Beantown Find. the story...

[wonkaticket]

Originally Posted by pgellis

I guess I am the only one who thought that the way that these cards were sold was strange. One of the first lots was for a large group of Southern League cards that were offered on a Friday afternoon at 12:00noon and sold that same afternoon at 4:30.......put out there for 4.5 hours......then sold. I put in an offer just for 4 of the cards and never heard back.....not 1 word. Sold.....entire lot 4.5 hours later. I guarantee that my offer for just those 4 cards was probably a large percentage of what the entire lot sold for. Why only wait 4.5 hours before declaring a lot sold? Why not let others come home from work and "bid" on them? I don't get it.

Why not take bids? Why not take individual offers for each card to maximize the revenue for the owner? I know there are a lot of cards, but come on..........

I don't get it!

Phil, you're not alone. While I have no issues with Steve not getting back to me on anything as it seems you do or did, he was more than nice to me on the one card I asked about thanks Steve.

I can't help but think that if this was to maximize the cash on these for the elderly lady's assisted living expenses that these could have been sold for more than what most likely is being achieved IMO.

While I like to think that this little community of ours is the end all be all of collecting world it is so far from that. There are plenty of folks who just never got a chance to toss money on the table on these as they just don’t pick our beloved BST at all. Actually mentioned this to a pretty significant collector who’s quote was really no “blank” never saw the stuff, never really check the BST not much on there in the past worth checking…

With Steve’s 15% juice it’s certain and safe to say that no real money has been saved either by avoiding auction houses??? If it was my collection for my granny and I was tossing 15% of the total away and letting someone buy or pick through the collection at his or her discretion at a discount.

I would want as many eyes and wallets seeing these cards as I could arrange…and I would also want to make sure that what was being purchased at a discount before hitting the block was not stuff that others should be bidding on or that could bring big bucks.

Just my armchair quarterback view…nothing more…

Cheers,

John

P.S. As for time consuming yes, but another good reason to let a professional auction house sell a collection of this caliber and size.

[Ladder7]

Update,

Reckon I should have been more responsive. I wrongly assumed if replies werent written, it was clear the request was unreasonable or offer had been topped.

The owners are extremely pleased with the results of their amateur seller. I was asked to move the product fast, and did/am. Certainly, could have done better. Then again, Im not Mr Mint, Mastro nor Tobey Cat.

Email requests; This sell-off is fast tracked and I have no time to search or cherry pick through the pile. It is a daunting and overwhelming task for a fat guy at a table with marginal vision and a weak bladder. On top of that, I work app 60+hrs/wk and have the typical life of a grampa. Incidentally, My Everything wants her kitchen back. For you single guys, the hollaring can be quite a motivator... She cares little, that I pulled a rare T or E card. Im sure many can relate.

Some of the items have been purchased in person (cash) and those we're likely some of the tough and higher quality examples.

To those I may have seemingly snubbed, i apologize for not replying to every note. Some questions were too involved and inquisitive. I tried to update those with fair offers. Incidentally, there are a couple that have shown disrespect in the past. Please, now is not the time to let bygones go. Especially the nut case that implied "something fishy is going on". Be aware, i will live quite comfortably to the end on my life savings and need not rip off an old lady.

Okay, enough drama... There is reportedly another trunk back in the house, containing cards. I will try to be a bit more communicative when that gets split up. No idea what it contains, til I get to it. - When this parcel is done and gone.

Again, I want to thank those who have purchased thusfar. The money was much needed and time critical.

Those awaiting shipments. All the packages are sealed and addressed, in case I suffer cardiac arrest. My Reason to Live, is instructed to get these to the PO asap and the checks to Mrs M.

*If you see a Lot you want, make a serious offer. Some of the competition has deep pockets and Im obligated to that fellow. Also, assume none have rare backs or will grade anything better that VG, as there isn't time to sort. Im at the lower quality stuff now, so part 1 of the find will be more affordable now.




Thanks for the support and valuable advice guys
Steve
fdnyladder7@comcast.net

[asphaltman]

I don't know that Steve could be doing anything much different than what he is doing. I think for the most part he has received pretty good money for the lots he has posted.

While we would all probably like to see nice front and back scans of everything this is just a massive collection and I don't even know if Steve is halfway through it yet.

And compared to the 43 card T206 lot in H&S that sold last night, I'd say Steve has done better on most his lots (at least based on knowing what I've bid on a few and didn't get).

Would the family have done better sending everything to an auction house? Probably. But, not knowing their situation....they may have not had months to wait on money. They were obviously comfortable with Steve, and felt good enough with the situation to give him discounts on a few things....good for both parties if they are happy.

I just hope when all is done the family is open to letting the former collector of these cards be known. I'd love to hear more about him...how he went about aquiring all the cards he has, especially how he acquired so many southern cards with the T209's, T210's and T211's if he was in the northeast.

[bigfish]

[QUOTE=asphaltman;882691]
I don't know that Steve could be doing anything much different than what he is doing. I think for the most part he has received pretty good money for the lots he has posted.

While we would all probably like to see nice front and back scans of everything this is just a massive collection and I don't even know if Steve is halfway through it yet.

