From Consignment to Settlement
Whether you are a lifelong collector, new to the hobby, or the recipient of an inheritance, the decision to auction a collection is an important step. We can help you make that decision. Thanks to the care with which we handle your items, Heritage also ensures that it is a safe and worry-free experience.
Consignment Journey
Get connected with one of our consignment experts and discover if your item/collection is appropriate for auction.
Once approved by one of our consignment experts, Send it in! Ship your items to the specified location. You will be notified upon its arrival.
Your consignment expert promptly inspects and identifies your material. Appropriate paperwork is sent to you for signing.
Our team of specialists review your materials and identify if any items need to be certified, authenticated, or resubmitted to grading services.
Once processed, your items are listed on the website. All information about your items is available to you under MyConsignments.
Your material is expertly described and photographed, and images are posted on our award-winning website.
When the auction is open for bidding - registered bidders can view and bid on your lots for weeks in advance of the auction. You can track this activity on MyConsignments. Signature auction catalogs are mailed to bidders and consignors.
The day of your Auction has arrived! Your consignment is offered to floor, Internet, mail, fax, and telephone bidders. You can watch the sale progress on HERITAGE Live.
45 days after the auction closes (30 days for sports), your settlement check is sent to you. Heritage has paid every consignor in full and on time since 1976.
After 45 days your online statement is available to you under My Monthly Statements in MyOrders. Your items are always available for viewing in our Auction Archives.
Consign Now First time Consignor?
Our Consignment Team Will Keep You Updated
As a consignor, the most important person that you will know at Heritage is your Consignment Director. This specialist will personally oversee every stage of your consignment, from evaluating your items when they first arrive in our office, to reviewing your prices realized at the close of the auction. Your Consignment Director kicks off the consignment process by sending an e-mail that announces the pending arrival of your items. This e-mail alerts the requisite members of the Heritage staff so that they can prepare to process your collection. Pertinent information, such as your name and identification number (for pre-existing clients), the expected date of arrival, any special cataloging instructions, and the insured value of your collection is included in this e-mail.
Security is Paramount
Most auction consignments arrive at Heritage's Dallas office by either Federal Express or U.S. Registered Mail, where an insured representative of our Shipping staff signs for them. Each package is delivered to the Auction receiving area and, specifically, to a member of the Processing staff. Once removed from their packages, your items are double-checked against your inventory to ensure that the consignment is complete, and then clearly tagged with a unique consignor number, identifying it as yours. If you haven't prepared an inventory, we will make one which is verified by a second staff member.
After fully imaging your consigned items (both for security and for eventual use on the Internet), the Processing staff ensures that your items are sealed in our Auction vaults every evening, regardless of their current status in the consignment process. The strengths of our Family of Auctions are weighed against one another to help us determine the proper auction venue for your collection. Our goal is the same as yours: to realize the highest prices realized on each and every item in your consignment.
Presenting Your Items to Bidders
Once all the items in your consignment have been assigned to a particular auction venue, each lot is entered into our computer system with a unique identification number and barcode. Once your items are entered into our computer system, Consignment Services generates your initial complete Consignment Listing. You are now able to review your consignment via our MyHeritage® webpage.
Your consignment is now ready for transport to our award-winning staff in our Cataloging department. Our staff inspects each item in your consignment and highlights all of its positive attributes through our world-renowned detailed descriptions. Of course, the catalogers must also provide exceptionally accurate descriptions for the benefit of Heritage's registered bidders. The catalogers incorporate all pertinent historical information and pedigrees in the description of your item - features that make your items even more desirable to bidders.
The Photography & Imaging staff is then called upon to photograph appropriate items in your consignment. Heritage's photographer works with our Marketing department to ensure that your photographs are clear and properly rotated, so they will provide a portrayal as accurate as today's imaging technology will allow.
Once we have received and processed all consignments for the current auction, it's time for us to create the catalog. Every item consigned to the auction will be placed in order as they will show up in the catalog and cross-referenced against their descriptions. It is at this stage of the consignment process that our Processing staff assigns final lot numbers to your items. Your final Consignment Listing is sent to you so you can also easily track your lots online using your MyHeritage® web pages. Once all items in the auction have been verified, the catalog descriptions and photographs are combined and are sent to the Marketing department through specialized computer programs.
Maximizing Demand
Many auctions are offering lot viewings at our World offices or important events prior to the auction. All of this generates significant bidder competition for your items before the auction even begins. If it is necessary for your collection to travel to the city where we are conducting the auction, it is packaged, insured, and shipped along with the rest of the items in the auction. Once secured on-site at the auction, your items are viewed in person by numerous bidders who will then bid on the auction floor against our pre-registered online, mail, and fax bidders. Bidders who qualify but cannot attend the auction in person also have the option use our unique and proprietary bidding platform, Heritage Live! ™. This software allows bidders to participate in a live Heritage auction from the comfort of their home or office over the Internet. They are able to browse and BID LIVE during the auction event against other Internet bidders and floor bidders. We will also accept bids live over the telephone during the floor session via a Heritage agent. These are the numerous ways in which Heritage caters to and entices bidders as they ensure that your items sell to the collectors who are willing to pay top dollar for your items.
The Best Part
The online version of our auction catalog allows you to follow along with the live auction to see the final realized price for each of your lots in the auction. After the auction, the Consignment Services department will send you and your Consignment Director a detailed report of your Consignor Prices Realized for the auction.
45 days after the auction - you will receive your check and a formal statement. Your statement could be found online under My Monthly Statements in MyHeritage® menu. Your items will also remain in our Online Auction Archives.