Mastro Consignment Concern

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Posted By: Jerry Ficchi

I’ve been a long-time reader of this board and truly enjoy and appreciate the plethora of information and opinion that comes from it. I have a dilemma and would value the judgment of fellow collectors.

I received my “Consignor Statement” today from Mastro and there are two problems with it. First, which is less of an issue, but still somewhat frustrating is that one of my two consignments has been pushed back to the February auction even though Mastro’s “Consignment Agreement” stated it would be in December. Without getting into what it is, other than being a $3,000 to $5,000 item, would you be upset with this bump?

The greater problem is with my second consignment which is slated to begin on Monday. The tile and description shortchanges the items in the lot by about 30%. Mastro said that they would amend the website, but obviously, the catalogs have already been printed. This particular lot could bring $15,000 to $25,000, but the current description would value it, perhaps, around $10,000. My primary question here is, when bidding with a major auction house, do you pay more attention to the catalog or the website? Additionally, do amendments on the website sway your decision on whether to bid on the lot or not? Lastly, if this happened to you, what would you do… leave it in Mastro’s hands and let them amend the website description or pull the lot from their auction all together?

Thank you for your help…

Jerry Ficchi

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Posted By: warshawlaw

They do seem to get the most money for quality stuff, though. See what they propose and if you don't like it, pull the lot if you can.

My few experiences consigning with other auctioneers where the catalog (old days; no net) was not well done were very poor.

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Posted By: David Vargha

1. If I didn't need the money right away, I wouldn't be that upset about the date being pushed back.

2. I mostly bid on the Internet description, however I would ask them to pull the lot based upon what you have described.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Date may have been pushed back because a very similar item was already being sold.

I know that I would NEVER want my card being auctioned at the same time as ANOTHER copy of the same card.

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Posted By: Jim Clarke

I use the catalog to look at all the lot photos at one time. I read the e-net description of every lot I bid on as that is the most accurate with uptodate changes.

Hal hit it on the head with the two of the same kind of item selling. I would not fret about that. Mastro will realize you the most amount of money for quality items no matter what the minimum bid is.

I would let them do what they do best and just sit back and enjoy... I've been pleased with their results being a past consignor... JC

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Probably 99.9% percent of MastroNet bids are placed through the website, so all bidders and online browsers well see the ammendment. The online fixes are done in red text, with a note before the auction description and the full details of the fix (again in red) below. Bidders won't miss it. It would be nice for the catalog to be correct, but you have little to no worry about the bidders not realizing what's really in the lot.

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Posted By: T206Collector

...earn more money because of the gift quotient?

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Posted By: ramram

I've always written my own auction descriptions, at least the key items that I would like noted, and then leave final editing to the auction house. It's a pain in the rear but it often is necessary if you want to achieve it's full potential. With the quantity of material that the auction houses have, they usually don't take/find/have the time that the consigners would like to see noted. On the other hand, sometimes we're just too personally involved (kind of like - no boy will ever be good enough for my daughter).

I have on a couple of occasions written up the information only to find that the auction house never even saw it and wrote a very poor abbreviated description. That gets real irratating and I have pulled a lot for that reason before and had them list it in the next auction. It worked to my advantage in the long run because the item sold at what I had estimated it at and was about four times the amount the house originally estimated it at. There is a fear that goes with this though....when an item gets pulled and then listed later, a lot of bidders wonder if there is something questionable or wrong with it.

Rob M.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Consignors should always include a description or list or highlights or brief summary for the consigned lot. Never assume that the catalog writer is going to look through you lot of 2,000 cards and see all 4 Babe Ruths and the rare error card stuck in middle of the pile. He may only see two Ruths and miss the error card, and write in the catalog that there are 2 Ruths.

I can tell you this as a bidder. I won a Joe Louis memorabilia lot from an auction house. The catalog description said there was one Louis autographed item, a photo. What I received included five Louis autographs: three vintage photographs, a first edition hardcover copy of Louis' 1940s autobiography and an original 1953 movie script to 'The Joe Louis Story.' Not that I was complaining

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Posted By: joe maples

I have some items going in the February auction too. I didn't ask Bill Mastro, but is the February auction the Classic Collection Auction "an internet only auction event from Mastronet" or a regular auction like the December auction. Just curious while looking at the auction catalog from Mastro auction that ended October 20, 2005. This is internet only auction with all bids starting at $100.00.

Joe

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Posted By: barrysloate

The February is probably a collectors auction. I don't think they would do two major ones that close together.

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Posted By: joe maples

Barry, that's what I thought too.

Joe