Auction Houses

[chromium]

Just after I read this thread I took the bull by the horns and emailed Jim Halperin ( Co-Chairman of Heritage). This is the reply I got

 

Hi Allan,

 

 

Thanks for emailing me. You’ll be happy to know that we have made an exception for long-time clients like you.

In fact, I have instructed our Credit Department to always accept MasterCard, Visa or PayPal from you for amounts up to $2500 per invoice.

 

Alternatively, if you’d like, you can fill out a credit application and we will ship your auction winnings up to your credit limit immediately after each auction, and you can just send us a check, eCheck or wire anytime within 15 days.

 

How does that sound?

 

All the best,

 

Jim

 

I think they got a few of these and revised their policy. Not to be a negative Nancy, but I would have rather seen a $5K limit...but I guess it's better than nothing.

 

[Junkdrawer]

$10,000.00 x 2.9% =$290.00 anyone here up for taking that kinda hit? HA just took it for me last auction.

I would be shocked if Heritage are paying as high as 2.9%. If they are, they should hire me to negotiate a new merchant agreement with their credit card bank and split the savings with me.

Thats what paypal charges and more than likely the reason for them not willing to accept it any more. You see it cuts into the 19.5% BP. You should use your negotiating skill to see what you can do to cut that BP down to reality

[tth2]

You should use your negotiating skill to see what you can do to cut that BP down to reality

Already have.

[miraclemet]

After the last Heritage illustration art auction I found out that they don't ship art anymore. They gave me the names of three shippers and I had to arrange for my own shipping. It was much more expensive than what Heritage used to charge. I guess it doesn't matter any more as the no CC rule will stop me from buying on Heritage anyway.

 

Mike

 

sooo makes me not want to buy any more art from them.

I want things easier, not harder! Makes me glad I got some grail art pieces from them before this happened.

[Junkdrawer]

You should use your negotiating skill to see what you can do to cut that BP down to reality

Already have.

Nice try (thumbs u

[comicwiz]

Tim,

How can comiclink block access to Asia?

 

Bob

 

I can`t remember if they do it by blocking designated Asian-based ISPs or based upon some other method of determining that the user is in Asia. Josh explained it in an email, which I`ve since deleted, so I can`t remember the exact explanation. Someone out here who accesses the web from a proxy server can still get on to Clink, which I could do at my previous job, but I`ve changed jobs and they don`t use a proxy server, so I`ve been Clink-less for a while now.

 

Basically, he said that Clink had been attacked by hackers from this part of the world, so his security guys told him the best way to avoid attacks was to just completely deny access to everyone from this part of the world. Why no other e-commerce site that I`m aware of has ever used such blunt methods, I don`t know.

 

ComicLink isn't the only site to do this. eBay blocks Cuba, and retailers of Cuban products. Countires like China blocked Google access, and there have been traffic blocks from countries for a wide-range of political/fundamentalist reasons.

 

As a casual observer, I'd have to think that the act of blacklisting Asian IP's has to be justified by pure economics in the context of CL. In other words, if the headaches/costs associated to keeping the traffic flowing isn't justified in relation to the amount of business coming from this part of the world, then I can understand it.

 

There is also a misconception that site code can protect itself against a network, DNS or DDos attack. There are too many competing factors, and most often, it is the hosting company that struggles with these types of attacks, because either a site has attracted this attention, and everyone sharing the same network segment now inherit the problem.

 

Resolutions like moving sites away from the network segment can improve the problem and hosting companies do make it clear when a site attracts this type of activity that changes need to be made. Blacklisting IP's may be one way, but modifying or disabling site code or permissions are examples of other methods.

[goldust40]

Just after I read this thread I took the bull by the horns and emailed Jim Halperin ( Co-Chairman of Heritage). This is the reply I got

 

Hi Allan,

 

 

Thanks for emailing me. You’ll be happy to know that we have made an exception for long-time clients like you.

In fact, I have instructed our Credit Department to always accept MasterCard, Visa or PayPal from you for amounts up to $2500 per invoice.

 

Alternatively, if you’d like, you can fill out a credit application and we will ship your auction winnings up to your credit limit immediately after each auction, and you can just send us a check, eCheck or wire anytime within 15 days.

 

How does that sound?

 

All the best,

 

Jim

 

I think they got a few of these and revised their policy. Not to be a negative Nancy, but I would have rather seen a $5K limit...but I guess it's better than nothing.

 

Nothing negative about it. I have been a Heritage customer for a long time and have always been impressed with their service and website, so I cannot fathom why they would do something that discourages business. In the end, they should be jumping through hoops to get your money, not you.

[Transplant]

So to summarize:

 

1) Heritage no longer ships any OA themselves. You have to go through a 3rd party shipper?

 

2) HA will not take credit cards for purchases > $2500? Has anyone in the US gotten this email?

[nearmint]

I haven't received it.

[chromium]

So to summarize:

 

1) Heritage no longer ships any OA themselves. You have to go through a 3rd party shipper?

