Author Topic: Berwick Discovery: The Biggest find of early movie posters in recent history  (Read 285845 times)

Dread_Pirate_Mel

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The seller commission fees for signature auctions are significantly less than normal auctions. Plus they're  usually negotiated, perhaps in this case to zero.

The "house bidder" speculation is totally unsupported. The bidding started at $75K and there's no reason to believe the subsequent bids weren't legit.

My guess is that Uni Horror peaked several years ago and there are fewer $$$$ bidders playing....
« Last Edit: March 23, 2012, 03:22:16 PM by Dread_Pirate_Mel »

Offline 110x75

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That was a quick edit Mel!  ;D
« Last Edit: March 23, 2012, 03:22:19 PM by 110x75 »
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Offline Zorba

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The "house bidder" speculation is totally unsupported. The bidding started at $75K and there's no reason to believe the subsequent bids weren't legit.


I agree. If they were caught bidding on their own auctions theyd have a bit of a problem.

I doubt they could use the much abused "I didnt know" defense.

Offline erik1925

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Yeah, I believe it's 15% (in addition to the 19.5% BP).

I actually did a long calculation in another thread a couple days ago comparing the cost to the seller at HA vs EMP in regards to BP and seller fees. Assuming the hammer price is the same (including BP), EMP wins every time.

Thanks, Chris.

Makes sense, that they would take or ask some sales fee, based on promotion, photography, selling etc. That is a good amount of work and is certainly worth something. I cant see all of that being done for free, can you?









-Jeff

Dread_Pirate_Mel

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That Heritage "shill bidding" argument has been hashed out many times on this board and other boards.

One thing is for certain: The last guy who sued Heritage for shill bidding was just decimated legally. Had to publicly admit his allegations were false.

That said, Heritage did quickly erase the estimate range from the Drac poster listing. Not exactly a selling point for future consignments....
« Last Edit: March 23, 2012, 03:32:24 PM by Dread_Pirate_Mel »

Offline enki

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Thanks, Chris.

Makes sense, that they would take or ask some sales fee, based on promotion, photography, selling etc. That is a good amount of work and is certainly worth something. I cant see all of that being done for free, can you?

<-- James :)

Certainly a sales fee is warranted. But they already get almost 20% (or more on <$70 items) from the buyer (which of course comes out of the seller's pocket too). Personally, I just think their rates are too high. The only way they would be justified is if they routinely bring in a higher selling price over other auction houses, which would more then make up for the fee to the seller.

Regarding photography though, I think HA does a horrible job on that front. Unless I'm missing something, their photos are ridiculously small, have bad lighting, bad colors, hide defects, etc. EMP and others do an exponentially better job.

Offline erik1925

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<-- James :)

Certainly a sales fee is warranted. But they already get almost 20% (or more on <$70 items) from the buyer (which of course comes out of the seller's pocket too). Personally, I just think their rates are too high. The only way they would be justified is if they routinely bring in a higher selling price over other auction houses, which would more then make up for the fee to the seller.

Regarding photography though, I think HA does a horrible job on that front. Unless I'm missing something, their photos are ridiculously small, have bad lighting, bad colors, hide defects, etc. EMP and others do an exponentially better job.

Small? You arent looking or clicking on the enlargement function, then. Every item they list can be clicked on to blow it up to a super size image that more than fills a computer screen, so that an item can be looked at and scanned closely.

Edit: Large scan removed.  ;)
« Last Edit: March 23, 2012, 03:52:25 PM by erik1925 »


-Jeff

Offline Zorba

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GIANT Dracula you have ruined my screen!  :P


Personally, I just think their rates are too high.

I agree James.

That bp has kept from bidding on or even watching quite a few posters. Its just a turn off.

I know that they have enough traffic (that traffic doesnt care about $14+) that they dont need to care bout what I think .  ;D

They are doing very well today. This is an amazing line up they are selling. I really wanted that His Girl friday 3sht but I was $8365 short.

Offline enki

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Ok, so I'm definitely missing something regarding the pictures....

When I click the enlarged picture link, it brings me to a little window where I can zoom in and pan around, but not where I can get a full size blown up picture like you pasted in here.

Offline enki

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Ok, I figured it out. I need to turn off the Pan/Zoom function. Now I get the big blow up.

I retract my early comment about the size issue  :P

Dread_Pirate_Mel

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Nothing ever changes: The people who complain about Heritage are either hyper-competitors (Bruce) or people (Kerry, Chris) who have never actually bought anything from them.  The people who actually deal with them think they're great and are repeat customers. Of course the buyer's fees are obnoxious, but it's just extra math.

