High versus low auction premiums: buying versus selling

I checked on recent auction prices for a reasonably popular high-end coin. The coin is 1880-CC Morgan graded MS-66+ by PCGS (and no, I’ve never owned one). These coins usually go for a total price of $3K to $7K. I omitted PLs, DMPLs and rare varieties. I compared prices at Heritage and Great Collections from Aug-2024 to present. Wanted at least one year of sales and at least 5 coins. In that time frame, 5 were auctioned by Heritage, 9 by GC. The coins were a mix of CAC and non-CAC stickered. Green stickers are very common on high end plus-graded coins … not surprising. Looking at the coins themselves, I did not see a significant difference in quality of coins auctioned by Heritage versus GC.

Average total price at Heritage was $4,464 and at GC was $5,658. In arriving at total price for GC, I assumed the buyers were paying by check or bank transfer (10% premium) rather than credit card (12.5% premium). If you were buying, Heritage was the way to go. I have no explanation as to why buyers were willing to pay more at GC.

What if you were selling? Well, you get hammer price. At Heritage, that would be $3,720, and $5,144 at GC for these coins. Definitely better off selling at GC.

Granted this is just one grade of one coin type. But it makes sense that in open, popular markets, sellers should use auction companies with lower buyers’ premiums. Buyers are likely to base their bids on total price. So, sellers have a greater “take” if a lower percentage goes to the auction company.

Mike

 

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I rarely use Heritage anymore. After the buyers premium of 25% to which sales taxes and shipping are also added the cost is 33% to 35% over the hammer price.
GC's premiums of 10% for payment by check are much lower and there is no sales tax as the do not maintain an office in NY.

 

Seems to me that your sample size is too small and there are too many variables to draw any conclusions about auction houses. Just in the 5 Heritage MS66+ coins that I think you're looking at there are 3 VAM3, 1 VAM 8, 1 unattributed. 3 PCGS and 2 NGC. 2 CAC. There's a $7200 outlier that was in the PCGS #1 set. If you expand your one year criteria by a little over a month, you've got one that sold 9/24/24 for $8400 (a GSA). That would pull the Heritage average way up. Etc.

I would include the plain MS66, then at least you have 24 data points for Heritage. Or two years' worth.

To me personally the buyer's premium has little impact on which site I purchase from, because I factor that into my bids and I think most people do unless they're crazy about a specific coin. Thus as a seller you're clearly better off with the one with a lower BP.

 

That must be a NY state thing, then.

Because I am certain that GC does enough business in each and every state to have nexus in them. Or, maybe they just eat that cost themselves, but I'd be surprised if this was the case.

 

I have reviewed auction records many, many times for US and foreign coins alike.

Yes, some items do better than others on a certain service.

I recently consigned a early Canadian large cent, and the difference between HA sales prices and GC sales prices were rather large.

But, if I was selling nat'l bank notes, I would go with heritage 90% of the time.

It all depends where the buyers are and what you are selling.