UPDATES!!! Big announcement... for me anyway :) List now available!

[Leon]

If I were ya'll I would consider finding a way to allow more bidders. The smaller the audience the less the prices attained, in my experiences. Good luck!!

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

OK when one person is confused you can blame them, when multiple people are confused, obviously you failed in your attempt at communication. Here goes.

This is a LIVE only auction company. There is no phone bidding and no online bidding, we don't even currently accept absentee bids directly, though you are free to send an agent to the auction to place bids on your behalf. To place a bid you have to be in the room at the time the item is auctioned. You will be able to hold the item in your hand and look at it during the preview. The auctionzip and auctioneer web addresses mentioned previously are a way of distributing our catalog while saving on print costs. We can reach many more people at FAR less cost. It does not mean that we are accepting internet bids. Those resources will be available about one month before the auction.

I thought if ANY group of people would appreciate the fact that we are trying to keep this company as transparent as humanly possible in an industry beset by doubts, questions, and even outright fraud, it would be N54.

I hope this clears up any confusion!

Thanks!

[rjackson44]

best of luck scott

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by rjackson44

best of luck scott

Thanks!

[Snapolit1]

Scott - best of luck with this. I question whether you are going to get enough people at the Parsippany NJ show on a Tuesday night with cash in pocket to really make a live auction work, but I'm sure you've given it a lot more thought than I anyone else on the board has. (Of course, I could accept the occasional proxy from a board member and drive over. Industry's lowest commission to be sure. Plus surcharge for mileage. And a dinner stipend at the Wendy's up the road.) If I make it next week I'll say hello.

The other option is you could accept bids by email or phone and, like Christies, just open the bidding at that amount. May not be the transparancy you are looking to convey though.

[Leon]

I think after his (hi Scott) explanation they are well aware of what they are doing. It is all about expectations. Kind of like when I list a card on this forums little live auction place. If anyone is expecting top dollar there they will probably be disappointed but if you go there for ease of use and a place to have fun and shed some collectibles.....then that is a great place. I doubt they have too many 50k cards at their Philly only auction, by design. That all said it sounds like it will be a lot of fun and if I were in the area would definitely attend. That area is certainly ripe with collectors so I am hopeful it will be fine. And I am very happy the Philly Show is evolving ....

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Scott - best of luck with this. I question whether you are going to get enough people at the Parsippany NJ show on a Tuesday night with cash in pocket to really make a live auction work, but I'm sure you've given it a lot more thought than I anyone else on the board has. (Of course, I could accept the occasional proxy from a board member and drive over. Industry's lowest commission to be sure. Plus surcharge for mileage. And a dinner stipend at the Wendy's up the road.) If I make it next week I'll say hello.

The other option is you could accept bids by email or phone and, like Christies, just open the bidding at that amount. May not be the transparancy you are looking to convey though.

[glynparson]

Having attended dozens of Birmingham's auctions I can say his prices realized are like most auctions. High sometimes low sometimes and a mixture sometimes. They tend to be a little low on esoteric non Phillies things. It spot in on most topps bowman cards.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Scott - best of luck with this. I question whether you are going to get enough people at the Parsippany NJ show on a Tuesday night with cash in pocket to really make a live auction work, but I'm sure you've given it a lot more thought than I anyone else on the board has. (Of course, I could accept the occasional proxy from a board member and drive over. Industry's lowest commission to be sure. Plus surcharge for mileage. And a dinner stipend at the Wendy's up the road.) If I make it next week I'll say hello.

The other option is you could accept bids by email or phone and, like Christies, just open the bidding at that amount. May not be the transparancy you are looking to convey though.

Well part of the benefit of teaming up is it doubles the promotional effort. If I was relying on the current crowd I would have to agree with you but we will put our marketing effort behind this as well now and hopefully bring in a whole new crowd. It won't happen overnight and I doubt we make a killing any time soon, but I think it's a strong marriage that will yield results.

