Acker Merrall vs HDH auction experience as seller

Hello,

I am planning on auctioning some older Bdx.

I have come down to a choice between the above 2 houses.

I would very much appreciate hearing about peoples experience concerning hammer price,
their accuracy of estimated values etc.

It clear that I am asking because, like anyone, I would like to obtain the highest price for my wine.

Thank you so much in advance,

Michael

Depends, are you trying to sell authentic or counterfeit wines?

I think most important is to see what their seller’s commission is going to be. I’d send each house a list and ask them what the commission will be. Won’t matter if one house will get you 10% more if they end up charging you 10% on the vig (doubt it, but just giving an example).

But i’d send mine to HDH personally. I’m sending stuff for the December auction.

What Charlie said.
The commission is negotiable at both houses. Will vary depending on what you’re offering.
At Acker, there is a history of honesty being negotiable as well

thank you both C Fu and David.

I do know that Acker has no sellers premium. They do charge for shipping, which everyone does. They also charge a 3% “handling fee”. I don’t know about HDH, but I believe they, also, do not charge a sellers premium. I will call tomorrow to find out for sure, as their auction dept. is closed for the weekend

What I was looking for were people’s thoughts, experiences with how close their appraisals pre-auction compared to the actual hammer price. I guess I should have phrased the original post more clearly.

Tim: to answer a serious post with a supposedly witty remark, designed to impress that you know that Acker was stung by rudy wine…well…anyone with “half a brain” knows that. It serves no useful purpose and does not do justice to yourself, which I hope is better than your post would seem to indicate!

Michael, I find the idea of doing business with Acker as being repulsive. They were not “stung” by Rudy, they were in deep. That ANYONE would promote doing business with them on this board denigrates the board.

I was being kind in my response. It was not designed to impress. It was designed to express contempt.

100% agree with Tim.

Tim, I don’t understand why an auction house would knowingly sell counterfeit wine. It would come to light eventually and ruin their reputation. The operative word is knowingly, meaning they were aware beforehand.

I would agree that companies do really dumb things, VW “dieselgate” or Wells Fargo.
They are large cf Acker. Don’t get me wrong, I am not defending Acker, I am just perplexed as to why they would put their reputation, which is everything in the wine auction business, in jeopardy for a quick buck

Anyone who thinks Acker didnt know the wines were at best very suspect is naive, HDH might be a few points more but integrity is well respected.

Please refer to the Rudy thread. A mountain of evidence has been posted there. I don’t think it is worth rehashing here.

It has never been proven in a court that Acker knew definitively beforehand. And I’m not sure it matters. It is almost worse when an auction house sells a counterfeit wine without knowing. That shows they either purposefully turn a blind eye or they lack the skills or desire to do due diligence and authenticate bottles. Of course, with Acker, we are not talking about one or two bottles. We are talking millions of $ worth.

As to why people would continue to do business with them, I refer to your first post:

It clear that I am asking because, like anyone, I would like to obtain the highest price for my wine.

Michael, Acker made a lot of money on commissions selling Rudy’s fakes. As others have said, Acker had to know. Even if they lost money on returns and loans to Rudy that weren’t repaid, selling Rudy’s fakes rocketed Acker to prominence as one of the world’s top wine auctioneers and brought them more business.

And odd as it seems, their exposure as a conduit for Rudy’s fakes didn’t seem to put a dent in their business.

As evidenced by both the OP’s inquiry about the house and his reluctance to accept what is plainly in front of his eyes.

I think Heritage Auctions has a 0% sellers commission

When Acker, Merrill was a retailer named Acker, Merrill and Condit I did business with them once, as a seller. To say that it was a bad experience would be a serious understatement.

Of course you want to maximize the return on your wines. But is it really worth having to take a long hot shower using a steel wire brush to get the slime and stench off of you?

Dan Kravitz

I have always had excellent experiences with Flickinger in Chicago.

I have had virtually no experience with Acker, so I cannot comment from personal experience. But, I have to ask this. If you have one option with an excellent record for integrity and another that does not, why not deal with the operation known for integrity. For a few dollars different in prices (if that), why take the chance that someone will screw you? If a vendor has screwed others (and I only know what I have read), why take the chance that they won’t screw you?

I just read the Billionaire’s Vinegar. It’s a pretty good book, even though a bit dated now. It discusses all the fraud in the auction circuit. If you have questions about AMC maybe you could search for posts here from Maureen Downey.

I have been very happy with HDH as a very minor seller in the grand scheme of things. Customer service, etc. has been great.

I would also say that if the thread title was ‘Acker Merrall vs HDH auction experience as buyer’ the answer to the question might be obvious.

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I don’t think most criminals start out thinking they will be caught.

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Well said Poppy. During the Rudy days it was crazy with no regard other than making $$$. I would never deal with Acker even for a healthy profit. I like sleeping well at night…