Posted By:
James Verrill
Wow. Where to begin?
First - the August 1st-August 10th, 2003 auction will be comprised of between 30 and 40 individual lots. That will be the case every month, as well. The lots will not be online for viewing until August 1st. The 3 or 4 items at top right are just there to give a sense of what type of material will be offered: pre-1920 cards, many graded, all very desirable to the serious collector.
There are 3 categories - pre-1900, early 20th century, and "bargain basement". The majority of the cards are graded by SGC or PSA, with the exception of bargain basement cards.
The specific intention of the site is to offer middle-condition cards, so cards are generally between a 50(4) and an 84(7). There will be a few exceptions - namely, cards that are difficult and desirable (such as an E92 Dockman Wagner featured in the September auction, and a T205 Cobb American Beauty graded an SGC 40), and cards that I personally feel have been undergraded or that offer exceptional eye appeal, despite some minor technical flaw.
I have the first 3 auctions set up and ready to go. After that, I will be accepting consignments, and subsidizing the listings with some of my own cards. I WILL NOT BE CHARGING A CONSIGNMENT FEE. Ever heard of such a thing? Call it 0%, if you like. I will simply post a consignment contract for folks to download, sign, and send in with their consignment. They will receive a confirmation contract back from me, signed, etc. The conditions will be that: 1)the cards have to be compatible with the condition and authenticity guidelines established by me (i.e., cards have to be "real", cards have to be "cards" - not magazine cutouts, cards have to be baseball genre, cards have to be vg-ex as a general rule, and cards cannot be graded by a disreputable grading company), and 2) you pay to ship them to me. Pretty basic stuff. Whatever the card sells for - I send you a check for. That simple. And, payment goes out immediately upon the auction close - no month long delays. I am sure there may be a few exceptions (say, the card is valued at $10,000...), but they will be few and far between. The intent of the site is not to make a bundle of money - its to offer an alternative source for people tired of "Reach", "AAA", reprints, cards from the 1960's described as vintage, cards with holes described as NM, etc. The philosophy is quite simply to offer better middle-condition cards, only pre-1920, only baseball, only authentic, with concise descriptions and clear images, every month. I am tired of horrible customer service, sellers claiming they don't know what they are selling, no responses to important questions, tiny scans that are anything but an accurate representation of what you are bidding on, and sites that are impossible to navigate. And payment is easy: practically anything but lira; PayPal, money order, check...
We'll see where this goes. But, my hope is that it will be embraced as an acceptable environment for true collectors to frequent and call home. Exactly how good the site grows to be will be largely dependent upon the consignments offered after the first three months have passed. So, start going thinking now about what you might have to offer. What can you lose? It won't cost you anything - except shipping (and possibly insurance).
Thanks to everyone for their support and feedback. I have learned a great deal from many of the contributors to this board, and I am appreciative. I have had more registrations than I could have hoped for, and I know that this is largely because many of you have supported my initiative, and taken on the responsibility of spreading the word. That, too, is appreciated.
Also look for my ad in this issue of VCBC magazine. In a couple of months, I may advertise in the SMR and Beckett, as well.
Regards,
James Verrill
www.baseballvintage.com