And compared to the 43 card T206 lot in H&S that sold last night, I'd say Steve has done better on most his lots (at least based on knowing what I've bid on a few and didn't get).


Dave, I agree with you 100%. I have been outbid on several lots and they are selling for a fair/strong price based upon what I had bid and looking at an average price per card. It is a massive collection and there arent any psa 9's or ty cobb backs. Appears to be mid grade hofers and commons. I guess we should put ourselves in his shoes. 2500-3000 cards and the owner needs money pretty quick. Steve did a nice job getting the owner the money she needs and in a hurry. I am happy with the lot I bought and won't post a negative thing about Steve because he was alittle slow in getting back to me. I am sure he was blasted with e-mails and did the best he could. He is doing a good deed for someone in need and folks should remember that. I encourage folks who are happy with the lots to post. Steve doesn't deserve negative comments. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion.

[Mikehealer]

I don't know Steve, never met or talked to him, just offered up on some of his lots, but from his posts in the past my perception is he is a stand up guy. I can't imagine the amount of emails he has been getting and I'm sure he doesn't reply to all. Some of my lowball offers have not gotten a reply nor should they have. But on some lots that I was more reasonable on he politely replied I was not high enough, bid more. He seems to be getting pretty good money on the lots I've bid on, and there is no buyers premium that I'm aware of which would definitely hurt the family's realized price on lots like this.

I think the family made a good choice, they got an honest person to help them sell of an old family collection in a very quick time frame and they seem to be happy with the results. I would say he has done what they asked him to do.

[3-2-count]

I to was winner of one of the lots and received them yesterday. I'm very happy with the cards and they're even in nicer shape than expected. I've also placed a few other strong bids on some of the other lots with no success which in my opinion have brought pretty aggressive prices thus far. Can't wait to see what's upcoming. Thank you Steve for a nice batch of raw cards.

[Leon]

I think Steve is doing a great job and a great service for this older lady. Anyone who doesn't think so can just move on.....see ya later!@!!

And Steve, the one deal we did.....perfect so far. You are my hero. And oh yeah, btw, from the several lots that I know of, and the prices ascertained, you are doing very well with them. You should sleep good at night.

[PEEK enterprises]

Steve - thank you. You have been more than professional and I could not be more pleased with the cards or the manner in which they are being sold.

[marcdelpercio]

Just wanted to add that I was lucky to win/buy one of the T205 lots. Cards were in my hands two days later and even nicer than described. I would echo the sentiment that these have apparently gone for some pretty strong prices. On several of the lots, I have put in what I thought was a competitive offer, only to be informed that it was already a thousand bucks higher. Steve has been very responsive to my e-mails despite I'm sure receiving tons of other messages.

My only suggestion would be to possibly update the high bid/offer on the listing and maybe list a final time cutoff that offers would be taken on the lot. That would be a quick and easy way to let people know exactly where the price was and avoid the time and hassle of replying to 20 e-mails with offers that have long since been surpassed. However Steve decides to do it though...great service and great cards so far. Best of luck to Steve and the family he's helping and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more stuff as it's listed.

[wonkaticket]

To be clear Steve I'm not saying anything is fishy, I'm saying that I think Net54 alone is limited audience for a lot of these cards and money is being left on the table in some instances. IMO

If money needed quickly is an issue I'm sure many auction houses would have given cash advances, offered 0% vs. 15% and might have even spent some coin on grading on a collection of this size. Not that they need to be graded.

But I can't help but think using a auction house REA/Goodwin/HA does open up a lot bigger mailing list and bring more eyes to the table ....I guess I'm the only one who thinks this way.

I do find it a little funny for all who say the Net54 BST is the way to go 100% with these...I wonder how many of you would be selling your collection of 2000+ cards or high dollar items via only our BST.

In fact Leon why even bother with Brokelman Luckey just use the BST. All kidding aside so Leon as a direct question you see no real value in my POV of using an auction house for a collection of this size, you feel the BST was the way to go here?

Also I wonder why we aren't all on the edge of our seats waiting for the BST catalog to ship vs. REA.

Cheers,

John

[tonyo]

This whole "beantown find" thing has been very interesting (and fun) to watch from the cheap seats.

I finally sent in an offer on one of the recent lots.......no response from Steve, but in retrospect I was one of the bidders that wasn't even close enough merit a response. Understandable

I did ask him what the lot went for just to gage my potential ability to win future lots. He politely let me know that I was over 50% low.

That helped - now I know that I can just swim back over into the shallow water and wait for a "much" lower grade lot before I try again.

************

A request:
When (if) these lots are broken down by their purchasers and offered again on BST in smaller chunks, It would be nice to know that they are part of the "beantown find" it's always much cooler to know something about the original owners!

Hopefully I can end up with some then!

[GrayGhost]

This is a fascinating story, that makes lowww budget guys like me envious in some ways, but fascinated by a 'great find" story too. I can't honestly wait to see whats in the other trunk. Maybe a stack of Ramly's or Turkey Red cabinets?

Great stuff and continued best on the sales Steve!!