You Favorite Auction House
 

Hey Guys.... I figured i would ask a totally random question. Where do you think the best place to consign some cards is. I have a a number of 57's 54's in decent high condition raw. Example 70% of a 54' set in true NM PSA 6-8 condition raw.

I normally ebay stuff my self and do pretty well. I just dont have the time and figured i would send them to an auction how. I figured i would ask peoples opinions i am not head set on doing it yet but i figured i would see what people typically do around here

-Ryan

REA is a favorite.

One of my favorites no longer conducts auctions - Barry Sloate was a great auction I looked forward to. Retired, huh Barry?

Heritage, REA, Love of The Game, Sterling

Not an auction house but I have enjoyed doing business with Sean Bassik Cards. He sells them individually (similar to Greg Morris), gets eyeballs, turns payment around quickly, and provides nice service.

With what you are describing, it seems that would bring back the maximum versus getting lost in a larger auction or being dinged with grading fees to have them slabbed for the AH.

Good luck to you - sounds like a great bunch of cards!

I would simply say that I would not consign cards to an AH that is foolish enough not to make a donation and advertise here.
Yes, on occasion I will buy from them ,but as a consignor I'd certainly be a little interested in why they don't shell out minimal money to advertise on what is far and away the most knowledgeable board on the internet to discuss vintage cards and memorabilia.

So Snap....Who makes donations to this site and advertising on here... :-P and thanks for the info guys...I just figured i would try to get as much as i can. if i have to pay x% to do so...great but that would be i get x% more typically which might mean a 5% loss off of listing them my self.

So i figured that 5% might be worth my time. plus probably about 25% of the cards are OC...but would grade PSA 9 OC so if they lot them how they lot them it could be beneficial than getting stuck with something. :-P

REA, Love of the Game, Brockleman, REA., Saco, Scott at Aquarian. . sure there are others.

If there are particular items you are looking to sell I'd PM someone confidentiality for advice.

The Mustang...... Oh, you said "Auction" House. :D

Snapolit1 - I should have been more precise... Commons / Semi Stars / High Numbers. NM or Better ( some are OC). And yes I could pm someone directly but I pretty open about this as i am still TBD :-P

300-400 (no dups) High Grade raw 1957's Topps (Parcial Set)
200 (no dups) High Grade raw 1954's (parcial Set)
300 (no dups) high Grade raw 1959's (Parcial Set)

I would post some scans and you might get more opinions. Your definition of high grade may be different than my definition of high grade.

PS, it's partial :D

OP - I think youll get killed at an auction house, they take 20% bud.

If you go that route I would go with a smaller AH so your cards can be front and center, selling singles and I believe Sterling only takes 10% and Lee has a good name. In the bigger venues I fear they'd get lost in the shuffle and you want someone that focuses on that era, vintage guys will just blow by those as I do. If they are as nice as you say then they need their own audience.

Also...the BST here can fulfill a lot of needs, just be transparent and up front...but this place can go crickets as well if no one is beating your door down. Real high grade 50s stuff should sell themselves...

I have not dealt with the AH’s mentioned in this thread but I have purchased several ungraded cards from Great Lakes Auction House On ebay. He sells only ungraded cards mostly HOF’rs but has a lot of followers and gets good prices for the cards he sells. I’m not sure what the forum thinks of GLAH but willing to listen.

I think I read a thread where he cracks slabbed cards and resells.


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I've sold my T205 set in pieces through the BST and had a good deal of success. List what you have, provide scans as needed and list a price.
No %'s and allows you to develop a relationship for future transactions.

If you decide to go the AH route, for cards id suggest Sterling, Kevin Savage. Some of the big guys, your stuff may get lost in the shuffle being ungraded.

Just my .02, I'd use the BST

Hi Steven,

I had a nearly complete set of W572 strip cards and Heritage charged me 5%. REA also was only going to charge 10%. And as it was an unusual collection, Love of the Game would have done it for free. I went with the big name in auctions and did as I expected so I am quite happy. I do have some other stuff that I am ready to consign so I probably will go with LOTG or REA as it is not as critical that I get big numbers for what I have. It just depends but nobody charged 25%.

Deciding on what auction house to consign to requires you doing your homework. Small auctions offer lower buyer's fees and a more prominent place for your material, but often have poor, or in some cases no, physical catalogs, and smaller mailing lists. My advice is always to go with the largest auction house which will accept your material and be willing to work with you on commissions. Obviously, the higher the quality of your material, the better the deal you will get.

