HA.COM

[Shield]

I could see if Heritage was selling something you couldn't get anywhere else; i.e. they really provided a "value add" in their product. They don't; I can get my funny books from hundreds of other places.

I too am done with Heritage.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Bad, bad business move. You build in the 3% somewhere else or cut 3% in expenses. With the median wage in the US essentially unchanged in 20 years, credit is often the only thing that makes these purchases possible.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. They're already getting 19% from the seller and bidder combined; is that not enough?

 

They are getting 29.5% from the buyer and seller, assuming the seller hasn't negotiated a better rate for himself, which isn't hard to do if you have a good size consignment. However, this is an "on the surface" type number.

 

I've had 0% seller fees with them on a decent sized consignment, and if the size of the consignment is large enough, you can even negotiate a percentage of the buyer's premium as the seller. All of a sudden, Heritage's take on a large consignment might be 15% or less. Which might still seem like an awfully large percentage to us, but consider their costs (the most advanced website and online bidding platform on the planet, catalogues which are expensive to produce but are sent to clients for free and postage paid, advertising, etc.).

 

I know that 29.5% number is a killer, but its more often then not a phantom figure, and generally not representative of what Heritage actually takes in.

[Walls]

Bad, bad business move. You build in the 3% somewhere else or cut 3% in expenses. With the median wage in the US essentially unchanged in 20 years, credit is often the only thing that makes these purchases possible.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. They're already getting 19% from the seller and bidder combined; is that not enough?

 

They are getting 29.5% from the buyer and seller, assuming the seller hasn't negotiated a better rate for himself, which isn't hard to do if you have a good size consignment. However, this is an "on the surface" type number.

 

I've had 0% seller fees with them on a decent sized consignment, and if the size of the consignment is large enough, you can even negotiate a percentage of the buyer's premium as the seller. All of a sudden, Heritage's take on a large consignment might be 15% or less. Which might still seem like an awfully large percentage to us, but consider their costs (the most advanced website and online bidding platform on the planet, catalogues which are expensive to produce but are sent to clients for free and postage paid, advertising, etc.).

 

I know that 29.5% number is a killer, but its more often then not a phantom figure, and generally not representative of what Heritage actually takes in.

 

The website is somewhat prettier than other companies but in my opinion saying that it is the most advanced web site and bidding platform on the planet is stretching it a bit. From my perspective, I'd rather save a few bucks then pay for the high maintenance platform.

[Silver Surfer]

I don't like it but I understand it. From their perspective I'm sure their view point is that 3% of almost a billion in sales so that is a lot of money. At the end of the day I doubt it will have much of an impact on their sales and they know it.

How can that be? Unless you have the cash for a purchase on hand, how are you supposed to buy more expensive stuff from HA, aside from CC or Paypal?

 

Send a draft/money order? I've paid that way before and I live in Canada. I'm assuming a simple check from a US client would work fine for them?

But you need to have all the cash available up front for a money order. And I'm not so sure HA would accept a simple check for $20,000 from just anyone. They certainly shouldn't accept it from me.

 

I'm not making a $20k purchase unless I have the cash on hand! If someone has a $20K+ visa limit they most likely have a line of credit for a similar amount. use the line to write a cheque.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Bad, bad business move. You build in the 3% somewhere else or cut 3% in expenses. With the median wage in the US essentially unchanged in 20 years, credit is often the only thing that makes these purchases possible.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. They're already getting 19% from the seller and bidder combined; is that not enough?

 

They are getting 29.5% from the buyer and seller, assuming the seller hasn't negotiated a better rate for himself, which isn't hard to do if you have a good size consignment. However, this is an "on the surface" type number.

 

I've had 0% seller fees with them on a decent sized consignment, and if the size of the consignment is large enough, you can even negotiate a percentage of the buyer's premium as the seller. All of a sudden, Heritage's take on a large consignment might be 15% or less. Which might still seem like an awfully large percentage to us, but consider their costs (the most advanced website and online bidding platform on the planet, catalogues which are expensive to produce but are sent to clients for free and postage paid, advertising, etc.).

 

I know that 29.5% number is a killer, but its more often then not a phantom figure, and generally not representative of what Heritage actually takes in.

 

The website is somewhat prettier than other companies but in my opinion saying that it is the most advanced web site and bidding platform on the planet is stretching it a bit. From my perspective, I'd rather save a few bucks then pay for the high maintenance platform.

 

Live Online Bidding with a video feed. The largest archive of searchable comic scans on the planet. The most functional tracking and bid system I've yet seen from any comic website (has C-link ever even integrated such a feature?). Who else in the comic industry even comes close?

