WATCH POP

Sold in Antiquorum auction in New York, Sept 24 03.
Lot 256 is a Datograph in platinum.
Lot">http://catalog.antiquorum.com/dettagli.html?idcatalogo=20030924&numlotto=256&desc_cat=1
Lot was sold for US$33350 including Buyers Premium. Comments on the price? not apples to apples for commentary purposes. Yes, that's what the buyer pays, but I see that as an incremental and separate part of the transaction. It's a tax of sorts, and a premium/penalty for catching auction fever:)
Factoring out the fee, it feels about right relative to the marketplace. With the fee, it feels high, considering availability and prices in the non-authorized dealer market.
it's necessary to include these amounts if we're looking at comparing human behavior. Reason: when many of us buy watches in any forum, we're exquisitely sensitive to those additional costs such as (1) seller's fees/commissions; (2) sales taxes/VATs; (3) shipping charges; and (4) Customs duties and fees. And as you know, the higher the watch price (and the more expensive your city, such as NYC), the more these taxes and fees will be; in fact, it's precisely those additional feels that often determine where we purchase. So, if I had my druthers, whenever anyone quotes an auction amount, he or she would provide the closing price plus those additional amounts, annotated and separated out. That'd give us the best basis for comparison. I'm glad you raised this point, Eric, because I'm not too familiar with auctions and had been wondering exactly what additional fees/charges (if any) people tend to include when quoting or discussing these auction amounts. Naive as I am, I was pretty shocked to discover the hefty buyer's premium when I visited an auction site several weeks ago and saw this for the first time -- it completely changed my thinking of auction price quotes and estimates (made me scrutinize them more).
Hope you're still loving the 1815, Eric,
-Craig ... that buyer paid $33,350 for the watch. Premiums, fees, whatever, should be considered. If he were to sell it now for $28,500, he would lose $4850, even though he would get a fair price for it in this market. As you say, Eric, that's the price of auction fever. You're so right. I think it should be included in the calculation. Its the auction house markup, just like the dealers' markup when you buy from a dealer. So its fair for it to be included.
and auction fever or no, I think most bidders do the same. Not sure about Antiquorum, but when Sotheby's reports sales prices I believe they include their premium. However, they exclude it from their pre-auction estimates. For watches currently in production, it really doesn't make much sense to pay a 15% fee on top of the price of the watch, assuming the base price is in line with current market conditions, which appears to be the case with this Datograph.
With rare or relatively uncommon vintage pieces, I'm coming around to also agreeing that the full price, including fee, should be referenced, not the base price. However, in some (rationalizing) way, relatively rare pieces don't necessarily have an efficient market to begin with, are obviously hard to come by, and to some extent the auction fee is an "entry fee" to allow potential buyers the opportunity to compare numerous pieces all in one pre-showing that they would otherwise be hard-pressed to experience elsewhere.
Hi, I am a little curious, isnt this watch listed at 44,000$ so how is 28,500$(may be an example) considered its retail, basically i am confused, cuz in the auction this watch went for well below retail and well below what most people i asked bought it at, os isnt it an awesome deal..??
Please comment.
Thanks