What are your experiences consigning to large auction houses?

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Posted By: DJ

I'm cleaning house a little and I found a couple of sports memorabilia pieces that I think would sell fine in the next Mastro auctions (deadline Oct.) that have in the past brought in very good prices for similar pieces.

I have never consigned to Mastro and would like to know your experiences with Mastro (or any other auction houses) good or bad on your experiences as a consignor?

Thank You!

DJ

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Posted By: scott brockelman

most important is the value of the piece, Mastro (or most large houses) are looking for pieces that have a minimal value of $1,000+ per lot as a rule, and sometimes that is not a large enough value, especially on memorabilia, which has a smaller market than cards and generally requires more description and perhaps pics.

the best thing to do is pick up the phone and call them, they are very easy to talk to and will be very upfront with you, both on their interest and your expectations.

scott

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Posted By: DJ

Scott,

Thank you. I have three items I want to unload and in the past have brought in $2000-3000 a piece. Just wondering about how easy they were to deal with as far as getting $$ in time and how the experience has been as far as satisfaction with the final prices. Are there people out there that have dealt with Mastro (or any auction house) and will simply never deal with them again for a reason.

DJ

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Posted By: David Vargha

I consigned a $300 or so autographed 1968 Cubs ball to Mastro about 4 or 5 years ago and they were great people to deal with. They paid in a timely fashion as well

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Robert

DJ,

Doug Allen and his crew are the best. I just submitted a lot of product that will be coming up in their August auction. They sent me an advance check before I even got the contract to sign. Not only that they gave me their FED X account number so I could second day the cards to them which was 2 boxes totaling about 100 LBS. I am sure they treat people according to the quality of the merchandise that they are going to list so that depends on what it is you are offering them.

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Posted By: DJ

Thanks for your help! I appreciate it.

DJ

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Posted By: Bob

They are excellent. My only troubling experience (pre-Doug Allen) was when I consigned a set of T207s in very nice shape back in '99 (I have since put together another one) and they lost the Lowdermilk which was vgex to ex. I about died. The explanation was pretty goofy, they said they were taking pictures of the high value cards in the set and someone must have accidentally thrown it in the trash (???) but they did reimburse me fairly for the card, letting me submit a price I felt was fair for the card, although I think the set selling price suffered without one of the 3 "keys."
I have also had success with others but once I discovered ebay in about 1999-2000, I have done all my own auctioning and can honestly say I feel I have done as well as if I had consigned and paid a seller's % to a big auction house.
I wouldn't overlook some of the mid-level auction sellers either. Barry Sloate, for one, runs a very nice auction with excellent selling prices although my experiences with Barry have been on the buying, not selling end of transactions.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

A few years ago I consigned two items to MastroNet. Neither items were big (financially speaking), and they treated me well and the whole thing was smooth.

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Posted By: Alan

I, too consigned some items to MastroNet. The stuff wasn't huge (quantity or financially), but I could not have been happier. It could not have gone any better.With no disrespect to the other auction houses, Mastronet is the VERY BEST !!!!

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Posted By: Bruce Dorskind

If you plan to consign a considerable number of important pieces, you
should speak to each of the top five auction houses:

(1) Determine their level of interest

(2) Determine their knowledge of the material, the extent to which they
have a clientele who would pay top dollar

(3) Review and compare past performance over the prior 24 months
on comparable pieces

(4) Gain assusance that they will not include the same piece in similiar
condition from other consigners

(5) Garner an understanding of their system works on reserves; buy-backs
and item descriptions

(6) Ask for three references- and speak to them

(7) Check out their payment terms and fees= remember if they charge
15% to the winner and 10-15% to you- the ultimate buyer will bid
less as he is keenly aware of these fees and it will be reflected in his
bidding

(8) Negotiate agressively- I have found that I can get a 50% advance and
a negative commission (1/3 of the buyers fee) if the item is desirable enough

