I have seen a few mentions on this forum about Heritage Auctions. I don't know why, but I have NEVER even gone on their site. I buy my coins usually from a dealer. Sometimes I will snipe a coin off feebay. I see people whining and moaning about (me too) fees, scams, issues, etc with ebay. Never once saw someone complain about Heritage. I feel like Heritage is for higher grade numismatic coins. As in, if you are hunting for a specific coin, chances are if it exists for sale, it is on this site. I am playing around with it now, looking up a few coins I am looking for. Anyone care to explain the pros and cons between ebay and heritage? fees? protection? or is it just about the same but a little classier?
I don't complain about Heritage, mostly because I don't consign to them. They have something like a $5,000 minimum consignment, charge 10% of the hammer price as their fee (unless it's something you already bought through Heritage), then tack on an additional 17.5% buyer's premium (or something close to that.) In the end, I'd rather design my own website (or deal with the hassles of eBay) so that's why I haven't complained about Heritage. Now, if I had some really expensive coins to sell (I just have a couple, really) then I'd probably be on the phone to a larger auction house. But I'd definitely try to negotiate that 10% fee away.
Most people who deal often with Heritage and other similar auctions are interested because of their desire for the coin and not as much about the price or fees. Often I have seen coins that were once in a B & M ad, once consigned to Heritage, brought in much higher pricing , even considering fees. It just attracts a higher clientele and you know what you are buying.
Great resource for some coins, very expensive IMO though. I haven't bought from them yet because I haven't looked enough to find something I can't live with out (at least at the hammer price). But, look often hoping to find something.
I buy from Heritage all the time. They have a great selection of every series of coin. When bidding, I factor in the 17.5% BP. They don't have a lot of inexpensive coins on the site, but if you check regularly, you can find some deals on the modern commems. There website is very user friendly. You can put together want lists, look at auction archives for pricing, they store all your purchases in your personal collection page and you can find just about any coin you want on the site. I've also bought from Stack's, Legend Morphy and Great Collections. GC has the most favorable BP, it's only 10%. If I'm looking for a specific coin, I always visit Heritage first as it will be easy to find and they'll have a nice example to bid on.
There is also another way to shop: Patronize the independent coin dealers' websites! More and more of us guys are fed up (I got fed up in 2005; I buy there but never sell) with fleabay and have set up our own sites so we can call the shots and control our own destiny. Yes, it takes more looking to find what you want but there are also buys to be had, and hundreds of independently owned coin dealer sites that just take a moment to bookmark! No seller's or buyer's premium that inflate the price you pay, personal service, and personally, I like dealing with one or two folks at each such company. And low overhead means lower prices! This is not just a tout for my company. I have had some great dealings with a lot of other such independent companies, including Northeast Numismatics, Gary Adkins, TNFC, John Dannreuther, many others. Best Regards, George
A great thing about Heritage is that you don't ever have to worry that you may be somewhere within a scam, as is something you have to fear from time-to-time on ebay. A downside to this is that Heritage is not an approval service and if you win an auction lot from Heritage you then own it.
