Auction House Consigners Recommendations?

I was curious as to peoples experiences sending stamps to auctions houses. Which have you had good experiences with and which have the best fees? Thinking about sending in a few of my stamps.

Please give a example of the type of material.
US??
Foreign??
single items??
collections???
All this matters...

I have a little bit of each. Thinking about paring down some but not sure which ones. It is kind of hard and sad.
So some places do better with singles than whole collections? Or is it just the value of stamps that makes a difference as to where to consign them or auction them?

Each auction house has its own personality and most of them are better in some areas than others. While some places do better with higher end items and others with lower end items, it isn't just the value of the item that matters. It also matters what countries the stamps are from. And it matters whether you are talking singles or collections.

You have to be far more specific about what you want to sell to get any reasonable answers.

My advice would be to look at their past sales and pick the auctioneer who does best with the type of material you want to sell.

Generally the consignor fees & terms are similar. Best to focus on the "right house" than the "best fee house" and end up with a mismatch between your material and their bidder base. The 8% you save on commission will be completely offset by a 10% lower realization.

I've consigned to almost every major (and "not-so-major") auction house in the US and have never had a problem with any of them. It's a highly competitive field, so if you have truly exceptional material you're in a good position to negotiate. For not-so-exceptional material, fees & terms are pretty consistent, the biggest exception being those willing to run lower value lots typically charge higher commission rates (logically so.)

Finally, many houses have minimum consignment thresholds. If you're just trying to move some odds and ends (you said "sending in a few of my stamps") and they don't amount to at least a couple thousand dollars (actual realization,) it's possible that few will be interested, or if so, will charge you a higher commission (so much so that places like ebay or BidStart will be better, and much quicker, options.)

Auctions houses can be slow - you'll have to have the material to them possibly months in advance and afterwards it could take upwards of 45-60 business days after the auction to be paid if you item(s) sell. There also might be fees even if your item(s) don't sell if you want them returned.