LADENBURG Automobilia Auctions not paying consignors?

Fantastic stuff.

 

Item

Looking at item 392 in the Ni-Cola auction finishing this coming Sunday it means the under bidder might have only bid 2000 euros…

 

Currently at 61 K Euros........ not bad for a paper about EF's urine.

Marcel Massini

 

Exactly.

Currently bid 61 and under bidder could have been only say 2 as they use this strange system beneficial to sellers and the auction house only. Not buyers.
Reason for high bid I reckon is because it’s signed Enzo. Mind you the next item is pretty well bid too and it’s only signed Ferrari.

 

Lot 392 makes the case for the idea that not everything should be saved.

 

Mr. S. and Mr. v.S. fighting.

Marcel Massini

 

Next, someone will offer Enzo's unwashed underwear.

 

But only Red Book certified, please.
And blessed by The Pope as well.

Marcel Massini

 

And DNA certification is a must!

 

Hm, afaik the online bid systems of Nicola (Tobias Friedrich) and Automobilia Ladenburg (Marcel Seidel) for the online auctions are the same.

If a lot has a minimum bid of 200,- EUR and you are the first bidder and made a maximum bid of 350,- EUR the system will show your bid to the public with the minimum of 200,- EUR (your maximum of 350,- EUR is at this moment only known to you and the auction house).

If a second bidder step in and made a maximum bid of 320,- EUR then he will “fight” against your (not public known) maximum bid of 350,- EUR and the public shown bid will "jump" from 200,- up to 330,- EUR (your 350,- EUR bid overtook the 320,- EUR bid of the second bidder; but your maximum is still not known for the public).

If the second bidder made a maximum bid of 400,- EUR, then he will win the “bidder-fight” and the public shown bid will be 360,- EUR (the 400,- EUR bid overtook your 350,- EUR maximum bid; and still the maximum bid of the second bidder is not known to the public).

When I’m interested in a lot I first made a very small bid near the minimum and then, near the end of the auction, a bid with the sum I’m really willing to pay. This works fine for me. Often I got the lot’s cheaper than my maximum bid..Or I’m outbid, but that is ok…

Best wishes,
BjörnS

 

@bs76 That might be true for Ni-Cola's online-only auctions. On their big auctions with physical auction days however, nobody can see your pre-bid. And in such an auction, I won all 5 items at exactly my maximum pre-bid which was significantly above the minimum...

So I assume that at least for their big physical auctions, your pre-bid is fixed and not applied incrementally.

 

Strangely, Automobilia Ladenburg and Ni-Cola Classics run parallel online auctions at the moment! I can't remember that it happened before. Unsually, they tended to wait until the other's auction was finished to start their own one. It seems that competition has become more intense.

Automobilia Ladenburg (from March 5 to March 16):
https://www.automobilia-ladenburg.de/aAPI/catalogs/de/5272fa3d7f7d168a25cf827b5663eacb/page/1

Ni-Cola Classics (from March 8 to March 23):
https://auction.nicola-ac.de/catalog129/

 

Well...as a consignor (past & future) I'm not happy about that. I hope they don't continue battling this way.

 

FAKE NEWS!
Nathan

 

Just FYI there's more than one Mr. S. on the planet.
But say hello to R. anyway.

Marcel Massini

 

A little bird said that one or two lots had to be withdrawn recently because items turned out to be potential fakes (letters/correspondence signed by "Enzo Ferrari"). I understand such paperwork can easily reach 50 to 150 Grand (if genuine) as there's a handful of very serious collectors for this kind of documents. Makes me wonder how auction companies check with consigners.

Marcel Massini

 

I was a bit surprised by the shipping costs of my most recent Ni-Cola auction haul, which turned out to be higher than the total cost of all items I bought. One more achievement for my bingo card. Shipping costs are determined per shipment, so they can't give a price or estimate beforehand. The weight of the items should be low. So, I am now eagerly awaiting a package in *spectacular* packaging. Some items were A2 size, so either flat or rolled that would end up in an oversized/non standard size package. Still... I have sent huge, heavy packages to Germany for low fares in the past, the other direction shouldn't be much worse. I'll keep that in mind next time I see nice wall art on sale.

That said, all items sent to me in the past arrived in good health, so no complaints there.

 

I'll let you know when I get them. In my case it's some posters and some other papers A4 size and A2 size. For the quoted shipping cost, they can almost put the stuff in a wooden crate.

 

Coincidentally the item I bought in the previous Ni-Cola auction arrived today. Not packaged in the best way for the shape of the metal object inside. Outside impact forces would be exerted on the item with zero cushioning. I don't know how bent it was beforehand, but it likely is more bent now and as it was painted, also not in a better condition.

 

I cannot say that I am surprised to hear this. My experiences with shipping from Ni-Cola and Automobilia Ladenburg have been similar. A few years ago, Automobilia Ladenburg packaged a fragile multi-signed 1956 Ferrari yearbook that I bought in a regular unreinforced FedEx document envelope. Naturally, by the time I received it, it was generally bent up with the cover detached. Not exactly the kind of treatment one would expect for an item costing several thousand dollars. When I contacted them about it, they were dismissive. At the time, Angelika Gumpert, who seemed to be doing everything, was completely overwhelmed and Marcel Seidel, the owner, came off a young and irresponsible kid who just didn't seem to be in control of (or care about) much of anything.

 

Wow not a happy result at all! Very sorry to hear about your experience with them. The old yearbooks are rather fragile now at the best of times as the glue used for binding seems to fail over time. The covers seem especially susceptible to failure along with that binding.

 

I am a regular buyer at both Ladenburg auctions and in fact just last Sunday bought more stuff. Over the years I have spent hundred thousands of $.
I have always everything fedexed first class/top priority and all packages have arrived in perfect condition. Never a problem. In fact, sometimes a huge box arrives at my doorstep and I scratch my head, did I really buy that much? But then I realize that both Angelika Gumpert and Marcel Seidel (Automobilia Ladenburg) take good care, even if I only bought some small item. All well packed. Yes I do pay extra for all the special treatment and additional services and I know that it is quite a difference to ship from Germany to nearby Switzerland, rather than from Germany to the other end of the planet. The only prob sometimes is Swiss customs but that's a separate story and certainly not under control of the two Ladenburg auction companies.
At Ni-Cola Auctions it is Mrs Nanni Sauer-Wurm that also takes excellent care of everything. Communication is absolutely outstanding, really, as is the overall handling. I really cannot complain.

Marcel Massini

 

That makes sense. I am sure that Marcel Seidel and Tobias Friedrich know very well who their top clients are and provide a commensurate level of service. The problem is that what happens for you, RS, CvS, and so on, does not necessary happen for the occasional buyer or one spending less than hundreds of thousands of dollars.