Auction exhaustion
 

. . wow the last two weeks was a bit much. And yes, I am the one who was complaining in early January that things were too quiet. Don't remember as many strong auctions as we had in such a short period.

Anyone want to offer any commentary on particularly cards or types of collectibles based on the recent action. I guess I'd say postcards have never looked hotter to me than they are right now.

It has been fun watching the auctions. It seems like an uptick in all parts of our hobby for NICE cards. I still think there are about 12 billion too many 50s-70s Topps cards in the hobby but otherwise pre-war seems fine.

If everyone has run out of money by the time REA opens next month, well, that's just fine with me.

Just finished 4 auctions and took a glance and saw Heritage opened, man my fingers are hurting from clicking all of those bidding buttons.

The fact that so many cards changed hands at real money over the past several weeks is a good sign for the health of our hobby. Demand sure does seem to be meeting the supply thus far.

Interestingly, I can't identify a single card that has broken out and ran the last 6 months. Yes, expensive cards have stayed expensive, and most good cards have held their value or gone up a tad, but I can't think of a card that has come out of the shadows and exploded.

If the ATC had put out a set every year for 3 decades, you'd be saying the same thing about tobacco cards :)

Keep your eye on the M110 and Max Stein Cobbs in Heritage. I'm fairly certain they'll be getting run up next month. Woops, I mean they'll be running up.

Ha! Sky's the limit as long as you set the hidden reserve high enough!

One of the problems, generally, relying on realized prices is that rarely if ever does the AH tell you when a "sale" doesn't actually close.

Or when a sale "closes" but is actually won by the consignor.

Who then promptly relists the cards on a different auction site, hoping that the fake sales numbers from the prior auctions induce people to bid to similar levels.

I always worry about that with the "transparency" that we now get with pricing sources like VCP. It's a lot like the bond market. You can get some quotes and/or see some indicative pricing, but there are some prices that you just know are bogus and were manipulated in some fashion.

Does any major AH refuse to allow consignors to bid on their own items? Obviously you can work around that as a consignor, but does anyone have a policy against it?

Nearly all AH's have a policy against the consignor bidding, most of the platform's software will block them as well.

The consignors I know who bid on their own lots use different names when they bid. Or have their friends bid. Or just bid themselves if they have a close relationship with the auction house owner.

As I said, there's obvious work-arounds, but I was wondering about actual policy.

Here's a rare exception:

http://www.robertedwardauctions.com/...dinary-rarity/

"....This is an extremely significant Jackie Robinson display piece dating from his historic first year in the Major Leagues. It is also the ONLY example we have ever seen in forty years! This pennant was sold at REA in 2004 (Lot 65, at that time selling for $1,725) and has been consigned to this auction from the original consignor..."

I am not sure if anyone who read the REA description at the time caught this reference (or if they did, perhaps they thought it was just an error). It was not an error. I was so annoyed at the discovery I could not help throwing this line in on at least one lot. There were other lots I could have done the same with (and many other bidding and consigning "issues") involving the same "bidder" who "won" this lot the first time it went up for auction. I have to leave it at that for now, but I thought some might find this unusual description interesting and amusing.

Do you guys have any actual evidence, or is this all conspiracy theories? I've sold quite a few cards through various auction houses, most of which sold for very fair prices, and can count on one hand the number that didn't close. I'm not convinced this is as widespread as you guys make it seem.

I've even had a couple crazy runners that sold so high I thought I must have missed something about the card. I've already cashed the checks on those ones too.

Rob owned REA and just explained that it happens with some regularity. And sometimes the fraudsters openly talk about bidding on their own lots. And other times you can review the mastro bidding records online and see how often consigners bid and win their own lots. Really.

Interesting comment. I thought the same of a 1932 US Caramel Foxx I just won at mile high.

http://milehighcardco.com/mobile/Lot...entoryid=54773

Thing is, it is the exact same card that Mile High sold in June 2017 per below.

http://www.milehighcardco.com/mobile...xx_sgc_84_nm_7

How coincidental that the same card sold at the same auction house just 7 months from each other? Seems odd and curious if the sale fell through in 2017?

There was a time when I would see with some regularity lots from a particular auction appear very shortly thereafter for sale by a particular ebay seller, at prices lower than the supposed auction sale price.

Definitely the same card, for sure, but the earlier Foxx is color enhanced, by lighting I suppose, while the latest is a much more subdued. An attempt by the AH to confuse bidders into thinking these are two different Double XX's? Perhaps.

What are the mastro bidding records?

Some auction houses will waive the consignment fee on a card they sold to you if you choose to resell it in the future.

Heritage gave me a auction certificate for a T206 Cobb I recently won saying that if myself or a member of my family can resell this at a further auction for 50% of the normal seller's commission. Must present certificate for it to be valid.

Tell them you’d rather list it for zero fees somewhere else.

An emphatic +1.

I was going to say, who pays seller's commission anyway? The norm is 0% seller's commission and you negotiate which part of the 20% of the buyer's fee you keep (if any).

I was not by any means saying I was going to do it. I just got the card. I was just trying to contribute to the thread. I personally have not sold anything through an AH but if I would there are plenty of threads to advise on how to do it.

Postcards
 

I would agree with the earlier posts about postcards being as hot as they have ever been. I know that there are some early, very low pop Ruth and Cobb postcard editions out there that people are after...myself included. While some people aren't willing to add postcards to their collections, others have created a real niche that is becoming more mainstream. Many of the highly coveted postcards are now bringing huge sums of money at auction and through private sales.

From a purely esthetic standpoint, the postcards can be very nice. Especially the sepia tones. So much neat stuff coming to auction lately. Can't wait to see what REA has.

Just got some back history from Mile High on this card. It was part of the Brian Goldman collection when he sold his entire collection. So the previous transaction was an actual sale.

Thank you Mile High for coming back with me for this unsolicited information. Very stand-up of you guys for reaching out to me!

Mile High are one of the best auctions, that's for sure. I really enjoy their offerings and always have confidence when I bid in their auctions. I rarely ever win any since they get such hot bidding, but it sure is fun to try!

Speaking of auction exhaustion. Multiple more auctions have been closing all week, and the bids are stronger than ever. I got called out on some unopened wax today that I was sure would hit. Maybe it's due to the start of the season, but I haven't seen any signs of fatigue out there whatsoever.

Many good auctions houses to have fun at. LOTG had some hot bidding on some pre rookie postcards last Saturday. 😉 Did you try winning anything there?

I bid on lotg, yes, but I was called out of my bids pretty early on. There was nothing I needed for my collection, so I was more just poking around on some nice to have items.