AH guys - ask me anything?

[Yoda]

Do you think catalogues will gradually become a thing of the past? They are a big expense for the AHs but great for both consignors and buyers who now have a tangible reminder of auctions past. REA just messaged me if I wanted to continue receiving their catalogues. Emphatic yes on that one.

[sycks22]

I think everyone should adopt the $10 off like Huggins does for not taking a catalog.

[Snapolit1]

Honestly don't know what people do with old catalogs. Same stuff with very rare exception is sold over and over at this point. What could you possibly learn from an old catalog, even a good one (and most are garbage) that you couldn't learn in other places. That Babe Ruth played first for the Red Sox? That Gehrig made a great speech and died a few years later? That someone may or may not have thrown 1952 Mantles in the East River? I mean these are sales pitches, not SABR footnoted treatises.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Honestly don't know what people do with old catalogs. Same stuff with very rare exception is sold over and over at this point. What could you possibly learn from an old catalog, even a good one (and most are garbage) that you couldn't learn in other places. That Babe Ruth played first for the Red Sox? That Gehrig made a great speech and died a few years later? That someone may or may not have thrown 1952 Mantles in the East River? I mean these are sales pitches, not SABR footnoted treatises.

The part in bold may be true for cards, but certainly not memorabilia. I still love the Catalogs, and the ones I've saved that are now over 20 years old contain great/rare items that have not resurfaced since then.

This includes early equipment, jerseys, caps, bats, lemon peels, trophies, pennants, statues, photos, broadsides, ad signs, clocks, and the list goes on and on. They are also a great source for game-used uniforms, with regard to proper tagging, etc. I still refer back to them quite often.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by perezfan

The part in bold may be true for cards, but certainly not memorabilia. I still love the Catalogs, and the ones I've saved that are now over 20 years old contain great/rare items that have not resurfaced since then.

This includes early equipment, jerseys, caps, bats, lemon peels, trophies, pennants, statues, photos, broadsides, ad signs, clocks, and the list goes on and on. They are also a great source for game-used uniforms, with regard to proper tagging, etc. I still refer back to them quite often.

Fair enough Mark. See your point on memorabilia.

[rdwyer]

Most auction houses refuse to do Mimimum bids or Reserve auctions. Boo Hoo if the item doesn't sell. Most major auctions have a million in sales per auction. So what if one item doesn't sell. They make money either way whether your item sells for $10 or $10,000. Their interest is in protecting their butt and not the consignor's. They also claim they have to pay a writer to write a description, and the costs of printing the catalogs. That's part of the job. They wouldn't be printing catalogs if it affected their bottom dollar. Everyone needs to understand that the Auction houses make big bucks every auction.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by rdwyer

Most auction houses refuse to do Mimimum bids or Reserve auctions. Boo Hoo if the item doesn't sell. Most major auctions have a million in sales per auction. So what if one item doesn't sell. They make money either way whether your item sells for $10 or $10,000. Their interest is in protecting their butt and not the consignor's. They also claim they have to pay a writer to write a description, and the costs of printing the catalogs. That's part of the job. They wouldn't be printing catalogs if it affected their bottom dollar. Everyone needs to understand that the Auction houses make big bucks every auction.

I may be wrong, but 20% gross margin before expenses doesn't strike me as a tremendous money making opportunity. Maybe the big boys turn a decent coin but the mid level guys, and their families in some cases, work their tails off year round to make a living.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I may be wrong, but 20% gross margin before expenses doesn't strike me as a tremendous money making opportunity. Maybe the big boys turn a decent coin but the mid level guys, and their families in some cases, work their tails off year round to make a living.

+1

Phil, you fully speak for me on this thread!

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

+1

Phil, you fully speak for me on this thread!

I think that's why Al called his AH "Love of the Game" instead of "Love the Profit Margin".

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I think that's why Al called his AH "Love of the Game" instead of "Love the Profit Margin".

