During the past couple of months I've bought wine from Gray's, Langton's, Lawsons and Wickman Wine Auctions. I thought it might be useful to some people to summarise my impressions and opinions of these four wine auctioneers.
| Feature | Gray's | Langton's |
| City Base | Sydney | Sydney and Melbourne |
| Online Site | Basic, but it works. No sales history available except for your own purchases for a short period. | The best! Good facilities and resources for buyers, price history etc. |
| Auction schedule(s) | One or several auctions every day, some for one day only, some for longer periods. | Fortnightly Melbourne/Sydney auctions, one on at all times. Wine Exchange open for fixed-price lots. |
| Bidding | $5 increments, per lot bidding | $1 increments, per bottle bidding |
| Auction close-off | 10 minutes after the last bid on an item. | Promptly at scheduled time |
| Buying/Selling Charges | Buyer's commission 15%, sellers commission ???. | Buyer's commission 15%, sellers commission negotiable from 15% down. |
| Freight | $10 per item (bottle, 6-pack, case) 50% discount for consolidate bottles from the same auction. | $16.50/case Australia-wide |
| Pick-up allowed | No | Yes |
| Insurance | Not mentioned. | 1.5%, minimum $11 (optional, but cannot opt out online, have to ask for a refund) |
| Delivery time | Within 1 week | Varies, Exchange within 1 week, auctions can be slow. |
| Communication | Slow at times. | Good. |
| Returns | On regular "auctions", if faulty or mis-described, 30 day guarantee. Process is slow and convoluted though and returns are accepted at their discretion. | Generally no, unless whole batch appears faulty or mis-described. |
| Terms of sale | Title passes on payment and delivery. | Title passes on sale at end of auction. |
| Delivered cost of one $300 lot (ACT) | $300 + $45 + $10 = $355 | $300 + $45 + $16.50 + $11 = $372.50 or $361.50 without insurance |
For those who have been or are thinking of bidding on Gray's Online wine auctions, this article may be of some interest. It documents my experiences with Gray's wine auctions over the last nearly 12 months.
| Feature | Lawson's | Wickman |
| City Base | Sydney | Adelaide |
| Online Site | Basic, but it works (except for the freight calculator). No auction sales history available. | Basic, but it works. No auction sales history available. |
| Auction schedule(s) | ??? | Monthly |
| Bidding | $5 increment (mostly 6-packs/cases on offer), per lot bidding | $1 increment pb bidding |
| Auction close-off | 10 minutes after the last bid on an item. | Promptly at scheduled time |
| Buying/Selling Charges | Buyer's commission 15%+GST= 16.5%, sellers commission negotiable. | Buyer's commission 10%, sellers commission negotiable. |
| Freight | Early glitches in the freight quoting system are being sorted out to cope with the wine market, temporarily matching the Grays $10 freight for HFW wines, %14.50 to ACT otherwise. | 1 Bottle $10, 1 case $15 to most of Australia if value of sale exceeds $250, otherwise a $15 surcharge. |
| Pick-up allowed | Not normally | Yes |
| Insurance | Included in freight charge. | 1.5% if value exceeds $240 |
| Delivery time | Up to 21 days. | |
| Communication | Good, responded by phone to email. | Good |
| Returns | ??? | ??? |
| Terms of sale | ||
| Delivered cost of one $300 lot (ACT) | $300 + $49.50 + $14.50 = $364 | $300 + $30 + $15 + $4.95 = $349.95 |
| Feature | Oddbins | |
| City Base | Adelaide | |
| Online Site | Very basic, silent bid, nominate your top price and that's it. No auction sales history available. No Online payment facilities or account management. Invoice by email 2 days after auction close. | |
| Auction schedule(s) | Frequent | |
| Bidding | Varies, they suggest increments depending on anticipated cost per bottle. | |
| Auction close-off | Promptly at scheduled time. | |
| Buying/Selling Charges | Buyer's commission 15%, sellers commission ??. | |
| Freight | Fixed $13.50/carton, + mandatory insurance @ $2/$100 | |
| Pick-up allowed | Yes. | |
| Insurance | Added to freight charge. | |
| Delivery time | ||
| Communication | ? | |
| Returns | Auction terms exclude any liability for quality, mis-description etc. | |
| Terms of sale | Risk passes at close of auction, terms of sale exclude any comeback for any errors etc. | |
| Delivered cost of one $300 lot (ACT) | $300 + $45 + $13.50 + $6 = $364.50 |
If you have had dealings with other wine auction houses, I'd be happy to publish your impressions here if you send me the information covering the same factors I've used above.