 

 

[cheetah]

Bad, bad business move. You build in the 3% somewhere else or cut 3% in expenses. With the median wage in the US essentially unchanged in 20 years, credit is often the only thing that makes these purchases possible.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. They're already getting 19% from the seller and bidder combined; is that not enough?

 

They are getting 29.5% from the buyer and seller, assuming the seller hasn't negotiated a better rate for himself, which isn't hard to do if you have a good size consignment. However, this is an "on the surface" type number.

 

I've had 0% seller fees with them on a decent sized consignment, and if the size of the consignment is large enough, you can even negotiate a percentage of the buyer's premium as the seller. All of a sudden, Heritage's take on a large consignment might be 15% or less. Which might still seem like an awfully large percentage to us, but consider their costs (the most advanced website and online bidding platform on the planet, catalogues which are expensive to produce but are sent to clients for free and postage paid, advertising, etc.).

 

I know that 29.5% number is a killer, but its more often then not a phantom figure, and generally not representative of what Heritage actually takes in.

 

The website is somewhat prettier than other companies but in my opinion saying that it is the most advanced web site and bidding platform on the planet is stretching it a bit. From my perspective, I'd rather save a few bucks then pay for the high maintenance platform.

 

Live Online Bidding with a video feed. The largest archive of searchable comic scans on the planet. The most functional tracking and bid system I've yet seen from any comic website (has C-link ever even integrated such a feature?). Who else in the comic industry even comes close?

 

 

Yeah, hands down the best web bidding platform in the industry. I doubt their entire markup goes to supporting the web site but they've done an excellent job of developing an on-line system that is easy and informative.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Bad, bad business move. You build in the 3% somewhere else or cut 3% in expenses. With the median wage in the US essentially unchanged in 20 years, credit is often the only thing that makes these purchases possible.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. They're already getting 19% from the seller and bidder combined; is that not enough?

 

They are getting 29.5% from the buyer and seller, assuming the seller hasn't negotiated a better rate for himself, which isn't hard to do if you have a good size consignment. However, this is an "on the surface" type number.

 

I've had 0% seller fees with them on a decent sized consignment, and if the size of the consignment is large enough, you can even negotiate a percentage of the buyer's premium as the seller. All of a sudden, Heritage's take on a large consignment might be 15% or less. Which might still seem like an awfully large percentage to us, but consider their costs (the most advanced website and online bidding platform on the planet, catalogues which are expensive to produce but are sent to clients for free and postage paid, advertising, etc.).

 

I know that 29.5% number is a killer, but its more often then not a phantom figure, and generally not representative of what Heritage actually takes in.

 

The website is somewhat prettier than other companies but in my opinion saying that it is the most advanced web site and bidding platform on the planet is stretching it a bit. From my perspective, I'd rather save a few bucks then pay for the high maintenance platform.

 

Live Online Bidding with a video feed. The largest archive of searchable comic scans on the planet. The most functional tracking and bid system I've yet seen from any comic website (has C-link ever even integrated such a feature?). Who else in the comic industry even comes close?

 

 

Yeah, hands down the best web bidding platform in the industry. I doubt their entire markup goes to supporting the web site but they've done an excellent job of developing an on-line system that is easy and informative.

 

Not to mention their site rarely freezes, crashes, and/or burns like their competitors have been known to. There was that one incident last year during the Live Auction, but wasn't it more of a major ISP outage as opposed to anything that Heritage was directly responsible for? That type of IT infrastructure don't come cheap, especially when it supports a bidding pool measured in the hundreds of thousands when you look at all their lines of business.

[The Troll King]

Bad, bad business move. You build in the 3% somewhere else or cut 3% in expenses. With the median wage in the US essentially unchanged in 20 years, credit is often the only thing that makes these purchases possible.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. They're already getting 19% from the seller and bidder combined; is that not enough?

 

They are getting 29.5% from the buyer and seller, assuming the seller hasn't negotiated a better rate for himself, which isn't hard to do if you have a good size consignment. However, this is an "on the surface" type number.

 

I've had 0% seller fees with them on a decent sized consignment, and if the size of the consignment is large enough, you can even negotiate a percentage of the buyer's premium as the seller. All of a sudden, Heritage's take on a large consignment might be 15% or less. Which might still seem like an awfully large percentage to us, but consider their costs (the most advanced website and online bidding platform on the planet, catalogues which are expensive to produce but are sent to clients for free and postage paid, advertising, etc.).

 

I know that 29.5% number is a killer, but its more often then not a phantom figure, and generally not representative of what Heritage actually takes in.