Despite what some may believe but running an auction house isn't easy money. It is quite the grind and there are numerous expenses that aren't commonly taken into account. Regarding reserves, we tried expanding that option a few years ago but it didn't take off at all. In listening to our bidders, frankly, they hate bidding on any item with a reserve. It discourages bidding and end of auction competition. We have since phased out reserves and have at most 2-3 per auction.

[Al C.risafulli]

Most auction houses refuse to do Mimimum bids or Reserve auctions. Boo Hoo if the item doesn't sell. Most major auctions have a million in sales per auction. So what if one item doesn't sell. They make money either way whether your item sells for $10 or $10,000. Their interest is in protecting their butt and not the consignor's.

I don't refuse to do them. I strongly advise against them. I've got ten years of empirical proof that shows that items with reserves do worse than items without, and items with higher opening bids get less action than items with lower ones.

I did a customer survey a few years ago, and one of the questions dealt with reserves. 50% of the people surveyed WILL NOT BID if there's a reserve. Doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter how the reserve works, doesn't matter how transparent it is. They won't bid. The people I surveyed were my actual auction bidders.

To see if it was true, I put a card of my own in one of my auctions. It was a $12,000 card. I put an $8,000 reserve. I opened the card at $2,000. Bidding stopped at $5,000, and it did not meet the reserve.

Two auctions later, I listed the exact same card, with the exact description, the exact layout in the catalog, and the exact same opening bid. No reserve. Card sold for $15,000.

My job isn't to protect my butt. My job is to work as hard as I can to get the highest price possible for my consignors, to advise them and counsel them as to the best way to sell their material, and to earn their trust through the quality of my company's performance. My job is to make sure that my consignors never question the amount of effort I put in to selling their items, and to present an auction that can get bidders excited. Every time something sells for less than expected, it reflects on my company. Every time something sells for more, it does as well. In no other industry I can think of are companies so intensely scrutinized and judged with each and every transaction. In that environment, protecting my butt is the least of my concerns.

Most of the time, when I run an item with a reserve, it doesn't meet the reserve. That doesn't help my consignors, and it doesn't get bidders excited.

This is a good thread. There are a lot of good questions in it. A lot of them are hard to answer in writing, I think, but I'd certainly be happy to sit and do an in-person Q&A with a group - maybe at the national?

-Al

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

Most of the time, when I run an item with a reserve, it doesn't meet the reserve. That doesn't help my consignors, and it doesn't get bidders excited.

This is a good thread. There are a lot of good questions in it. A lot of them are hard to answer in writing, I think, but I'd certainly be happy to sit and do an in-person Q&A with a group - maybe at the national?

-Al

Truer words Al...It simply doesn't matter what the item is...reserves create the opposite of buzz. The same can be said with opening bids as well. When a potential consignor pushes for a high opening bid, despite showing them evidence that higher opening bids lead to lower prices, I often question if they will be happy with any result. Congrats on a good auction Al and we're hoping to have a good one tomorrow night as well. I think a Q&A would be fantastic.

[Al C.risafulli]

Thanks, James, always nice to see you. Hope all is well.

-Al

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by al c.risafulli

i don't refuse to do them. I strongly advise against them. I've got ten years of empirical proof that shows that items with reserves do worse than items without, and items with higher opening bids get less action than items with lower ones.

-al

+1000 except I do refuse to do them.

[Sterling Sports Auctions]

At Sterling I do the same as Al, if I am willing I discourage them. I do do them on rare occasions but am not a big fan of them and agree with Al's assessment. The people that tend to ask for high minimums or reserves want you to be a retail store for them.

Even if I have a lot that does not sell there is always time spent to scan and list, an then either spend the time sending it back or relisting.

If I list a lot with a higher minimum it tends to be for items that are scarcer and I feel that they will get a minimum two bids. As Al said, it is better to have as many people involved in the bidding because you never know when you have multiple bidders that got to have that lot.

Feel free to call me if you have any questions that can be better discussed in person.

Lee Behrens

[Snapolit1]

I’ve had the same experience on eBay many times. List an item with an opening bid of $99 and nothing happens. List same item with opening bid of 99 cents and it gets 27 bids and sells for $179.

