LADENBURG Automobilia Auctions not paying consignors?

Yes, it's all true. "Angelika" apparently does everything at Automobilia Ladenburg. As a result, she seems completely overwhelmed and does plenty of things badly, or not at all.

Having said that, I guess we are getting what we are paying for with Automobilia Ladenburg. What do I mean by that? What I mean, is that they are CHEAP compared to the other operators out there. My most recently experience with RM Sotheby's, at their Nigel Mansell sale just a couple of days ago, has been a real education. Compared to Automobilia Ladenburg's 16% commission and reasonably priced in-house shipping, RM Sotheby's hits you up with a 2o% commission, UK VAT (5-20%) even if you are not a UK resident, a GBP 75 administrative fee per lot, a mandatory 4% currency conversion charge even if you would prefer to pay in GBP, and mandatory third-party shipping with a single designated vendor who charges rates that are easily four times higher than market rates.

Admittedly, the girls you interact with at RM Sotheby's are much friendlier (and probably younger and prettier) than Angelika and company. But, you're PAYING for it...

 

These guys have been at this for so long….how can they be so technologically out of date and so unresponsive? They sound like they belong in a Monty Python skit…and that was 40 years ago. “Allo. I’m Cyril St. John-Smith, head of tea brewing and pipe cleaner curation here at Bonham’s, late of the Ministry of Silly Walks. At Bonham’s our motto is, ‘We’re not happy unless you’re not happy.’ We don’t just say it. We believe it!”

 

Very good point. Not only do you have to register well in advance with the likes of Gooding, RM, and Bonham's, but they require a whole raft of documentation - bank letter of guarantee, copy of passport and driver's license, and so on and so forth - that leave you feeling a bit like you have run the gauntlet even before anything actually begins.

 

My experience is very limited compared with others here, but I bid on a Ferrari dealer directory from the early ‘70s at RM. It was pretty seamless. I ignored all the pre-auction nonsense and just contacted a car specialist with whom I’d had some prior contact. He set me up with a phone bidder representative, she called me when the lot bidding started, guided me through it and the item was mine after a few bids. And there was almost nothing in it for them as it was less than $300. The packing and shipping experience was less satisfactory but eventually it was sorted.

 

That has to do with the often strict international money laundering laws. And the KYC identification rules.

Marcel Massini

 

After a terrible experience trying to bid using RM Sotheby's online interface, I think the process you describe here would be the only way I would participate in a RM Sotheby's sale (if not in person). They clearly have not spent serious effort on testing and proving out their online auctions interface.

I hope this doesn't derail the thread too much but it seems topical and I've been wanting to share this experience as a warning for a while now. This was my experience with online bidding on their recent Garagista sale. I signed up to bid for one specific part that would have been the finishing touch for a good friend and customer's restoration. It's something that is almost impossible to find in the condition offered and the timing was such that finding this part was holding up completion of the car. Needless to say, I was highly motivated. I carefully registered, jumped through all hoops and personally corresponded with staff to provide the required bidder documentation. As the auction closed, I entered my bid, confirmed that the bid was accepted and current high bid changed. The auction closed with no further bids and I was pleased that I seemed to win the lot at a price significantly below what I was prepared to spend. This quickly turned to confusion as I went into my history and did not see the item under "Lots won", however the bid for the hammer price was visible in my bid history. I quickly contacted RM and was informed that as soon as my bid was entered, it was dropped in favor of a previously placed absentee bid for the same amount. There was no indication on the web bidding interface that this had happened and as mentioned previously the bid was accepted by the web interface as it appeared in my bid history. So basically what happened was a silent rejection of my bid with no indication that I was not actually the high bidder. Of course, I was furious. RM staff were polite and courteous (as was I) but also completely unhelpful and unwilling to acknowledge this was a bug or at least a major interface design oversight. I wonder how many others have lost auctions because of this feature and how much revenue it has cost RM?

