Reporting live from the Hunts Ted Williams auction

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by RichardSimon

Having worked for PSA in the distant past, I know what you speak of when you talk about under the gun with a time limit.

Richard, you know it!

For regular auction lots in a huge auction, they have a few minutes, then they will move on to the next item. if it is a blockbuster item, maybe they will spend more time on it.

if their time is worth 250 dollars an hour, then a 25 dollar submission is worth about 6 minutes of their time. if they spend more than that, they are losing money. so they will go with their best guess. what they should really do is give a no opinion most of the time if they don't know.

but they dont like to do that for 2 reasons.

#1. they don't get paid for it if they give a no opinion.

#2. they think that the collector thinks it is a sign of weakness. if they give a no opinion, then the collector sends it to the other company, which gives an opinion, they think the collector thinks that the first company doesn't know what they are doing because the 2nd company certed it, so the first company kind of feels pressured to give an opinion one way or the other so not to be seen as wishy washy.

what they don't realize is that an honest no opinion is nothing to be embarrassed about. not every autograph in the world can be figured out and it is honest and ethical to give a no opinion.

a no opinion does NOT mean the autograph is bad. some collectors think that this is what it means, but it doesn't. It simply means they cant give a definite opinion one way or another. it still might be good, might not be. but a no opinion is not a death sentence.