Do any of you use these auction sites? If so, what has been your experience from them. I hear they are a bit pricier than Heritage and Teletrade when it comes to coins in general.
please define what you mean by "pricier". It has been my experience that they have weaker prices realized than Heritage for similar coins which may be good for buyers but is generally not what consignors are looking for in an auction house.
Bowers & Merena has some very nice auctions and now has very good photos to go with them. Prices are comparable to Heritage for what I purchase. I do wish they would post the certification numbers of their coins like Heritage does. Stack's is going through changes and in general does not have as deep a selection (again for what I buy). But for instance, the Mark Feld 1916 SLQ FH that you may have seen on his site was purchased through a Stack's auction, I believe, so they also get some nice material. Seller premiums are comparable at both. Teletrade is related to Bowers & Merena but serves a bit different clientele. Teletrade is an online auction, more like Heritage's weekly online auctions.
Sure, I just hear that the coins they auction off are a little bit higher in price than most Heritage / Teletrade auctions.. Have you seen that happen before?
I have used both, and they are superb. Not true, IMO. If anything, I'd argue the opposite with respect to Heritage, and there is little common ground between TT and B&M or Stacks.
Most of my collection came from Stacks and Bowers and Merena (when QDB was still leading the firm). I was largely satisfied with the coins I got, but would not say there were bargains to be had.
Both firms are among the most respected out there. I've bought coins from both firms many times and always been very happy. Dave Bowers runs Stacks now and it is not the same company it used to be. I'd say it's better. As to prices, I'd say it depends on the coin. All of them have sold their share of rarities and then some. It's the clients that differ more than anything as everybody has their favorite company to deal with. So some coins may do better at one company than another.
