Online auctions sure don't work in favor of the buyer (or the seller for that matter).

[bargainsandbaubles]

I've bought a few things to resell from online auctions in my area, but man, they aren't fun.

1. Shipping only. Some places only ship. Very large and heavy item? Forget it, unless you want to pay $50 for shipping on top of the item.

2. Dimly lit photos. Look to be taken with a mid 2000's flip phone. Couple that with shipping only, and your really taking a gamble on the condition of the items. I've always wondered if some auction houses do this on purpose to easily hide flaws, similar to how some live auctions are dimly lit themselves.

3. Missing essential information. Here is a $1,000 electronic item like a high end amplifier. Was it plugged in? Hooked up or test at all? Lights up? That's for you to find out...

4. High fees. 20% for the buyer's premium, 3.5% for the credit card, $10 for handling. Keep in mind, you'd think other buyers would keep these fees in mind when bidding, but many do not. It also amuses me they charge to use your card. Does a restaurant, department store, etc charge a credit card fee? Of course not...

5. Extending the auction when there is a bid. Most places add 5 minutes onto the timer when someone else bids. I'm glad eBay doesn't do this. Can you imagine having to sit there and wait again if someone bids. Most local auctions only go about 10 more seconds after a bid.

[five*sisters]

Restaurants,Dept stores, etc., eat the credit card fee, I would never expect an auction house to do that.

[femmefan1946]

Are these new auction companies or established firms that just expanded online for the time of plague?

Several of the points you make so clearly, make me think these are newbies.

Bad photos are not really a problem when your customers will be viewing before the auction and testing done on request.  Particularly if the company doesn't know how to test the item.

The buyer fee is pretty common. Our public auction (we've run auctions for over 30 years and began online catalogues and bidding around 1995)  have a 17% buyer premium and a 10% consignor premium (we own very few of our lots). A credit card premium would contravene the contract we have with the credit card company.

The "extended bid" thing comes up here constantly. And those who complain about eBay's set ending time are of the opinion that this doesn't happen at outcry auctions. But of course it does. The hammer goes down and the lot is sold, even if someone is still considering another bid.  We have a thousand lots to get through in four hours, guys, read the catalogue and decide what you will bid before you start.

[femmefan1946]

They don't "eat " the cc fees. They raise their prices to cover the card fees.

Just as eBay sellers who use Free Shipping include our shipping costs in our asking prices.

TANSTAAFL-- Robert Anson Heinlein.

[gwzcomps]

Buyer's premiums are a total joke. I can't believe the stupidity of places that do that. The credit card fee I get, but don't agree with it.

I love bid extensions. The come in handy sometimes when it comes to playing mind games and trying to outlast someone 😛

Overall most of these rinky dink little auctioneers and auction sites wouldn't make it in the real world of eCommerce.

[bargainsandbaubles]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

and a 10% consignor premium

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Wow, that's actually really low. One local auction house charges 10% BP ONSITE, and they charge the seller 30% commission. So they make 40% on the entire sale.

Yes, the poor photo thing is some of the newbies, but not all of them.

[7606dennis]

Yes, auction businesses charge for their services and quite handsomely, I might add.  The have a duty to their clients to get the them as much as possible for their property as well as covering their overhead and making a profit for themselves.  What did you expect?

By the way, since you are planning to resell items, you should really check your state's licensing requirements if you intend to sell any of the items at auction either online or otherwise.  Some states have somewhat strict licensing requirements while others, not so much.  However, it pays to know exactly where you stand in that regard.

[bargainsandbaubles]

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@gwzcomps wrote:
Overall most of these rinky dink little auctioneers and auction sites wouldn't make it in the real world of eCommerce.

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Most of them would do so much better if they took a little time. Many of the ones in my area are lazy and I know one who (no joke) speeds through the auction so they can go home and drink and watch the game.

Another one doesn't sort anything out at all. I've 200-300 dollar items buried in the bottom of a box.

The worst one was in my home state. He was very, very slow and didn't even "cry", he would just say the numbers like if you were handed a piece of paper and asked to read numbers slowly .Imagine sitting in a room full of people and hearing "5.....7.50......10" in a monotone voice like it was a bingo game.

He would take 5 minutes to rattle off the "history" of an item, how it belonged to the consignors great grandma, it was this brand, this model number, etc. Which would be fine if you were selling a $1,000 set of china..but this dude would give a 5 minute speech on a $10 item. Many..many people complained about his slowness and he literally said "I don't care". His auctions would be 6-7 hours long, and the amount of stuff could be done in 3 hours tops by a regular auctioneer. He literally stopped an auction once at 10:30pm because he was "too tired".

BTW..speaking of fees..one here charges 10% BP...3.5% to use your credit card...and 6% sales tax. So if you use your debit card even, you are 19.5% in the hole.

