Posted By:
randhey Jeff, how are you...
funny thing is, when a very high profile card in a psa holder is offered, its very easy to notice when it changes hands on the registry (or does not change hands). i would be surprised if this was the case for Mastro, unless there was a reserve that was not met. ML is what it is, but the money is going somewhere and coming in from somewhere because the business model to me doesn't add up for legit transactions. i remember a 1915 Cracker Jack set Mastro sold off last year went for around $190k or so. You mentioned that you felt the seller really took a bath on it and Mastro may have hurt the potential due to the simultaneous bidding process (bid as individual or group thing). i didn't really have a position on it. However, interesting thing is, i spoke to an elderly gentleman on the phone last Dec (i think in his early 70's). turns out he is in the card restoration business and has the ability to remove glue residue, press out wrinkles, remove stains ect... as he was explaining these things he mentioned a dealer from Cal bought a complete 1915 CJ set all glued in an album for $65k. sent him the entire thing and we was able to restore all but 2-3 cards, then they all got sent off to PSA. I of course, was not there and do not know if its true or not, but it is coincidental and the dealer about triples his money. Mastro had no involvment other than show casing the cards. so in the end, the seller did quite well, and alot of the buyers were happy with their purchase price.
i am however very happy with Mastro's new bidding tiers and Doug has been available to speak with when opinions differ. regards