T206 Ty Cobb Red background Lenox back

[edhans]

Originally Posted by MVSNYC

Not sure I completely agree. Your theory might be right, BUT in your direct sale scenario, there is ONE "bidder". At a top-tier auction, there would most likely be several people with deep pockets pushing each other up, very possibly to a level beyond what a private sale would've achieved.

Your statement may be true for some cards, including perhaps the OP's Cobb. But if a buyer and seller agree to a price on a particular card, they've established a market value for it. If it's sent to an auction house, it takes a third buyer to establish that value. In the case of equally rare and desirable, yet more thinly traded issues, high grade type cards for instance, if that third buyer doesn't materialize, the seller can take a beating.