sellers and a few countries as just more trouble than they are worth (and I am sure they are not missing me in the least) unless the coin involved is a #1 top want that I do not think I will ever be able to find again. For coins that are available everywhere, I see no reason to buy overseas unless the seller is one I have been using for years and know to be both professional and good at communications. Right now I am waiting for a Spanish vCoins seller to reply to my email regarding the coin he erroneously sent in place of the one I ordered. It would have just been easier to keep the thing. For all their faults I have fewer troubles with eBay sellers due to that venue's policing and refunding policies. vCoins is in the middle with a few really good dealers and a few amateurs (or worse). When you deal with an independent seller in a foreign country where you can exert no pressure, you are trusting them to do things right. Some do. Some don't. My enjoyment of the hobby is lessened by problems even if I get a refund. Those i it for the money can just consider problems part of the cost of doing business. We each must decide which view makes us comfortable.

 

I get 100% of my coins from foreign based auction/ mostly European. All what they charged me so far..
cost of lot
add comm. fee
postage/insurance fee (usually 10-20 EUROS)
So with example last coin won ROMA auction
Phokaia EL Hekte 1200
Fee 210
Postage/ins. 15
TOTAL: 1425

 

Here's most needlessly complicated/expensive auction experience, made all the worse because I discovered the sale through the relatively modern service of Sixbid.

 

Naturally, I try to keep all the costs as low as possible and factor in all the fees as the shipped expense even while bidding..... Unless I'm missing something, I haven't noticed so many additional fees from the few 'foreign'/international sellers or auction houses that I have secured winning bids from.. Are all those fees common rather than unique??? Of course, I know various foreign auctions charge significantly higher (or lower) sellers fees etc etc but your list seems excessive by any standard.

Love that denarius!!!!

Anyway, my recent 'barred X example; Publius Antiaticus, 132 BC:

 

Probably, my biggest peeve are the high commission fees. Most used to be around 15%, now most are at 17.5-20%. A AV Henry VIII Sovereign that sold for 700UK Pounds in 1970/ escalated to 345,000UK Pounds in 2015.....almost 70K fees. But then if they start adding a bunch of extras....gives you a bad taste.

 

33% - which is in range, not the highest or lowest. The web site gave all of the cost information in the auction information section. My only point here was to show how I track the cost of a coin.

VK - that is an interesting Ostrogothic Kingdom revaluation mark. I am not sure I have seen one before.
JBG - nice L.JVLI.XVI
MZ - I like your lower arm coin.

 

I like buying from dudes that have no hidden charges and free delivery .... those type of sellers keep me coming-back for more!!

 

Batman!

 

Some European sellers add, to all those fees discussed above, 3.5% for paying with PayPal, or a credit card. They expect a bank transfer, which I understand is easy and free for Europeans (is that right?), but very expensive and a real hassle for me in the US. I never do it. Some sellers do not charge a fee for paying with PayPal, but when a seller does, I factor it in before I bid.

 

When I lived in the UK, virtually all my bill payments, house payments, and even my kids university payments were all done bank-to-bank transfers. I cannot remember what they called it, but it was a very common way for payments. That was 16 years ago, but when I discuss with friends, it seems a similar situation today. The US is not set up as much for that, with our using more Credit and Paypal type transfers. Just different means of extracting money from each other!

 

Ya'll can just mail me cash in your currency!

 

My cash for you is MoNoPOLy mOneY!