Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion The Matthews / Morphy Auction Changes

Mike, I don't post nothing like I used to and do pass any many posts but this post is nothing but a bunch of complaining that will get no where.
You don't like the increase call Dan himself! Call Dan morphy and complain. Nothing is going to happen complaining on this website!

Matthews Auction has made themselves into the premium auction house for gas and oil stuff. No one can argue that Matthews has auctioned some great stuff, and I don't mind having pay to play to add some great things to my collection (10% is fair).

It seems now because of their success the collector is the one who has to pay (and the collectors are the ones that have in part facilitated their success with consignments and purchases).

Just my opinion.

Why do we need to "grow this hobby"? As every (yes, a generalization)sport, hobby, etc. has attracted more of the "outside world", its enjoyability factor has been diluted and the costs of participation have skyrocketed. We already see an influx of people in it solely for the money and look at the effect that is having even upon our relatively small corner of the world. Many people, myself included, would never have been able to build a collection of any size in a climate of today's constantly escalating prices and fees. Add quite expensive third party shipping to these costs and there you go again. How about local and state sales taxes??? Suddenly we are knocking on 40%. Not a stupid nor insignificant concern from my viewpoint.

That is why eBay is still the #1 choice for selling . Ebay fees are still by far the most reasonable worldwide.

It's sad when an established auction changes in this manner. The excuse of course is the "value added" by the auction house advertising and handling of merchandise.

It will affect some bidding no doubt, but for those whose deep pockets are like running water they won't care. The higher value pieces will bring more money and the lower value pieces will result in the consignor potentially making less money as those who bid will stop sooner.

As a picker I don't attend many sign auctions because of buyers premiums, or when I do I simply bid taking that premium into consideration. More collectors will be doing the same at this auction house now.

this is the first I have heard of the increase... and I'm not too happy to hear it either. I would challenge everyone to at least mention some of this dissatisfaction to Dan himself at Columbia. and I wouldn't mind hearing from Dan as well, sometimes an explanation will help ease the pain.

i always understood the buyers premium for online & absentee bids... if you cant be there, you should have to pay for the service of off-site bidding. But an 18% premium on cash purchases on-site? That is higher than most the other auction companies, including huge ones like RM, etc.

I'm about as tired of hearing you don't post much anymore Jarvis, as you are thinking we're bashing Dan. You over blow things every time you post. No body her is bashing Dan M. There's nothing wrong with this thread, that's what oldgas is for. You don't like it, move on! Do you have stock with Dan ? This is just like the cable company. You don't see Social Security checks going up 8% a year.

I would be surprised if Dan had a say in the 20% buyers premium. I may be wrong but the way I understand it, Dan is working for Morphys? I also thought the auction company is the one that set the percentages. I do not seeing Dan as doing the rate increase. He had a good set up going, I do not see why he would change it that much if he was in control of it. I myself try to figure what my top amount for an item is, figure the premiums and tax and whatever else and adjust my bid from there.

I don't really blame Dan himself but he has been our friend for some time now. He has collected 10% from consignor and 10% from buyer which translates to 20%...some pretty good money. Now I agree with Jarvis, Dan is probably caught in the middle and Morphy is the one making this change but it does trickle down to us who now have to pay 8% ADDITIONAL to buy a sign. I wish I could charge 20% commission on my insurance sales. I hope they take a re-look on this. I haven't seen what they are going to do to the poor phone or internet bidder however as one person put it that makes sense if you can't be there and it is an extra service
Ray

I agree. I didn't buy a lot on the auctions before and when I did I have calculated my bids lower to cover the fees. These new fees are crazy.

Dan is a good person, but he has to take some ownership/blame for this as well. He entered an agreement with Morphy... and he is responsible for that agreement. I just really feel sorry for the cosigners... as they will be hit the hardest. I can change my bidding to adapt to the increase, but any way you look at it - it impacts the cosigners the most.

So I wonder what proxibid users premium will be... most likely 23-25%, ouch!

Some auctions charge 10% buyers fees and they charge 30%ish seller fees that equates to 40%ish.
I've seen that BJ auction does 20% buyer and a lesser 20% sellers fee.

Most of the time when the buyers fees are higher the sellers fees are lower and vise versa so that the auction house ends up with around 40% of the total sale.
The more "mom and pop" auction houses usually end up at 30%.
Eslay totals end up at around 30%, including payfiend fees, for the seller but none for the buyer.
It all just depends on what the auction houses' policies are and more of them are going for the bigger profit for them.
Eslay has introduced a new concept for auctions in that there are no fees for the buyer and all relies on the seller paying them, and many have gotten very comfortable with that system.
Which method is best for you, as a buyer, is up to you to do your due diligence and figure it out before bidding, unless you don't care and have a lot of disposable income.

Well, I'm bummed out. I thought this was a good thread until I found out that we aren't supposed to post anything that doesn't give us a warm fuzzy feeling. This is informative as the subject affects everybody’s pocket book and may affect a beloved auction. It seems to me, if you don't like a particular subject/thread, don't join it.

As prices in the hobby go up, so does the take for the auction house even when the premiums remain the same. The only reason premiums should rise is if the auction house itself is offering more to its customers (buyers and sellers). It's going to be interesting to see if that materializes.

I'm with K W on this; the sellers (consigners) are going to have the biggest impact. The bidders have to make the choice of how high they want to bid taking into account the extra premium and will probably pay the same in the end (bid + premium), but the consigners are going to see 10% less on their sale. I didn't see on their site if the seller’s premium has gone up, but as it stands now, the auction house gets 30% of every item sold. Personal opinion is that’s kinda greedy, but we live in a capitalist society and they have that right and we have the option of participation.

I wouldn’t put my $5,000 sign in their auction now, I just lost $500 more dollars.

Maybe another auction house might take petroliana away from them!
Aumann could make a come back????

Competition is good for the pocketbook.