(9) Ask for a preview of write-ups

(10) Make sure that you can trust the professionals to pay


Sometimes it pays on certain items to consign to smaller firms because the
items will be lost in a large firms' catalog


Amongst the most knowledgable smaller auctions- Barry Sloate was far and
away the most professional person with whom I worked. Superior is strong
on psa 7-10 graded cards pre 1960. Lew Lipset does a very good job
on describing early pieces


Best of the Best Larger Firms

(1) Robert Edwards- far and away most knowledgabe; good business person-
the items I have given to Robert always set records- his knowledge and the level
of integrity are in a class by itself

(2) Mastro- a pleasure to work with since Doug is captaining the ship- catalogs
are too large--- and some great items can get lost- though I have never been
a big consigner

(3) David Hunt- great for obscure items- live auction concept has its pluses
and minuses. Easy to work with- very professional and well-liked.

(4) Christies and Sothebys'- great exsposure- a few super high profile items-
mid level items (5000-10,000) don't sell well - least flexible

(5) Others- without naming names- suffice it to say that one of the :majors" has
presented a sea of problems- whilst I never consigned- I have had to get my
money back on five pieces ofver the pasrt ten years because they turned out
to be fakes - a friend who consigned a major 19th century collection had
to wait 6 months to get his money- and their focus on celebrity consigners
leaves the sophsiticated collector no where- BAD ATTITUDE!!

Should anyone want references- let me know. I have acquired items with value
of over $4000 from 25 different auctioneers and I will be happy to share my
experiences of the pros and cons of each

In my forthcoming book, "When It Was a Hobby" I will rate each of the dealers
and auction houses=

Finally, four or five years agao VCBC ran annual surverys- whilst they are now
dated, they will tell you much

All the best.

Bruce

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Posted By: Alan

Great response Bruce !!!

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Posted By: DJ

Most excellent response! Thanks for taking the time.

DJ

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Posted By: ockday

I have consigned many lots both large and small to Mastro over the last couple of years and have been VERY pleased with all aspects.

Good luck!

Alan

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Posted By: jay wolt

BRUCE - That was well done and should be copied & saved by all...jay

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Posted By: Bottom of the Ninth

As far as the large houses, Mastro has been fantastic but you cannot deny the numbers that Robert Edwards brings nor the quality of the individual running the company. I have never consigned with them but have only heard good things from those who do. Mastro has an advantage due to the frequency of their catalog auctions.

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Posted By: Scott Forrest

I called a major auction house about consigning some items. I had placed scans of the items on a web-page and the rep would not even take the web-address from me - they said to just ship the items and that for it to work I would have to trust them to do what they thought was best and that they already understood what I had, when in reality that was quite impossible. Can you say "patronize"?

What some of these auction houses don't realize is that the reason we call is because we want to feel "warm and fuzzy" about sending our items to them. If it weren't important, we would simply fill out a consignment sheet and ship the items with no phone call.

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Posted By: jackgoodman

Would you tell us who the auction house was?

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Posted By: Bev

I would love to send you my experience with a few of them dating back to 1999,Faxes,phone records, 50K Contract & 35-75K promises,things lost in 1999. Then from 2001-2005, e-mails,phone calls,2 new contract's, 20K & 25K sent to the wrong address around 7/24/05 and I'm still waiting for their Fed-X tracking number along with Fed-X here, to make sure they were even sent.Some of you might remember me from Vintage Card Talk, years back. "BEVJJEAN" and yes I'm still researching the life and times of Johnny Kling. I will even send you my info around the Christies/Sotheby's - Fixing Litigation sent to a law firm in NY in 2001. It might even change your idea as to getting second oppinions? I have collected many different things in the past 50+ years, plus have dealt with many Auctions, but never anything like I've seen around the GREAT HOBBY in the past 5 1/2 years. Your can write me on bjeccles@aol.com or bevjjean @aol.com. Or Bruce just post yours for me. I think my info might be great for you book also. A special Hi to Leon & T bob. Thanks. Bev