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Auction House Consignment Fees


donwest

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The sad fact is the only one making out on things is the auction house. Sure your item will bring way more than the actual market, but by the time you pay them their pound of flesh, then with the claiming said sold items on your taxes due to getting a  1099….yeah you are better off selling it on your own and the hell with the “big numbers” those places are getting. You wouldn’t see much more than what you’d sell selling something here on Sturm. 

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and my understanding is there's a buyer's premium, no? Also in the 15% range.

Do these auction transactions get hit on BOTH sides at 15%+ ?

If so...that's just insane when we mg'rs have great resources like sturm right here.

Plus it's a small world.

Auctions can kiss my arse.

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^^ dang. And prior to this thread I thought it was only the buyer getting hosed with the 15-20% “buyers premium “.

them slurping that off the seller TOO just chaps my arse thinking about it. 30%+ difference for middle manning it. Sorry - unacceptable vig there for me. 15-20% total is as much as I feel is FMV for that vig and I’m being generous. 
 

But of course it matters not what I think about it. It just solidifies my anti-auction stance I guess. 

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My experience and from talking to a few is that the Big Dogs in the auction circle take as much as 20% from the consignor (seller) and 20-25% from the buyer. The auction houses tell you right up front on their websites what they will charge the buyer (Some also take a 3% internet fee as well as another fee if you bid in person), but they will not publish how much they take from the consignor. Search their websites nd you will not find how much they bite the consignor; they always say "call for more details". It's not something that they want to be widely known

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Fees from the seller are negotiable depending on what you are selling.  Some auctions take nothing and it's all on the buyer, but I do know in conversations with RIA, you'll need to pony up at least 100K of junk before they will waive what was 15% seller premium a few years ago.  I have not checked recently.   If you have an estate, calling the auction companies is pressing the EZ button since they will do everything including pick up, but like everything else it comes with a cost. 

It is very rare for a seller to net top dollar even on a piece that sells over market after all the fees, but when you consider most people trade in cars, it's the same thing more or less.   You want to net more, you have to work more.  There are some other benefits of staying anonymous, moving crap guns under the radar, etc. 

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With the close knit community that machine gunning is I’d think that most of us individuals could fairly easily sell our guns to friends and associates internally w/o the need for 20-40% haircuts from corp America who then turns in purchase /tax info as required by Uncle Sam. 

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The point of the buyers premium is to cover the auction charges, which is how they make their money. Buyers factor in the BP to the total bid amount - and the prices realized they post include the BP. Auction houses charge the BP instead of charging the seller, which is one way they attract more sellers. I would assume it's no different for the gun auction companies, but I've never consigned anything with them. I imagine they would have fees if it doesn't sell however.

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The big auction houses are in the business of making money,,,,,,,, Lots of money. They don't have any qualms about who it comes from: buyer and consignor. I could go on for a while about the many questionable practices they all seem to engage in to maximize their intake, i.e. house bidding against the bidders, taking online limit bids to the max amount immediately, running up prices when they know there is an interested well heeled bidder anxious for a particular gun.................................... They are after all capitalists just like the rest of us, maybe they're just a little less ethical in their practices 

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I am going thru the process now.  I have sold at gun shows and on the forums so I thought I would try auctions.  I will try Gunbroker next.  I think auctions are geared for estate sales, a service to those who know nothing about guns.

Edited by waterdawg2000
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Yep, check it out.     I am not saying they do not deserve it.  It is a service to people who need to get rid of Claas 3 guns and do not want to(or can not)deal with buyers, shipping, government regulations and etc.  It is a service that costs, so these posts are FYI only. No judgements.  Capitalism with guns is better then communism with no guns.

Edited by waterdawg2000
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