Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Buyer's Premiums

How is anyone being fleeced? Buyers know before they place a bid that they'll have to pay the premium.
The buyers premium is a tool that auctioneers use to attract consignors. Auctioneers can offer lower commissions to sellers by shifting a portion of the commission to the buyer. It also allows the auctioneers an opportunity to make more money because the combined sellers commission and buyers premium are usually higher than what the auctioneer can charge the seller in a non-bp auction.

I absolutely despise the buyers premium, but it's all above board. Buyers have a couple of choices. They can opt to not bid because they don't agree with the premium, or they can adjust their bids to account for the premium (and sales tax, and shipping and handling).

When it comes to collectibles the desire to own certain items outweighs the added expense. That was clearly evident with many items from Kyle Moore's collection bringing extremely high prices.
On the other hand the same auction house, with the same premium sold most of the globes in a 2 day sale for wholesale prices. Buyers are much more inclined to figure the added expenses when bidding on more common/less desirable items.