saleing through a auction house

Has anyone ever sold an item through a auction house? I have an item that 2 auction houses have looked at and want me to sale through them one company gave me a sale value of 5 to 10K the other one 10 to 20 K Besides the huge differance in the value estamates. How do you know that they are not high balling me to get my item and that it will actualy sale within the estamate they gave me. If it does sale within the estamated range I would do ok but if it sold below that range after auctin fees I would get killed.

I've sold through and worked for an auction company. You've got options and they will negotiate terms. If not, walk away. You can: 1. establish a minimum/reserve selling price, 2. bid on your own item to get the action going with the understanding that you are not obligated to them for paying a buyer's fee if you win, 3. assure in all cases that you will not be charged a seller's fee or listing fee, let them do their job to sell the item without any obligation to you. Hope that helps. Remember, there is the sporting as well as the business aspect to this. You're only interested in the business, as are they.

I'd have a tendency to try and establish your own minimum value to set a reserve price, by getting feedback on various collectors sites as to what other experts feel it's worth.

Before I'd use a public auction house, I'd try everything I cold to sell it direct or run it through on-line Internet auctions. :thup:

Regards,
Badger

I have sold a few guns with an "auction house". I can not speak for any other than the one I used. They charge both a buyer and seller premium, it's about 10%-20% on both ends. So they do make their money. You need to figure in the seller premium when you think about how much you will get there or on one of the boards. "If" you do have something that is worth 20K I think you would be able to to get top dollar going through an auction. All you need is two or three collectors/interested bidders to get the price up. I guess it really depends on what you want. If you want the least amount of work and top $ minus the sellers premium go the an auction . If you don't want to give a sellers premium do it yourself.

BTW, if you find an auction house that would allow you or a representitive (shill) bid on your item I would steer clear. If they are willing to screw the buyer by letting someone bid up the price you can bet they would not give a damn about doing the same to you.

Finally, not all auctions are the same. If you are looking for top dollar you need to find one that is well regarded in the item that you are selling, not the corner auction house liquidating an old farm.

JMTCW, an auction house I used to go to a lot would NEVER allow a seller to bid against someone actually trying to buy the item. That's pretty much considered cheating, I think.