Health of Asset Class - Over/Under 1955 Topps Koufax PSA 9

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Adam, I myself am wondering whether the auction house has anything to do with the relatively/comparatively weak result. Of the 5 prior sales that range from $369k - $396k, two were REA and two Heritage, with the fifth being the oldest, on 5/23/21, in Goldin for $369k.

Personally, I have no issue with Ken or his AH and I have bought a number of stuff from his auction house when it was a smaller outfit. However, I don't think I have bought anything from Goldin since they were acquired by PSA, and, at this point, I dont even really follow their auctions. To me, Goldin, like PWCC, has become an almost purely modern venue and I dont feel like wading through pages of RPAs looking for a singular pre-war needle in the haystack. Plus, like PWCC, I am not a fan of the auction interface, which I find difficult to use and not intuitive. I am not a bidder on a 1955 Koufax PSA 9, regardless of whether its in Goldin or REA, but perhaps others did not notice/partake in the auction for similar reasons stated above.

It's an interesting concept. Just pondering a little bit myself, let's say there was a high grade mainline piece for a major HOFer that I was coveting, and had a war chest lying around to chase it. Along it comes in auction, and there's a chance to pick it up for 20% off the last sale.

I'm not convinced that I'd let a clunky interface or the need to do a little more homework to find it get in my way. If anything, I might be inclined to lean into those as a competitive advantage, especially if it prevents the competition from bidding as heavily, or even finding the auction.

And I think the market has long ago given us enough signals that for 99.999% of collectors, we're not about to let our moral code stand in the way of picking up high quality stuff, particularly at a good deal.

All of which is a long way of saying that I have a hard time believing those were the likely answer. I tend to be more of a believer that there was probably one more potential bidder out there who decided to not go nuts this time. He's feeling tapped out, maybe his dog just died, or he lost a bundle on some lame SPAC investment, had a mild heart attack, or his wife just filed for divorce and is suing for the collection and the house. Or maybe he just had a conflict that night with the Met Gala. For whatever reason, he dropped out of the bidding earlier, and therefore the price pooped out a few bids earlier than the last handful of auctions.

Whenever we talk about our moral code and its potential influence on certain auction houses, it brings to mind a joke from the economist joke book, which I've told here before, but will recount again, because it seems apropos in light of our sometimes flexible moral code. Apologies that it's a little salty, but the saltiness helps to convey the message.

An economist walks up to a woman and asks if she would sleep with him for $1 million.

She responds that she supposes that she would.

Whereupon the economist asks if she would sleep with him for $100.

To which she retorts, "What kind of a woman do you think I am?"

The economist wryly observes, "Madam, we have already established that. Now we are just negotiating on price."