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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ken Dorney, post: 2932151, member: 76086&quot;]Part of the confusion with this thread I think perhaps might be due to an exposure only to Ebay and no other auction venue as ones first experience.&nbsp; I&#039;ll address a few points raised.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fees and commissions.&nbsp; Some think they are too high, some appropriate.&nbsp; But once upon a time the consignor bore the cost of the fees entirely.&nbsp; Some might think it unfair if a consignor only got $70 on the $100 hammer price.&nbsp; At some point in time those commissions began to be spread to the buyer.&nbsp; At the moment (for most auction houses) fees are split between the buyer and the seller.&nbsp; Seems a bit more equitable to me, and it encourages people to both buy and sell, not just do one or the other.</p><p><br /></p><p>As for a one-time signup between auction houses, well, as I mentioned Sixbid already does this, but not everyone is signed up there and the system is not perfect.&nbsp; There are many dealers and for various reasons many may not wish to be part of a &#039;consortium&#039;.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>A standardized interface for customs is simply impossible.&nbsp; Its not just a matter of looking up a table of taxes on a website.&nbsp; There is always the human factor.&nbsp; As a dealer of 30 years I can tell you I have been taxed only randomly, sometimes accurately, sometimes incorrectly.&nbsp; Thats part of the human error factor.&nbsp; I once came back form Europe with about 1,000 coins, properly declared.&nbsp; I was stopped in customs as they though I might be carrying undeclared &#039;cash&#039;.&nbsp; Took some time, but ultimately they let me pass with no taxes or fees.</p><p><br /></p><p>The better and more prestigious your collection (and more expensive), the less you pay as a seller.&nbsp; Not that the buyer pays more, but often a consignor sells without fees and sometimes will actually get a cut of the buyers fees as well.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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