What do you people think of the various action services? I have only dealt with a few, lately only Heritage, years (many) ago with Alex Malloy (ancients). I have been rather impressed with Heritage, and Teletrade seems to be OK, too.
Heritage is good, I just have a small gripe about there estimates on a few Items that i was looking to purchase, They were kinda high which kept Me on the side line!!
My problem with Teletrade is that if I consider Buyer's Fees and S&H as part of a coin's price, I have to lower my bid so much that I rarely win. In other words, if I feel $100 is the correct value for a coin and I calculate the fees will be $15, then I can only bid $85. So I encounter two problems: - getting beat by one bidding increment because of my lower bid - getting blown out of the water by bidding that I don't understand (but that happens at all auctions) I suspect from having browsed Heritage I would have the same problems there.
kanga, in regard to Teletrade, your first problem is what kills alot of bidders, as some bidders don't figure in the buyers fees (if you really want an item, you should probably bid that $100....I've lost items I've wanted due to this). Your second problem is most likely due to the 'buyback' bid (basically the seller's reserve, though, if the item doesn't meet the buyback, it WON'T show on your 'tracking list', and it does cost the seller a minimal fee.
I pretty much understand what you're saying. Problem is, I still have a total price in mind and most time the bidding exceeds it. Fortunately I'm in an area where I get relatively frequent (3-4 per year) LARGE shows (Whitman) and I can do my shopping there. And for more common material, particularly modern, I've got 6 local shows per year. Plenty of chances to pay what I think is a reasonable price.
I too find the fees at Teletrade quite daunting. With that being said they have a great variety of coins and run a very organized auction. So I do what I'll now call "the Kanga". I underbid to get back some of the cost of the fees. I don't win often but I find it worth it for the few times that I do get a coin. Also, since the auction is a one night time period it's much more "fun", if you will, than dealing with a days long auction at a much much less reputable site like Ebay.
I wish I had that many shows. And Bazz like you I do that on all the auction sites I use. Win a few, lose a lot - in the long run it is worth it to me.
Heritage may be good for coins, but be aware that they deal with hundreds to thousands of coins at each auction. Unless they feel that your coin(s) are of unique quality, they will be treated as a commodity. If you are selling what you think is a truly rare set of coins that will need special marketing to ensure maximum return, be sure (and this pertains to all auction houses) that you understand (and get agreement from the auction house) exactly what they will do to sell your coins. For example, if you have a hoard: will they advertise it, will they create a catalog, will they promote it as a major component (or item) at an upcoming show, or will they just sent them/it off to be slabbed and listed in either their weekly auction or perhaps as a minor addition in the next available auction catalog? While my experience with Heritage coins auctions has been as a buyer (and has been a good experience), my experience with other components of Heritage was less than satisfactory (my mistake in assuming they would try to maximize revenue rather than dumping it on the market). Be sure you understand exactly what the auction house will do for you before you consign the item(s).
So far I have done fairly well with Heritage, even including S&H and BP. I haven't seen much of interest to me on Teletrade, but haven't really looked into it over a very long period of time, so my comparison may not be applicable. How about Stacks?
As a buyer, I've had good experiences w/ both Heritage Auctions &Teletrade. The BP does not stop me from bidding if I want the coin. I don't like it mind you, but since I don't have access to many shows its the route I have to go.
It means that the coin is $1 and the minimum buyers premium(bp) is $14 for a total of $16. So anything less than a hundred include $14 to calculate the total. So if you figure a coin is worth $74 - then you bid $60 and with the $14 bp your total will be $75 plus shipping and handling. Then if you think a coin is worth $230 you would bid $200 + plus the 15% bp($30) to get the total of $230 plus shipping and handling. So when looking at past auctions you see a total of $115 for a coin - that was a $100 bid + 15% bp($15). So when on Heritage or teletrade always understand the buyers premium and bid accordingly.
So far, in my brief experience of a couple of months, I have found Heritage easy to deal with, even if I do have to include BP in the bid costs, and have gotten good items cheaper than buying from a dealership. I have not yet found anything on Teletrade that I needed for my collection of low to middle grade semi-key Barbers, but may at any time. After all, everyone requires any buyer to pay for S&H. BP, I imagine, is where the auction houses make a sizeable portion of their profit, and without it they would not exist.
