Auction houses.....

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Posted By: Novice

Just curious -- there seems to be no shortage of auction houses that consign sports memorabilia. Which would bring the seller the most money ? Which are the best ???? Which ones to stay away from ? Which has the largest collector mailing list ? Does it depend on the type of material ? Which is best for old baseball cards ? memorabilia ? autographs ? Other sports ? Non-sports ?

Opinions, analysis greatly appreciated...

Thanks !!!

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Posted By: barrysloate

As an auctioneer myself, I suppose I may not be entirely objective in my answer, but here goes: I agree there are an enormous, head spinning number of auctions and auction houses these days. Without naming names, some are clearly more established and more professional than some of the new kids on the block. My advise is if you have something of significant value and importance, choose one of the big established firms. If you are planning to sell, for example, a collection of vintage cards of which each card has a somewhat modest value, a niche auction house that specializes in that area is better. A smaller auction house can handle your material individually; a large one will group it into a dealer lot and you will leave money on the table. It all really depends on what you may be thinking of selling.

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Posted By: Tom Boblitt

a REALLY large lot (and some more) through the largest auction house around, I agree with Barry. Lotting your items is REALLY huge in maximizing the amount of money you'll get. The Big/Biggest houses want to lot HUGE lots because they can then say that the average lot price in their auction is X thousand dollars. If you have something that would be well-suited to be sold individually, someone like Barry or 19th Century Only or one of the smaller auction houses would be a better fit as they will split up lots and not group everything in a single or couple of lots. Obviously, the larger a lot goes (dollar wise), the more people are excluded from the bidding price.....just simple mathematics. Good luck....always remember that ebay has reasonable fees--much lower than most auction houses and you can set your own reserves--few auction houses will let you set a reserve on an auction. You might test the waters out there too.........

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Posted By: warshawlaw

All of the below applies to the "average" stuff; if you have a T206 Wagner, don't worry about it, the auctioneers will be kissing your ring to get you and will negotiate rates and terms readily:

Consider commissions first: all of the major houses (Mastro, Lelands, Robert Edwards) and many of the minor ones hit both ends for 15% or more, meaning in effect that it will cost you at least 30% of the sale price to sell your goods.

Minimums: The large auctioneers put incredibly low minimums on their lots. While they usually get action enough to make sellers happy, you are always taking a risk of a low sale if no one wants the cards. I will never forget picking up a lot of major HOFers (Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, etc.) for the same price as a single card from the lot that also sold in the same auction. Had to be one disappointed seller. Smaller auctioneers will work with you to establish the minimums more than the bigger houses.

Lotting: The large houses "throw away" lots of cards in big, random lots that only wholesalers want, leaving your $$ on the table. This irrational behavior is rational on their end when promotional costs (catalog printing and photographing--you know, the only things they do) are considered. The externalize their costs onto you. I once consigned a very significant collection of Academy Awards memorabilia to a major entertainment auctioneer. Not only did the bastards make me pay for the photography (s sure sign, BTW, that the auctioneer is a loser), they threw my whole collection into one random lot, did a lousy job of describing it, set a low minimum, and essentially threw it away.

Accuracy: It frequently happens that the major auctioneers do not give sufficient care to describing the "average" lots, especially when they throw hundreds of cards together. I've purchased lots of cards that were surprisingly misdescribed.

It is imperative that you describe what you have accurately, tell the auctioneer what you want for it, and make sure that the auctioneer lots the items as you see fit.

If you are selling non-six-figure stuff, you should strongly consider doing it via this forum's BST thread first, then via ebay.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Ebay gives you the opportunity to set a reserve and it is done fairly and out in the open. I think that is one of its strongest points. And you reach an incredibly large audience. That's where I am beginning to shift my own business.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

If you wants names. For the big national auction houses, MastroNet, Robert Edward Auctions and Lelands are reputable. They require expensive consignments. They each deal in both sport and non-sport. Check out their auction catalogs to review the scope.

On eBay, SCGaynor (Scott Gaynor) is a good guy to consign to. He's very knowledgeable and experienced and has a good audience on eBay.

The exclusion of anyone from this post shouldn't be construed as a slight, as I only included folks I've dealt with. I've never dealt with Heritage, Sportscards Plus,etc.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

I add that there's no requirement that one sell in one way or the other, or through one person of the other. A collector can simultaniously consign big items through a big auction house and sell small items on his own on eBay. I both consign lots and sell on my own, and am able to pick what goes where.

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Posted By: robert a

How much control does the consignor have over how the items will be divided up into lots?
In other words, is there discussion between "you" and the auction house concerning how the items will be sold?
robert

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Posted By: ted

I myself run an Auction House/Auction Assitant Business. I have been very successful to this point and am able to move goods for less of a percentage (photography included) than a lot of people. Not to act in a conflict of interest, but i am happy to help people out ... you are welcome to visit my website at www.itailers.com..... we are currently re-doing our ebay auctions so that they will look a lot better. I certainly cannot compete with robert edwards in driving people to my own website, but since we use sites like ebay, audiogon, and others to move the goods, it is all about knowing the market and how to place the item in the right place with the right keywords. We have extensive knowledge in this area and as a result, have gotten great results.

BlackSoxFan

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Posted By: davidcycleback

As a potential consignor (emphasis on 'potential'), it's your right to take the initiative about how the lots. If you are uncomfortable with the way an auction house is going to sell your items, you can chose to not use them. Realize, however, that the MastroNets of the world are unusually knowledgeable about auctioning and their insights into lot division is deep.

It is also important for consignors to write a brief report of what they are consigning, especially if the consignment is group lot or potpouri. This will be of great help to the catalog writer and will make sure the catalog description best describes your lot. In particular, you want to make sure the auction house doesn't leave something important out. I once won a baseball letters lot in an auction. The lot included unmentioned hand signed letters by Tommy Bond (first pitching triple crown winner in 1877) and Jack Glasscock. That's known as a nice surprise for the winner.

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Posted By: ted

That's a great point David,
if you as the person providing the goods do not have at least some control over the way they are presented to the public then you should consider your options elsewhere. At the same time, recognize that if there is any real substance to the auction house, then they are in business for a reason and you should value their opinions as to the best/most profitable way to sell your goods. There is a difference b/w an auction house doing a diservice to its' clients by ignoring them when setting up and auction and an auction house doing what they should do by suggesting to the client the best way to sell the items.

Regards,
BlackSoxFan

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Posted By: barrysloate

I always allow my consignors to determine the lotting of their own collection. I will make a suggestion if I think what they have chosen isn't the best way, but they have the last word. An auction house works for the consignor, not the other way around.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I've consigned with 19th Century Only. I offered (and I would suggest you do the same) the cards conditional on their being priced with specific minimums and lotted a certain way. Seth was very gracious about it and everything did well.

As Barry said, a good auctioneer recognizes that you are retaining him, not vice versa. Since you both want the same thing ideally--max prices--the key is unambiguous communication. My suggestion is that you put everything in writing, including lotting and minimums, get written agreement on the terms (via email works just fine) and write the lotting and minimums into the consignment contract itself when presented. A professional will have no problems dealing with a knowledgeable collector; only the hacks, fly-by-niters and crooks want to cut out the item owners from the process.

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Posted By: Auction Info

I would suggest going to http://www.auctionreport.com to see the different auction houses. They give good information on all of the good ones.