Looking at fees charged by the various auction houses and would like to check to see if there are any hidden fees, etc. that should be considered using the various sellers (excluding postage, insurance, etc). Here’s what I came up with: EBay- Seller’s fee of about 5% of price, plus insertion fee of $.20 to $4.95 per lot Heritage- Buyer’s fee of 15% of the hammer price, with a $9 minimum per lot Teletrade- Buyer’s fee of 12% of the hammer price, with a $8 minimum per lot PLUS a 8% Sellers fee (for up to $749 price), with a $5 minimum. So- I calculate that to sell a $100 coin, my net from these outlets would be: EBay – Buyer Pays $100 , I get (100-7.40) = $92.60 Heritage- Buyer Pays $100, I get (100-15) = $85 Teletrade- Buyer Pays $100, I get (100-12-8) = $80 Is this about what I could expect?
No On Heritage, it is a BUYER'S fee. The buyer paids $115. I never sold anything on Heritage. I am assuming the seller gets $100 and Heritage gets $15.
Actually, since savvy buyers base their final bid on the full amount they will pay, including premiums, the original post is correct in calculating what the seller receives upon a buyer's full payment of $100 including fees (but excluding S/H). For example, a Heritage bid of $86.96 would result in a total price of $100.004, which would round off at $100 On Teletrade the bid woult be 89.29, with a total price of $100.0048, again rounding off at $100. If the buyer includes S/H in his computation of what to bid in order to pay exactly $100, the seller would receive less in each example.
ProofRon - If I understand your question correctly you are asking what you could expect to receive as a seller - is this correct ? If so, the amount you receive as a seller is based on the final bid which does not include buyer's fees. So if the final bid is $100 - on Heritage you would receive $85 - $100 minus the 15% seller's fee. On Teletrade you would receive $92 - $100 minus the 8% seller's fee. In both cases the seller must also pay shipping and insurance costs as well. And on Teletrade, if your coin is not already slabbed then as the seller you also pay the grading fees. Auction houses almost always charge a seller's fee AND a buyer's fee. They get paid by both parties, not just one of them. And neither the buyer nor the seller receive any part of those fees. As a buyer from an auction house many people think they are paying "extra" for coins. This is simply not true - they pay the same amount as they would if they purchased the coin elsewhere. It is merely a matter of bidding the correct amount as explained by Roy. And yes that includes what a buyer would pay on eBay. As a seller at an auction house many people complain about the fees as well. But there is little reason to do so because they end up getting paid the same amount as they would if they sold the coin elsewhere.
High bid/ask spreads are inherent to the hobby and probably aren't unreasonable compared to other hobbies, prticularly when you consider the service you receive. This is one of the factors that makes "collecting" superior to "trading" coins.
Lets see if I understand this buyer's fee arrangement you speak of. If I sell a coin through a auction for $100 and there is that charge of 10%, I receive $90 for the sale. IF I were to sell this same coin somewhere else, and there isn't any sellers fee, I would still only get $90, even though it sold for $100. Something don't sound right here. Help me out would you please.
Sort of- It's interesting to see how many ways this can be interpreted- What I was thinking is, if I want to sell a coin that I think is worth $100, how much can I expect to receive?
ProofRon, I can only answer your question about Heritage and Teletrade. On a $100 coin, you will probably receive between $75 and $90, but it depends on a number lot of variables.
I can't think of a situation where I would recommend Heritage or Teletrade for a $100 coin. I would however recommend them if you have great things to offer since they bring strong prices on choice material.
I was just using the $100 as an easy number to use to calculate various possibilities. However, it does appear that, by time you figure in acquisition costs, grading costs(along with the lack of PR70's), shipping/insurance costs, and selling costs, you can't hope to come out ahead except for the few exceptional coins you may (or more likely NOT) encounter.
Heritage Seller's Fee The standard Heritage contract I received for the Long Beach auctions had a 5% Seller's fee as well.
5% ?? You sure there's not a 1 in front of that 5 ? It's certainly possible that Heritage has changed their fee arrangements - I'm just surprised.
This is how I understand it:whistle: ABC Auction House holds auction A coin's high bid price or Hammer Price :hammer: is $100 Seller: ABC Auction House pays Seller $100 - $5 (5% Sellers Fee) = $95 Buyer: Gets Coin & pays ABC Auction House $100 + $15 (15% Buyer Premium) = $115 ABC Auction House's juice = $20 ($115-$95) 1)Of course the seller's fee and buyer's fees vary from among auction houses (Most buyers fees in US=15% but in Europe=18-20%) 2) Buyer pays Postage & Handling charges & any applicable taxes 3) This also assumes the coins at the auction are on consignment
But that's my point - it wouldn't sell for $100 someplace else - unless you sold it to a private individual. Sell it on ebay - you pay their fees. Sell it to a dealer and you'll probably only get $80 instead of the $90. Other than to a private individual - you cannot sell a coin for its full retail value. And finding private individuals to buy your coins aint easy.
O.K. accepting your conditions for sale of coins, then no matter who or how I sell the coins, I only end up with $80. Why not cut out the middle man and just put it up for grabs in the news paper. The results will be the same and you have disposed of the coin.
You can try that approach, but you will rarely find a buyer. And even the ad in the paper cost money. I'm not being argumentative - just telling it like it is.
Offering coins for sale in the newspaper is pretty close to publishing an open invitation for mugging or burglary.
Thanks for the advice, as I had never thought of that being a possibility. With all that has been said so far, I'm starting to have second thoughts about getting into this hobby. It would appear that all you can do is eventually loose. Why bother?
Well, we bother because we don't do it for the money. We do it because we love the coins and enjoy it. Those who do get involved in this hobby for money - usually always end up unhappy. And with less money.
