posted 06-16-2006 10:33 AM               

I've frequently found in most business transactions that problems occur during the process... but it's how things turn out in the end that matters. It's easy to complain that "the wording in a listing was wrong", or that return contact was slow, or that payments were delayed, or that items were damaged in shipping. But to me it's how a situation ends, how a firm stands behind certain principals, that really matters.

I sent several items to be sold to MastroAuctions a year ago for their August '06 auction. After the normal waiting period to receive my payment I was notified by Mastro that the buyer who had won several of my items was having difficulty making the payment, on account of Hurricane Katrina, but that payment would be coming soon.

After many weeks went by, and several contacts initiated by me were made, Mastronet told me that they had come to the conclusion that the seller was a deadbeat, that they were taking him to court, that they would collect, and that if I would choose to wait for them to receive payment that Mastro would pay me in full, with interest.

One of their emails, which I still have, states in capital letters that I WILL BE PAID WITH INTEREST. No conditions were given.

Months would go by and I wouldn't receive any updates with regard to receiving my check. I would have to initiate every correspondence. Information given to me was always vague, and I was frequently passed from one person to another.

Today I received an email from them that they are now returning my items, no apology, no check, no interest to be paid.

I've never experienced anything like this from any other auction house, nor have I ever heard or read from any other person of such an experience... has anyone else had a similar experience? Where they being paid was linked to the auction house's ability to collect?

posted 06-17-2006 05:09 AM               

Paul

posted 06-24-2006 12:47 AM            

I experienced the same *exact* thing with Mastronet in that same auction. I consigned a lot of Presidential signed books - and guess what? My lot ended up being won by this same dead-beat bidder that you referred to. I got the same e-mails from Mastronet; I had doubts I would ever be paid, even though they "assured" me I would. They have always offered to re-run my lot at 0% seller's commission or return my lot to me, in addition to waiting - which I did until now. I would be extremely surprised if the same offer was not made to you, even though you did not mention this. After realizing I will never be paid (the winning bidder has in fact declared bankrupty, and hence Mastronet will no long suing them), I told Mastronet to re-run the lot in this coming August auction with 0% seller's comission.
In regards to the overall experience, yes occasional bad things like this happen. This has been my only relatively bad experience with Mastronet. I've been dealing with them for about 5 years and I think by far they get the best prices of any auction and are good to deal with.

If you want to deal with auction houses who treat you badly, American Memorabilia and R&R immediately come to mind. Like Jason, I too once consigned to American Memorabilia, and I had to keep bugging them to get my consignment check, even though they promised 45 days. (Like Jason, mine came after 3 months.) Additionally, they screwed up the lot descriptions, had wrong pictures, etc. R&R also treats you badly because they will not let you send a scan before sending in items. Once, I agreed to send in my items without a scan. (I prefer sending scans in advance so if there is a problem with something, it doesn't have to be shipped back and forth.) They sent some autographs back, claiming they weren't authentic. And then when they send my consignment check for other items I had consigned, they docked me their returned postage (and it was $15+) for the stuff they felt was unauthentic, even though they wouldn't look at a scan in advance! Now, that is plain wrong! I will never deal with them again. R&R is the only auction house that I have ever dealt with that has ever deducted postage & insurance for an item the auction house felt was bad. Mastro doesn't do this, nor does any other that I've ever dealt with.

Try dealing with other auction houses. I think you will realize that Mastronet is actually among the best.

posted 06-26-2006 07:52 AM               

As I said in my original posting Kurt I have dealt with other auction houses, and the treatment I received from them was vastly superior to my MastroAuction experience.

After making the original posting here, and creating a weblog detailing the entire experience, and, writing the president of MastroAuctions, I have now receieved... an apology, and the interest payment that was promised, and a further explaination of this situation. (It turns out the deadbeat bidder in this auction bought a total of $500,000 worth of items.)

If I had a baseball bat, or a quote from Lincoln, I might consider using MastroAuction... (no, on second thought I wouldn't). I believe the returns are much greater when a space related item is sold through a space sale.

posted 07-17-2006 12:58 PM               

We are autograph auctioneers exclusively - and have been for 12 years - so I like to think that I know something about the business (here's the plug: www.alexautographs.com) ALWAYS read consignment terms carefully and remember that YOU are in the driver's seat. Without consignors, the auction house will simply go bust. After every sale, you should receive notice as to whether or not your lots have sold, and if so, for how much. Certainly within 45-60 days you should have your money in hand (it takes that long to collect it, believe me!) We start shipping unsold lots at the same time as we're shipping lots to buyers - it's simply unfair and unethical for anyone to hold your material for months trying to get some deadbeat to pay for it. Even worse is stringing along a consignor with promises or empty lies, or the old runaround.

Late checks? Nothing puts an auctioneer out of business more quickly. It simply smacks of carelessness, or even insolvency. Watch out.

A flashy website and mutinational backer does not make a good autograph auctioneer - care and attention to the wants and needs of consignors and bidders does...

Good luck !

Bill Panagopulos
Alexander Autographs, Inc.
[email protected]

PS Final plug: Now taking consignment for our October sale - low consignment rates, and no BS fees to put up with!

posted 07-19-2006 06:45 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by alexanderautographs said...
(here's the plug: www.alexautographs.com) ALWAYS read consignment terms carefully and remember that YOU are in the driver's seat. Good luck ! Bill Panagopulos

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Bill, just love the R&R information... still waiting for the COA from them (see earlier post). BTW; when u put in a right paren as part of your email web site it becomes part of the URL (which was unintentional on your part) and if one clicks on it., you will receive an error of web page doesn't exist. In future put the right paren (when needed) a few spaces after the URL (or leave it out all togehter) so when someone clicks on it they will go right to the page (and not think that something is up). You can go back and edit your post to correct it as well.

regards
dennis