I’m annoyed with Heritage Auction’s SELLERS! 2 2

[Xenosmilus]

Ugh, just venting. I have made numerous fair offers to winning bidders on books that say they are actively accepting offers. My offers for the most part have been rejected. It’s their prerogative I know but at least counter the offer! if you are not accepting fair offers take down the option on your book!

[Buzzetta]

3 minutes ago, Xenosmilus said:

Ugh, just venting. I have made numerous fair offers to winning bidders on books that say they are actively accepting offers. My offers for the most part have been rejected. It’s their prerogative I know but at least counter the offer! if you are not accepting fair offers take down the option on your book!

Sometimes you don't even know that you are accepting offers.  I finally figured out how to disable all offers only after two years of receiving offers for things I bought.   What was weird was that some things showed I was taking offers and others showed I was not... and this had nothing to do with the price difference... something that I paid $500 for showed that I was receiving offers while something that I paid $1000 for showed that I was not. 

[THE_BEYONDER]

21 minutes ago, Xenosmilus said:

Ugh, just venting. I have made numerous fair offers to winning bidders on books that say they are actively accepting offers. My offers for the most part have been rejected. It’s their prerogative I know but at least counter the offer! if you are not accepting fair offers take down the option on your book!

I’m confused.  Why are winning bidders accepting offers on their wins?

[namisgr]

5 minutes ago, THE_BEYONDER said:

I’m confused.  Why are winning bidders accepting offers on their wins?

Because they're broke comic book collectors with impulse issues?  

Edited July 16, 2020 by namisgr

[greggy]

1 minute ago, namisgr said:

Because they're broke comic book collectors with impulse issues?  

One time I was thrill bidding on a Batman Graphitti statue from the 90s without a box and I won it at Heritage by accident.

Thankfully, someone wanted it more who missed bidding on it but someone made me an offer a few hundred dollars higher so I just sold it to them before Heritage even shipped it to me.

Like @Buzzetta said, I think the default is to accept offers so you would have to turn off the accept offers option manually.

[october]

1 hour ago, Xenosmilus said:

 if you are not accepting fair offers take down the option on your book!

But what if I am only interested in unfair offers? What then?

[oldmilwaukee6er]

I took an offer on a book I bought in 2018.

I didn't even know that the option was toggled until the offer came in! But I started spending the money in my head and so I said what the heck... 

It took a month to get the money. 

[chromium]

I've been buying stuff from Heritage for two decades, so there is a lot of stuff that I get offers on, most of the time it's on books I bought in 2003 or something for 20% of current value and someone is offering me 25% of current value..hey that's a profit in my book

But I have wanted to accept offers, someone offered me what I thought was a very fair price for a book I kinda fell out of love with, before I could answer (okay I'm prone to procrastination) he sent me an even higher offer. Having never accepted an offer and being geographically challenged I phoned up customer service and asked them how I would get my moolah if I did go through with it. They offered me a check or if push comes to shove a bank transfer or even a wire transfer. Alas none worked for me as US checks (cheques !) are not accepted over here and getting money transferred from a US bank to my bank would cost me an arm and a leg. When I explained this, I was told that no need to worry, they would just keep the money and use it as credit for my next order...but I would need to spring for the postage to send the slab insured halfway around the world. I also asked if would have to pay Heritage's fee upfront or would they deduct that from my "credit". They were not able to answer that question for me, so I decided not to sell.

Turns out, weeks later the guy offering to buy it through Heritage was a boardie

[telerites]

Like @Buzzetta and @greggy said the default is taking offers but can be disabled. 

There is a minimum dollar amount set as a default also if you are taking offers which too can be .  It reads:

"Because of the minimum $40 commission per lot, all items previously sold for under $231 will show as 'Not Taking Offers' unless changed by the owner. To activate Make Offer buttons on all of your purchases under $231, click here."

[bobotski]

Its not any different from ebay sellers that post upper hundred dollar books with 'Best Offers' that come back to you with $5 - $10 discounts. Too lazy to set the auto-decline feature.

[Xenosmilus]

For the record, the book was bought for about 300 in 2017. I offered 800. The last sale was around 750ish I believe listed on GPA. One did sell for 850 on CLink last month. The heritage books is better looking so I thought 800 was fair but would have gone up if they Countered. That being said I get it now that the “accepting offers” is a default setting! I didn’t realize it was at first.

[bb8]

So if you sell a book this way does Heritage still charge the 3000% premium/consignment fee?

[roach04]

Man anytime I've seen anything I'd be interested in it's "sold last week for $2000; make an offer starting at $8000" (exaggerating, but it doesn't feel far off) so I've never even bothered.  Good to see some other insights on the process.

