What is the current state of prices??

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

i would not have been happy had i consigned a 21 exhibit ruth to rea!

REA used to have an unwritten policy not to replicate like that in the not so distant past. I hope they are at least disclosing to consignors, at some point, that there will be similar cards in the auction. I understand from their perspective to take everything they can because if they don't they essentially hand the consignment over to a competitor. I would have to think having 3 of any card favors the buyers and not the sellers.

[puckpaul]

Better than 8 red Cobbs I guess…?

[oldjudge]

I think REA was the first to break that policy when they auctioned off the five (?) Cobbs with Cobb backs in the same sale. REA is still a great auction but in my mind it is not like it used to be. Years ago I was excited to get the catalog because of all the rarities it would contain, real rarities not condition scarcities. Now my reaction is to do some stretching so I don’t pull a muscle trying to lift the catalog off my doorstep. LOL, age could have something to do with that too.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

I think REA was the first to break that policy when they auctioned off the five (?) Cobbs with Cobb backs in the same sale. REA is still a great auction but in my mind it is not like it used to be. Years ago I was excited to get the catalog because of all the rarities it would contain, real rarities not condition scarcities. Now my reaction is to do some stretching so I don’t pull a muscle trying to lift the catalog off my doorstep. LOL, age could have something to do with that too.

REA has a lot more competition than they used to have which might explain the lack or true rarities and as I posted above, I can see it both ways on the heavy replication of material.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

age could have something to do with that too.

"You're only as old as the woman you feel"--Groucho

[MikeGarcia]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

"You're only as old as the woman you feel"--Groucho

.." Are you a widow ? Did he leave you any money ? Answer the second question first."


,,,

[oldjudge]

I get your points

[MACollector]

Don’t tell Whitey Ford collectors the sky is falling….I thought his 1951 Bowman PSA 8.5 rookie would do well but it exceeded my expectations despite this softer market. It sold for $42k vs the last 8 selling for $18k not long ago. Quite a premium for the half grade but considering there are only pop 3 of them and 3 PSA 9’s higher you can see why it went for a 2.3x multiple due to relative scarcity vs 49 straight PSA 8s. The bigger the relative pop scarcity, the bigger the premium seems to be a good rule of thumb.

[anchorednw]

Originally Posted by Lorewalker

REA used to have an unwritten policy not to replicate like that in the not so distant past. I hope they are at least disclosing to consignors, at some point, that there will be similar cards in the auction. I understand from their perspective to take everything they can because if they don't they essentially hand the consignment over to a competitor. I would have to think having 3 of any card favors the buyers and not the sellers.

The short answer to this is no, they do not disclose when other copies of same card being auctioned. One major reason I would be very leery of ever consigning anything to REA, unless a true rare or scarce piece. They simply will not disclose and will load an auction with same cards all the time now.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by anchorednw

The short answer to this is no, they do not disclose when other copies of same card being auctioned. One major reason I would be very leery of ever consigning anything to REA, unless a true rare or scarce piece. They simply will not disclose and will load an auction with same cards all the time now.

Wow that is disappointing. Sounds like you have had a first hand experience with that and duly noted. Appreciate your sharing. So might many other people who read this.

[anchorednw]

Originally Posted by Lorewalker

Wow that is disappointing. Sounds like you have had a first hand experience with that and duly noted. Appreciate your sharing. So might many other people who read this.

Unfortunately, I do and have heard from countless others as well. It's a great auction for buyers of said types of cards (more popular, not as scarce, etc), but for sellers, I would stay clear because of this practice.

It's one thing to have multiple cards of same in auction, it's another thing not to notify or warn. The fact they don't says a lot. Can you imagine if they did and how many people would ask to pull out, especially based on how they are loading auctions last year.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by anchorednw

Unfortunately, I do and have heard from countless others as well. It's a great auction for buyers of said types of cards (more popular, not as scarce, etc), but for sellers, I would stay clear because of this practice.

It's one thing to have multiple cards of same in auction, it's another thing not to notify or warn. The fact they don't says a lot. Can you imagine if they did and how many people would ask to pull out, especially based on how they are loading auctions last year.

Yeah it cannot be THAT hard to let your consignors know. To just accept the consignment, make no mention and let the consignors see it once the auction goes live seems inappropriate. And that is the part that would not sit right with me. At least give your consignor a choice. So do their consignment agreements address this at all?

[Peter_Spaeth]

This has been happening for years now. I think one auction had like 10 plus Red Cobbs. Whether or not cannibalization actually happens, I dunno, but I think you basically take that risk especially with relatively common cards.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

This has been happening for years now. I think one auction had like 10 plus Red Cobbs. Whether or not cannibalization actually happens, I dunno, but I think you basically take that risk especially with relatively common cards.

Are the 1921 Exhibit Ruths that common? I don't know the issue. I suppose if there were 3 and their grades were not similar, it might not be as bad but as a consignor I would want to know. I suppose it becomes my burden to ask.

[MVSNYC]

T206 rare backs are (still) very strong. Was watching/bidding on dozens of rare backs and got blown out on almost everything...An extreme example, but the Cobb Bat Off Cycle 460 went for $76,000! That's incredible. Many of of the common Uzits went in the 4-5k range, and depending on grades/pops, even higher.

[marcmandel]

I have seen AH sales with multiple examples of same or similar cards for years and generally I think the answer to the question of whether this is a good practice depends on where your card stands relative to the other listings. Much like a home sale of real estate, if you're not the high-priced "comp" then you stand to improve your position if the high-priced examples scores and does well in the sale. You know, a high tide raises all boats.