 

The website is somewhat prettier than other companies but in my opinion saying that it is the most advanced web site and bidding platform on the planet is stretching it a bit. From my perspective, I'd rather save a few bucks then pay for the high maintenance platform.

 

Live Online Bidding with a video feed. The largest archive of searchable comic scans on the planet. The most functional tracking and bid system I've yet seen from any comic website (has C-link ever even integrated such a feature?). Who else in the comic industry even comes close?

 

 

Yeah, hands down the best web bidding platform in the industry. I doubt their entire markup goes to supporting the web site but they've done an excellent job of developing an on-line system that is easy and informative.

 

They've really had to do this though. It is their business model. They wouldn't be taking in near the amounts they do if it wasn't. They've also managed to do all of this on what they were already making.

 

They've definitely made a name for themselves in the industry and you have to remember, it's not just comics they're auctioning. The other items they sell are seeing record high bids as well.

 

I've bid on everything from Mammoth hair and meteorites to movie posters and fine art.

 

Of course I did, until they froze my account over a $50 book and refuse to contact me about it.

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Bad, bad business move. You build in the 3% somewhere else or cut 3% in expenses. With the median wage in the US essentially unchanged in 20 years, credit is often the only thing that makes these purchases possible.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. They're already getting 19% from the seller and bidder combined; is that not enough?

 

They are getting 29.5% from the buyer and seller, assuming the seller hasn't negotiated a better rate for himself, which isn't hard to do if you have a good size consignment. However, this is an "on the surface" type number.

 

I've had 0% seller fees with them on a decent sized consignment, and if the size of the consignment is large enough, you can even negotiate a percentage of the buyer's premium as the seller. All of a sudden, Heritage's take on a large consignment might be 15% or less. Which might still seem like an awfully large percentage to us, but consider their costs (the most advanced website and online bidding platform on the planet, catalogues which are expensive to produce but are sent to clients for free and postage paid, advertising, etc.).

 

I know that 29.5% number is a killer, but its more often then not a phantom figure, and generally not representative of what Heritage actually takes in.

 

The website is somewhat prettier than other companies but in my opinion saying that it is the most advanced web site and bidding platform on the planet is stretching it a bit. From my perspective, I'd rather save a few bucks then pay for the high maintenance platform.

 

Live Online Bidding with a video feed. The largest archive of searchable comic scans on the planet. The most functional tracking and bid system I've yet seen from any comic website (has C-link ever even integrated such a feature?). Who else in the comic industry even comes close?

 

 

Yeah, hands down the best web bidding platform in the industry. I doubt their entire markup goes to supporting the web site but they've done an excellent job of developing an on-line system that is easy and informative.

 

They've really had to do this though. It is their business model. They wouldn't be taking in near the amounts they do if it wasn't. They've also managed to do all of this on what they were already making.

 

They've definitely made a name for themselves in the industry and you have to remember, it's not just comics they're auctioning. The other items they sell are seeing record high bids as well.

 

I've bid on everything from Mammoth hair and meteorites to movie posters and fine art.

 

Of course I did, until they froze my account over a $50 book and refuse to contact me about it.

 

I'm guessing this was at about the same time that they stopped sending email notifications to the email address on file, right? Happened to me too.

[Walls]

Live Online Bidding with a video feed. The largest archive of searchable comic scans on the planet. The most functional tracking and bid system I've yet seen from any comic website (has C-link ever even integrated such a feature?). Who else in the comic industry even comes close?

 

 

Yawn.

 

Online bidding with video feed is not that much different from video conferencing that is being used by most private and public organizations today. A database of pictures? The Library of Congress records every bit of news video that is broadcast and stores them on huge EMC disk arrays, XM Radio keeps every piece of music they are licensed to play on storage arrays, etc. And this doesn't even touch on cloud providers that are moving these functions out of the enterprise into vendor systems that support multiple companies. I'm actually curious what the load on their systems would be, I'd imagine the load that Ebay and Amazon servers handle (although not all related to comics) would absolutely crush the servers handling HA's solution.

 

Don't get me wrong, HA has a nice solution that is probably the best system in the comics industry (which is a small industry), but the most advanced solution on the planet? Not even close...

 

But I guess ultimately that's not my point. My point is, I don't use or need the advanced features and I'd prefer not to have to subsidize them through my buyer's premium. This will keep my purchasing on HA to a minimum because unfortunately there are some books I want that pop up on HA.

 

Ultimately it would be refreshing not to have to deal with vendors who attempt to skullf**k you out of every last dime.

