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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Burton Strauss III, post: 7871032, member: 59677&quot;]What I find astonishing is the lack of knowledge about the sites and companies we interact with. Read the terms &amp; conditions before you bid. Read ALL the T&amp;C before you bid. There are no clean lines in this business. Everybody can and sometimes does do everything - for a fee.</p><p><br /></p><p>Some of the sites named above, e.g. ProxyBid, HiBid, SixBid, and the like are <b>auction aggregators</b>. </p><p><br /></p><p>They host the auction catalog, collect the bids and forward them to the <b>auction house</b>. For all of this, they get paid a fee. The aggregator never gets close to the goods, unless they also provide other fee-based services. The aggregator may vet bidders with the auction house before accepting bids. And probably only offers best efforts at actually delivering your bid.</p><p><br /></p><p>They may also host the actual auction platform when the auction is run. Or not. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Auction houses</b> range from small to huge - Stacks Bowers, Heritage, Kagin&#039;s, Legend, Great Collections, DLRC, et al. The auction house solicits consignments from sellers, may buy and sell for their own account and may sell through other channels (e.g. Heritage runs big-ticket auctions, smaller internet auctions, sells coins on eBay, and also buys to resell on their own account).</p><p><br /></p><p>The auction house has the physical goods in its possession, at which point you need to have climate-controlled and secure premises. Security, Insurance, rent, power, water, etc. - all of this costs money. </p><p><br /></p><p>There&#039;s a reason Heritage moved out of the fancy office building to a suburban office park - they could get a lot more space, on a single floor, designed &amp; built their needs. For lower monthly costs.</p><p><br /></p><p>The auction house sets the terms and fees (buyer&#039;s premium, seller&#039;s premium, Internet premium, foolish buyer tax, etc.)</p><p><br /></p><p>They may - check the T&amp;C - provide shipping and handling. Or it may be local pick-up where they have a deal with the local UPS/DHL/xyz courier service to pick up, pack and ship the goods to the winner. For a fee, of course.</p><p><br /></p><p>The auction house actually receives the bids from the aggregators, from their own platforms if any, by mail, by phone, via email, etc. (or they may outsource this for a fee).</p><p><br /></p><p>The auction house might choose to list its auction on multiple auction platforms to increase visibility.</p><p><br /></p><p>So when you are browsing ProxyBid and find that John Deere tractor you simply can&#039;t live without, check the actual auction house. You may find that it&#039;s Richie Brothers&#039;s site in southern Washington, as-is, where-is. When you win the bid, you have three days to get your self and a truck with tow platorm over there...</p><p><br /></p><p>But also check the T&amp;C, ProxyBid doesn&#039;t guarantee your bid will be made, they simply offer best efforts. And that&#039;s the secret - if it&#039;s important to you, make sure you are bidding with the auction house.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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