Another bright idea from the big brains at Ebay

A. G. Maisey · 4th March 2008, 10:39 PM

Lee, I have dealt mainly with one Sydney auction house since I was in high school. Up until perhaps 25 years ago, this organisation charged the seller a 10% commission.

There was no buyer's commission, the operation was plain, simple, no fancy catalogues, no up-market auction rooms. In a word:- basic.

Then they started to get delusions of grandeur, moved out of their dark dusty auction rooms on the edge of Chinatown into a historic building on the edge of the corporate heart of town. Polished floors, elegant lighting, auctioneers in suits and ties.Very beautifully produced catalogues on art paper.Big advertisements in Saturday's newspapers.

Seller's commissions rose, then buyer's commissions were introduced, and over the years it has just got worse. Currently, I think, the seller pays 25%, the buyer pays 22.5%.

I still buy from them. I've never stopped.

But I only ever pay what an item is worth to me. I recently bought an antique Chinese day bed. I knew a new one would cost me about $1500. I would have rather had a new one, than an antique one, so to me, this day bed was worth around $600-700. I lodged a bid of $550 ($550 + 22.5% = $673) with the auctioneer and went home. When I rang back I found I had won the day bed at $450. $450 + 22.5% = $551.Well inside my budget.

What I have found is that all regular buyers at auction adjust their bid downwards to cover the buyer's commission. The only people who do not do this are the occasional buyers who have little or no experience, or who do not have an understanding of the value of something before they start to bid.

I do understand the way in which sniping works on ebay, however, I feel that if you know the value of something, and you are prepared to pay a fair price, then sniping is not necessary. You simply lodge your maximum bid with ebay, and if nobody has placed a higher value on the item, you will win, and ebay will apply sufficient of your maximum bid to allow you to win, even after the auction closes.The whole philosophy of winning at auction is to know the value to you of the item being auctioned, and be prepared to pay that price to buy it. It could well be worth more to somebody else, but that should not concern you:- you have named the maximum amount you are prepared to pay to own the item, and if somebody else is prepared to pay more, well that's up to him.

You do not win at auction if you pay more for something than it is worth to you, and this is what can happen if you do not make an objective evaluation of the object long before any bids are lodged:- you just say "this is worth $X to me", leave your bid, and walk away.

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4th March 2008, 10:39 PM	#10
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,019	Lee, I have dealt mainly with one Sydney auction house since I was in high school. Up until perhaps 25 years ago, this organisation charged the seller a 10% commission. There was no buyer's commission, the operation was plain, simple, no fancy catalogues, no up-market auction rooms. In a word:- basic. Then they started to get delusions of grandeur, moved out of their dark dusty auction rooms on the edge of Chinatown into a historic building on the edge of the corporate heart of town. Polished floors, elegant lighting, auctioneers in suits and ties.Very beautifully produced catalogues on art paper.Big advertisements in Saturday's newspapers. Seller's commissions rose, then buyer's commissions were introduced, and over the years it has just got worse. Currently, I think, the seller pays 25%, the buyer pays 22.5%. I still buy from them. I've never stopped. But I only ever pay what an item is worth to me. I recently bought an antique Chinese day bed. I knew a new one would cost me about $1500. I would have rather had a new one, than an antique one, so to me, this day bed was worth around $600-700. I lodged a bid of $550 ($550 + 22.5% = $673) with the auctioneer and went home. When I rang back I found I had won the day bed at $450. $450 + 22.5% = $551.Well inside my budget. What I have found is that all regular buyers at auction adjust their bid downwards to cover the buyer's commission. The only people who do not do this are the occasional buyers who have little or no experience, or who do not have an understanding of the value of something before they start to bid. I do understand the way in which sniping works on ebay, however, I feel that if you know the value of something, and you are prepared to pay a fair price, then sniping is not necessary. You simply lodge your maximum bid with ebay, and if nobody has placed a higher value on the item, you will win, and ebay will apply sufficient of your maximum bid to allow you to win, even after the auction closes.The whole philosophy of winning at auction is to know the value to you of the item being auctioned, and be prepared to pay that price to buy it. It could well be worth more to somebody else, but that should not concern you:- you have named the maximum amount you are prepared to pay to own the item, and if somebody else is prepared to pay more, well that's up to him. You do not win at auction if you pay more for something than it is worth to you, and this is what can happen if you do not make an objective evaluation of the object long before any bids are lodged:- you just say "this is worth $X to me", leave your bid, and walk away.