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Auctionwally says make sure you get paid for all your auction consignments
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Will your items be sold individually or in lots?
One of the biggest fears people have with consigning large lots of items to an auction house is that they may not get paid for all the items they consign.
To track your lots there is nothing more important than understanding the auction intake process and the inventory sheet. An auction house is generally a very busy place, when they get large lots of items they will tend to inventory things in groups such as: 5 boxes of China, collection of old photos, bottle collection etc. Let's say that in one of the boxes of china is a Meissen figurine and 10 Flow Blue plates. These are pretty important, high value pieces. Your job is to make sure that those items get entered on the sheet individually so there can be an accurate accounting of the important things at the end of the auction. By the same token, after the auction is over, you final receipts will likely be somewhat different from the intake sheet. IE: On the intake sheet you may have had 5 boxes of china, and on the final tally for those boxes of china, they may be indicated as "tray lot #1" "tray lot #2" and so on. So know that it's impossible for any auction house to do a detailed inventory of every piece in a large lot, but expect to have the most valuable accounted for, and expect a coherent enough system to show that' you've been paid for all of your items. One more thing, if you know the terminology of an important item, IE: you have Baccarat crystal chandelier and the auctioneer enters it as a "hanging lamp" ask to have it properly noted. I can't emphasize enough how much a proper inventory sheet can save you trouble later. I can almost guarantee that a sloppy inventory sheet will result in you not getting paid for part of your consignment!
Ask questions:
Ask as many questions as you have. Especially about how your items will be grouped together. If an auctioneer says that all of your valuable antique paperweights will be sold as a lot, this could be a sign of trouble. Why would he group valuable items that should be sold individually? By the same token, is he promising to sell your collection of Avon bottles individually, if so, maybe this is not as high a quality of an auction house as you thought. By asking questions you demonstrate some knowledge of the process, which should help to assure your lots get the attention they deserve. Believe me, an auctioneer can handle a few questions, he is responsible for selling 200-400 lots a night to a crowd of people, that's pressure. He'll be able to handle a few questions from a concerned consignor, but don't expect a lot of patience if your lot is of low quality. The better the items, the more attention they get, this is a case where bias is acceptable. The more upper crust the auction house, the higher in value your items have to be to withstand a lot of questioning.
When all is said and done, almost every problem with an auction lot consignment could be avoided with a good inventory sheet inspection. Reputable auction houses require you sign that intake sheet as a statement that what's on it is indeed what they've agreed to sell for you. Don't sign it until you agree with what's on it.
Thanks for reading,
AW
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