Auction House Recommendation for 1952 set break

[1952boyntoncollector]

any suggestions for which auction houses cater to the most potential buyers for 1952 topps psa 7 weighted set or 1952s individually.

I saw the Mile High does a whatever amount is higher 'full set versus total amount of sales of individual cards' i like that idea

but wondering as to the Fees involved of seller and buyer potential for possible auction house candidates..

[esquiresports]

Most people with AH experience will recommend staying away from the card versus set structure. While it sounds appealing to a seller on its face (the best of both worlds), it turns off a lot of potential bidders, and I have heard from many deep-pocketed collectors that tell me they refuse to bid in such an auction.

An AH is going to charge you 0% in seller fees. They may be willing to give back up to 5% or so of the buyer premium as well.

As far as AHs go, it's difficult to claim that any major one is better than the other. I would suggest reaching out to each and hearing them out. For a set as important as this, they may even print a stand-alone catalog for it.

[1952boyntoncollector]

what about reserves...to bidders get turned off by this too? Perhaps something that says if reserve not met..seller will contact buyer for potential deal..

[benderbroeth]

I know as an eBay bidder I do not even bother with reserves, my theory on reserves is just start at the reserve price?

[esquiresports]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

what about reserves...to bidders get turned off by this too? Perhaps something that says if reserve not met..seller will contact buyer for potential deal..

I agree that "reserve not met" can deter bidders. Reserve practices vary from AH to AH. Some do not disclose reserve not being met until auction end (e.g., Legendary, I believe). Some post the reserve as the next required bid about 10 days before auction end, if reserve has not been met by that time (e.g., Heritage). And some simply note that reserve has not been met (e.g., Goldin, I believe).

My personal opinion is that Heritage has the best approach, but you can look to match your preferred approach with what the AH offers.

Please let us know who you choose. It will be a major event.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by benderbroeth

I know as an eBay bidder I do not even bother with reserves, my theory on reserves is just start at the reserve price?

That is the only way I would run an auction too. As a frequent bidder and addicted collector, when I see a "reserve" auction I usually just skip it. It's not worth my time. Start at a low price you are comfortable selling at and let it go. From my experience this is the best way.

[autograf]

Reserve or not, I think with something like this, stuff wins out. In the hunt to build register sets, people will bid reserve or not. Don't pay anything on a consignment fee and try to negotiate something back. A PSA7 set from 1952 is a strong seller. I don't see getting more for the full set as the individual pieces either.

[Griffins]

Originally Posted by Leon

That is the only way I would run an auction too. As a frequent bidder and addicted collector, when I see a "reserve" auction I usually just skip it. It's not worth my time. Start at a low price you are comfortable selling at and let it go. From my experience this is the best way.

Me too. And when an auction house has a set vs. single auction I skip the entire catalog.

[swarmee]

Send it all to CheckOutMyCards (comc.com) and have them scan every card in and set your price for each individual card. You can then sell them all at your price or take offers, and they only have to pay $3 shipping no matter how many they buy. Might even drive more people to list more things on there.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Problem with just setting an intitial bid that is your reserve is the problem i have on ebay..i set a initial minimium bid i would take as a reserve...noone bids..i do a .99 first bid..and it gets bid up to higher than the mimimum bid i did a week earlier than no bids..

i think we all basically know what market price is but i think people like the bidding process on the way to market price and also people get invested in the bidding during the week...when just a market price sitting out there, the buyer has no chance for a bargain i think so that really hinders bidding when only 1 bid basically will win the thing, nooone wants to be the person to make that 1 bid...