Hi Ray, You wrote: "The buyer's premium, or better name "buyers penalty" is just a gimmick to make larger profits for the auction house."
I have been to auctions of all sorts and totally agree with you. Regarding Stanton's, I believe the reason they do not charge a "buyer's penalty" is because Steve (Stanton, that is) really understands the phonograph business and his competence radiates no matter where they set up a sale. I doubt that Stanton's is perfect, but it is my opinion that nobody but nobody hosts a sale like Steve does. And when you are that good, people just want to come and are willing to spend top dollar. He's not afraid to sell and that makes customers comfortable to spend. I'll bet he does much better in the profit zones than the houses who charge the big premiums. Can't we just go back to buying stuff out of 1975 Chevy Montego station wagons, please, anybody? Walt -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 4:48 PM To: [email protected]; [email protected] Subject: [Phono-L] Auction buyers premiums I notice that lately many phonographs are showing up on big auction houses that are charging buyers premiums of 20 to 22.5%. It will not be too long before it is 25-30%, if they can get away with it. The largest phono auction house, Stanton's, still doesn't charge any premium at all, and they seem to be doing just fine. The buyer's premium, or better name "buyers penalty" is just a gimmick to make larger profits for the auction house. Some collectors say you can just keep your bid lower to compensate, but in practice the buyer ends up spending more. It would be nice if all phonograph collectors would refrain from bidding on any machine for which there is a buyers premium, but of course that is just wishful thinking. Some collectors with unlimited cash will probably spend whatever it takes to get that special machine, buyers premium or not. Any comments? Ray _______________________________________________ Phono-L mailing list [email protected] Phono-L Archive http://phono-l.oldcrank.org/archive/ Support Phono-L http://www.cafepress.com/oldcrank -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.11.5/425 - Release Date: 8/22/2006
