Beckett Media unveils Beckett Auction Services
DALLAS, Texas | Beckett Media is proud to announce the launch of its newest product line, Beckett Auction Services.
Based in Dallas, Beckett Auction Services will offer monthly online auctions as well as eBay consignment services. Monthly auctions are scheduled to begin in April, and consignments will be accepted starting in February. The auctions are set to include sports cards, non-sports cards, memorabilia and more, with a focus on high-grade modern/vintage cards as well as low print-run modern cards and sports memorabilia.
Beckett Auction Services will be led by 30-year hobby veteran Bill Sutherland, formerly the head of the e-commerce division at Beckett Media.
“I am very excited to work on the launch of this new company, and look forward to our first auction in April,” Sutherland said. “The Beckett name is a proud one and we plan to operate Beckett Auction Services with an emphasis on service, trust and integrity.”
Also joining the team is 25-year hobby veteran Rob Springs, who will lead acquisition efforts as Acquisitions Manager, and Traci Kaplan, who will fill the role of Auctions Coordinator.
To keep up with the latest from Beckett Auction Services, follow it on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beckettauctions
Twitter: @beckettauctions
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/beckettauctions/
For more information or to inquire about the consignment process, you can contact Beckett Auction Services at auctions@beckett.com.
Are they going to be held on ebay are is it a new auction website strictly for cards?
Simple question. What will it cost?
Right now if I sell something for $100 on eBay, I end up with roughly $90.
If I provide a card to sell, I imagine I have to ship it to you first also.
So for a card that sells for $100 on eBay, what would my net be?
Now obviously Beckett has the ability to publicize the auctions which I would expect
drive up the price a bit, but what else are they planning to do?
Would reasonable reserves be allowed?
It’s about time. Now hopefully it is done correctly. I slowed down buying because selling on ebay was so nerve racking. I haven’t listed on Ebay since September because I just got tired of the B.S. run around when it comes to the buyer not following through on their end.
A few question?
1. Will Paypal be the payment option.
2. How many times can one person or i.d. win auction and then never pay for the item that they won.
3. Is there a third party that the card/s will be shipped to in order to ensure that the card is in the condition that is described.
4. What will be done about non-payers.
5. How will disputes be handled.
Buyer’s premium?
David – we offer you the option to have us sell your high end cards on eBay for a 25% fee. We do all the work, we market the card for you, collect the payment and pay you via check. The 25% covers the eBay fees and the Paypal or other payment fees. We have been very successful selling high item cards and lots and achieving very strong sell prices.
In addition to the eBay service, we will be offering a monthly online auction using 3rd party auction software. The first auction is set to debut in April.
More info to come soon!
Thanks,
Beckett Auction Services
Richard – our fee for eBay consignment is 25% which covers the eBay fees, Paypal fees, other payment processing fees, our marketing, etc.
But your other option will be to send us cards for our monthly online auctions, which will being in April and will feature a 15% sellers fee.
We handle all the cards ourselves at the Beckett HQ and we can offer grading, authentication and appraisal services to help you out.
Payment options for both eBay and our dedicated monthly auctions include Paypal and credit card and possibly check and money order for the monthly auctions.
We will handle non-paying bidders in a very strict manner and will work to ensure bad bidders do not ruin the process for our sellers or our bidders.
Thanks,
Bill S.
Beckett Auction Services.
Joe – hopefully I answered some of your questions in the posts above.
If you have specific questions, you can reach us anytime at auctions@beckett.com
Thanks,
Bill S.
Beckett Auction Services
Thanks for responding. I was hoping we didnt have to send the cards out and the user could post them, and you take out your percentages. Im weary of sending my high end cards out on consignment. I like to be in control/possession of them at all times. I have been looking for another successful auction site for a few years now. We can all definitely agree that we have had enough of ebay.
I will definitely look at the auctions though, and bid.
Thank you for the reply, but you forgot to answer the question about reserves.
If I send a set worth thousands, I’d certainly would not want it to sell for a few hundred.
Additionally, what kind of promotion of the items would you be doing?
I look forward to seeing how your first auction goes.
25%??? i’ll stick with ebay.
Bill,
That answered my questions. I think we can all agree that non-paying bidders and how Ebay handled or I should say doesn’t handled them has ruined Ebay. As long as the buyer and seller are on equal ground all should be fine. I wish you guys luck and I will see how it goes.
great idea but why waste the time using you as the middle man and we all know thats a headache enough, and 25% to consign it to you is high in my opinion.
Richard – we will take recommendations on reserves from the sellers when you fill out your consignment sheet and we will work with you to make sure the number works for both parties.
As for promotions, we will be doing email blasts to the beckett.com community, email blasts to 3rd party lists, Facebook promotions, Twitter promotions, Pinterest promotions, beckett.com stories, press releases and more.
Thanks,
Bill S.
Beckett Auction Services
David – the buyers premium will be 15% and the sellers premium will also be 15%.
We will have an introductory sellers premium for the first auction that we will announce soon.
Thanks,
Bill S.
Beckett Auction Services
I agree with “Cashforgold” 25% is high considering you are using the same vehicle (ebay) as we can now. While I understand there is value to the name of Beckett, I don’t see anything different you are doing than Ebay and being another middle man.
This whole thing will be a wait and see for me. I will wanna see statistics on how your marketing is providing a greater profit than Ebay, etc. Not to mention feedback from buyers/sellers.
I will patiently watch as a non test subject for this new experiment.
Let’s say if people stop selling mid to high end cards on Ebay, and start selling them on Beckett auction or some other sports cards dedicated sites. Having beckett auction or something similar charge non-paying bidders 3-5% penalty fee (pre-requisite to bid) and ultimately gain a larger chunk of the card auction business from Ebay, I would suspect the consignment/commission fee could go down to 10-15% from the current 25% as volume increases. The point here is that right now buyers have the advantage because every seller sells on Ebay and thus oversupply of cards. Of course, its easy said than done as many sellers selling cards as livelihood and would rather take losses to pay the bill. Bottom line, if the quality goods are no longer readily accessible on Ebay for the collectors, then they would have to turn to which ever auction services sellers will be using and thus obey the rules of those other services.