If you're the high priced guy on the other hand, the lower priced examples could impose a little financial gravitational pull on your gains and lower your upside in the deal.

In general, statistically, all markets tend to seek out a natural middlepoint. Some down from the top, others up from the bottom.

[packs]

I don't think I would consign something as common as a T206 Red Portrait in collector grade to an AH. I think a card like that will always do better on eBay, where the supply has really dried up. I also don't think it's the kind of card you need help selling, but I see the appeal of letting an auction house broker the sale and deal with shipping, etc.

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by marcmandel

I have seen AH sales with multiple examples of same or similar cards for years and generally I think the answer to the question of whether this is a good practice depends on where your card stands relative to the other listings. Much like a home sale of real estate, if you're not the high-priced "comp" then you stand to improve your position if the high-priced examples scores and does well in the sale. You know, a high tide raises all boats.

If you're the high priced guy on the other hand, the lower priced examples could impose a little financial gravitational pull on your gains and lower your upside in the deal.

In general, statistically, all markets tend to seek out a natural middlepoint. Some down from the top, others up from the bottom.

Agreed. If there are several of the same card in the same auction, the one with the most eye appeal may get a boost from the "competition", and the one with least eye appeal will get hurt the most by competition.

I would be okay with listing a card among like cards in the same auction if I saw the other cards first. One reason I like to consign at the last minute is that you can inquire about if there any other similar cards in the auction and get a response that is likely to hold true until the auction start date.

[RhodeyRhode]

Originally Posted by anchorednw

The short answer to this is no, they do not disclose when other copies of same card being auctioned. One major reason I would be very leery of ever consigning anything to REA, unless a true rare or scarce piece. They simply will not disclose and will load an auction with same cards all the time now.

This has happened to me twice for cards in the 5k-20k range. For me, I would not consign with them again. I know others like tea a lot but it was horrible communication and then held the cards skipping multiple auctions only to put them in a group with 3-4 others of the same.

[Jewish-collector]

What would the AH answer if you asked them directly about other cards exactly like yours being consigned and in the particular auction ?.

How would they actually answer your question ?

[cgjackson222]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

What would the AH answer if you asked them directly about other cards exactly like yours being consigned and in the particular auction ?.

How would they actually answer your question ?

Depends on the auction house. Al from Love of the Game will tell you if there are any of the same cards and how your cards will fit into his auctions.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by cgjackson222

Depends on the auction house. Al from Love of the Game will tell you if there are any of the same cards and how your cards will fit into his auctions.

+1

[Rhotchkiss]

As many of you know, I made a large consignment to Memory Lane; cards to be sold in the current and their next two auctions.

After my consignment, they received consignments of two cards that were already in my consignment- an e121 Ruth in a similar but higher grade than mine and a 1921 Exhibit Ruth in a similar but lower grade than mine.

Memory Lane called me and we discussed what to do. Ultimately, we all agreed to hold my cards for the next auction and not to double up.

This is a comment on nobody other than memory lane and my experience with them on this matter

[LEHR]

So, with reading the above comments, here's my thoughts that no one asked for.

Lets be honest with ourselves. Your T206 Piedmont Cobbs, 34 Gehrigs, 33 Ruths, any year Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Robinson, etc.; these cards are simply not rare. Beautiful, wildly popular, expensive in some cases...absolutely; but not rare.
So if there are say 400 people across the US in any given year who want to auction their red piedmont Cobb, or 1,000 people who want to auction their Mantle, and only say 100 major auctions, what are said consignors supposed to do with these cards if the AH's will only ever accept one copy of each per auction? Should the sellers hold their card hoping sometime in the next five years that an AH will accept their 54 Robinson as the sole example in their auction? Or should they just try to sell the card themselves, which they clearly didn't want to do to begin with, because they can never get it accepted by an AH due to the flood of material on the market.
I can definitely see where it would be frustrating to consign your card to an auction, only to see six other examples in the same auction, but what are the realistic alternatives? Like I tell my teams at work; don't bring complaints to the table if your not also going to bring ideas for a solution.

Not trying to stir the pot here, just posting a different point of view.

[anchorednw]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

What would the AH answer if you asked them directly about other cards exactly like yours being consigned and in the particular auction ?.

How would they actually answer your question?

What would they say? Yes, there are 3 other cards identical to yours, the grade and maybe photos to help assess. Then let me decide what to do.

As mentioned above with Memory Lane and Al at LOTG, this is how it should be done. REA does not do this. Unless I have a 1 every year or two type card that comes to market) or rarer), I would never consign to REA.

I will say this, I am planning to give a review of my first major consignment (Al -LOTG) here soon on the board for what it's worth. As I have bought from nearly every auction house in the last 4 years, I am getting a pretty good picture of things moving forward as I plan to buy and especially consign more.

[Exhibitman]

i think it is just fine to 'ladder' different condition copies of a card. It gives people who get knocked out of higher conditions the ability to drop down. It really works best if you allow anyone to bid into a lot in OT the way Sterling does. But I sure don't want to see ten PSA 2 of the same card.

When it comes to mainstream cards, I don't think it is realistic to assume that my example will be the only one in the auction. You'd never get to all of them.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

What would the AH answer if you asked them directly about other cards exactly like yours being consigned and in the particular auction ?.

How would they actually answer your question ?

I would hope the answer would be nothing but the transparent truth. Truth appears to be something the human race is really struggling with.