REA Adds A Third Auction and More Pre-National Announcements!
 

Hi Everyone,

We're as excited as all of you for the National to begin this week, but we're even a bit more excited than usual because we're able to make some important announcements in advance of the show.

We'll be accepting consignments and displaying Fall Auction highlights at booths 1425/1429 all week. On display will be highlights from two significant collections that we are thrilled to have been chosen to present. Be sure to stop by and see some of these items in person!

We're offering special consignor incentives for items consigned at the show, including generous cash advances and discounted onsite grading and authentication for cards and autographs. Key pieces will also go right into our display for added exposure.

Now, on to the announcements:

1) We're excited to welcome hobby veteran Calvin Arnold to the REA team. Calvin joins REA as Consignment Director and brings over thirty years of hobby experience as a collector and professional, including nearly two decades of experience working for both SCP Auctions and Heritage Auctions. Calvin will be based out of Las Vegas, NV, which will allow REA to service the West Coast in a more robust fashion moving forward. Calvin will travel throughout the US on behalf of REA and will begin providing a show presence for REA at the Long Beach Expo in Long Beach, CA as well as the TriStar Collectors Shows in Houston, TX and San Francisco, CA.

2) With the addition of another team member, REA will be adding a THIRD auction to the calendar in 2019. This has been the single most requested change from collectors, and as we celebrate five years since the addition of the Fall Auction, we're thrilled to offer another opportunity for collectors to deal with REA each year. The tentative 2019 auction calendar will have events in March, August, and December. More details on dates and deadlines will be announced as they get closer.

3) We've also finalized the option to submit offers online on any of the more than 35,000 lots that we've auctioned since 2004. Our auction archive is one of the largest and most diverse online, and this new system will allow collectors the opportunity to browse, identify items of interest, and submit offers for consideration outside of the auction venue. The offer is submitted to REA, we’ll contact the owner on your behalf (preserving anonymity), and if the offer is accepted, we’ll facilitate payments and shipping. There is a 10% fee for this service, which is withheld from the buyer’s “all-in” offer. This has been something that collectors have wanted to see as an option on our site for several years, and we're pleased to make it a reality and hope that it leads to some great connections. You can visit our website to begin browsing the archives.

4) There is one more day to participate in our collector survey for a chance to win a free Apple iPad or hobby reference books. Entries completed and submitted by 11:59 PM EST on Tuesday, July 31 will be eligible for the drawing on August 1. To participate, visit our survey page.

5) Beginning with the Fall Auction, we'll be rolling out a flat rate shipping program that applies to all domestic buyer invoices except for those with oversized items included. In an effort to counter major carrier shipping rates that have continued to rise over the last five years and to recognize bidders' appreciation for simple, clearly-state shipping and handling costs, REA will be charging a flat $10 for shipping, handling, and insurance on invoices of $2000 or under and a flat $20 for shipping, handling, and insurance on invoices over $2000. We will continue to process all shipments as we have in the past, with the highest level of care and quality with respect to packing and the quickest turnaround upon payment of any auction house in the business. Shipping, handling, and insurance has never been a profit center at REA, and we continue our commitment to ensuring a fair and pleasant experience for all buyers!

As always, we appreciate the longstanding support shown to REA, and we promise to continue to deliver the highest-quality material and to conduct our auctions with the highest levels of integrity and professionalism.

We look forward to seeing many of you in Cleveland!

Brian

Announcement #3 is a great improvement for your auction house.

Brian-Is item 3 a direct negotiation between the owner and the prospective buyer, of does REA insert itself and take a fee? If so, what fee does REA take on each transaction?

I clicked on the "Learn More" button on an item and got this:

Using the form below, you can submit an offer to purchase any item from within our auction archives.*Robert Edward Auctions will contact the winning bidder, present your offer, and attempt to make a deal on your behalf.

There are no fees for the buyer.*The dollar amount you offer, if accepted, is exactly what you'll pay (except for applicable sales tax due on non-exempt NJ sales). There is a 10% commission withheld from your offer (collected only if the offer is accepted). Robert Edward Auctions will cover shipping and insurance on private sale items.Upon acceptance of an offer,*payment is due within seven days*via check, money order, or wire transfer.All items will be inspected*by Robert Edward Auctions to ensure that they are still in the originally described condition. In the event of a condition discrepancy, Robert Edward Auctions may, at its discretion, void the sale.All sales are final.

This is an ideal resource for collectors who are actively seeking items to add to their collections but who do not want to wait for one of the items within the archive to potentially be consigned to auction. This fast, easy, and confidential method matches willing buyers with willing sellers to ensure that everyone is happy.

Robert Edward Auctions will make every attempt to contact the original winning bidder to present the offer. All offers should be for at least the amount at which the items sold originally. We encourage collectors to lead with their best offer to ensure the highest likelihood of success. It is important to remember that not all items within this archive will still be in the possession of the original winning bidder, and even those that are may not be for sale at this time. Robert Edward Auctions will provide a status update on all private sale inquiries within three business days.

REA handles the communications, payments, and shipping to and from when a deal is made. Buyer and seller are anonymous as they would be in an auction setting. Opportunities for negotiation will arise though we encourage everyone to lead with their best offer for the highest chance of success. There is a 10% fee for the service.

Thanks Michael

Brian, you have an offer sitting in whatever inbox it goes to. I’d love to be the first private deal you do via this function.

Hey Brian, great idea to allow people to make offers. Would it be possible to make an offer on part of a lot? For instance, if a lot had 3 cards, but I only was interested in 1 of those cards, could I make an offer on just the 1 card I wanted?

Thanks
DJ

Nice to see REA adding a third auction. Just took the survey and it was painless.

I would be interested to see if many deals actually happen this way. My suspicion is that people are either actively looking to sell or are not interested in selling, and that there will be a very high futility ratio and a ton of lowball offers that take people's time, but hope I'm wrong.

Thats great news for REA and for us collectors as well. Looking forward to stopping by the booth.

The free shipping was such a hit PR-wise, I am kind of surprised to see it go. Not that the new fees don't sound perfectly reasonable, it was just one of those things that seemed to thrill people and generate a lot of goodwill.

Guessing a small percentage based on Heritage's rejected rate which you can view on their site, but worth a shot!

Congrats Brian! Exciting stuff!

I would think it would be easy enough to add a feature to the program that only allows someone to offer what the item sold for at the auction (plus juice, shipping, etc) or higher. I'm guessing the only people willing to take less than they paid for something would already be activly trying to sell it and defeat the purpose entirely.

I have the same question.

Steve

Me too. I also want to add that while a third auction is welcome, I'm going to miss the October REA. I loved bidding on old cards while watching the World Series.

With respect to offering on individual parts of a lot, we'll entertain such offers on a case by case basis, and as long as it makes sense for all parties, we'll do our best to facilitate a transaction. We don't want to get in a position of tracking down $15 cards from some large lots that have passed through REA in the last 20 years, but I know there were some meaty lots back in the day that will have significant singles that may be of interest.

Brian