BREAKING NEWS: Lang's Auction Changes

BREAKING NEWS: Changes to Lang's Sporting Collectables Auctions

There are some exciting developments happening at Lang's and some major changes occurring. You can download the letter from Lang's at the bottom of this article. For those who can't wait, here's a highlight of the changes:

1) Lang's has gone virtual. There will be NO LIVE AUDIENCE at the Spring 2009 auction -- all bidding will be done on-line or through traditional methods (phone, fax and mail). No more confusion over whether a bid was won on-line or not...

2) The buyer's premium has decreased. The premium is now 18% (was 22.5%), which should save some serious bidder cash. As always, the premium for bidding through Lang's traditional methods (check and MO) remains 15%.

3) Lang's will ship its own items. Lang's will now do all of its auction shipping in-house. This will be a very, very popular move as it avoids the multiple invoices generated by an external shipping firm.

4) LiveAuctioneers.com will handle on-line bidding. Since eBay decided to close live auctioning, Lang's has partnered with the firm that had hosted the auctions for eBay. There will be no change in the format (only the items won't be listed on ebay anymore).

5) Lang's Catalog Has Gone Virtual. No more hard copy catalogs; they will be available for download in PDF format ($6.99) or by CD-Rom ($14.99).

6) The Lang's Sporting Collectibles Show is Cancelled. Due to continued diminishing attendance, and the shift to on-line bidding, the traditional Lang's Show will not be held.

7) The Discovery Auction WILL Still Be Held. The Discovery Auction will still go on as usual on 16 April 2009 at the Boxborough Holiday Inn. 1600 Lots will guarantee a lot of bargains to be found.

8) New Starting Prices for Lots. Because eBay is no longer a part of the equation, there is a new starting price system for all lots: the start Price is $10.00 for all lots.

9) Bid Increments Have Changed: The bid increments have changed for the better as well. Here is a breakdown:

$10.00 to $500.00 - $10.00 increments
$501.00 to $1,000.00 - $25.00 increments
$1,001.00 to $5,000.00 - $50.00 increments
$5,001.00 + - $100.00 increments

Phew! That's a LOT of welcome changes.

My personal opinion, as someone not affiliated with Lang's, is that these are all welcome and progressive changes. Lang's has clearly become more streamlined and better positioned to help this hobby grow by leaps and bounds. With the ability now to send mass marketing to 3 MILLION on-line bidders, this could be a banner auction...stay tuned.

You can download a copy of the letter itself by Clicking Here.

-- Dr. Todd