Restored Honus Wagner at SCP Auctions

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

FWIW, the fact that the major auction houses (e.g., Sothebys, Christies, etc.) across all fields of collecting employ the method of hidden reserves with the house being allowed to secretly bid up to the reserve, suggests to me this method works in achieving the highest prices. That it might piss off some bidders who will therefore not bid is more than offset by the higher prices it generates among those bidders who participate. Conceptually it makes sense it would work, as it reduces the number of bidders required to achieve the desired price from two to one.

In regard to the demand curve, for the most desirable items it is very inelastic. Because of that, bidders who really want the item will knowingly choose to take the bait and bid, fearing that, even though unlikely, if there is that "real" second bidder, they will have no chance of buying the item after the auction.

The end result it is there in most Auction Houses. WE have the options both where to consign or sell our cards and we have options on where to buy or bid on cards.

There are some Auctions Houses I prefer to deal with and others I prefer to attempt to avoid. But if the Right Card that I want or need is available I might need to bid/buy from an Auction House I would prefer not to. But Again I have the choice.

Most of the cards I ever bought or sold never had a reserve (that I knew of) so it was not as much a factor (but what I do not know I do not know)

[Rhotchkiss]

3 Days left and the Wagner still sits at $1mm with buyer's premium, which is where the card sat after the first day (has not moved since it opened) and is a mere half of the estimate. It ain't over until the until its over, but its starting to look like this Wagner will be a flop.

As a Wagner owner, I would love to see this restored "A" get over $2mm. As a realist, however, I think it tops $1.3mm max.

[chadeast]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

3 Days left and the Wagner still sits at $1mm with buyer's premium, which is where the card sat after the first day (has not moved since it opened) and is a mere half of the estimate. It ain't over until the until its over, but its starting to look like this Wagner will be a flop.

As a Wagner owner, I would love to see this restored "A" get over $2mm. As a realist, however, I think it tops $1.3mm max.

The ugly PSA 7 Goudey Ruth has also had zero bids in that time. And I'm not surprised in the least.

[mrreality68]

Regarding the Wagner it may not sell for a lot more.
But with 11 bids in it only needs 2 people to get into a bidding war and the price jumps fast. But I am unsure which way it goes. I am thinking $1.5 million

Regarding the Ruth 7 I agree it is ugly for a 7. And it has not moved much but at its current price new money coming into the bidding may look more at the Grade then at the eye appeal.

[chadeast]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

Regarding the Wagner it may not sell for a lot more.
But with 11 bids in it only needs 2 people to get into a bidding war and the price jumps fast. But I am unsure which way it goes. I am thinking $1.5 million

Regarding the Ruth 7 I agree it is ugly for a 7. And it has not moved much but at its current price new money coming into the bidding may look more at the Grade then at the eye appeal.

It's ugly for a 1. I think the seller has already done well, even if there are no more bids. This must be a Registry thing, as hard as it is for me to wrap my mind around that. I could buy half a dozen Ruth #144s today that look a lot better than this card for under $30k each. There are plenty out there. I’ll never understand, but I’m ok with that.

[MattyC]

The lot I was in a "bidding war" on also has mysteriously received zero action since I stopped bidding. Seems like the house has had a good portion of the activity here.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by MattyC

The lot I was in a "bidding war" on also has mysteriously received zero action since I stopped bidding. Seems like the house has had a good portion of the activity here.

YIKES