Did HA mislead you?

[tth2]

19.5.% is a big chunk of change, enough so that if you you want to bid $1000 on an item, in HA you bid $800. Anywhere else you bid $1000. So it doesn't really hurt anyone's ability to buy it just takes money away from the seller. It's simply a marketing strategy to make the 34.5% or 28.9% pill easier to sell to consignors.

[tth2]

That's pretty much how it's always been. I know they will work with certain consigners to lower that commission (based on the material you give them).

 

Seller pays commission fees to Heritage

Buyer payers Buyer Premium to Heritage

 

It's always been a double dip for them.

 

it is way to high, and in my opinion they are pricing themselves out of the market. As a buyer I am going elsewhere.

Yeah, this high pricing structure has clearly caused Heritage to lose business over the last 15 years.

 

Since Heritage entered the comic business, competitors such as Comiclink, Comicconnect and Pedigree have entered the auction game, and eBay was always there. And still, Heritage seem to be top dog despite being more expensive than any of these competitors. And increasing their lead all the time, if the upcoming Signature Auction is anything to go by.

[tth2]

I know a lot of people have a beef with Heritage's double dip but it's clearly stated and many big ticket sellers prefer to use Heritage because they spend a lot on infrastructure and advertising.

 

Since Heritage is essentially taking 28.9%, is there any data that suggests Heritage gets 19% more per item than auction sites which take 10%?

I think very few consignors actually pay full boat.

[Hulksdaddy1]

Customer of mine consigned a few big ticket items with HA. His seller fees were 7%.

[Mercury8989-migration]

This is interesting thread.

 

I find Heritage is fair because they do such heavy promotion.

 

That said, 28% - 32% is like almost rape. Its really kind of super high.

 

PLUS, you than get taxed by the government on any profits.

 

 

So almost all the gains of price appreciation go to 3rd parties.

[tth2]

Well, if I was going for uber HG CA books, Heritage would most definitely not be the first place that I would be looking at for these types of books. Golden-age books, now that's a different story.

 

Exactly.

 

GA you'd go to Heritage and/or CC (Metro).

I've always assumed the BA/CA being auctioned in Heritage's weekly auctions is mostly their own inventory, because why would anyone auction off such commodity-like comics with Heritage's higher fees? Comiclink or eBay, with their lower fees, would be perfectly good venues for such kinds of books.

[Sqeggs]

Well, if I was going for uber HG CA books, Heritage would most definitely not be the first place that I would be looking at for these types of books. Golden-age books, now that's a different story.

 

Exactly.

 

GA you'd go to Heritage and/or CC (Metro).

I've always assumed the BA/CA being auctioned in Heritage's weekly auctions is mostly their own inventory, because why would anyone auction off such commodity-like comics with Heritage's higher fees? Comiclink or eBay, with their lower fees, would be perfectly good venues for such kinds of books.

 

Or they are the lesser books from a larger consignment. They've been trickling out the Magik Woo books over a couple of months.

[Superman2006]

19.5.% is a big chunk of change, enough so that if you you want to bid $1000 on an item, in HA you bid $800. Anywhere else you bid $1000. So it doesn't really hurt anyone's ability to buy it just takes money away from the seller. It's simply a marketing strategy to make the 34.5% or 28.9% pill easier to sell to consignors.

 

The right general idea, but not quite accurate... all else being equal, you'd actually bid $836.82... ($836.82 x 1.195 = $1,000)

[tth2]

Well, if I was going for uber HG CA books, Heritage would most definitely not be the first place that I would be looking at for these types of books. Golden-age books, now that's a different story.

 

Exactly.

 

GA you'd go to Heritage and/or CC (Metro).

I've always assumed the BA/CA being auctioned in Heritage's weekly auctions is mostly their own inventory, because why would anyone auction off such commodity-like comics with Heritage's higher fees? Comiclink or eBay, with their lower fees, would be perfectly good venues for such kinds of books.

 

Or they are the lesser books from a larger consignment. They've been trickling out the Magik Woo books over a couple of months.

Good point. In which case the lesser books would have the benefit of the overall deal terms negotiated by the consignor.

[tth2]

19.5.% is a big chunk of change, enough so that if you you want to bid $1000 on an item, in HA you bid $800. Anywhere else you bid $1000. So it doesn't really hurt anyone's ability to buy it just takes money away from the seller. It's simply a marketing strategy to make the 34.5% or 28.9% pill easier to sell to consignors.

 

The right general idea, but not quite accurate... all else being equal, you'd actually bid $836.82... ($836.82 x 1.195 = $1,000)

I was just celebrating that someone understands that BP doesn't affect the bidder, only the seller.

[passion4comics]

at HA seller's fees are negotiable from what I understand. $20K consignment I think gets you no seller's fees...I think!

 

I would want a flat 10% combined or they can get tea-bagged. I was railed once by them and swore never again. I think a lot of first time sellers see their profits vaporize with Heritage.

 

Are you saying that you was not aware or informed about the seller's premium when you consigned your books to them?

 

I was told there was a 10% seller fee when emailing them about their rates; never about a buyers commission that would chew into my price. I received a contract and saw what I was looking for; 10%. Then after my books were mailed away the buyers premiums were mentioned on the boards. I pulled out the contract and sure enough it was in there, but being in a contract and not being splashed on their page "Our commissions are really 29% so read that contract close" was a lesson not to sell through them. This is like one of those prescription drug commercials that has a guy speed talking in the back that to cure your skin rash side effects could be death, stroke, or blindness, and you ask yourself if you just heard what you think you heard. I should have been emailed there is a 35% commission on the final sale price and not there is a 10% sellers commission.