As an example, at the show I promoted in the Poconos this fall, it did not go great. We only had about 60 paid admissions and 18 registered bidders. The auction was at the end of the show. So nearly one third of my admissions were there, in part, for the auction, how many would not have come at all if not for the auction?

Parsippany should yield even stronger results because it's two different companies both marketing their own area as opposed to one company trying to market two different things. I only had the same lists of people to hit over and over, I tried like mad to expand those lists, but you're limited. Now Joe and I start with two completely separate lists, we should hit a LOT more people.

Anyway, if you can't tell, I am passionate about this, but not blinded by that passion, I appreciate the thoughts and comments and it's always possible someone hits me with something I haven't thought about yet!

[Leon]

Scott, I admire your tenacity. Keep at it, the hobby is better off when we try to make it better by doing different things and promoting it more, especially in a positive light. Good luck once again!! We'll be here for updates. Heck, I might have to actually travel again to do a show.....

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Well part of the benefit of teaming up is it doubles the promotional effort. If I was relying on the current crowd I would have to agree with you but we will put our marketing effort behind this as well now and hopefully bring in a whole new crowd. It won't happen overnight and I doubt we make a killing any time soon, but I think it's a strong marriage that will yield results.

As an example, at the show I promoted in the Poconos this fall, it did not go great. We only had about 60 paid admissions and 18 registered bidders. The auction was at the end of the show. So nearly one third of my admissions were there, in part, for the auction, how many would not have come at all if not for the auction?

Parsippany should yield even stronger results because it's two different companies both marketing their own area as opposed to one company trying to market two different things. I only had the same lists of people to hit over and over, I tried like mad to expand those lists, but you're limited. Now Joe and I start with two completely separate lists, we should hit a LOT more people.

Anyway, if you can't tell, I am passionate about this, but not blinded by that passion, I appreciate the thoughts and comments and it's always possible someone hits me with something I haven't thought about yet!

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Leon

Scott, I admire your tenacity. Keep at it, the hobby is better off when we try to make it better by doing different things and promoting it more, especially in a positive light. Good luck once again!! We'll be here for updates. Heck, I might have to actually travel again to do a show.....

That would be so cool. Thanks for the support here, I'm excited (if anyone couldn't tell) about the opportunities that are opening up for me. As one of the "good guys" (OK I guess everyone perceives themselves as a good guy) I firmly believe that the more people I meet and do business with the more successful I will be, as I try very hard to only leave happy customers in my wake!

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Leon

If I were ya'll I would consider finding a way to allow more bidders. The smaller the audience the less the prices attained, in my experiences. Good luck!!

While I understand all the arguments FOR alternative bidding, I feel very strongly about being a contrarian thinker on this topic. Now realize we don't handle 5 and 6 figure items, at least in the 15 years I've been around the auction, but there is a big enough well-heeled dealer and collector population base in the area (and on our lists) that when we have nice items they sell appropriately.

The company wouldn't have lasted over 33 years leaving a trail of disgruntled consignors! Oh and over 90% of each auction IS consigned, not filled by the auction company. Of COURSE if we ever had a Holy Grail type item that issue would be visited separately, but on sets even up to several thousand I think being able to look at every single card in hand offsets a large amount of the benefit of reaching everyone but only with online images. The auction has done quite well over the years with high-end vintage sets.

Also with this new-found Card Show auction business, what good do we do a promoter if we allow people not present to bid? I think the commitment to, and experience in, the live-only arena certainly helped my pitch to someone whose main interest is attracting dealers and attendees.

Trust me none of this has been done without a lot of forethought, yet I am also not the kind of person who can't adapt. If the time should come that the evidence is proving that my thinking is wrong I won't go down cursing the world for being stupid, I'll adapt!

On a lighter note there is a STUNNING 1914 Cracker Jack Moriarty going into the March auction that blows me away. Sending that for grading just so I can be sure I'm not missing something!

PM me with questions or to get on the email list!

Scott