[frohme]

Originally Posted by Sterling Sports Auctions

At Sterling I do the same as Al, if I am willing I discourage them. I do do them on rare occasions but am not a big fan of them and agree with Al's assessment.

[...]

Lee Behrens

I've always found your opening bids to be very reasonable, Lee... regardless of whether or not it was on a consigned item.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I’ve had the same experience on eBay many times. List an item with an opening bid of $99 and nothing happens. List same item with opening bid of 99 cents and it gets 27 bids and sells for $179.

I have had a very good hobby friend win something of mine in auction that I had forgotten to take off my for sale site. It was offered for less on my site. He asked, after the auction, if he could buy it for that price. I laughed....the answer was no.
.

[Exhibitman]

#1: Odd lotting choices. My main interests are cards at the margins (oddball issues, regionals, boxing cards) and memorabilia and I cannot for the life of me understand why some AHs lot this stuff so horrifically for the consignors, with little effort made to sort the rarities from the junk or to properly describe them. Also, choosing to put one very popular or rare card in with a big lot of other stuff. A recent auction had a dozen cards, including duplicates, in a lot. I needed two and stopped bidding because I did not want to turn out the rest of the cards in the lot. I would have gone $150 a card for the two I needed. The lot ended up selling for half of that per card to a dealer. Piling multiple copies of $50-$100 cards into a single lot just doesn't make sense to me as a consignor. Bust them up and let the retail collectors have a shot. Of course, the evil Captain Kirk says "no, leave it that way so I can win the lot and bust it up on eBay at a big profit."

#2: Ignoring Experts. Why don't more AHs consult with experts in oddball or esoteric items, or follow their recommendations? The amount of misinformation and ignorance on more obscure stuff is startling.

#3: (already Mentioned) Career Recaps: Auctioneers tell me that they have to lump lots of stuff into large lots because of the cost of catalogs, yet they waste page after page with meaningless blather over the player's career. There is no reason to make an entire page out of a 1921 Exhibit Babe Ruth, filled with career data. Anyone bidding five figures on a Babe Ruth card already knows who Babe Ruth is. Just provide good images (front AND back) of the card and list any hard to see flaws you spot. The AH can reduce the number of pages wasted and actually put in better lotted cards.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

#1: Odd lotting choices. My main interests are cards at the margins (oddball issues, regionals, boxing cards) and memorabilia and I cannot for the life of me understand why some AHs lot this stuff so horrifically for the consignors, with little effort made to sort the rarities from the junk or to properly describe them. Also, choosing to put one very popular or rare card in with a big lot of other stuff. A recent auction had a dozen cards, including duplicates, in a lot. I needed two and stopped bidding because I did not want to turn out the rest of the cards in the lot. I would have gone $150 a card for the two I needed. The lot ended up selling for half of that per card to a dealer. Piling multiple copies of $50-$100 cards into a single lot just doesn't make sense to me as a consignor. Bust them up and let the retail collectors have a shot. Of course, the evil Captain Kirk says "no, leave it that way so I can win the lot and bust it up on eBay at a big profit."

#2: Ignoring Experts. Why don't more AHs consult with experts in oddball or esoteric items, or follow their recommendations? The amount of misinformation and ignorance on more obscure stuff is startling.

#3: (already Mentioned) Career Recaps: Auctioneers tell me that they have to lump lots of stuff into large lots because of the cost of catalogs, yet they waste page after page with meaningless blather over the player's career. There is no reason to make an entire page out of a 1921 Exhibit Babe Ruth, filled with career data. Anyone bidding five figures on a Babe Ruth card already knows who Babe Ruth is. Just provide good images (front AND back) of the card and list any hard to see flaws you spot. The AH can reduce the number of pages wasted and actually put in better lotted cards.

Your #3 point is especially on the money. Unless as I've sometimes heard, the catalog listing is oftentimes more so for the consignor than it is for the bidders.

