That Cicotte CJ 14 at Love the Game: What's Up?

[Jaybird]

Great looking card, nice centering and overall great eye appeal. It doesn't have the card color showing through with scuffs and faded color that cards suffer from. The card speaks for itself. Maybe people can see past the registry and just want a really nice '14 CJ. Boogers and all.

[Robert_Lifson]

Ironically, we DID discuss value with Greg Mitchell. Below is our communication to Greg. It sold for $5,100 ($100 above the $3,000 to $5,000 likely selling price that Brian communicated very clearly in writing). Also, the SMR value is $3,300. I can understand a seller always wishing a consignment sold for more, but I think the card brought a very strong price.



-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Dwyer
To: Greg Mitchell
Sent: Thu, Jun 5, 2014 10:39 am
Subject: Re: from Greg Mitchell, re:consigning
Hi Greg,

Thanks for your email. I've noticed the spike in 1914 CJ pricing, so you're right that now might be a good time to sell your card. The strong interest in the set, coupled with a 1/1 pop, which can only go up, is a good combination.

To answer your questions:

1) There would be no seller's fee to you. You'd receive 100% of the hammer price.

2) As far as placement in the catalog, we put all of our lots chronologically, so the CJ would fall towards the front of the book naturally. With everyone bidding online, and the search function taking people directly to what they're looking for, placement in the catalog isn't as important as it once was. I would guarantee you a half page on the card, perhaps more if it looks good and fits with the layout of the book (we're building a huge puzzle so everything has to fit).

3) With respect to additional promo, we promote the whole auction extensively, in several venues that other places do not and with the largest circulation of catalogs in the hobby. We can place your card in one of our mass e-mails concerning the auction.

4) We would start the card at $1,000.

5) It's not that we don't like to give estimates, it's just that on certain cards/items, it can be extremely difficult to know what something will go for. I don't think anyone would've predicted $2300 for Sallee, or $343,000 for the Ruth/Gehrig ball that we sold last spring (after selling it for $98,000 a few auctions earlier), or $12,000 for the PSA 6 Old Mill Tinker we had (SMR $575). I think the card would likely sell for between $3-5,000. Naturally, I hope it sells for $10,000, but we don't know how fierce the competition will be. I could tell you I think it will sell for $10,000, which might make you happy, but then if it sells for $5,000, you're disappointed. Instead, we tell people to focus on consigning your card to the place that will do the best job, as buyers will respond accordingly, and we think we fit the bill.

6) I think now is a good time to sell. As I alluded to earlier, the population on this card can only go up. You have a number of guys in the market who are clearly competing for high-end cards. Trying to time anything, whether it be card prices, stock prices, home prices, etc. is nearly impossible and can be like catching daggers. I think we know that things are looking good for CJs now, so capitalize while you know you can. Things might go up a bit, which might sting for a little if you "lose" out on a few hundred bucks, but it would sting a lot more if the price dropped in half.

If you have any other questions, please let me know. We'd love to have the card, we think it would do well, and the sooner we have it, the sooner we can tell people about it.

Brian

[calvindog]

Wow, Rob, what a bastard you are -- the card sold for more than your estimate. How dare you?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Greg's hopes may have been up, but it's hard to see how that can be fairly attributed to anything Rob did or did not do. Sheesh.

[GregMitch34]

Please point to where I claimed REA over-sold me on the card. I never made that claim. I simply pointed out that they probably had their own somewhat higher hopes for card since, unlike most of their other high-priced CJ cards, they did NOT provide an estimate with the listing in the catalog. Instead it was "open." I never said they misled me personally. So they are knocking down a straw man. And, really, quoting an SMR price?

[calvindog]

Greg, they gave YOU the estimate -- and the card surpassed it. No one is suggesting that REA "over-sold" you on the card. What we're saying is that your complaints about REA are without merit. How can a card surpass their estimates translate to "they probably had their own somewhat higher hopes for [the] card"? They had their estimate and it was surpassed. And Rob is claiming that he was pleased with the result -- yet you were "very disappointed." So because the card didn't sell for the unrealistic price you were hoping for, you blame it on the catalog?

And curiously, when I asked last night if Rob had given you his own estimate of the card's final auction price, you went silent, thus leaving the implication that no REA estimate was provided. It was -- just to you.

[GregMitch34]

"Went silent"? I guess there's a time limit for replying to queries--especially when one has family, work to do, annual physical, etc.? And, for the second time--I never claimed REA over-hyped me on the card. I still think it's interesting that unlike in most other cases they did not put "3000-5000" estimate in the catalog. That suggests that they, like me, had some hope of doing better. After all, the card was "new to the hobby" and was top graded by two whole points. Naturally one wonders what it might bring. That's all I've said.