 

2) HA will not take credit cards for purchases > $2500? Has anyone in the US gotten this email?

 

 

I think they won't ship framed or matted OA anymore...regular art should still be ok.

If you go their FAQ pages, you'll see that in the payment section they don't mention credit cards or Paypal anymore as viable payment options.

All the rest you got correct (thumbs u

[kimik]

Did anyone else follow the prices on the slabbed ASMs that Heritage auctioned off on Sunday? There were a few 9.2s that topped GPA 9.4 prices........

[paperheart]

Did anyone else follow the prices on the slabbed ASMs that Heritage auctioned off on Sunday? There were a few 9.2s that topped GPA 9.4 prices........

 

old labels? old label 9.2's are obviously new label 9.6's (well, maybe until very recently)

[Bronty]

After the last Heritage illustration art auction I found out that they don't ship art anymore. They gave me the names of three shippers and I had to arrange for my own shipping. It was much more expensive than what Heritage used to charge. I guess it doesn't matter any more as the no CC rule will stop me from buying on Heritage anyway.

 

Mike

 

sooo makes me not want to buy any more art from them.

I want things easier, not harder! Makes me glad I got some grail art pieces from them before this happened.

Is it only illustration art they won't ship, or comic art as well?

 

And yeah, I agree, all of their recent changes suck

-- cc limit of 2500

-- increased premiums

-- and now no shipping

[PastePotPete]

 

Hi, Barry Sandoval here, a quick clarification is probably in order.

 

For Comics auctions (including Comic Art) we require third-party shipping only on framed art. And upon request we will happily remove framed art from the frames and ship it in-house.

 

In general, we always try to accommodate special requests if feasible, in any venue.

 

[kimik]

Did anyone else follow the prices on the slabbed ASMs that Heritage auctioned off on Sunday? There were a few 9.2s that topped GPA 9.4 prices........

 

old labels? old label 9.2's are obviously new label 9.6's (well, maybe until very recently)

 

No, they are all new labels. Here are the ones I was bidding on early in the race (prices include the BP):

 

ASM #61 CGC 9.2 OW/W - $167.30

ASM #66 CGC 9.2 OW/W - $286.80 (90 day GPA for 9.4 is $200)

ASM #73 CGC 9.2 - $322.65 (90 day GPA for 9.4 is $225)

 

 

[esquirecomics]

I can understand how some buyers will find the lack of credit card/paypal availability (and I was one who used both) as an inconvenience, and perhaps even a detriment, to future purchases.

 

But that said I have always found Heritage's customer service to be excellent and they have always been willing to work with me (within reason of course) on ensuring present and future transactions can occur.

 

And they do have payment plans as well.

 

This change will require me to act differently with respect to payments, especially if the amount is significant, but I have no doubts the purchases will continue!

[Bronty]

Barry,

 

thank you very much. That really helps and is great to know.

 

I hope you'll reconsider the $2500 cc limit btw.... 2500 doesn't buy much these days and the convenience of it, especially as an international buyer, is huge.

[Foolkiller]

Hi, Barry Sandoval here, a quick clarification is probably in order.

 

For Comics auctions (including Comic Art) we require third-party shipping only on framed art. And upon request we will happily remove framed art from the frames and ship it in-house.

 

In general, we always try to accommodate special requests if feasible, in any venue.

 

Thanks for taking the time to clarify Barry. I agree though, it's really an inconvenience for a lot of foreign buyers to not have the option of credit card or paypal, but I'm sure you guys thought this through and made a decision that you felt was best for your business. Still, I think this could have some more significant implications -- but you know your stats better than we ever could, so I'm sure there's a logic behind this move.

[Aces]

I just received an e-mail from Heritage and noticed this at the bottom:

 

Starting January 1, 2012, we will not longer be accepting Credit Cards or PayPal as a method of payment. Methods of payment that are accepted will be check, echeck, bank wire, cashiers check and money order.

 

Is this just because I live in Canada or are they simply not taking credit cards from anyone? Simply unbelieveably to me. The comics world seems to have completely withdrawn from the retail norm of working with credit cards. Either they charge a premium or simply decide not to accept them.

 

Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere.

 

Mike

 

Anybody know if they are going to return to sending out snail mail invoices once again like they use for MO payers? When they stopped doing that (2007/8?) I started using Paypal. If they are forcing me back to MO now I hope they return to usps invoices.

[Bronty]

Hi, Barry Sandoval here, a quick clarification is probably in order.

 

For Comics auctions (including Comic Art) we require third-party shipping only on framed art. And upon request we will happily remove framed art from the frames and ship it in-house.

 

In general, we always try to accommodate special requests if feasible, in any venue.

 

Thanks for taking the time to clarify Barry. I agree though, it's really an inconvenience for a lot of foreign buyers to not have the option of credit card or paypal, but I'm sure you guys thought this through and made a decision that you felt was best for your business. Still, I think this could have some more significant implications -- but you know your stats better than we ever could, so I'm sure there's a logic behind this move.

Its an enormous inconvenience for sure. I'll bid less often as a result.