Heritage Auctions - My First Attempt - With Commentary

Conclusion: I was looking for some very common Standing Liberty Quarters in AU. Unsurprisingly, the final bids with BP is equivalent enough to eBay.
HA plus: The coins are going through an extra level of legitimacy
eBay plus: Coins listed with free shipping will be slightly cheaper

 

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I'll take a coin show over an auction any time I can get to a show. It rare when I don't get run up the moon in auctions. Some people bid as if the extra 20% isn't even there. Some people say the mentality of auction bidders is, "If other people are bidding, it must be good." At a show, some these people have no idea what they are doing so they are lost.

Auctions are only good for buying hard to find coins that you seldom see elsewhere. If you are looking for "widgets," buying from the dealer is almost always a better option.

 

Bottom line on buying at major auctions...

Dealers are going to run prices on nice coins to the highest level at which they feel they can make a profit. Therefore, if a collector wins an auction it is for one of two reasons. Either it is a coin that no dealer wanted in his stock, or it sold for full retail (or more)

 

I don’t worry about dealers in the big auctions. The fact that they are looking to sell the lot for more puts a ceiling on their bids. It’s “I’ll pay whatever it takes,” collectors who ruin your day. At Heritage it seems like there is one of those for every lot.

 

I gave up on auctions. I want to see the coin in hand.

 

I use Heritage at times knowing full well their buyers premium is a little high. But they tend to have material that is hard for me to get locally and in some cases, most anywhere else so I pony up by settling for a grade lower than what I would prefer. My latest passion is a collection of horse blanket $2 notes which you just don't see in my part of the country. And yes, they are slow to ship.

 

You can't compare auction companies by comparing their buyer's fees. You always have to know what they are so you can figure out what your bid is. If the fees are a surprise to you, you shouldn't have been bidding. If you buy a coin and your net cost is $500, it's because your winning bid was ($500 - shipping) / (1 + sales tax) / (1 + buyer's fee). Your maximum bid should always take these into account. The formula becomes more complex if buying internationally, because of exchange rates and what is and isn't subject to taxes such as VAT.

 

What a racket