UPDATES!!! Big announcement... for me anyway :) List now available!

[PhillipAbbott79]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

The current auction isn't posted yet, but will soon be available on auctionzip.com as well as birminghamauctioneers.com. You can also sign up for our email list, just drop me a line.

Ok. Still a little confused. So we will be able to see the lots but to bid we will have to show up in person?

[glynparson]

There are often several board members at an auction who could bid for you on an item you may be interested in. I know I have done this in the past for fellow members I know. I'd check it out on auctionzip and if there were something you were interested in maybe reach out on the board to see if you can find someone to bid for you. Like I said I've done this for a few people when Dave was still the owner.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Was brought to my attention that the photos for the auction were out of order. That should be corrected now. On a side not, I think I need to get someone to shill-post this thread up a little

[Snapolit1]

+2

[dclarkraiders]

Scott,

It was nice to meet you today. Regarding the auction, the inclusion of some higher end sets and cards was outstanding. I have attended this auction for a few years so I have a small sample size but the quality of items in this auction was a better than I have ever seen.

I would recommend that anyone within a reasonable distance to attend this auction if you have not done so previously.

Thanks for putting on a great live auction.

Best regards.

Duane Clark

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Thanks Duane,

Was disappointed with a number of the prewar results which meant there were bargains to be had today. Many items closed strong and overall we did quite well. This auction came together as a particularly strong one, but we strive to keep good material coming and do have a nice backlog of consignors right now.

If you were there today please give a shout out in this thread!

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by PhillipAbbott79

Ok. Still a little confused. So we will be able to see the lots but to bid we will have to show up in person?

That is correct, you aren't confused at all. Think of online as simply a digital catalog in the old school auction world. Saves us on mailing costs since there no extra cost for reaching people who likely won't attend.

Also what Glyn said is great advice. There are a number of bidders who do just that, so if you have a buddy on the East Coast that may be the way to go. All bidders are in the room on the day of the auction which can't eliminate the possibilities of shenanigans but it certainly make things more transparent.

Oh, and PS Glyn, Dave is still the owner for a bit yet

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

OK when one person is confused you can blame them, when multiple people are confused, obviously you failed in your attempt at communication. Here goes.

This is a LIVE only auction company. There is no phone bidding and no online bidding, we don't even currently accept absentee bids directly, though you are free to send an agent to the auction to place bids on your behalf. To place a bid you have to be in the room at the time the item is auctioned. You will be able to hold the item in your hand and look at it during the preview. The auctionzip and auctioneer web addresses mentioned previously are a way of distributing our catalog while saving on print costs. We can reach many more people at FAR less cost. It does not mean that we are accepting internet bids. Those resources will be available about one month before the auction.

I thought if ANY group of people would appreciate the fact that we are trying to keep this company as transparent as humanly possible in an industry beset by doubts, questions, and even outright fraud, it would be N54.

I hope this clears up any confusion!

Thanks!

[RobertGT]

I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor, Scott.

I have purchased lots of quality material at the Birmingham auction in the past, and I'm sure that will continue under Scott's capable stewardship.

Rob

[PhillipAbbott79]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

OK when one person is confused you can blame them, when multiple people are confused, obviously you failed in your attempt at communication. Here goes.

This is a LIVE only auction company. There is no phone bidding and no online bidding, we don't even currently accept absentee bids directly, though you are free to send an agent to the auction to place bids on your behalf. To place a bid you have to be in the room at the time the item is auctioned. You will be able to hold the item in your hand and look at it during the preview. The auctionzip and auctioneer web addresses mentioned previously are a way of distributing our catalog while saving on print costs. We can reach many more people at FAR less cost. It does not mean that we are accepting internet bids. Those resources will be available about one month before the auction.

I thought if ANY group of people would appreciate the fact that we are trying to keep this company as transparent as humanly possible in an industry beset by doubts, questions, and even outright fraud, it would be N54.

I hope this clears up any confusion!

Thanks!

Got it. Well. I wish you luck but you will likely never get a bid from me. I do this as a hobby. It is going to be near impossible for me to get to your live auction. I simply have to much going on in my life to pull that off, which sucks because it sounds like you have some cards in your first auction I may be interested in.

I hope you decide to convert to take remote bids.

[Leon]

If I were ya'll I would consider finding a way to allow more bidders. The smaller the audience the less the prices attained, in my experiences. Good luck!!

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

OK when one person is confused you can blame them, when multiple people are confused, obviously you failed in your attempt at communication. Here goes.

This is a LIVE only auction company. There is no phone bidding and no online bidding, we don't even currently accept absentee bids directly, though you are free to send an agent to the auction to place bids on your behalf. To place a bid you have to be in the room at the time the item is auctioned. You will be able to hold the item in your hand and look at it during the preview. The auctionzip and auctioneer web addresses mentioned previously are a way of distributing our catalog while saving on print costs. We can reach many more people at FAR less cost. It does not mean that we are accepting internet bids. Those resources will be available about one month before the auction.

I thought if ANY group of people would appreciate the fact that we are trying to keep this company as transparent as humanly possible in an industry beset by doubts, questions, and even outright fraud, it would be N54.

I hope this clears up any confusion!

Thanks!

[rjackson44]

best of luck scott

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by rjackson44

best of luck scott

Thanks!

[Snapolit1]

Scott - best of luck with this. I question whether you are going to get enough people at the Parsippany NJ show on a Tuesday night with cash in pocket to really make a live auction work, but I'm sure you've given it a lot more thought than I anyone else on the board has. (Of course, I could accept the occasional proxy from a board member and drive over. Industry's lowest commission to be sure. Plus surcharge for mileage. And a dinner stipend at the Wendy's up the road.) If I make it next week I'll say hello.

The other option is you could accept bids by email or phone and, like Christies, just open the bidding at that amount. May not be the transparancy you are looking to convey though.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Leon

If I were ya'll I would consider finding a way to allow more bidders. The smaller the audience the less the prices attained, in my experiences. Good luck!!

While I understand all the arguments FOR alternative bidding, I feel very strongly about being a contrarian thinker on this topic. Now realize we don't handle 5 and 6 figure items, at least in the 15 years I've been around the auction, but there is a big enough well-heeled dealer and collector population base in the area (and on our lists) that when we have nice items they sell appropriately.

The company wouldn't have lasted over 33 years leaving a trail of disgruntled consignors! Oh and over 90% of each auction IS consigned, not filled by the auction company. Of COURSE if we ever had a Holy Grail type item that issue would be visited separately, but on sets even up to several thousand I think being able to look at every single card in hand offsets a large amount of the benefit of reaching everyone but only with online images. The auction has done quite well over the years with high-end vintage sets.

Also with this new-found Card Show auction business, what good do we do a promoter if we allow people not present to bid? I think the commitment to, and experience in, the live-only arena certainly helped my pitch to someone whose main interest is attracting dealers and attendees.

Trust me none of this has been done without a lot of forethought, yet I am also not the kind of person who can't adapt. If the time should come that the evidence is proving that my thinking is wrong I won't go down cursing the world for being stupid, I'll adapt!

On a lighter note there is a STUNNING 1914 Cracker Jack Moriarty going into the March auction that blows me away. Sending that for grading just so I can be sure I'm not missing something!

PM me with questions or to get on the email list!

Scott