Why Don't More Auction Houses Include eBay Listings?

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Posted By: barrysloate

I've been selling baseball memorabilia for nearly 25 years and even after all this time I still can't say precisely what the best way is to achieve the highest possible price. I have sold things in my small auctions that at times have far exceeded what a similar item has sold for in a Mastro auction (yes, that does really happen); I have also sold things at 60% of what the same item has sold for in a major auction house. I have realized incredible prices for things on ebay and also have seen other items fall flat. I've gotten record amounts in private sales and sold things that a month later I regretted when I realized I sold it too cheap. I've listed things in fixed price lists for far more than they are worth and sold them; I've also inadvertently underpriced items and gotten ten phone calls on them (that's the surest way to know you left money on the table). In the end, the only right way is to find the right buyer.
When those two Kalamazoo Bats sold on ebay a couple of months ago for 110K was that the wrong venue? Of course not, because it brought together the exact combination of two bidders that made it happen. Last year I sold a T206 Plank in VG-EX for over 68K, still the world's record for the grade. Was it because I have the best auction house in the world? Of course not, but what I had that night were two guys who were going to fight it to the death. If one was out of town, I might have gotten half the amount. The bottom line is there isn't a right or wrong way- you just have to find that right person. And that is an art that one continues to perfect until the day he hangs up his spikes.