I will also support from experience the previous comments in this thread that the major auction houses are not interested in correcting catalog descriptions or even doing the basic courtesy of confirming facts with people they mention by name in auction descriptions.

 

I have had exact same, identical experience too. Different auction house, however.

Marcel Massini

 

The worst by far in my experience is Mecum. They screwed me on two lots I bid high and should have legitimately won, and then lied to me about what happened. To say they were, and are horrible is much too polite.

My preference is in person bidding, but that is most often not possible, so I then try to phone bid in US and UK auctions, but sometimes am forced to bid online.

 

50.
I say this not to criticize your post, but rather the auction house.

 

In regard to the tremendous difficulties many FC members experienced while registering for an auction, I would like to share how I was registered as a bidder without ever making any attempt to do so (!!!): at Gooding & Company recently.

I bid online unsuccessfully for an item one or two years ago at a Gooding auction (registering was no problem then). Now recently, on September 25, I received an email telling me that I could register for the 'Gooding Geared UK-Based Automobilia Sale'. I didn't respond, only to receive confirmation as a bidder 30 minutes later! And another ten minutes later, I received proof that I would be allowed to bid!!! I was astonished, because I didn't do anything.

After that I read the first email again, which said:

"I wanted to personally reach out to you as a previous successful registered bidder and let you know that I am working on registering you to bid as a courtesy if you have not already should you like to do any bidding - of course, no pressure."

Any questions ...?

 

I got the exact same emails and courtesy registration for Gooding's recent automobilia sale (linked below). I think what happened there was that very few people registered in the usual manner, so they became rather desperate. In the end, it appeared not to work very well as lot after lot went for 10% of the estimate, or less! Most, if not all, of the lots came from Simon Khachadourian of the Pullmann Gallery in London. I am sure that he was more than a little disappointed with the final result...

https://www.goodingco.com/auction/realized/geared-online-art-collectibles-lifestyle

 

Yes, I also received a similar unsolicited email notifying me that I was approved to bid.... I did not bid on anything. I have registered and bid before with Gooding, and have also consigned items with them, so I thought this was sent to me because of that, but maybe not?
I, and a few friends recognized that many of the items if not all came from Khachadourian. I firmly believe that this auction was not properly marketed/promoted, which unfortunately seems to be s.o.p. Gooding's "Geared Online" auctions as well for almost all other auction houses these days. There is more Gooding could have and should have done to have made the auction more successful. Since they are not in the general automobilia arena, they need to do a lot more to properly promote. They truly don't realize or understand that they need to do a lot more than just rely on limited social media and their company brand/name!! Most all lots had completely lacking piss-poor descriptions. I could write a lot about this, but what's the point?

 

Is Pullman Gallery liquidating?

 

That Lot with FIVE copies of "Piloti Che Gente" couldn't clear $1000?

OTOH my little crystal cars made serious $$$$
Wow....just wow....

 

No kidding, but that was a disaster for the seller.

 

Not that I am aware of, but I really do not know. Establishing absolutely miserable secondary market values from sales like this certainly can not help their business model, as they pretty fairly destroy any perceived value one might attach to their offerings.

 

Vintage posters, generally speaking, seem to have been on a downward trajectory for some years. Tony Singer also consigned a good number of them with RM in the 2019-2020 period. I picked up some desirable ones that went for roughly 1/4th -1/3rd of what he was initially asking. This recent sale, though, was much worse. Many hammered for 1/10th, or less, of what the original ask would have been.

 

Possibly! We might need to coordinate beforehand next time...

 

"Is Pullman Gallery liquidating?" - No, he has/had a separate storage facility in London. The lease was ending and renewal was uneconomic.

 

Looked like a lot of items in the Pullman sale were many things he had for a long time and had not been able to sell, and was just clearing out. It certainly didn't help some of the general automotive collectibles market, as well as the auto art (paintings & posters) and Dexter Brown market by offering so many of Dexter's pieces at once and at no reserve. Dumping & saturating.