 

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

 

Don't get me wrong, HA has a nice solution that is probably the best system in the comics industry (which is a small industry), but the most advanced solution on the planet? Not even close...

 

 

My comment was made within the context of the comic industry, which is, as you already noted, quite small. My intent was not to compare HA's online infrastructure to that of a global behemoth like Amazon, though I realize my comments certainly could've been interpreted that way.

 

[cheetah]

Live Online Bidding with a video feed. The largest archive of searchable comic scans on the planet. The most functional tracking and bid system I've yet seen from any comic website (has C-link ever even integrated such a feature?). Who else in the comic industry even comes close?

 

 

Yawn.

 

Online bidding with video feed is not that much different from video conferencing that is being used by most private and public organizations today. A database of pictures? The Library of Congress records every bit of news video that is broadcast and stores them on huge EMC disk arrays, XM Radio keeps every piece of music they are licensed to play on storage arrays, etc. And this doesn't even touch on cloud providers that are moving these functions out of the enterprise into vendor systems that support multiple companies. I'm actually curious what the load on their systems would be, I'd imagine the load that Ebay and Amazon servers handle (although not all related to comics) would absolutely crush the servers handling HA's solution.

 

Don't get me wrong, HA has a nice solution that is probably the best system in the comics industry (which is a small industry), but the most advanced solution on the planet? Not even close...

 

But I guess ultimately that's not my point. My point is, I don't use or need the advanced features and I'd prefer not to have to subsidize them through my buyer's premium. This will keep my purchasing on HA to a minimum because unfortunately there are some books I want that pop up on HA.

 

Ultimately it would be refreshing not to have to deal with vendors who attempt to skullf**k you out of every last dime.

 

Then bid on CLink. They are mired in the 1990s with their system.

[Walls]

Live Online Bidding with a video feed. The largest archive of searchable comic scans on the planet. The most functional tracking and bid system I've yet seen from any comic website (has C-link ever even integrated such a feature?). Who else in the comic industry even comes close?

 

 

Yawn.

 

Online bidding with video feed is not that much different from video conferencing that is being used by most private and public organizations today. A database of pictures? The Library of Congress records every bit of news video that is broadcast and stores them on huge EMC disk arrays, XM Radio keeps every piece of music they are licensed to play on storage arrays, etc. And this doesn't even touch on cloud providers that are moving these functions out of the enterprise into vendor systems that support multiple companies. I'm actually curious what the load on their systems would be, I'd imagine the load that Ebay and Amazon servers handle (although not all related to comics) would absolutely crush the servers handling HA's solution.

 

Don't get me wrong, HA has a nice solution that is probably the best system in the comics industry (which is a small industry), but the most advanced solution on the planet? Not even close...

 

But I guess ultimately that's not my point. My point is, I don't use or need the advanced features and I'd prefer not to have to subsidize them through my buyer's premium. This will keep my purchasing on HA to a minimum because unfortunately there are some books I want that pop up on HA.

 

Ultimately it would be refreshing not to have to deal with vendors who attempt to skullf**k you out of every last dime.

 

Then bid on CLink. They are mired in the 1990s with their system.

 

You might not have finished my last post, let me restate it.

 

"This will keep my purchasing on HA to a minimum because unfortunately there are some books I want that pop up on HA."

 

I do mostly use CLink or CConnect to purchase but there are some books on HA that I want, mostly pedigrees that go through their auction house. That doesn't mean I enjoy paying high premiums. Clink is completely functional despite not having the attractive interface or "live video bidding" features.

[Ghost Town]

I do mostly use CLink or CConnect to purchase but there are some books on HA that I want, mostly pedigrees that go through their auction house. That doesn't mean I enjoy paying high premiums.

If your total bid is $100 on Heritage and it's $100 on ComicLink, what's the difference?

[Speedy-D]

I do mostly use CLink or CConnect to purchase but there are some books on HA that I want, mostly pedigrees that go through their auction house. That doesn't mean I enjoy paying high premiums.

If your total bid is $100 on Heritage and it's $100 on ComicLink, what's the difference?

One you can pay with a credit card, the other you can't? :shrug:

[Walls]

I do mostly use CLink or CConnect to purchase but there are some books on HA that I want, mostly pedigrees that go through their auction house. That doesn't mean I enjoy paying high premiums.

If your total bid is $100 on Heritage and it's $100 on ComicLink, what's the difference?

One you can pay with a credit card, the other you can't? :shrug:

 

Seems to me that it shouldn't matter. You bid to win the auction.

