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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lrbguy, post: 2931895, member: 88829&quot;]There was a time, back in the 1980s and earlier, that auction houses did not charge buyers fees.&nbsp; Back then a seller would consign material to a house who would lot it, write up descriptions, photo some of it, print up a catalog, mail it to their usual client list, run the sale (in their showroom), invoice the winning bidders, and ship the material after payment.&nbsp;&nbsp; To cover this cost the house charged the SELLER a fixed percentage for every lot sold, usually about 20%.&nbsp; Unsold material was returned to the seller, minus lotting charges, and the house was free and clear.&nbsp;&nbsp; But then sellers began to rebel and withhold material.&nbsp; So the houses began to split up the fee; half from the seller and half from the buyer.&nbsp; That is how buyer&#039;s fees got started, and in the world of collectibles, you can rest assured they will not go away.&nbsp; However, over time, many houses took the expedient of buying out the seller and running the material with full freight buyer&#039;s fees.&nbsp; They are stuck for the cost of unsolds, but do better on the sales.&nbsp; Online costs are lower than printing catalogs, though good lotting isn&#039;t cheap, and established houses can do pretty well.</p><p><br /></p><p>The bottom line is that grousing about buyer&#039;s fees isn&#039;t going to change anything, and nothing proposed here is in the interests of those who run the sales.&nbsp; My advice is simple: decide what you are willing to pay for a coin, calculate your max bid from something like Doug suggested, and give it a shot.&nbsp; If you pay less than &quot;normal&quot; retail, that&#039;s a good day.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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