The August Heritage Auction

[Rob]

I wrote, and they said I'd be OK. Should I say what book it is, so everyone knows not to bid me up (because I WILL win it!)? Or does that let people know what they need to bid to win?

[jimjum12]

I would love to know which book and I'm glad they're working with you.I've never had the first complaint with them.Good luck and GOD BLESS...

 

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[tth2]

I wrote, and they said I'd be OK.

[Psiknight]

I wrote, and they said I'd be OK. Should I say what book it is, so everyone knows not to bid me up (because I WILL win it!)? Or does that let people know what they need to bid to win?

 

Hmm, I'd not say anything yet. Why let people know what your max. bid is? Just surprise us with a beautiful scan after it's sitting in your loving hands.

 

[jkrk]

I've had some minor problems with Heritage and they handled them with class. I guess you have to buy a couple of million dollars worth of books before they get nasty?

[skybolt]

I've had some minor problems with Heritage and they handled them with class. I guess you have to buy a couple of million dollars worth of books before they get nasty?

 

At least I don't have to worry about reaching that mark for oh,........at least another couple of centuries.

[Filter81]

I've had some minor problems with Heritage and they handled them with class. I guess you have to buy a couple of million dollars worth of books before they get nasty?

 

You've never had a serious problem with Heritage before that they didn't resolve? Why didn't you say so earlier? In light of this new evidence, it is clear that anyone else who thinks they have ever had a problem with Heritage must be wrong.

 

The first auction in which I ever bought something from them, I bought an Action Comics 18 for roughly $150. They made a mistake. The cover of the comic was to issue 18 but the interior was to Action 24. They offered to refund me my $150 and were extremely polite and helpful about it.

 

A few years later I bought a Batman 1 from them for several thousand dollars, and they neglected to mention anywhere in the auction that it was actually incomplete, and the back cover was just a xerox copy. They refused to take the book back, or even issue me a partial refund. This is despite the fact that I called them the very same day I received the book. (Name me one other dealer who could sell a Batman 1 without disclosing the fact that the back cover was nothing but a xerox, and feel they could get away with not offering even a partial refund)

 

This is just a guess, and I don't know what your specific problems were with Heritage, but maybe they felt in your case due to the dollar amount involved it would be easier to just do the right thing. In my case, since they were trying to overchage me by thousands of dollars, maybe it made them less willing to do the right thing? Maybe it even had something to do with the fact that I had allowed them to get away with acting less than honestly with me in the past. Who knows.

 

Or maybe it is just that their accounting department isn't very well organized. Sometimes they seem to be pretty hit or miss as far as charging the correct amounts, sending the right books out at the right times, etc. Maybe I just got unlucky.

 

Or then again, maybe my people skills just aren't as good as yours.

[jkrk]

You've never had a serious problem with Heritage before that they didn't resolve? Why didn't you say so earlier? In light of this new evidence, it is clear that anyone else who thinks they have ever had a problem with Heritage must be wrong.

 

The first auction in which I ever bought something from them, I bought an Action Comics 18 for roughly $150. They made a mistake. The cover of the comic was to issue 18 but the interior was to Action 24. They offered to refund me my $150 and were extremely polite and helpful about it.

 

A few years later I bought a Batman 1 from them for several thousand dollars, and they neglected to mention anywhere in the auction that it was actually incomplete, and the back cover was just a xerox copy. They refused to take the book back, or even issue me a partial refund. This is despite the fact that I called them the very same day I received the book. (Name me one other dealer who could sell a Batman 1 without disclosing the fact that the back cover was nothing but a xerox, and feel they could get away with not offering even a partial refund)

 

This is just a guess, and I don't know what your specific problems were with Heritage, but maybe they felt in your case due to the dollar amount involved it would be easier to just do the right thing. In my case, since they were trying to overchage me by thousands of dollars, maybe it made them less willing to do the right thing? Maybe it even had something to do with the fact that I had allowed them to get away with acting less than honestly with me in the past. Who knows.

 

Or maybe it is just that their accounting department isn't very well organized. Sometimes they seem to be pretty hit or miss as far as charging the correct amounts, sending the right books out at the right times, etc. Maybe I just got unlucky.

 

Or then again, maybe my people skills just aren't as good as yours.

 

I guess your point is that Heritage will deal with a five hundred dollar problem from a buyer who buys $200,000 worth of books but will not handle "an overcharge of thousands of dollars" from a buyer of a couple million dollar worth of books?

Whatever?????

 

The real issue from my perspective is this: I won't deal with people who I don't like.

If your story is as you say I wouldn't be dealing with them any longer. As for having :good people skills" you guessed it mine are the pits. That's why I manage a hedge fund and only have one client. No one will put up with my attitude.

[Filter81]

Which is precisely why I don't deal with them anymore. I put up with much more than I normally would have, because honestly, they have a better inventory than anyone else out there. But eventually it reached a point where I realized I could not do any more business with them. I haven't made any new purchases from them since last year.

 

As far as the rest of your E-mail, I'm not really sure what you are trying to imply? That if I have a problem with Heritage it must automatically be my fault? That I'm making it up completely? Do you want to see the bills, invoices, receipts, e-mails etc?

 

That's great that you've had nothing but positive transactions with Heritage. I'm sure plenty of people can say the same thing. That hasn't been my experience.

[jkrk]

Which is precisely why I don't deal with them anymore. I put up with much more than I normally would have, because honestly, they have a better inventory than anyone else out there. But eventually it reached a point where I realized I could not do any more business with them. I haven't made any new purchases from them since last year.

 

Good for you. If you have problems that can't be resolved to your satisfaction you should drop them.

 

I haven't made a purchase from them in awhile also (I believe since May) . I probably won't buy from them until the end of this week.

 

 

As far as the rest of your E-mail, I'm not really sure what you are trying to imply? That if I have a problem with Heritage it must automatically be my fault? That I'm making it up completely? Do you want to see the bills, invoices, receipts, e-mails etc?

 

No need to see the bills, recipts etc. That's between you and your creditor (as you say). I will say I'm impressed that you borrow money to buy books.

I guess your right. I must be thinking that you had difficulty with Heritage since you don't have "my people skills" and I have none.

 

That's great that you've had nothing but positive transactions with Heritage. I'm sure plenty of people can say the same thing. That hasn't been my experience.

 

Again, I applaud your stance. I believe based on your experience you handled the issue correctly.

 

[adamstrange]

Or maybe it is just that their accounting department isn't very well organized.

 

 

I've experienced difficulties with them first hand and had to go to extraordinary lengths to get it resolved.

[Crowzilla]

A few years later I bought a Batman 1 from them for several thousand dollars, and they neglected to mention anywhere in the auction that it was actually incomplete, and the back cover was just a xerox copy. They refused to take the book back, or even issue me a partial refund.

 

 

And for this behavior you rewarded them by purchasing two million dollars worth of product?

What a dream customer - no wonder they continued to push you around.

Maybe you should look at some auctions from Comic-keys?

[Filter81]

And for this behavior you rewarded them by purchasing two million dollars worth of product?

What a dream customer - no wonder they continued to push you around.

Maybe you should look at some auctions from Comic-keys?

 

I have bought from Comic-keys before haha.

 

For the record though, the Batman 1 auction was August of last year, and I went on the payment plan for that one. I received the book and discovered the problem about at the same time that they overcharged me on interest for the October auction. I haven't purchased another book from them since.

[FFB]

That's criminal. With their 19.5 percent Buyer's Commission , they made 46,800.00 off of your purchases, plus whatever commission they charged the sellers. I bought one item (for significantly less) during one of their weekly auctions, paid within 10 days, and was charged interest beginning after 7 days.

 

Actually, I spent in excess of $2,000,000 with them between 2003 & 2005. But they made it pretty clear they could care less. I think their thought process is if their business practices causes a few people not to do business with them anymore, they will still have other people bidding on the auctions anyway.

 

I truly think they overcharge quite a few people on interest. I personally find it surprising that they are even allowed to say "your first payment is due on November 1st, but we are going to go back and charge you interest as of October 15th". They literally start charing interest before people even get their winning invoices sent to them. But I'm no accountant so I have no idea if practices like these are common or not.

 

But given some of Heritage's other business practices I guess i'm not that surprised that they'd try to squeeze every last cent they can.

 

Moral of the story: RTFM.

 

Terms and Conditions of Auction

 

PAYMENT:

 

25. Payment is due upon closing of the Auction session, or upon presentment of an invoice. Auctioneer reserves the right to void an invoice if payment in full of the invoices is not received within 7 days after the close of the Auction.

 

[* * *]

 

28. If the Auction invoice(s) submitted by the Auctioneer is not paid in full when due, the unpaid balance will bear interest at the highest rate permitted by law from the date of invoice until paid.

 

Seems unfair, but it sounds like what they did was in line with the express terms of the auction.

[showcase4]

 

What a dream customer - no wonder they continued to push you around.

Maybe you should look at some auctions from Comic-keys?

 

[BuckeyeChaos]

what is conisidered a reasonable buyer's premium percentage for them to charge?

 

I'm seeing one at 22.5% which seems high to me.

[Psiknight]

what is conisidered a reasonable buyer's premium percentage for them to charge?

 

I'm seeing one at 22.5% which seems high to me.

 

Well, who can we compare against? Sotheby's? I guess.

 

Sotheby's charges a 19.5% buyer's premium and a 20% seller's premium on the first $15,000 + 15% on the next $85,000 + 10% on anything over 100k. That's more than Heritage but they also deal in multi-million dollar pieces of art.

[comic_lot]

 

Moral of the story: RTFM.

 

Terms and Conditions of Auction

 

PAYMENT:

 

25. Payment is due upon closing of the Auction session, or upon presentment of an invoice. Auctioneer reserves the right to void an invoice if payment in full of the invoices is not received within 7 days after the close of the Auction.

 

[* * *]

 

28. If the Auction invoice(s) submitted by the Auctioneer is not paid in full when due, the unpaid balance will bear interest at the highest rate permitted by law from the date of invoice until paid.

 

Seems unfair, but it sounds like what they did was in line with the express terms of the auction.

 

Thanks for the advice. I did RTFM, as you so eloquently put it, and paid the interest which was peanuts for what I won. I thought that for someone like Filter, who probably spent more that most, if not all, individuals bidding on their auctions, that they would have accomodated his situation and possibly waived some of the interest.

[nearmint]

I only buy slabbed books from Heritage, and pay as soon as my invoice is available online, with a credit card. This accomplishes two things: first, it gets me miles on my Alaska Airlines credit card. Second, it protects me in case I have any trouble with Heritage, or any other dealer for that matter.

 

Ever since I sent an eBay seller $800 via Paypal for a Supes #14 that he never shipped, and my credit card company said don't worry about it, we're not holding you responsible for the charge, I charge every major purchase I make.

[Silver Surfer]

Filter,

 

You think that Heritage's top clientele (I'm assumingthat you would fall into that category) would have Account Manager's assigned to handle these kind of situations, special requests, etc. Having said that I have had nothing but good experiences with Heritage and I'm certainly not on anyone's A list. Why do you pick up the phone and talk to some of the big wigs?