I recently decided to bid in a HA auction on a Bronze Age book and managed to lodge a winning bid at $550. This, of course, gets boosted to $660 once Heritage adds its 20% commission. That’s a lovely healthy margin for them. Feels a bit over the top, but I knew that was what they would add. The only menaingful way to pay from the UK is a credit card, so they add 2.5% for that.
What I didn’t expect was them deciding to add another huge wedge for shipping. I normally pay $20-$35 for a single garded book to be posted from the US. Heritage has billed my credit card for $105 + 2.5% because they used my credit card again. Shipping costs were described as to be determined until they billed my card
Absolute rip-off and will never buy from them again…my first thought.
Am I being ridiculous about this…my second thought.
Not, you are not being ridiculous. I find those big name auctions to be nothing but a money grab. I realize that for most of their big ticket items, money isn’t likely an issue for the folks buying anyway, but still…
To be honest I do feel like I am being ripped off and it has ruined my experience. It feels to me that they may have hidden the shipping costs (knowing they were outrageous). Surely after all these years of operation they would be able to say how much shipiing one graded book to the UK would be. The act of adding the 2.5% credit card fee to the inflated cost feels like the cherry on the cake! Grab, grab, grab…
I’ve recently bought a couple slabs from Heritage as well, and yeah, their fees on top of fees are horrendous. I still think what I bought will overcome all of that very easily within a couple years - or even months, given what the market has been doing.
All that said, that’s a really high shipping charge to the UK. At least they pack well.
Tend to agree. I only use them if a book is particularly rare. I collect first appearances of characters from diverse backgrounds and really wanted a copy of Bumblebee’s from Teen Titans back in the 70s. There are only three in 9.8s and Heritage had two of them. I’ve ended up paying around 40% of the purchase price in fees on fees.
Never again! Been asking them for more than a week to explain to me why the shipping fee is x4 the average fee I pay. Still waiting…
Well, in a twist that I really didn’t expect - I have received a reponse from Heritage about the $105 + 2.5% shipping cost. This is how to make a bad situation worse…
Apparantly, the normal retail rate they should have charged to ship the book was $220 + 2.5%, but they discounted it for me!!! So really, I should be grateful.
Bear in mind that I told them I regularly buy books from the US, with shipping between $20-35. My Comic Shop charges less than that for one graded book.
I should also point out that the packaging was NOT covered in diamonds and gold leaf. Nor was it delivered by an Angel in Chariot. It arrived by courier, just like every other book I order.
Shipping doesn’t go up with the cost of the book, lol. It goes by shipping weight/size. Makes zero sense. Are they talking about insurance or something. Someone should report them.
Article points out the conflict of interests with Heritage and a video game grading company, not comic books but enough similarities to make one cautious.
PWCC accused shilll bidding on Ebay recently telling us as collectors/investors to be careful out there be it comics, cards,video games, beanie babies, meme stocks etc…