Posted By:
barrysloateJamie- all good points, and I was reading the article about the fall painting auctions, too.
No question the downturn is affecting all levels of the economy, but to a different degree. Sotheby's and Christie's are depending on buyers to lay out tens of millions of dollars each for high end paintings. Even the very wealthy may feel that is something they don't want to do right now.
But many of the more affordable vintage baseball cards, say within the $500-2500 range, are not going to break the bank of most collectors. They may be cutting back on their total expenditure, but these purchases are within their reach. I am a bit surprised how well my auction is doing, all things considered. Prices are softer, but there is a steady stream of bids coming in and it's still early in the day.
One of the things Sotheby's and Christie's does is make huge cash guarantees to consignors to get their material, and if these promises were made before the market crash then they are going to lose big time.