Hake's Auction

[bcbgcbrcb]

Well, the latest Hake's Auction has now been open for a total of three days and already the prices of all key Negro League items are extremely strong. The premium items that they keep bringing out are just incredible. But........what ever happened to the old bidding startegy where you wait until the proverbial "last minute" to place your serious bids?

[Bicem]

Looks like it's taken a back seat to the new strategy of "no one else bother bidding on these items, they are mine."

[Exhibitman]

Phil is right; I've noted that trend too on some items. IMO, a source of it is that with 10% incremental bidding plus a BP you can play "king of the mountain" at certain price points that you think may be sticking points for other bidders. I know I will sometimes calculate the closest bid to my maximum price on an item and then occupy that price level early in the auction with my max bid. That way I need not worry about making that last incremental bid because I know that the bid that tops me is going to put the item well outside my price range were I to make a responsive bid [a 10% increment plus 15% BP is an 11.5% price raise. To top that I'd have to be willing to pay nearly 25% over my top bid, and it is rare that I would be willing to do that]. If two bidders apply a similar strategy, prices can rise very fast.

And yes, I do need to get out more...

[bcbgcbrcb]

Exactly, Jeff. Not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing for me when the necessity of staying up all night on the final day of an auction is eliminated by day three of a three week auction...............

[paul]

Anyone know who Richard Merkin is?

[calvindog]

He's the guy who consigned a bunch of stuff to Hake's auction.

[Kenny Cole]

He was an artist and is one of the guys pictured on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album cover. In addition to sports memorabilia, he evidently had quite the vintage porn collection. He died a couple of years ago.

[Bicem]

Originally Posted by paul

Anyone know who Richard Merkin is?

Long time collector and eccentric artist who died in 2009.

[triwak]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Well, the latest Hake's Auction has now been open for a total of three days and already the prices of all key Negro League items are extremely strong. The premium items that they keep bringing out are just incredible. But........what ever happened to the old bidding startegy where you wait until the proverbial "last minute" to place your serious bids?

Phil, don't you figure this may be the same collector that was discussed last year, regarding Hake's Negro League stuff? Think someone on here knew who it was, and said he was a long-time, "serious" collector. Probably too old to be well schooled in all of our silly internet sniping schemes, and too rich to have to be!

[Runscott]

I wish auction houses would do a bit more research before exposing their descriptions. The following is a great postcard, but Hake's logic that it dates to 1904, based on the Chicago Union Giants having become the Leland Giants by 1905, is just wrong. I have only researched a limited time period, but the Union Giants were right there in Chicago with the rest of the black city teams, 1909-1912.

http://www.hakes.com/item.asp?Auction=204&ItemNo=107036

[bcbgcbrcb]

Kind of my thoughts as well, Ken.

[Brian Campf]

deleted

[Hake's Auctions]

As everyone should now be aware of, Hake's not only does research before offering items in the auction but will make the needed changes if other information if presented after the fact and it is warranted. We strive for accuracy in all we offer (and have since 1967) but when dealing with certain subject matter where exact info/records are not readily available, if at all, it can be a difficult situation. In the case of this postcard we used info on the Negro League Baseball Players Association site nlbpa.com, which one would assume is a good source for such information. Regardless, the date we state and the date being proposed are not decades apart and does not seem to be a major issue either way. For those who have never worked on an auction catalog, 3,000+ items is a massive undertaking and we do our very best to present all in an accurate manner, but mistakes will happen. However, we always listen to what outside sources have to say.