I have found this to be a very interesting thread and want to address several of the topics presented.
I started attending sports memorabilia shows as a collector in 1973 at Walton Junior High School in Garden Grove, California with the Southern California Sports Collectors Club. I always bought and sold but was a collector as I only would sell or trade duplicates. Later, I ran Teletrade Sports Auctions until we sold the company. We were the largest in the hobby.
Since 2013 I have run
www.AllSportsAuctions.com
where I am a one person shop.
For one thing, I have never had a reserve on a lot as it turns people off---both buyers and sellers. It turns me off when I bid in others auctions.
As a one person shop, I have learned to be open to any and all suggestions. I can't blame anything on anyone else. I have to make the situation right.
I treat any consignment as if it were my own. I make it so there are not five or ten of the same things in the auction. I will advise the consignor of this.
As a smaller sports auction company I often don't know what I will get for each auction as I mostly rely on consignments (95% of my collection I don't want to part with) so I get a little bit of everything sports---for the beginning and advanced collector, oddball item collector, deep-pocket or budget collector. I auction items for $300,000 and $3 and everything in between.
Over the years I have collected all the hobby has to offer and have contacts in each sports memorabilia genre so you never know what I will have.
I offer participants things that I would like myself as buyer or seller. For example, after each auction, I take offers on unsold lots.
In summary, I love what I do and collect more than ever! I want all my buyers and sellers to have a similar experience!
Sincerely, Andy Sandler
andy@allsportsauctions.com
(914) 388-2940