Re: Auctioneer Needs Help with a 1938 Packard

Posted by D Smith On 2009/7/18 6:26:49

John,

You sure are set against me from the start aren't you? There is no buyer's premium for any of our items on eBay. To be completely transparent, even on off eBay items where we do in fact charge a buyers premium we charge 13% for credit cards only. This covers the 3% per transaction fee we are charged by our credit card processor.

Anyone paying by cash or check (which is most people) pay the same 10% buyers premium you are used to. This is an industry standard for most auctioneers, simply because most times the commissions are low for the seller 0%-10% and the auctioneer pays their bills with the money made from the buyers premium.

I hate buyers premiums, but how does one be competitive when other auction houses are charging the seller 0% to sell items and charging 20% buyers premiums (See Heritage Auctions). So we fall somewhere in between, charging the seller a fair commission and the buyer a fair premium.

Dustin