The four parts of my 9th Annual Halloween auction are over, and the combined
total was *$242,535* (of course, that is assuming I am paid for every item;
I am the only auction I know of that deletes every unsold or re-negotiated
item from the sales results, so that they accurately represent the actual
prices paid in cash for every item; I also collect from 99+% of the buyers,
so extremely few of the results end up being changed or deleted).
With *SO* many items (2,800+), and with the current economic uncertainty
hanging over everyone's heads, there were some real deals on a relatively
small number of items, but I think it is very fair to say that prices were
quite solid overall, and of course there were some surprises, on the high
side and on the low side. It seemed that many of the lowest priced items
were greatly helped by my many special promotions, including a cool limited
edition T-shirt to *EVERY* buyer (even those who bought one $1 item!), and
sets of 9 or 23 books to those e-mail club members who purchased a set
number of multiple items on a single night, and also first edition copies of
Children of the Night and Graven Images to those e-mail club members who
purchased the greatest number of items or spent the most money of each of
the four nights of the auctions!
Of course, it is my consignors who benefit from those increased prices on
inexpensive items, for higher results mean more money paid to them (and the
buyers benefit as well, for many got a great t-shirt that costs me $9 or $11
and some also got 9 or 23 books, and many only spent a few dollars on the
items they purchased, and got the rest free).
But all those many promotions were paid for with the difference in the money
I used to pay eBay (Greedbay?) and the much lesser amount of money I now pay
my new auction host and to purchase adwords. So the buyers *AND* the bidders
all came out ahead, and I broke even and the only loser was eBay!
When *YOU* are considering which auction to consign to, ask whether they
offer their buyers great t-shirts and other bonuses, or *NO* bonuses but
sky-high "buyers premiums" and shipping charges, and that should play a
major role in deciding where to consign! And most auction houses have a
19.5% or 20% buyers premium and our *ENTIRE* charge for selling $1,000+
items is around the same as just everyone else's buyers premiums (and of
course then they hit you with a selling commission, photography fees,
insurance fees, and anything else they can think of)! And even eBay is now
charging fees that approach 20% per item (when you consider both listing
fees and final value fees and PayPal fees), and then *YOU* have to do all
the work, whereas when you consign to us, we *DO* everything!
One final word about those t-shirts. I have done four so far, and I am
getting some requests for them, but I have only made enough for the winners
of the auctions, plus one each for my employees and my kids. If any of you
out there has a set of all four of the t-shirts I have made thus far
(un-worn), I will pay $60 for the set of all four of them. Let me know if
anyone has a set they will part with.
Bruce
------------------------------
*I wondered why the frisbee kept getting
bigger and bigger. Then it hit me.*
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