Third-party shipping at local auction houses

[BCarter27]

Just bought a lot at a local/regional auction house through an online proxy (ebay in this case) and I need to vent.

 

I think part of the burden of running any sales business is taking on logistics and shipping. I find it ridiculous that they refer you to an overpriced third-party shipper... especially for low-dollar flat art lots (as in this case.)

 

I will definitely think twice before bidding through houses like this again. Any deal or market discount feels eaten up by the shipping, buyer's premium, and PITA factor.

 

Maybe I've just been spoiled by ebay, Heritage, and ComicLink, and this is The Way It's Always Been. I'd love to hear other's thoughts on this...

[Panelfan1]

Heritage does this too but it's possible to talk to them to ship. If you haven't paid yet you can refuse to complete the purchase unless they offer you shipping. If hey won't do it - You burn a bridge this way, but if this policy is so agregiois to you , most likely you won't buy from them again.

[vodou]

Maybe I've just been spoiled by ebay, Heritage, and ComicLink, and this is The Way It's Always Been. I'd love to hear other's thoughts on this...

You have been spoiled but this is Not The Way It's Always Been. Prior to online partnering introducing non-local demand...you would have to actually be at the auction or have a proxy there in your place (and of course heard about it, gotten the catalog, etc, all in advance...how??) And all transactions were cash 'n carry. So count your blessings -imo- you ultimately have access to a much bigger catalog of goods worldwide but there is a price to pay for that. Like buyer's premiums, I estimate and add in the cost of third-party shipping prior to bidding. Occasionally I'm surprised but not often. It's usually $100/item, plus or minus maybe 15%.

[BCarter27]

Yeah, I realize that these online proxy services are a boon to get access to all of these smaller houses in the internet age. BUT pushing the shipping burden off to the buyer is very off-putting. "Call so-and-so at this number and they will charge you an arm and a leg. Bye."

 

I think they should at least close the gap by having their third-party shipping provider handle everything silently behind the scenes and just send me the final invoice. The whole process is so... dare I say it... antiquated!

[cstojano]

European auction houses are the absolute worst for this. I have received multiple quotes over the years for close to 1000 dollars for what basically amounts to a baseball bat sized item. It really is a nice reminder that many of these auction for years were the playgrounds of the "too rich to ask" crowd.

 

I just got a quote this week for an item, made entirely of wood, about 15 inches tall, 600-1000 Euro.

[vodou]

Yeah, I realize that these online proxy services are a boon to get access to all of these smaller houses in the internet age. BUT pushing the shipping burden off to the buyer is very off-putting. "Call so-and-so at this number and they will charge you an arm and a leg. Bye."

 

I think they should at least close the gap by having their third-party shipping provider handle everything silently behind the scenes and just send me the final invoice. The whole process is so... dare I say it... antiquated!

I'm going to push back on this a bit, but I hope it doesn't come off as argumentative (it's not meant to be!)

 

From my pov "choice" is much more valuable than upcharge-foisted-upon-me-under-the-guise-of-"convenience". And that's what these little houses do, they give you a recommendation (maybe) or several but you aren't obligated to go with any of them. The House doesn't care, just as long as somebody picks up your property and gets it out of their way in a reasonable time-frame. They're in the business (generally) of clearing estates and houses out, passing the cash over to the consignors post-haste and moving right on to the next sale. And if you've ever been to one of these things in person, you'd be amazed at how much they get done in a very small space (sometimes rented just for the sale) with a staff of just a handful of people (or less, sometimes just one or two!) But the bottom line here is: their business model (antiquated?) does not include staffing a shipping dept., as the concept of "staff" to begin with is pretty fuzzy (you'll often see that everybody you meet in person shares the same last name - get it?!) My guess would be they all have full-time jobs M-F, help Dad or Uncle out on Saturdays/Sundays during auction season, and it's actually only Dad or Uncle that is "working" the thing full-time, and his expertise (and thus highest value to the business) is as a handicapper, as an appraiser, ultimately as a pitchman for how his "services" would best serve a potential consignor/estate. Again, I'd rather have the choices of as much material as possible available to me from as many sources as possible than the opposite. I'll put up with some inconvenience, make a call or two, etc. to score something rather unique and otherwise completely unavailable to me. I've also got a real soft spot for small business owners that built it from scratch and stay alive doing it "their way". (So fade me a bit on all above for 'bias' )

 

Getting back on point, I buy from these types a lot and have gained some experience along with some best practices. And the number one rule of third-party shipping is: develop a canned RFQ e-mail and blast it out to all the UPS stores in a 10 mile radius (maybe 20 miles if more rural). Forget the list the House provides you unless it's highly specialized freight service you need (for heavy furniture, etc), but for "our" sort of art and non-sculpture fine art...what I suggest is great at getting a lot of quotes back, quickly, and you'd be amazed at the spread. For a single 24x30" framed oil on canvas I've gotten as low as 85ish and as high as $650. For the same item! So it pays to hit up as many folks as you can for quotes and definitely go "off-sheet". I'd rather be given the chance to find my own solution every time than have it just handed to me by the House, with a possibly very noncompetitive price tag attached.

 

Of course there is always room for those that do better work or just work harder (or both) to gain market share and grow themselves out of "local". That's what Heritage did! Read the company history, or find it "out there" if it's not on the site...they've been around for a very long time and bought up many of their competitors over the years. My recollection is doing a fair bit of business with Lyn Knight (currency) back in the 90s and then poof! one day they were bought out by Heritage, hardly the first either.

[BCarter27]

Thanks for the tips, vodou. I will definitely shop around for better quotes and adjust expectations.