That's crazy, I got offered 2 vig points on my 80k CJ set...good for you, you must know something I don't.

No one charges 25% to my knowledge.

I think if you want to sell and maximize your profits, you should get them graded. Maybe just pick a few of the better cards. If you aren't in a hurry, get a cheaper, slower grading option. But I think that in your case the grading may be more important than the AH you use.

I've had good luck with Huggins and Scott.

Nothing personal here, but if the auction house charges a 20% BP, that is 20% of what the buyer was willing to pay. It is still money out of what your item sold for. People can call it what they want, but it is still a cut of your sale. Most AHs earn the money, but it is the seller paying that fee.

I think you have to consider where people looking for your cards are most likely to be visiting. Check prior sales at Huggins, Heritage and REA (for example) for what you have, and see what the bidding activity was, and how much similar cards went for. I have had great experiences consigning to Brockelman and Sterling. But, my wife knows that Brian Dwyer at REA is who to call if I die and the kids don’t want the cards.

Thanks guys for the advice....And your right condition is all in the eye of the beholder. but as I am a condition junky... i just looked at it like this....the auction houses take 20%...ish. but they also net a high price.....like PWCC or REA or what ever they will get a high price for the card as they will get by default more traffic.

if they net a higher price... add in my time to list them... if i am taking a loss but i gain time it makes sense to me. :-) thanks for all of the advice guys.

I have had great consigning experiences with LOTG and Sterling, I also think BST, Brockelman and REA are top notch.

When I first started to sell I sent small groups of cards to multiple AH's, basically to test the waters. I would recommend for you to do the same (if the AH only wants to auction all of them move on). That way it will protect you from getting hammered on selling everything as well as you will get a feel for which AH fits you and your cards best.

Nearly all my cards were graded so I dont know much on the raw cards, I would ask the board for any horror stories selling raw cards through an AH they have, also ask them to message you if they dont want to say it in public. I did this way back and was surprised/shocked at the feedback I got, i literately marked off 5 AH's from my initial list.

Good luck with your AH search and sale.

I used to favor Heritage primarily for the depth and quality of their offerings, but no more simply because their mandate to include Florida sales tax. My understanding is that sales tax should be charged to residents at the point of sale, in this case Texas. I live in Palm Beach and Heritage claims since they have an office here I am subject to the tax. I have tried to find evidence of this office, is it a fully functioning branch or a PO box, but to no avail, and I have to wonder if they actually sent my sales tax dollars, paid in previous auctions, to Tallahassee or simply pocketed it. At any rate, I no longer deal with them, favoring my consignments these days to Love of the Game

John, there are a lot of reasons to dislike certain auction houses, but you really can't be angry with Heritage for doing what they are required to do by law. I would be extremely surprised if they were pocketing the tax money due to the ramifications if they were ever caught. You also need to keep in mind that Heritage does a lot more than just sports cards and even if one of their offices specializes in something else, it still affects the taxes for the whole company. For your info, here is a link to info on their FL office I got in 30 seconds of searching google. Florida Office.

DJ

If I have misunderstood state tax law, then my argument for casting dispersions about Heritage's policy doesn't hold water. and I do feel a lot better about them having a bona fide Palm Beach office. Still I feel I am at a
disadvantage to, say, a bidder from Wyoming, where I doubt they have an office, who can bid without having to factor in the sales tax 'penalty.'

No doubt its a disadvantage for a buyer to live in a State where the AH collects tax. Looking at the one person who represents Heritage in Florida makes it where they have to charge tax for everyone in that state in all their auctions across the board! Why wouldnt they just make her 1099 employee and do all their customers a favor. Huggins and Scott have like 20-50 reps throughout the Country. From what I understand employees are 1099 and only make money by the consignments they bring in. So, this way they can service many customers.

Jeff P now works for LOTG. Does this mean tax will be charged to people from Wa? Im sure many AHs have employees that live and work in different States. Question is does this mean they now will start charging tax where they have representation?

The law says who can be a 1099 and who can't. Typically a worker cannot be both an employee and an independent contractor at the same company. An employer can certainly have some employees and some independent contractors for different roles, and an employee for one company can perform contract work for another company. But the law states the requirements to be a 1099 and my guess is Heritage is just following the law. And yes, it does suck for those that get taxed on the front end of the sale. But there is no doubt Heritage is just doing what they have to with their full time employees.

And to answer the question of fave auction house, all of our advertisers are my favorites.