[Rosland]

You're venting in the wrong direction. Heritage decided to opt everyone in without asking first, so I suspect most

of the buyers don't even know (or care) about these offers.

 

[VintageComics]

On 7/16/2020 at 1:40 PM, chromium said:

US checks (cheques !) are not accepted over here

[chromium]

11 minutes ago, VintageComics said:

Yeah, it's been like this for a very long time. Basically checks have been eradicated over here...even domestic ones. I don't think banks even issue them any more.

I used to write for a US automotive magazine and they sent me US checks, my bank refused to accept them, finally found a bank who did and the fee was beyond outrageous, basically if it was for an amount less than $500 it wasn't even worth cashing it.

[Hollywood1892]

1 hour ago, chromium said:

Yeah, it's been like this for a very long time. Basically checks have been eradicated over here...even domestic ones. I don't think banks even issue them any more.

I used to write for a US automotive magazine and they sent me US checks, my bank refused to accept them, finally found a bank who did and the fee was beyond outrageous, basically if it was for an amount less than $500 it wasn't even worth cashing it.

I'm suprised Heritage even made that as an offer (checks) and your bank doesn't accept certified checks?

Wire transfers from Canada to the U.S is about $30 CAD, not sure what it is where you are, but from the sounds of it Banks over there are committing highway robbery

[Bronty]

On 7/16/2020 at 11:08 AM, Xenosmilus said:

Ugh, just venting. I have made numerous fair offers to winning bidders on books that say they are actively accepting offers. My offers for the most part have been rejected. It’s their prerogative I know but at least counter the offer! if you are not accepting fair offers take down the option on your book!

I think make an offer is a terrific program, but you have to adjust your expectations.   If these people were actively selling they would simply consign.    So that means they aren’t actively selling, they probably still like the item, and you aren’t going to get it without making a very significant offer most of the time.   You offered 800.   I wouldn’t be surprised if you got the same result at 1200.   Now at 2500, maybe it works out.  
 

I have been on both sides of the program and have accepted that I will sometimes get some great offers and sales, and if buying will have to make great offers most of the time to have any success.   As examples I turned down 20k for something I bought for 10k a year ago and am paying 25k for something the owner bought for 600 some years back.    It’s not for the faint of heart perhaps, but it’s totally voluntary after all.    Just remember that the psychology is different.    These are not people ready to sell, most of the time, and you’re going to have to convince them with money.

If you were on the other side and I made an FMV offer to you on a book that you liked, you wouldn’t accept either ?  

Edited July 19, 2020 by Bronty

[buttock]

5 hours ago, Bronty said:

I think make an offer is a terrific program, but you have to adjust your expectations.   If these people were actively selling they would simply consign.    So that means they aren’t actively selling, they probably still like the item, and you aren’t going to get it without making a very significant offer most of the time.   You offered 800.   I wouldn’t be surprised if you got the same result at 1200.   Now at 2500, maybe it works out.  
 

I have been on both sides of the program and have accepted that I will sometimes get some great offers and sales, and if buying will have to make great offers most of the time to have any success.   As examples I turned down 20k for something I bought for 10k a year ago and am paying 25k for something the owner bought for 600 some years back.    It’s not for the faint of heart perhaps, but it’s totally voluntary after all.    Just remember that the psychology is different.    These are not people ready to sell, most of the time, and you’re going to have to convince them with money.

If you were on the other side and I made an FMV offer to you on a book that you liked, you wouldn’t accept either ?  

Exactly.  There’s no expectation that anyone has to sell just because the offer is at market. I won’t sell most of what I own at FMV.  

[VintageComics]

8 hours ago, chromium said:

Yeah, it's been like this for a very long time. Basically checks have been eradicated over here...even domestic ones. I don't think banks even issue them any more.

I used to write for a US automotive magazine and they sent me US checks, my bank refused to accept them, finally found a bank who did and the fee was beyond outrageous, basically if it was for an amount less than $500 it wasn't even worth cashing it.

That's shocking to me in an age where banking is a matter of just punching keys on a keyboard.

I can understand putting a hold on a check (in Canada foreign checks are held 15 business days or 3 weeks even if they clear on the end of the sender in a matter of days) but it's odd that they won't accept them at all.

I had a customer in Australia who was trying to buy something tell me something similar and even went so far as to try to tell me that wire transfers for payment are next to impossible. I didn't know whether to believe him or not because in this globalized economy  I would have thought that international banking would have become easier and not tougher but maybe in North America (and Canada in particular) we're spoiled.