As far as seller commission rates, who cares? If you think they're too high, don't consign to them.

Offline 110x75

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Nothing ever changes: The people who complain about Heritage are either hyper-competitors (Bruce) or people (Kerry, Chris) who have never actually bought anything from them.

and he collects daybills also...  eyeroll
Matias
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Der Januskopf

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For anyone to think that just because one hasnt bought from HA, is a reason to preclude (or criticize) them for making comments, asking questions or making observations (versus those who have purchased from them) is without merit.

« Last Edit: March 23, 2012, 04:08:30 PM by Der Januskopf »

Dread_Pirate_Mel

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and he collects daybills also...  eyeroll

You mean freaky lil' hobbit posters....  8)

Offline CSM

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Yeah, all those things put me down a bit, so my bid was little  ;)

And it wasn't Argentinean ;)
Chris

Offline enki

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For anyone to think that just because one hasnt bought from HA, is a reason to preclude (or criticize) them for making comments, asking questions or making observations (just like those who have purchased from them) is without merit.



+1

From my standpoint, I never said I wouldn't buy anything from them. I just said I don't like their policies regarding fees. If they had something I really wanted, and I could afford it, I would buy from them.

It's similar to my feelings towards eBay/PayPal. I hate them. I despise their business tactics and the way they treat their customers. But I still reluctantly use them if I need to  moron1.

Offline Louie D.

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The people who actually deal with them think they're great and are repeat customers.

Disagree.

Offline CSM

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Nothing ever changes: The people who complain about Heritage are either hyper-competitors (Bruce) or people (Kerry, Chris) who have never actually bought anything from them.  The people who actually deal with them think they're great and are repeat customers. Of course the buyer's fees are obnoxious, but it's just extra math.

As far as seller commission rates, who cares? If you think they're too high, don't consign to them.

Mel - I have bought at least 3 things from Heritage (and another item I have posted about that originally came from there)

Your comment about repeat bidders/buyers and their opinions is far too encompassing and unfounded.

And you call yourself a defence lawyer  eyeroll

« Last Edit: March 23, 2012, 04:14:07 PM by CSM »
Chris

Offline 110x75

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And it wasn't Argentinean ;)

I like to vary sometimes  :D
Matias
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Offline CSM

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You mean freaky lil' hobbit posters....  8)

Most of mine don't have giant hairy feet at least
Chris

Der Januskopf

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Mel - I have bought at least 3 things from Heritage (and another item I have posted about that originally came from there)

And you call yourself a defence lawyer  eyeroll

Chris.

As you just pointed out and was just exemplified, no one is exempt from blowing factually incorrect smoke at times.  cheers



Offline Zorba

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No fair that you all get to do it for free.

I have bought 10+ posters from them for the right to tell you all that the bp is rich buyer bullshit...  Oh yeah and they ship slow too!

They are not the worst. They just are not the best.

Offline CSM

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They are not the worst. They just are not the best.

That probably sums it up nicely
Chris

Offline enki

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Regarding HA, I wish they would at least differentiate between the bidders. I understand it's anonymous, but they could at least give them numbers or something. This way you could see if you were bidding against 1 or 5 other people. Or if you get into a bidding war with someone, they finally drop out, but someone else comes in, you would have no idea that you are now bidding against someone else. Etc.

Again, just my two cents while watching the live bidding.

Offline Harry Caul

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Well, actually in terms of auctions Bruce and Rich are the exceptions here.... every other big auction house I know of (HA included) charges both a consignment fee and a buyer's premium.  Those places take a slightly higher percentage of the overall item, but it gives the impression of splitting it up -- some from the seller (consignment fee) and some from the buyer (BP).  It's fairly common practice, even if it really does result in a lower return to the consignor.  Of course, you have to take final auction values into account... some items Bruce sells for more, some items HA sells for more. 

While on paper Bruce and Rich's consigment fees might technically be higher on paper, after the BP the math does seem to work out well for the consignor in the end.  And by not charging a BP, they also attract a lot of us cheap skates who feel like a buyer's premium is unfair (wait, I'm paying you a premium to pay you money?).  In reality though, I just factor in BP and bid like normal.  I've bought slightly more from eMovie than HA, and I've actually never won anything from Rich -- but I wouldn't discriminate from any of them if they had a particular poster I was after at the moment.  That said, I'm a deal hound and buy the majority of my posters from ebay and elsewhere...