 

Since then, I've bought two books only because I couldn't find them anywhere else. I would never sell through them. The same people watching their auctions are also watching CC and CL.

 

The question of has HA mislead people. No, they just are not forthcoming with their pricing structure and rely on rookie moves like I made when I first got back in. For big $$$ books, even EBay made a 3 million dollar sale. Their rates are not in line with the markets.

[FlyingDonut]

I will be putting many books that came out of dusty boxes into a Heritage auction in 2016. I'm very happy to do so as I am quite positive the maximum profit for those books will be realized from Heritage.

[zosocane]

I was just celebrating that someone understands that BP doesn't affect the bidder, only the seller.

 

That's right because the bidder, at the end of the day, is agreeing to pay FMV. The one thing that some buyers get hit on is state sales tax, depending on the state of residency of the buyer. I think HA charges state sales tax to California, Texas, New York, Illinois and (effective about a month ago) Florida buyers. For bigger ticket items, that discourages me from bidding.

[lou_fine]

Well, if I was going for uber HG CA books, Heritage would most definitely not be the first place that I would be looking at for these types of books. Golden-age books, now that's a different story.

 

Exactly.

 

GA you'd go to Heritage and/or CC (Metro).

I've always assumed the BA/CA being auctioned in Heritage's weekly auctions is mostly their own inventory, because why would anyone auction off such commodity-like comics with Heritage's higher fees? Comiclink or eBay, with their lower fees, would be perfectly good venues for such kinds of books.

 

Or they are the lesser books from a larger consignment. They've been trickling out the Magik Woo books over a couple of months.

 

I guess these so-called "lesser" books from Magik's collection must be showing up on the Sunday weekly auctions then?

 

I believe the next set of big books from his collection is not scheduled to hit the HA auction block until August of 2016.

[Mercury8989-migration]

 

 

 

I was just celebrating that someone understands that BP doesn't affect the bidder, only the seller.

 

That's right because the bidder, at the end of the day, is agreeing topay FMV. The one thing that some buyers get hit on is state sales tax, depending on the state of residency of the buyer. I think HA charges state sales tax to California, Texas, New York, Illinois and (effective about a month ago) Florida buyers. For bigger ticket items, that discourages me from bidding.

 

 

does the Heritage archive final sales price reflect taxes when paid?

[cloud cloddie]

 

 

I was just celebrating that someone understands that BP doesn't affect the bidder, only the seller.

 

That's right because the bidder, at the end of the day, is agreeing topay FMV. The one thing that some buyers get hit on is state sales tax, depending on the state of residency of the buyer. I think HA charges state sales tax to California, Texas, New York, Illinois and (effective about a month ago) Florida buyers. For bigger ticket items, that discourages me from bidding.

 

 

does the Heritage archive final sales price reflect taxes when paid?

 

No. That's something you have to lube up for in private.

[Hamlet]

I will be putting many books that came out of dusty boxes into a Heritage auction in 2016. I'm very happy to do so as I am quite positive the maximum profit for those books will be realized from Heritage.

 

I'm guessing that you won't be paying the full 28.9% percent though.

 

I think the only way Heritage makes sense as a seller is to negotiate the seller's fees upfront.

 

[Weird Paper]

I will be putting many books that came out of dusty boxes into a Heritage auction in 2016. I'm very happy to do so as I am quite positive the maximum profit for those books will be realized from Heritage.

 

I'm guessing that you won't be paying the full 28.9% percent though.

 

I think the only way Heritage makes sense as a seller is to negotiate the seller's fees upfront.

If I sell my own stuff (art in this case), it will be elsewhere. If I suddenly shuffle off the mortal coil, my family will probably consign my stuff to HA, but only after negotiating a decent Seller's Premium (like zero.)

[lou_fine]

I will be putting many books that came out of dusty boxes into a Heritage auction in 2016. I'm very happy to do so as I am quite positive the maximum profit for those books will be realized from Heritage.

 

I'm guessing that you won't be paying the full 28.9% percent though.

 

I think the only way Heritage makes sense as a seller is to negotiate the seller's fees upfront.

 

Not sure if this is true or not.......apparently if your consignment is really top end, not only can you get your seller's premium down to zero, you can also get a bite of the buyer's premium.

 

Now, that really throws the whole equation out of whack, doesn't it.

[zosocane]

So I did some checking and confirmed that HA charges sales tax on sales to residents of Texas, California, New York, Illinois and now Florida -- the big 5 states in the union. Collectively, that represents a lot of collectors and potential buyers.

 

It got me thinking that for big books, e.g., an AF15 CGC blue label 2.5 that say closes at $10K and would carry $700 in state tax (assuming 7% sales tax) to winners residing in the big 5 states -- aren't those residents thinking twice about bidding on HA? And, after the auction ends for that book, isn't the strike price (not necessarily every time) an artificially lower strike price than what FMV would have been because a certain segment of ready, willing and able buyers of the book feel inhibited to bid? For those of you residing in one of those big 5 states, do you also think twice about bidding on bigger ticket HA items because of sales tax?