Dutch Country Auction Terms For Consigners

Not ready to consign but would like to hear about experiences with Dutch Country a firm I have never dealt with. The site says commission on consignment is negotiated? No set fee? Also a $25 fee on each lot whether the lot sells or not? $50 minimum starting with each lot and the $25 commission charge sold or not?

I have never sold with Dutch but I have purchased through them a few times and was always satisfied with the results.

Those fees seem reasonable to me. Most auctions have a minimum target for each lot and the minimum fees discourage people from listing things that may get low realizations. Rather than giving a flat $250 average estimate per lot, for example, the minimum fees may allow the seller more flexibility to decide what to consign, without forcing them to bundle multiple lots together.

At some other auction houses the commission is generally a set rate but can be negotiated depending on what you have. Consigning $1000 of mundane material would get the standard rate, while consigning $25,000 of a popular area might get you a more competitive rate to attract you to their firm.

Considering the effort to evaluate, describe, photograph, and auction an item, the $25 minimum fee probably barely covers their costs. If someone is consigning a few dozen individual stamps with recent clean certificates then perhaps the $25 fee per lot can be negotiated down, compared with listing the same number of collections or box lots that take a lot more effort to handle.

Interested to hear others' opinions with actual selling experience.

I been buying from Dutch Country for over 200 transactions over the past 10 years and plan to buy more March 10-12 ,2026 . Always had good service with them . As with any stamp auction firm ,they have set rules and expect the buyers to follow them . I have had returns but much less than other firms . They are good lot describers and I trust them . They ALWAYS get the check when due or like a week later .
Maybe the best firm to deal with ,of the five who I have accounts with .

The $25 per lot fee is a puzzler since this is not ebay. DC can simply choose not to take a consignment that isn't worth their while. While you can negotiate the overall consignment fee don't expect it to be less than any other House. Even if you were able to get 10%, the $25 fee on a $100 lot adds 25%, 10% on a $250 lot and so on. Paying $25 for passed lots is egregious. I would never consign to them myself under these terms.

Edit to add:

DC has 45 business days after the sale to pay you. That's nine weeks.

If they break your WW collection into 50 parts and half don't sell you may end up owing them money.

Hoping for more opinions from anyone who has consigned to Dutch Country. Is most of the material they auction their material as no one seems to have consigned with the them? Still having trouble with the house rules.

On a side note any opinions on Kelleher vs Harmers?

Yes.

I have consigned with both and highly recommend HR Harmer (are they still in business?). I will leave it at that.

The very best experience I ever had was with Raritan. They pay super-fast and are professional throughout the process. Siegel was also excellent.

I have not had a problem getting paid with Kelleher but have heard of long delays. Lucky I guess. My material is not for Siegel or Raritan. Looking at Shuyler Rumsey, Harmer and Kelleher. One note I am gathering info as I do not plan to sell for some years yet. I will have so far two different type collections under $5k total. Just getting a feel for the auction business today. I do not expect but a couple of auction houses left soon. Also expect no break down of lots as most will be single lots with a commission higher than the entire collection is worth.

Harmers International is still operating. Harmer-Schau is closed down.

An unsold fee for something an auction house gets wrong and for something that the seller insists on are two different things.