 

I know that folks say you should just subtract the premium from what you are willing to spend and I get that. However, in the HA auctions I've bid in I haven't seen an appreciable drop in the final auction results (i.e prices are still inline with gpa before the premium). This seems to me to be the way to go if you want to lose the item. Another bidder will simply accept the charge as a cost of doing business.

 

 

[thehumantorch]

I do mostly use CLink or CConnect to purchase but there are some books on HA that I want, mostly pedigrees that go through their auction house. That doesn't mean I enjoy paying high premiums.

If your total bid is $100 on Heritage and it's $100 on ComicLink, what's the difference?

One you can pay with a credit card, the other you can't? :shrug:

 

Seems to me that it shouldn't matter. You bid to win the auction.

 

I know that folks say you should just subtract the premium from what you are willing to spend and I get that. However, in the HA auctions I've bid in I haven't seen an appreciable drop in the final auction results (i.e prices are still inline with gpa before the premium). This seems to me to be the way to go if you want to lose the item. Another bidder will simply accept the charge as a cost of doing business.

 

 

IMHO Heritage does the best job of promoting their auctions and attracting an audience and thus there are few bargains. If they have a book I want that I can't find elsewhere the buyer's premium isn't that big a deal. You only live once.

[The Troll King]

Bad, bad business move. You build in the 3% somewhere else or cut 3% in expenses. With the median wage in the US essentially unchanged in 20 years, credit is often the only thing that makes these purchases possible.

 

Exactly what I was thinking. They're already getting 19% from the seller and bidder combined; is that not enough?

 

They are getting 29.5% from the buyer and seller, assuming the seller hasn't negotiated a better rate for himself, which isn't hard to do if you have a good size consignment. However, this is an "on the surface" type number.

 

I've had 0% seller fees with them on a decent sized consignment, and if the size of the consignment is large enough, you can even negotiate a percentage of the buyer's premium as the seller. All of a sudden, Heritage's take on a large consignment might be 15% or less. Which might still seem like an awfully large percentage to us, but consider their costs (the most advanced website and online bidding platform on the planet, catalogues which are expensive to produce but are sent to clients for free and postage paid, advertising, etc.).

 

I know that 29.5% number is a killer, but its more often then not a phantom figure, and generally not representative of what Heritage actually takes in.

 

The website is somewhat prettier than other companies but in my opinion saying that it is the most advanced web site and bidding platform on the planet is stretching it a bit. From my perspective, I'd rather save a few bucks then pay for the high maintenance platform.

 

Live Online Bidding with a video feed. The largest archive of searchable comic scans on the planet. The most functional tracking and bid system I've yet seen from any comic website (has C-link ever even integrated such a feature?). Who else in the comic industry even comes close?

 

 

Yeah, hands down the best web bidding platform in the industry. I doubt their entire markup goes to supporting the web site but they've done an excellent job of developing an on-line system that is easy and informative.

 

They've really had to do this though. It is their business model. They wouldn't be taking in near the amounts they do if it wasn't. They've also managed to do all of this on what they were already making.

 

They've definitely made a name for themselves in the industry and you have to remember, it's not just comics they're auctioning. The other items they sell are seeing record high bids as well.

 

I've bid on everything from Mammoth hair and meteorites to movie posters and fine art.

 

Of course I did, until they froze my account over a $50 book and refuse to contact me about it.

 

I'm guessing this was at about the same time that they stopped sending email notifications to the email address on file, right? Happened to me too.

 

Because I was purchasing so frequently they were shipping me books before I had even paid for them. I work away from home and sometimes don't go home for 2 months or more. I hadn't even realized that I had won the dumb book and by the time I saw the box when I got home I went online to pay for it (which I typically did) and my account was frozen. I couldn't even log in to pay for it.

 

I've repeatedly called them, emailed them, etc. all the way as high as I was told by their reps at shows to do and they won't call me back despite my various voicemails. It's a real pain in the butt. All over a $50 book! I spend more than that on lunch.

 

Ive pretty much stopped buying all books because of my frustration with this and I'm sticking with original art for now.

[TrippyMcSkippy-migration]

OK I Started this thread so let me weigh in....HA...does have some killer auctions but so do COMICLINK and COMICCONNECT. Hell, I have bought the majority of my books from CL and CC. HA charges way too much for premiums. Credit is here to stay and HA is making a bad move. You must cater to the buyer. HA is only looking out for itself. AND in this bad economy you should make it EASIER for people to buy and pay...

[EJR]

Comicconnect is the way to go for me! You can use your credit cards and there is no penalty either! Shame on you Heritage for just thinking about yourselves and not your customers!