We're an eBay affiliate and may be compensated on purchases made through clicks. 

I was having a look at this month's offerings from r and r.  I am sure that a number of items have been in before quite recently; especially in the music section.  Any other people who think the same??

Views: 932

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

You see peoples items on ebay then at rr all the time. Back and forth.

why do they do it if you cant get a good price on RR you certainly arent going to get a better price on e bay, i think a lot of the stuff on e bay with a high buy it now is just for show 

I agree rogers. I use RR past auctions as a guide to current retail value. I rarely see a similar item on ebay sell close to RR's price. Of course, I believe the final selling price in the past auctions reflect the buyer fees as well which should be deducted for a more accurate determinations. RR has quality items but pricey IMO.

Not always true as auctions are "lumpy" markets and something might not sell  at auction and six months later sell for insane money. Reserves are great for consigners who can protect their investment by smoothing out the lumpiness.  Auction houses don't like reserves cause they are not emotionally invested in the item and just want to sell. So there is a constant war between auction house and consignor on reserve. If you are desperate for money the auction house usually wins.  If you are not as desperate, you can have several options against the auction house.

Sometimes the auction houses won't accept your reserve. But at least you have ebay where you set your own rules-and occasionally you succeed.

 what is kind of puzzling is that a couple of the items I saw again got a really good price first time around imo;- but there you go; c'est la vie   

Interesting thought.  Let's see; the consigner ultimately and solely  approves the reserve; 

the auction house usually solely set the initial bid minimum (can be below reserve or the minimum bid can be the reserve)

Therefore it is the auctions house reserve decision that leads to two possible situatlons 1. if there is only 1 bid the items sells to the bidder, or 2. multiple bids but item still does not sell cause reserve was never reached by bidders. Either method is long established.

As a bidder, find out the auction house policy and adjust your mental strategy for each as neither one makes the "house " more likely to win (the house in the vegas sense- that the probabilities don't change,

Note that automatic bidding policies, including prior to auction start, can affect the outcome as you say. BUt I have never heard of a Auction house bidding elelctronically against your minimum bid up to your reserve. It coild be common.  Which company did that to you?

Whatever method the auction house uses, it is likely written in their small print.

For several years I was a licensed auctioneer in Indiana. Part of the excitement and risk at an auction is that there were "winners" and "losers". That is what excites the bidders and challenges the sellers. Law varies from state to state on the issue of reserve bidding. In Indiana if an item had a reserve then it must be announced to the bidders(which I'm sure RR probably has that in the fine print). The reserve amount does not have to be exposed but, if an item does not reach the reserve amount, it is announced and the lot is withdrawn.

Shill bidding is prohibited but the owner or a proxy can bid but must still pay the auction house commission. I, personally never accepted reserve items and advised my potential consignors that if they needed a specific amount, it would be better to offer it in a different format than an auction.

Just my two cents worth.

joe, if you bid online from another state, you are bound by auction house state laws, right?

Correct. The auction house is bound by the laws of their state. As a participant you must agree to the terms and conditions of the auction house which should be in agreement with the laws of their state. I was an auctioneer before the internet and not sure how each state as addressed this issue. They did have phone and mail bid auctions back then which were subject to the same laws as a public auction. I never held a phone or mail bid type of auction only live, in-person auctions.

So if the item doesn't meet reserve ,how much is the consigner charged?

Back when I did this for a living, if a seller consigned an item to me I would auction the item off to the highest bidder. If the consignor, for whatever reason, bid on their own item and won it in the auction, I would charge them the full price they purchased the item for and then paid them back after deducting my commission. That way, if the state came in and looked at the books it would show everything on the up and up. If there was a pre-set reserve on an item it would be simply withdrawn and I would return the item to the consignor at their expense. No commission. That's why auctioneers generally don't like reserve items. At least, not back then.

I must add, I was an auctioneer back in the 70's and 80's and it was a vastly different world back then. All has changed with the Internet. It's kind of like a reality show. Nothing is as it appears!

RSS

Photos

  • Add Photos
  • View All

Videos

  • Add Videos
  • View All

© 2024   Created by Steve Cyrkin, Admin.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms of Service