Teletrade is still using hidden reserves!

Here again, in the spirit of simple customer service after the sale. I guess it also is semantics.

There is nothing in buyer/bidding instructions of the potential of a last hour before going live that a reserve can be placed.

Why should I have to call to find out what happened? I don't know..
Why is it that they don't post the reason why the coin did not sell? I don't know...
Was it actually a buyback - TT returns coin or was it a reserve? I don't know.
Why not disclose the reserve amount that was set - I don't know..
Why not notify bidders on lots that a reserve has been placed? With todays cell phones -I don't know..
Why isn't the highest bid below the reserve posted.. I don't know.
Will this lot be listed again? I don't know......
Why won't re listing info sent to bidders. I don't know - seems that would be win win win

Teletrade touts transparency in the bidding - no hidden reserves.. ok here are semantics again, what about transparency after the bidding has stopped? What actually happened? If there was a reserve set, it most certainly is very well hidden from me.

Here is what I think I am seeing. TT is big, been around for awhile. I bet they have reams of data. They have a business to run and the idea is that you want your business to be profitable. Agreed?

How does TT generate revenue? - by charging fees. I'll leave out the stuff about them selling their own coins since that is not disclosed in any marketing material I have read of theirs..SO! It stands to reason that the more fees they can charge per item, the more profitable they can be.

It is in TT's benefit to have the consignor place a reserve or buyback that is not met because there goes the first fee charged on the coin 5%. Of course, they hope the coin gets relisted to get the seller and buyer fees, however I bet they hope that another unmet reserve is placed. Now, if they have to send it back to the seller, there is another fee, plus an excessive shipping fee, although that is not clear. (Think Overstock, think how they won't combine invoices - it's all about the fees). 2 more times they will list for free, If I was running TT - yeah! I would hope for 5% a hundred times before the coin actually sold. lol - There is another fee that I am unclear of what it means:

I can see clearly now that over a , say annually, given the amount coins listed, that TT would loose a lot of 5% seller fees they are charging for the buyback/reserve, - That is, if they give bidders the heads up that a reserve has been set. They will have less people reconsidering bidding more to meet the reserve. And since the coin just disappears, they get to set the whole stage again, up to 2 more times under their guaranteed sold program. Yep I would be... "Don't notify the bidders with maximum amounts under the reserve .... because then there will be a greater chance of someone returning to meet the reserve. We want to get another 5% out of that silly seller..." uh huh

Remember this, they are pro-active with encouraging early maximum bidding. That in itself prompts a bidder to think and likely research the maximum amount they are willing to pay. Why be there for the live auction when you have thought out the most you will pay? I wonder, do sellers get a notification reminder that they have up to 1 hour before the live auction to place a reserve like bidders do regarding their max bids? I bet they do and I bet a certain number of consignors do exactly that - place a reserve.

Meanwhile who know how many views and max bids have been thought out and placed. Only TT knows. Don't do it sellers! The market on that day of the close will determine the coins value for you.

I mean think about it. Given my experience along with comments and rebuttals here, how many are affected like I am and don't return to bid? Less people bidding, the less likely to get bidding wars etc. No notification of a relisting, no info that a reserve was set, the less likely that a reserve will get met again and the more likely that TT gets to charge another 5% fee! Pretty slick if you ask me!

Why do you think they stop at 2 free re-listings? Because probably their research has told them that consignors at that point will finally throw their hands up and just say, sell it. So now TT has coins that have used up the limit of free re-listings where does it end up? On the Tuesday the no reserve auction. lol.... It's all starting to make sense to me now.

If I was a seller, I would be demanding that any bidders be notified that a reserve has been set. I imagine TT has the capability, the wherewithal to easily send this type of info out. I can see that a seller may not actually know/remember what he netted from the consignment after it finally does sell. From what I can tell, the seller has no say of when to list the coin. So I bet an invoice for the 5% fee for the buyback/reserve is sent out right away?

ANyways - Lets discuss semantics. Seller consigns his coins to TT - if he wants to ever see them again, he must buy them back by entering a maximum bid just like any buyer. This is from the how to sell page, the irony is that the link (maximum bids) takes you to, guess! ....... The how to buy page.. lol

The fact of the matter is that TT will sell this coin back to the seller, albeit for 5% of the amount the consignors enters as a maximum bid plus S&H, That I am sure of. That in itself, in my opinion makes the coin sold.

Now....That coin has been sold, as long as it is also shipped back to the consignor. Is that what happened? no one knows.. I am sure that the seller is warned that if (buyback errr reserve - which is it?) amount is less than any current maximum bids that he will not be getting the coin back? Yes/No?

IMO - a buyback at TT is an amount - a value determined by an individual the same way my placing a winning bids is. A reserve is something entirely different.

Why doesn't TT afford a consignor the option of just ending an auction for a flat fee? Why confuse things by making a buyback also a reserve?

Why offer consignors reserves, but not offer them the option of a second chance to the highest bidder? Seems to reason that if someone was close given the 5% buyback fee that it would be more profitable to take a bid that was close to the reserve.

Betcha the real answers to the above has to do with a business model geared to generate as many/much fees as possible.

wake up people!

done for tonight, later tater

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

A gazillion words and it all boils down to you didn't bid high enough to win the auction. Most people can just accept that fact and move on.

 

It also boils down to "I don't want to write and ask what happened (because he won't call and believes everything should be in writing), I'd rather just spend hours reading their web site and venting here. If he had written an email as I suggested on I believe the first page, he may have had an answer by now. Instead he is just still here venting.

 

And waiting..........

 

Oh sorry! It's been awhile and yes I can better summarize what I think it is with TT that gets under my skin so much.

I think TT for the size it is sloppy. OR intentionally deceptive.

The Terms and Conditions (T&C) that is often referred to, has this statement buried: T&C supercedes everything.

It is full of gross contradictions. Using this ONE example:

preceding, ​

previous

- Preceding means "occurring immediately before the time of the utterance," while previous means "occurring at some time before the utterance."

​

I think they meant "Proceeding" because here are the next (seemingly unrelated) sentences.
​

​

To me it's lot more about what they don't say, than what they say. Just a year ago, no where did they list that they will not combine ship. IT DOES NOT MATTER THAT this is what other so called auction houses all do. I am talking about simple common sense business practices.

There business is to sell their coins at a profit and to charge users fees for consigned items.

Not disclosing what the reserve is now makes sense to me when TT sells their own stuff. How about notifying max bidders when a reserve has been placed? With cell technology doesn't this make sense for everyone involved. WHy they do not do that is simple. They want to get those fees from the consignors at least 3 times.

​

 

Your personal point and opinion has been made. Perhaps you should consult with your attorney at a couple of hundred an hour to find out what your options might be regarding Teletrade's, as you say, "deceptive practices" might be?

 

naaaaa, it's more fun that you seem antagonized.

But really, I am just doing my public service thing. Did you know that they remove your max bids on items that did not sell for what ever reason? Why would they do that? I see the coins are up again, look for the info and have to find a thread that I copied the info into.... and reply to you, even though my response was to green..

quantify out bid sufficiently. lol

Bsides, it's not a legal thing, it's a better business thing. They can do what ever they want and so will I