BAC Auction. I won a small statue and framed photo of Willhelm 1. my bid was 85.00….22 % premium and 55.00 dollars to mail. I told them I cannot accept that. I suppose they will ban me from future auctions.
Were the premium and shipping disclosed prior to bidding? If so, your fault not the auction company's.
Not large at all. Starting id was 85.00. That’s what I got it for. 22 percent premium, so total 103.00……Then mailing of 55.00 US dollars….Unbelievable. I just got 12 coins today for. 20.00 Fed ex fee from Munich. Bought on Sunday and received today….3 days from SAVOCA
One of the reasons why these auction houses are intimidating and never tried to buy anything from them. One moment you bid on a coin worth 50 bucks, and in the end it comes down to $150+ with all the premiums, buyers fee, and shipping, and burning a big hole in my student budget. That's why I'm sticking with retailers and ebay for the foreseeable future. Also sometimes I can't justify shipping cost, a free shipping or even a lowest possible shipping from Europe/USA takes the same amount of time to reach me compared to the expensive options (although I get tracking with the latter one).
Don't pay to bid on anything anymore...........the purchase price, plus the hammer price, and other hidden costs associated with the winning bid bloats the winnings. Better to wait for perhaps a local encounter.
That's what I was concerned about - stuff that would easily fit in a Priority Mail Flat Rate box. Now, if the statue was the size of a small child, then I could easily see a $55 shipping charge being pretty reasonable. But that charge is just kookie talk...
I personally agree with this statement - although it's kind of a really common BP. Heritage is 20% (minimum $19 charge though). Stacks Bowers is 20% (minimum charge $20). Great Collections is lower at 12.5% (minimum $5.) My auctioneer boss (who lets me put together auctions) fought me tooth and nail to lower his BP from 22% to 20%....I was asking for 15%. I tried to reason with him that people would bid higher, I'd list more stuff, and he'd make the same amount or more in the end. But he's got it set in his mind that he won't go lower. (I did try to contact the auction host and start my own company so I could charge lower fees, but they refuse to ever contact me back after multiple attempts.) But I wouldn't ever, ever, EVER spring an insane shipping charge or "handling fee" on someone. They should have disclosed the BP and shipping charges or extra fees before the auction, though.
Lol...you can always go there and pick it up. Sorry...couldn't resist. S&H is always a variable. I only go to auctions when my addiction acts up...and always consider the Buyer's premium when deciding how much to bid. I sent some golf balls to a friend in London and didn't mark it as a gift on the Custom's form. He ended up paying more than the golf balls were worth to get the Post Office to release the package. Could part of the $55 be a Customs fee?
Have only ever bought 2 or 3 items/shipments from Europe (Germany and Scotland)...coins and a large medal. Had enough trouble just figuring out the currency exchange from euros...for some reasons they said they couldn't give me an excact amount in USD...could be more/less...had to wait until it posted to my bank and then be surprised. I was. I never understood it all...don't travel, etc...it's all foreign to me...no pun intended. Compared to that the shipping was easy...no prob other than time/delays...the usual.
Got coins from SAVOCA auction that ended Sunday……Already here with Fed Ex from Munich..At least that went well
For comparison, a small USPS flat rate box (8-5/8" x 5-3/8" x 1-5/8") from the US to Germany is $40. The next size up is $80.