Hi All, I am thinking about buying an Item from http://www.spink.com/ I realize that the buyers premium is 20% + 2% if you pay with visa + shipping, but still I think I might get a bargain. So any one bought from them before?, especially Spink UK? Thanks.
Yes, they are a very respected and trusted company. And they are the company that literally writes the book on UK coinage.
You also have an advantage over EU bidders in that like me you don't have to pay the 17% Vat tax. I'm amazed that anything gets purchased by EU collectors.
Thanks Guys, I think not having to pay VAT will increase my chances of getting the notes that I want to buy.
I was optimistic on this one, estimate price was 200 - 250 Pounds, so I though I will bid upto 350 it sold for 1600 Pounds http://www.spink.com/lot-description.aspx?id=120472
FYI - don't pay much attention to estimates given by auction houses. Actual realized prices can be all over the map, higher, lower, close - anywhere.
Problem is, most European auction houses will not accept bids under 80% of their estimate. This is why a lot of the stuff never sells. You are right about estimates though. I have a bid in at a German house, one of them for over 400% times their estimate, (total of about 2800 Euro), and I give myself about a 10% chance of winning it. With the prices, plus the buyer fees, plus European VAT, EU bidders are paying a fortune for stuff.
This was my second attempt at buying from an auction, my first auction I won both the lots that I bid on right in the middle of the estimate range .. This one I was just hoping that estimates were right in a magical way, because I know the price of the note is much much higher . .
We all do sir. That is the attraction of auctions. Would I love to win the auction I am bidding on for 700 Euro? Heck, I would dance a jig in my office if I did, (and trust me you would NOT want to see that), but at least for group lots it just doesn't happen. Still, you never know, and the fun is dreaming.....
If you collect some of those narsty British commonwealth banknotes likey I do, Spink is on speeddial. I have made many a decent acquisition from them.
I find that in most cases auction estimates tend to be on average about 50% low. Now sometimes you will be able to buy something in the estimate range and sometimes they will go way over estimate, but I find that most of the time they will sell somewhere around twice the low estimate. And I'm just not on of the lucky ones. I bought a piece in the DNW sale yesterday estimated between 80 an 100 pounds, cost me 250 pounds plus the 20%. High, but the variety has only shown up at auction twice in the last fifteen years. I bought it last time it showed up too, but someone swapped the coin out during auction viewing. So I was determined to get it this time. I did have serious competition for a floor bidder though. We traded shots back and forth from 100 pounds to 250 pounds.
Good for you! I didn't participate in DNW this time. I don't know why, maybe I just got distracted by something shiny.
What?!? Did you receive the coin only to discover this, or did the firm discover it before they sent it out? As you were basically the victim of a theft, did you ever hear any more about it? Did they recover it? I don't think I would take news such as this very well... How did you handle it?
I discovered it after receiving it. And basically I had to eat it because I made the mistake of removing the coins from the auction houses holders before I verified the attributions. (I don't do that anymore!) I thought maybe it had been misattributed before the sale and I knew the underbidder so I asked him about it. He said that variety was the only reason he had been bidding on the lot as well and he had a chance to view the lots before the sale. When he looked at it during lot viewing the attribution was correct. (He was at the sale this time too, I wonder if he was the underbidder again?) But since I had no way to prove that I hadn't switched it after it arrived I didn't even bother informing the auction house. Fortunately this time it's the only coin in the lot and it is pictured in the catalog.
I have dealt with Spink in London, but not in the USA since Jim Fitzgerald is no longer with them. He is a great guy to deal with whatever firm he is working with.
