Catawiki

[Rob 3,152]

3 minutes ago, Nordle11 said:

Some good points there Leo, perhaps this will settle down as the euro coin hub of auctions.

- eBay eventually cracked down on the high postage fees by charging a percentage against your postage, too. 

They also say that you are not allowed to include expenses as part of the costs. When they stop charging fees and Royal Mail give a free delivery service, I would be quite happy not to include these overheads too.

[Nordle11 564]

1 minute ago, Rob said:

They also say that you are not allowed to include expenses as part of the costs. When they stop charging fees and Royal Mail give a free delivery service, I would be quite happy not to include these overheads too.

Well that's just right out stupid.. so to use Catawiki you need to offer free P+P and free delivery? 

[Rob 3,152]

1 minute ago, Leo said:

That's a good one for catawiki! I've seen guys with P&P charges of £25, for one coin

It is like every business. Costs have to be covered in one way or another. Either it goes on postage, or it is included in an elevated starting/reserve price. There is no free lunch.

[jaggy 528]

47 minutes ago, Rob said:

It is like every business. Costs have to be covered in one way or another. Either it goes on postage, or it is included in an elevated starting/reserve price. There is no free lunch.

Indeed. 

Atlas Numismatics, for example, includes post and packaging (within the USA) in the price. The actual cost to them is probably around $10 so fairly easy to absorb into their relatively high prices.

Incidentally - and a bit off topic - I was tracking a coin in auction and Atlas had the same coin, same grade, same TPG. The bidding took that coin close to the Atlas price but when buyers premium, post and packing were taken into account, the auction price ended up at around 20% over Atlas. 

Always important not to get blinded by 'sticker price' but to take all cost elements into account.

Edited September 20, 2016 by jaggy

[Sword 1,473]

2 hours ago, Rob said:

It is like every business. Costs have to be covered in one way or another. Either it goes on postage, or it is included in an elevated starting/reserve price. There is no free lunch.

I think an elevated reserve price is a lot more "honest" than an unjustifiably high postage charge. 

I am fine with some auction houses charging 20+ % commission. However, I feel cheated if someone were to charge £15+ for posting a coin.

[declanwmagee 122]

 

 

On 19/09/2016 at 0:17 PM, Peter said:

Declan I'm sorry it didn't work out for you.I would love to see a few pictures of Chez Portugal and let me know when you have running water,WiFi and soft toilet paper(I don't mean king size Rizla).All the best buddy.

Hi Peter - we have set up a solar panel charging a leisure battery, and are running an inverter off that, so we can charge laptops and phones, and run a portable wi-fi hotspot, so that side of things is pretty set up.  One of the villagers has lent us a little farm building that has mains electric too, which we can use as long as we pay for what we consume and give her a little something for it - peppercorn really..  I like to spend the heat of the day (well over 35 C in the shade today!) up here, get a bit of peace and do some officey work.  The place is surrounded by vines and fig trees so I am constantly munching nice things off the hedgerows!

 

Here's the view from the office...

 

 

 

 

 

[Leo 91]

What river is it Declan?

[declanwmagee 122]

It's the Rio Zezere, halfway between Pampilhosa da Serra and Pedrogao Grande.  It's dammed as a reservoir so the water level is different every day.  Never quite the same view from one day to the next...

 

I see you're Bristol-based, Leo - that's where we just emigrated from

[Leo 91]

Quite the heart of Portugal! Lovely place. I am familiar with the north of Portugal (I was raised in Vigo) but not so much with the centre of the country. I do know Coimbra though, it's lovely.

So you must know Brian Potter then? 

[Peter 615]

Looks the Beez knees I'm close on pulling the trigger on a place in North Norfolk.Apart from cloven hoofs and wimmin with a gait it could be Chez Peter.

[declanwmagee 122]

On 18/09/2016 at 11:08 PM, Paulus said:

I have a strong feeling you have made the right decision Deccers!

Don't need that sort of stress, I'll take a look at your latest offerings

Thanks for the support Paul!

 

I am having a bit of an auction session over the next couple of weeks to kick the coin business back into action, starting this Sunday night - there'll be a fairly wide range of material - some standard stuff that I use for visibility, but some little beauties too....might be something there for someone

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/declanwmagee/m.html?_sop=1&rt=nc&LH_Auction=1

[Sleepy 107]

Received the 1888 Florin I won on Sundays auction, cheers Declan it's a lovely coin, and fills a huge gap in my collection.

[Nordle11 564]

2 minutes ago, Sleepy said:

Received the 1888 Florin I won on Sundays auction, cheers Declan it's a lovely coin, and fills a huge gap in my collection.

No teasing, show us some pics!

[Sleepy 107]

Later today, I've got a few to take and post.

[declanwmagee 122]

5 hours ago, Nordle11 said:

No teasing, show us some pics!

It was this one, Matt...much scarcer Obverse 2, Davies 812

 

 

always amazes me how quickly coins get to and from Portugal.  It's really only a day more than domestic.  Glad you got it, Sleepy, and glad you like it

[Leo 91]

If anybody is interested, Catawiki are looking for an expert on English coinage to oversee their auctions.

Job offer

[declanwmagee 122]

ha ha - I did that job for them for a few months last year

[Leo 91]

I know! That's why I resucitated this thread! 

[declanwmagee 122]

I left in mid-September.   I wonder if they've got through another auctioneer since then, or just failed to fill the vacancy.

I do keep half an eye on their auctions just in case there's anything there I fancy, but nothing has changed much by the looks of things.  A couple of fairly low key sellers with a few lots a week, some headline coins that never come anywhere near the reserve, some safe gold.  Generally 15-25 lots a week.  I found it a very odd place to work - they were far more interested in number of lots processed per hour than any semblance of genuine expert assessment, let alone building long lasting relationships with sellers, which is what they really needed.  They never quite got the idea that if you're running a coin auction, it's the sellers who are putting the show on, not the auction house.  Treat your stallholders well, because without them, you're just a half empty village hall on a wet Sunday afternoon

I always got the feeling that they thought they knew best, and that the sellers were a bit of a nuisance.

 

To be fair though, I've been self-employed since 2004, so I'd probably be a bit of a handful for any employer!  Better off being a Lone Ranger now...

Edited January 19, 2017 by declanwmagee

[Rob 3,152]

Going on my own was the best thing I ever did. 30 years ago the wife said to me you keep talking about it, but do nothing. I rose to the bait and never looked back. Can't beat working for yourself if you are willing to put the hours in at the drop of a hat and have an understanding partner.