Ruth or Jordan?

[Neal]

In this market, I would sell both items

[Lordstan]

IN my opinion, shock value means nothing when it comes to price. The more people know about, the more interest there will be. I have no idea why an auction house would tell you that. The downside to the secrecy is, in my mind, it raises suspicion about the item being somehow not what it appears to be.

There are many very big collectors on this board. It doesn't have to be a Yankee collector. People spending that type of money buy stuff they like period.

I hope you get the money you need out of it.

[bravos4evr]

A- any auction house who tells you less information to the public is better is not to be trusted

B- If your stuff is not authenticated by one of the major companies out there now, for better or worse, it may not bring as much $$$ as you hoped

C- IMO, Jordan stuff has gotten way higher in price than availability can support. There are probably 50 times more signed Jordan relics than Ruth in the market, but with his price at an all time high i tend to think NOW is the time to sell Jordan stuff. Scarcity on Ruth stuff (and the fact that you can't have any more signed Ruth stuff, but you can Jordan) means it will probably not drop as much should there be another collector bubble.

D- If I were you, I would look into the big baseball/sports related auction houses (and they pretty much all advertise on this forum) they not only will give you the widest audience for your wares, they will be much more accurate on the present state of the market when giving you an estimate of the item's value.

[ooo-ribay]

I agree with mattjc. What the hell is the Ruth item??? A personal item is in no way gonna bring money equal to a game used bat (IMHO).

[Bpm0014]

This whole thing is fishy...

[irv]

Originally Posted by mattjc1983

If that's what an auction house is telling you, I'd run away from that auction house.

Simple logic would tell you that the biggest impact on the price of an item up for auction is the amount of action/bids on that item. You should want information about this item to be spread far and wide even before it goes up for sale so that you have as many eyeballs/wallets involved as possible. Lower knowledge/public awareness = fewer bids = lower sale price. Would you agree with that? Doesn't that seem strange to you that an auction house would give you advice that runs counterproductive to the very thing you're trying to accomplish (the highest sale price possible)?

This whole story sounds a little fishy to be completely honest with you, but if all you say is true, I fear you're being told to keep it a secret because either:

1) the auction house is worried about the item's legitimacy and they're assuming that the less time potential buyers have to research/scrutinize, the better, OR

2) the auction house wants to buy it from you for resale, and they're going to try to convince you to sell it to them at a price they say is fair, as opposed to you listing it somewhere and possibly getting much more from the market.

So again, I would run away. Good luck with whatever direction you go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Couldn't agree more!

Excuse me if I am wrong, but haven't all the greatest baseball card finds been exposed/told to the public long before any have gone to auction?

I think of the latest "Cobb Lucky 7" was, and I am sure many others as well, all before ever hitting an auction or coming for sale privately.

This story does sound fishy and imo, is just fabricated in order to draw the OP some attention that he seeks. Sorry if this sounds harsh, but everything you have told us about these items goes against the grain in the collectibles world.

[Shoeless Moe]

I just talked with the original poster, and it's Babe Ruth's toe nail clippings.

[irv]

Originally Posted by Shoeless Moe

I just talked with the original poster, and it's Babe Ruth's toe nail clippings.

I knew my Uncle should have picked up that Kleenex that Mickey Mantle used just after this pic was taken!!

[ullmandds]

To me...the hype...the buildup of an item directly influences the hammer price. The more people know about the item...the better it will do...so counter to your theory?

Personally...as a very rich dentist and die hard yankees fan......well atleast a die hard yankees fan. I'd keep the ruth.

BUT...as far as long term investment potential...I'd sell the ruth now...as there will be many many rich jordan lovers down the road!!!!

[mattjc1983]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

To me...the hype...the buildup of an item directly influences the hammer price. The more people know about the item...the better it will do...so counter to your theory?



Personally...as a very rich dentist and die hard yankees fan......well atleast a die hard yankees fan. I'd keep the ruth.



BUT...as far as long term investment potential...I'd sell the ruth now...as there will be many many rich jordan lovers down the road!!!!

This is an interesting point. Do you see extremely limited edition game-used items of Jordan's passing Ruth's in say 30 years when all the kids that grew up watching Jordan play are in their peak earning years and loaded, and anyone that saw Ruth play or even saw him when he was alive is long gone?

Or will Ruth always be iconic enough to surpass just about any other athlete?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mattjc1983]

Originally Posted by irv

I knew my Uncle should have picked up that Kleenex that Mickey Mantle used just after this pic was taken!!

That may have been a joke, but is that really your uncle with the Mick?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk