In a message dated 10/17/2005 11:16:05 PM US Eastern Standard Time, GT350HZ@aol.com writes: I disagree that buyers premiums are not proper. Having worked for an auction company for 13 years, it is part of the collectibles industry. Bottom line, auction houses that use ebay to expand their auctions are trying to do the best for their clients. Setting up an auction live with ebay is not inexpensive and takes additional persons to operate. As long as the terms are clearly discribed, as a buyer you pay up to the amount that you want to pay including all fees. This would apply to any transaction, regardless of it being an auction. As a seller, the auction company is spending additional money to expand where your item is marketed. Heritage Galleries sells a small percentage of its live auctions on Ebay, but it certainly will increase some of the prices realized for the consignor. We consider ourselves as partners with the consignor, the better the consignor does, the more money we both make. Lee 66 # 869 69 # 2055 Lee, I'm sorry, we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one. The buyer's premiums at live collector-car auctions reflect the cost of the auction house's doing business and in effect split those costs between the buyer's premium and the seller's commission, plus any marketing fees paid by the sellers to enter their cars. In many cases, those costs can be high, given the level of preparation that is required for, say, a large Christie's or RM catalog auction, or the Gooding auction at Pebble Beach. I'm not saying that the buyer's premium is inappropriate in a live venue, but it seems to be an extreme in eBay's case, where the "live auction house" is using eBay to market the item. Where are those costs in an eBay listing, where fees are minimal ($40 to list a car and another $40 to sell- please!)? Even if the picture and description-writing costs are similar to a catalog auction, there's no way that a 22 1/2% (or half that, for that matter) premium should fly for an eBay listing compared to the costs of setting up and managing a large live auction venue, accepting delivery of the cars, providing security and the auctioneer + staff, etc. The idea that an item's value is increased by virtue of being listed by a reputable auction house has some merit, particularly in a universe that contains at least a few less-than-sophisticated buyers who rely on the auction house's reputation instead of or in addition to their own judgment. However, whether or not the increased unit price is offset by the increased fees of a high-class house may or may not hold in the automotive venue. For furniture, where I drew my original example, who knows? I don't, but then I'm definitely an unsophisticated buyer in that area. I do know that the high-end world isn't perfect, either. I'm still holding on to a $900 certificate from Christie's that is the remainder of my little portion of their settlement in the price-fixing scandal involving Christie's and Sotheby's a few years back that involved, dare I say, noncompetitive behavior with respect to their buyer's premiums and seller's commissions. In short, if someone wants to charge a buyer's premium in an eBay auction, fine. I can't think of something I might need badly enough to pay it, so I'll be happy to let others do so. Cheers, Mike Heroy CSX4045 67GT500 #841 68 GT500 #389 85 SVO PS. The responses I've seen on the Rolls-Royce Owner's Club Netlist (I posted to both) have been pretty much in line with the "No buyer's premium on eBay" as well.
