PH Auction Buying Fees
Discussion
Hi,
I have just been told that the minimum fee on PH Online Auctions for Buyers has gone from £295 + VAT (£354) to £595 + VAT (£714)!
For me at least, this makes buying any car on the site at under £10k unrealistic. A £5k purchase becomes 14% commission for an ONLINE auction which is madness.
Is it just me or does this look like a big backwards step?
I have just been told that the minimum fee on PH Online Auctions for Buyers has gone from £295 + VAT (£354) to £595 + VAT (£714)!
For me at least, this makes buying any car on the site at under £10k unrealistic. A £5k purchase becomes 14% commission for an ONLINE auction which is madness.
Is it just me or does this look like a big backwards step?
Edited by AllorNothing on Thursday 2nd January 10:53
PoorCarCollector said:
Surely you just factor the fee into the price you are willing to pay?
What am I missing?
Indeed, work out what the car's worth to you, subtract £714 and that's your highest bid.What am I missing?
It's possible that PH would like to move their auctions upmarket a bit, and thus are happy to raise the minimum even if that means losing some business at the low end to eBay or other rivals. After all, each auction takes up the same space on the site, regardless of how much the car ends up going for (and thus how much it pays PH).
I suspect that now they seem to have got some market penetration they're moving their fees to be more in line with other online auction sites - other than eBay buyers fees are common.
6% isn't even that high as it goes.
Just factor the fees in to the bid as you would with any other auction.
6% isn't even that high as it goes.
Just factor the fees in to the bid as you would with any other auction.
Seems the way for many places now.
Evoke Classics (the platform with Sarah Crabtree as a director) started with seller fees only, but in December, perhaps earlier, they started them. It's now 6.5% + VAT to both! There is no minimum though.
Their FB page still says no fees to bidders:
https://www.facebook.com/EvokeClassics/videos/its-...
Perhaps they had timewaster bidders with no fees so now, they will take a charge from the top bidder.
Evoke Classics (the platform with Sarah Crabtree as a director) started with seller fees only, but in December, perhaps earlier, they started them. It's now 6.5% + VAT to both! There is no minimum though.
Their FB page still says no fees to bidders:
https://www.facebook.com/EvokeClassics/videos/its-...
Perhaps they had timewaster bidders with no fees so now, they will take a charge from the top bidder.
It is right that 6% isn't out of line with other sites........but of the last 50 cars sold on PH Auctions 48% would have been below the price needed for a 6% fee. You may be right that they want to move up market, but the site doesn't yet have great traction (206 cars sold in 15 months) and this will push sellers of 'ordinary' cars away. The last car sold was a Beemer at £2,654 inc fees of £354. So under the new costings, the £714 fees would add 31% to the £2,300 sale price.
Of course, as has been said, as a buyer I can build the fees into the bid price, but that simply means it's a much worse deal for a seller and anyone selling at under £5,000 (4 of the last 10 sales on the site) will most likely sell elsewhere.
Of course, as has been said, as a buyer I can build the fees into the bid price, but that simply means it's a much worse deal for a seller and anyone selling at under £5,000 (4 of the last 10 sales on the site) will most likely sell elsewhere.
On another matter relating to the auctions, I notice that a lot of cars don't sell (I haven't tracked the % but it's enough to be notable). This presumably means that the reserve is set too high by the seller, which leads me to the conclusion that it's a buyer's market at the moment.
At first PH offered a guide price but this was removed. It would be very useful to reinstate this practice as it gives you an idea where you need to be and therefore if a car is realistically priced.
I once sold a car via auction (different site a few years ago) and the auctioneers explained that a car without reserve attracts a lot more interest, for obvious reasons. I listed without reserve and the winning bid came in practically bang on estimate.
At first PH offered a guide price but this was removed. It would be very useful to reinstate this practice as it gives you an idea where you need to be and therefore if a car is realistically priced.
I once sold a car via auction (different site a few years ago) and the auctioneers explained that a car without reserve attracts a lot more interest, for obvious reasons. I listed without reserve and the winning bid came in practically bang on estimate.
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