[Al C.risafulli]

Taking a break from packing people's winnings and revisiting this thread (I swear, I'll get right back to it):

#1: Odd lotting choices.

Tough to speak for other Ahs on this, but we lot things together in ways I feel are logical and sensible, but I'm sure there are times that someone who wants one item in a lot may feel differently. Tough to be all things to all people in this regard.

#2: Ignoring Experts. Why don't more AHs consult with experts in oddball or esoteric items

I'm not sure they don't. I certainly do. I've got a handful of people I text regularly with photos of things in areas where I'm not certain. I would think that they all do. If I'm looking for info on a certain type of item, and I call Expert B, it's possible Expert A might think I ignore experts.

#3: (already Mentioned) Career Recaps

A couple of points on this:

1) It's really difficult to write descriptions of a thousand cards without feeling like you're writing the same thing over and over. There are only so many ways to describe the attributes of a card, and every consignor rightfully wants some verbiage explaining why someone should be interested in placing a bid. I know when I'm writing I get very self-conscious about doing it. At some point, invariably I'll use a lot description to point out a stat, or tell a story about a player.

2) I'm not sure why this rankles a lot of folks here so much, but I think it's important to consider that the audience is sometimes wider than just the experts. If you're already familiar with that player (as so many folks here are), it might seem redundant to have to read about the accomplishments of Frank Robinson, or Rube Waddell, or whomever - but with thousands of potential bidders, it's safe to say that not everyone is as familiar as you might be. Especially now, with so many new folks entering the hobby. It's certainly easy enough to skip over them. I do agree that some of the descriptions get a bit verbose and dwell on the obvious, and I personally try not to do it, but once in a while even I will go back and read one of my own descriptions and feel, like...wow.

-Al

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

Taking a break from packing people's winnings and revisiting this thread (I swear, I'll get right back to it):



Tough to speak for other Ahs on this, but we lot things together in ways I feel are logical and sensible, but I'm sure there are times that someone who wants one item in a lot may feel differently. Tough to be all things to all people in this regard.



I'm not sure they don't. I certainly do. I've got a handful of people I text regularly with photos of things in areas where I'm not certain. I would think that they all do. If I'm looking for info on a certain type of item, and I call Expert B, it's possible Expert A might think I ignore experts.


A couple of points on this:

1) It's really difficult to write descriptions of a thousand cards without feeling like you're writing the same thing over and over. There are only so many ways to describe the attributes of a card, and every consignor rightfully wants some verbiage explaining why someone should be interested in placing a bid. I know when I'm writing I get very self-conscious about doing it. At some point, invariably I'll use a lot description to point out a stat, or tell a story about a player.

2) I'm not sure why this rankles a lot of folks here so much, but I think it's important to consider that the audience is sometimes wider than just the experts. If you're already familiar with that player (as so many folks here are), it might seem redundant to have to read about the accomplishments of Frank Robinson, or Rube Waddell, or whomever - but with thousands of potential bidders, it's safe to say that not everyone is as familiar as you might be. Especially now, with so many new folks entering the hobby. It's certainly easy enough to skip over them. I do agree that some of the descriptions get a bit verbose and dwell on the obvious, and I personally try not to do it, but once in a while even I will go back and read one of my own descriptions and feel, like...wow.

-Al

Personal experience, I sent Al a group of 20-25 cards for his recent auction, low grade E98's mostly. I was really impressed with his groupings, I'm a big sales guy and I love watching other people work in their field of expertise, so my reply was always "sounds good to me". I trust Al implicitly and enjoy watching he and his family work their craft. This business is too emotional for me and I tend to give cards away so thank you Al for taking care the card decisions and getting me top dollar for my consignments.

[Exhibitman]

Definitely NOT Al I am referencing. My consignment in LOTG's most recent auction did even better than I thought it would in part because Al listens to the advice of experts before he makes decisions on how to lot. What stuns me is how many AHs you look at their large lots and spot single items that are worth more than the lot is likely to sell for, sometimes not even mentioned in the descriptions.

[Andy Sandler]

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