More auction house trouble - seeking advice

I won a large lot of imperial denarii from a reputable auction house (edit- auction house is Künker), picture below. After receiving the shipment, I noticed that one of the 22 denarii was missing. Unfortunately, it happened to be possibly the most valuable coin of the lot - the Diadumenian denarius highlighted.

I reached out to the auction house to let them know, and they asked if a refund of 60 EUR would be acceptable for the missing coin, or offered to take back the coins for a full refund. (total price of the lot was 1000 EUR, not including buyer's premium)

From my eyes, I'm guessing the denarius in question would be worth closer to 200 EUR (don't have a picture of the reverse, unfortunately). However, I've done business with this auction house before and will probably be doing it with them again.

I'd rather not return the entire lot. Do you think I would be justified in asking for a greater partial refund, given the higher value of the coin in question?

 

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If you don’t ask it’s an automatic no. Be kind no matter what you do since you expect to continue to do business with them. You might not get $200 but you may get more than $60, in EUR of course.

 

That's a real bummer, and quite a screw-up by the vendor. I would think they'd err on the side of making you a more attractive offer, but I guess not.

Problem with group lots is always that the seller has already shown they don't consider the coins worth paying detailed individual attention. So you may have had just the one chance to convince them of the price you would accept. Even though your coin is surely worth more than the lot average, they may not be inclined to debate their individual values.

You do have one advantage. Now that the coins are in hand, you have additional information unavailable when you placed your bid: you can see their reverses & judge their value & what they're worth to you. (That Lucius Verus looks very promising; there's a Hadrian and Domitian that look potentially nice; a nice Septimius portrait too.)

I don't know how they'd respond to a counter. (I do think it would be fair, though.) Sadly, though, the practical upshot may be that you have to just take the 60 or send it back. I'd be disappointed, too. (Unless some of the other 21 turned out to be quite nice.)

 

It's a negotiation - ask for what you believe is fair based on the loss. The worst they can say is no, please return the lot.

 

1000 euros plus buyer's premium was probably 1200 euros. If all 22 coins were of equal value, that would be 55 euros per coin. That missing coin (from the obverse alone) is probably worth, like you say, 200 euros or more. An offer of a refund of 60 euros is an insult.

Someone picked out the best coin (The Aelius is second best). That's not an accident. Then they offered you an obviously unfair refund. That's unacceptable. You are learning something about the firm. Don't buy a lot that is missing what prompted you to bid. Return the lot. I hope they agree to pay shipping both ways. If not, you will have learned even more about the firm.

 

I agree 100%. The auction house is completely in the wrong here - they dishonestly altered the product, i.e. removed a significant portion of its value, after you purchased it.

If they do not bend over backwards with apologies and a market-fair refund I would return the coins* and be done with them as a customer. How do you know they aren't going to tamper with a future purchase?

Really shady and despicable behavior. The fact that they appear not to have been surprised at the coin's absence, and instead went straight to talking of insultingly low refunds, makes it clear that it was deliberate and no accident.

*a thought occurs to me, I wonder what their reaction would be if you returned all but the Aelius and then offered them a refund on the refund of say 10 EUR.

 

Thanks for the advice all. I will try countering to see if they are willing to up their offer. Not sure I will return or not if they don't - there are a few other nice coins in the lot (the toned LV, the Aelius, the Hadrian- a crescent/stars rev, and the Marcus Aurelius on the right), but losing the Diadumenian is a very tough pill to swallow.

I guess I can say that the auction house in question is Künker. Based on their reputation I don't believe that they would have snatched the coin themselves, but I believe they do allow potential bidders to view the bulk lots in person at their office before the auction - possibly someone surreptitiously grabbed the coin during a viewing, and they didn't doublecheck the lot before shipping it out.

 

Künker? That is a little strange then, they're not exactly a little-known back-alley house. I've bid there before, never won anything. As far as I know they have a pretty good reputation.
I hope that they give you a fair and satisfactory compensation.

 

Yes, that is quite a surprise. I've had only the most positive dealings with them.

Interesting thought -- that someone may have pocketed it while viewing the groups. What an awful mystery.

I would also be reluctant to burn a bridge with them, but I wouldn't be at all happy either.

 

I always try to err on the side of giving people the benefit of the doubt with respect to intent. But, I also always expect the sellers to go out of their way to make the buyers feel whole.

 

Update: I countered their original offer and asked for 200 EUR rather than 60 (given the approximate value of the coin), and they agreed and refunded me. I'm satisfied overall, and will be bidding in their next auction in a few days.

 

I'm sure you'd still have rather completed the transaction as it should have been, but I'm glad to hear you didn't have to return it and definitely that you didn't end up with just a 60 EUR refund.

You sound like a better advocate for yourself than I might have been if I was in that situation. Well done!

 

That's a real bummer!

On the frontier of creative solutions, perhaps they could give you a, say, 200 EUR credit that would be applied to future purchases? A firm with a reputation such as this one should accommodate you for the loss, and to keep you as a loyal customer.