[mr_lincoln]

@bargainsandbaubles   I agree with @femmefan1946 that the auction companies that only use one cheesy picture are just breaking in to that arena.  The better ones have a system and know they will get more out of their lots if they provide more pictures and are forthcoming with any known issues.  The best thing to do with the new companies is email them and let them know their pictures and description are inadequate and will limit your interest to bid.

As to them adding time, 5 minutes is a lot, are you sure they are adding that much time? 2 minutes is the most I've seen.

When they first got started with the software they did not add time and you could actually dupe your competitor by jumping bids on them ... I did this for a while before the companies learned how their software worked.  many bidders would simply click the next bid increment so approaching the end of the auction I would simply bid the next increment until it got down to 15 seconds then jump one increment ... the other bidder would try what they thought would be the next increment only to find out they were still losing and they would scramble to try to get the next bid placed but by the time they clicked again and maybe had to type a new amount it was too late, auction over.

The other thing that has been happening is they are setting the auctions up like mini eBays ... instead of putting several items in one lot they break it down to individual items so the deals aren't what they once were.  Add the fact that locally here ALL live auctions are closed the only game in town are the online auctions and for resellers competition is stiff.

What I have found that works best is simply put your absolute max bid in on closing day and see if you win or not.  There are some lots that you may have to bid on the fly because you either want it or aren't sure of its resale value.  I know if I am bidding against a collector I will lose every time, they will pay whatever.

I recently had a list of 65 items on an online auction that I bid on and at the end of the day I won 14 lots and all for either right at or just below my max bid.  The downside is I have to wait a full week to pick up because of our Governor's ban on curb side scheduled appointment pick up. 

[7606dennis]

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@gwzcomps wrote:
Buyer's premiums are a total joke. I can't believe the stupidity of places that do that. The credit card fee I get, but don't agree with it.

I love bid extensions. The come in handy sometimes when it comes to playing mind games and trying to outlast someone 😛

Overall most of these rinky dink little auctioneers and auction sites wouldn't make it in the real world of eCommerce.

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Quite an interesting take on the auction industry you have.  I wonder how well you would do on a State Board exam to obtain an auctioneer license.  By the way, in most states auctions conducted by electronic means such as online fall under the same licensing laws as any other auction sale conducted within the state.  That includes the same penalties for breaking them.   

[bargainsandbaubles]

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

When they first got started with the software they did not add time and you could actually dupe your competitor by jumping bids on them .

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When eBay first came out it, became popular to "snipe" people which is pretty much the same tactic your talking about. Surprisingly I think people still do this. Back in the day, you were much more successful if you had a broadband connection over someone with a dial-up connection. 

[coolections]

Really not sure what you are getting at but if you do not like those auctions just don't bid at those auctions. I know here on Ebay auctions are booming for at least the items I buy and sell.

[bargainsandbaubles]

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@7606dennis wrote:

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@gwzcomps wrote:
Buyer's premiums are a total joke. I can't believe the stupidity of places that do that. The credit card fee I get, but don't agree with it.

I love bid extensions. The come in handy sometimes when it comes to playing mind games and trying to outlast someone 😛

Overall most of these rinky dink little auctioneers and auction sites wouldn't make it in the real world of eCommerce.

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Quite an interesting take on the auction industry you have.  I wonder how well you would do on a State Board exam to obtain an auctioneer license.  By the way, in most states auctions conducted by electronic means such as online fall under the same licensing laws as any other auction sale conducted within the state.  That includes the same penalties for breaking them.   

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What on earth on you talking about? Not a single person in this thread has expressed any interest about becoming an auctioneer themselves.

BTW, the state I live in (Iowa), does NOT require a license to become an auctioneer, and boy does it show.

[bargainsandbaubles]

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@coolections wrote:

Really not sure what you are getting at but if you do not like those auctions just don't bid at those auctions. I know here on Ebay auctions are booming for at least the items I buy and sell.

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Right now it's about the only place to find stuff to resell. All of the thrift stores, second hand and consignment stores along with on-site auctions are closed due to Covid-19. Which also means no yard or estate sales either.

[7606dennis]

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@bargainsandbaubles wrote:

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@mr_lincoln wrote:

When they first got started with the software they did not add time and you could actually dupe your competitor by jumping bids on them .

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When eBay first came out it, became popular to "snipe" people which is pretty much the same tactic your talking about. Surprisingly I think people still do this. Back in the day, you were much more successful if you had a broadband connection over someone with a dial-up connection. 

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Precisely why would anyone want to add additional time to a seven day bidding period.  The average bidding period at one of my live outcry auctions is under one and a half minutes.  How long do you want to stretch the thing out?