$0.00 0

Cart

No products in the cart.

Continue shopping
$0.00 0

Cart

No products in the cart.

Continue shopping

Heritage Auctions Review: The Auction Action Series

Woman standing near the painting and pointing at man who raising his sign during auction

For big-ticket cards, auction houses are becoming an increasingly popular way to sell. At CardlLines, we’re going to be looking into different auction houses to offer an in-depth review of what they sell, how they operate, what customers say, and more. We call the series, Auction Action. We will start this series with our Heritage Auctions review.

Yes, most of us sell our cards on eBay. But as we will see, that is not always the best option. To start, we’ll look at Heritage Auctions, which was established in 1976. Since then, the auction house has grown to become one of the most popular and trusted houses around.

What Do Heritage Auctions Specialize In Selling?

Heritage Auctions specializes in selling “U.S. & World Coins, Rare Currency, Fine & Decorative Art, American Art, Illustration Art, Vintage Comic Books, Entertainment & Music Memorabilia,” and more. Recently, a large part of that “more” has been sports cards.

The company has seen so much growth in sports that the sports cards and memorabilia section is one of their most popular. To manage the development of the popular section, Heritage has also appointed a Director of Sports Auctions.

When it comes to sports, here’s what they sell, straight from the source:

  • Vintage sports items from Hall of Fame players
  • Sports cards through 1969
  • Some modern trading cards
  • Player autographs
  • Game-used items
Heritage Auctions is one of the largest houses for pop culture items (picture taken from Heritage Auctions).

What Kind Of Catalog Do They use?

Heritage Auctions has a catalog for each of its major auction categories. For example, for “Sports Collectibles,” an annual subscription will cost $105, or you can buy the first catalog for $50 and additional ones for $25.

What Is The Schedule And Frequency Of auctions?

Sports auctions happen at a reasonably high frequency with Heritage Auctions. Currently, there is an ongoing Showcase Sports Auction that lasts until July 26th with 526 listings.

In addition to that, there is a PSA Set Registry Auction that begins July 15th and features PSA-graded cards.

More sports auctions are around the corner, too. While they don’t have concrete themes yet, they have start dates stretching from late July 2021 through February 2022.

Auctions for sports cards take place regularly at pre-arranged dates.

What Are The Fees For Buyers And Sellers At Heritage?

This wouldn’t be a Heritage Auctions review without an overview of fees. The buyer fees are calculated based on the final sell price of the auction. Fees range from 10% to 3%, depending on the overall value. There are also fees for sellers.

Finally, unlike eBay, they are very selective. You can only have an auction with Heritage if their team approves your item–and your auction has to sell for over a million dollars to qualify for the 3% mark.

What Are The Buyers Premiums At Heritage Auctions?

For the Sports Collectibles, the buyer’s premium is 20%. However, the premium is subject to a minimum of $14 per lot. So keep that in mind when buying on the site.

What does that mean? If you buy a 100$ card, you will end up paying 120$. Without shipping. So keep that in mind.

If you were to win this amazing PSA 9 Mantle for $250,000, you would pay $300,000.

How Do You Place A Bid At Heritage Auctions?

Bidding on an auction that catches your eye is straightforward. If you have an eBay account, this will feel pretty familiar. Here’s their process:

  1. Log onto HA.com.
  2. Using the home page, the Auctions home page, or the home page of a particular auction, search or browse for the relevant lot.
  3. Click on the link or the photo icon for the relevant lot.
  4. You will see a box, which allows you to place a bid. First, you will need to enter your secret maximum bid. If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to enter your user name and password. The secret maximum bid is the maximum amount you are willing to pay for the item that interests you. However, your current bid at any time will be the lesser of your maximum bid or one bid increment above what any other bidder has bid on your item. Then, click the “Place Bid” button.

How Do Lots Close?

Lots close upon the expiration of the online timer, but Heritage is also aware of a “delay that occurs between the auction floor and your computer.” Because of this, they will “will accept your bid up to three seconds after the time we close the lot (even if this means reopening the lot on the auction floor).”

If you’re bidding on your computer, the lot will close, and you’ll see a message in green indicating you won if that’s the case.

What Payment Methods Do They Accept?

Payment is a simple process (unless you’re a PayPal kind of person).

As posted in their Payment and Shipping Policy, “Payment may be made via MasterCard, Visa, eCheck, Cashier’s Check, Money Order, Personal Check, or Bank Wire. Delivery must be to the billing address of the credit cardholder. New clients using a credit card may be asked to provide industry references.”

Shipping times/costs and options

There’s only one posted option for shipping.

Auctions are shipped for a base fee, and then an additional shipping fee is added. Both are based on the final price of the items won. So, for example, if you won a $2,000 trading card, it would ship for a $23 base fee plus a $6.43 shipping cost.

Heritage Auctions has sold a remarkable array of notable sports card and memorabilia items.

Most noteworthy items they have sold

Heritage Auctions has sold some massive sports cards and memorabilia pieces. Their highest-priced auction of all time was a PSA 9 Mickey Mantle 1952 Topps card, which sold for $2,880,000.

Here are a few more other cards and memorabilia pieces they’ve sold:

The Peoples Auction Heritage Review

According to their 129 reviews on Yelp, Heritage carries an average 4 out of 5 stars rating. The rating accounts for the experiences of both buyers and sellers.

Throughout these reviews, most of the praises have to deal with Heritage’s expertise in process, from appraisal to format, subject-area specialization experts, and a smooth auction process. Both sellers and buyers alike (largely) state the fees are fair, and the buyer’s premium is one of the best on the market.

Of the complaints, most of the one-star reviewers complain of the same thing: Heritage Auction deciding not to auction an item that the buyer believes to be valuable.

See the reviews for yourself right here.

Keep in mind that Heritage Auctions will only accept highly valuable items for their auctions.

The Bottom Line of the Heritage Auctions Review

If you’re a buyer looking to pick up sports memorabilia from an auction house, Heritage could be a great place to start. They’re established, trusted, and seem to be fairly priced in what they do.

If you should use them to sell, however, is a different matter. First, remember that Heritage–unlike eBay–has to approve every single sports card auction, so they only sell big-ticket cards. So don’t be offended if you request a free appraisal and they decide they are not interested in selling your card or lot. Come back as we follow up our Heritage Auctions review with further installments of our Auction Action series.

Other Auction House Providers

Heritage Auctions aren’t the only option for sports card auctions. Here are some of the bigger Auction Houses:

Jesse Haynes

Jesse Haynes

Jesse Haynes is the co-founder of Solaro Shades, an Amazon #1 Bestselling novelist, and a lifelong sports card collector. His nonfiction work has been featured in Forbes, Inc., MarketWatch and more. At CardLines, Jesse’s specialties are basketball and football cards, not to mention making informative video and Instagram content.
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

CARDLINES NEWSLETTER

Keep up on CardLines articles, and receive exclusive content with expert analysis of hobby trends.

Related »

More in Reviews »

© Copyright 2024 - All rights reserved Cardlines.com / Media Techs LLC - Sports Card News, Reviews, Releases and BREAKS - #thehobby.

Important: When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.