Best auction house to use?
 

(Sorry if this is in the wrong forum - but the question generally revolves around Joe DiMaggio, who had half his career in the "WWII & Older" period.)

So I have never sent a card to an auction house before, and before I did so, I wanted to make sure I was sending it to the right one. Is Heritage still the best bet for the number of eyes on auctions? I was worried as they seem to be spread out with fingers in every collectible niche market - so perhaps one of the smaller auction houses might actually have more baseball collectors? Would REA be better?

I've got a Japanese menko baseball card - but rather than putting it in Prestige Collectibles auction, I'd be looking for a cross-over audience, someone looking for an ultra rare Joe DiMaggio card. This is the final DiMaggio card from his playing days, from his All-Star Tour in Japan, weeks before he retired from the game.

https://i.ibb.co/z5mwjS6/dimaggio.jpg

REA by a mile

Best Western

Hah!

A 1 of 2 Ted Williams sold in Heritage in May of 2020 for $9k. I found an SCD article that mentioned they thought it would fetch $30k, based on the fact that the other one (a lower grade) sold for $15k in 2018. My gut is the card is so niche that two people chased the original 2018 sale and one of them was gone in the 2020 sale, resulting in the card flopping. I don’t blame Heritage.

My gut is DiMaggio is similar and if this is the first sale in a while, it should do well (after it’s graded). I think Heritage will do fine, as will REA and many others - the right bidders will find that card. I think LOTG would do really well with a niche item like this.

Thanks for the info! Yeah, this would be niche, as PSA has 0 in the population, and the price guide lists the set as R5 (less than 5 copies are known to exist). Have found some pictures online of the card, but no actual sales.

Do I get it graded? Does the auction house?

The auction house will get it graded for you. Who pays for it is part of the negotiation.

Robert Edward Auctions is very popular, has a wide reach, and good customer service. I have to admit they are the only auction house I have ever used to sell cards, so I do not have a lot to compare to, but they were very good.

-REA would be first choice and I’m sure they will cover grading cost.
-HA, might have more eyes on it as they appeal to many collectible markets.
-LOTG, would probably feature it the best and they do well with nitche items
-Hunt and Hakes also does really good with nitche items and has been around for a long time
-Memory Lane, eBay, Mile High, SCP, Clean Sweap would be hit and miss options
-Goldin, Grey Flannel Aren’t really known for specialized items

Oh. Being naive, is there much negotiation to be done? I had assumed most auction houses have a flat commission rate - though now that I look into it, they all state "competitive" rates, or "at or below industry standards" - yet I don't see actual rates listed on anyone's.

I had assumed that it'd be a flat rate, unless you have something hugely of value (of which they would already getting tons of $, and which could be used as free advertising for drawing more eyes to the auction - THEN, I could see them negotiating for a smaller fee)

I had a decent amount of value (for me anyway) in some cards and worked with an REA rep. We had a pleasant call where we negotiated the commission. Took about two minutes. I wasn’t looking for anything crazy and there was only so far down they would go so it worked out well. If someone had hundreds of thousands in value it might be worth shopping around but my guess is any good AH will be willing to be reasonable and work something out.

There is absolutely negotiating being done all the time. "Hugely of value" is in the eye of the beholder but your premise is spot on as for good items drawing eyes etc.

[QUOTE=jjbond;2436517]Oh. Being naive, is there much negotiation to be done?/QUOTE]

I saw you post on the other thread... Don't listen to Snowman.

PM me and I will give you my cell and we can shoot the breeze.

[QUOTE=Rhotchkiss;2436534]
Lol..
.don't listen to Snowman

Are you saying I can’t get 18 of the 20% BP back?

With your collection you probably could! With what I sold I don’t remember but they threw me a few points of the bp.

This is the best advice anyone has ever given since I have been here. But please let's not discourage Snowman from schooling all of us. Any thread he is on is a thread I want to be part of. First ballot Net54 HOFer.

REA is great. Very professional. LOTG is great too. Al really cares and he will take great care with your consignment, esp. if you are a 'warm' referral from N54 members. I personally would not go with Heritage. Nothing wrong there, just a behemoth that is short on personal touches and (in my experience) pays out your proceeds on the last day of the stated period. When I went with them it was 45 days after the close and I got paid that day. REA and LOTG pay a lot faster.

Any house will get your card graded for you and (usually) pass on the cost. I recently sold some things with REA and they got a few cards graded (with my blessing) and it cost me the basic grading fee. I didn't have to pack them, ship them, fill out forms, none of that administrative hassle. LOTG had to get some photos authenticated for me; also did not have to lift a finger. I would never, ever get a raw card I want to consign graded again. Consign it raw and let the house do the work. It's cheaper and frictionless.

I've consigned a few cards with REA, H&S, and have been happy with the results. Most of my consignments go to Al at LOTG and have been extremely happy with the results, plus he's one of the good guys in the hobby along with Steve, Scott, and Lee.

All of our advertisers are good auction houses to deal with!
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