Posted By:
Scott ElkinsI have won a few lots from Mastro for under my max bid. I haven't won anything in a few years, but still bid (so I assume they are fair, or I would have quit bidding).
I guess the reason I haven't won anything is that I bid on a few lots looking to resell them, since my collection has been narrowed down and they usually don't have examples of cards I collect. I think what was hinted at above - maybe by Barry or John Spencer is that: the prices are probably the result of the end consumers winning the lots. The people (dealers) who usually won these and broke them up for a profit are now being outbid by people bidding high amounts to obtain the items directly.
I remember a few years back making a real nice profit on an E90-1 lot I won from Mastronet that had a Joe Jackson in it, along with around a dozen other top-tier HOF'ers. In fact, I can remember after selling all the HOF'ers, I only had $800 in a GD Jackson Rookie! Unfortunately, those days seem to be long gone. At one point, it seemed that if one were to spend $100k in a Mastronet auction they could very easily sell the lots individually and easily make at least a $25k profit. NOW, they would probably lose 25%!!!