AH guys - ask me anything?

[Snapolit1]

Honestly don't know what people do with old catalogs. Same stuff with very rare exception is sold over and over at this point. What could you possibly learn from an old catalog, even a good one (and most are garbage) that you couldn't learn in other places. That Babe Ruth played first for the Red Sox? That Gehrig made a great speech and died a few years later? That someone may or may not have thrown 1952 Mantles in the East River? I mean these are sales pitches, not SABR footnoted treatises.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Honestly don't know what people do with old catalogs. Same stuff with very rare exception is sold over and over at this point. What could you possibly learn from an old catalog, even a good one (and most are garbage) that you couldn't learn in other places. That Babe Ruth played first for the Red Sox? That Gehrig made a great speech and died a few years later? That someone may or may not have thrown 1952 Mantles in the East River? I mean these are sales pitches, not SABR footnoted treatises.

The part in bold may be true for cards, but certainly not memorabilia. I still love the Catalogs, and the ones I've saved that are now over 20 years old contain great/rare items that have not resurfaced since then.

This includes early equipment, jerseys, caps, bats, lemon peels, trophies, pennants, statues, photos, broadsides, ad signs, clocks, and the list goes on and on. They are also a great source for game-used uniforms, with regard to proper tagging, etc. I still refer back to them quite often.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by perezfan

The part in bold may be true for cards, but certainly not memorabilia. I still love the Catalogs, and the ones I've saved that are now over 20 years old contain great/rare items that have not resurfaced since then.

This includes early equipment, jerseys, caps, bats, lemon peels, trophies, pennants, statues, photos, broadsides, ad signs, clocks, and the list goes on and on. They are also a great source for game-used uniforms, with regard to proper tagging, etc. I still refer back to them quite often.

Fair enough Mark. See your point on memorabilia.

[rdwyer]

Most auction houses refuse to do Mimimum bids or Reserve auctions. Boo Hoo if the item doesn't sell. Most major auctions have a million in sales per auction. So what if one item doesn't sell. They make money either way whether your item sells for $10 or $10,000. Their interest is in protecting their butt and not the consignor's. They also claim they have to pay a writer to write a description, and the costs of printing the catalogs. That's part of the job. They wouldn't be printing catalogs if it affected their bottom dollar. Everyone needs to understand that the Auction houses make big bucks every auction.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by rdwyer

Most auction houses refuse to do Mimimum bids or Reserve auctions. Boo Hoo if the item doesn't sell. Most major auctions have a million in sales per auction. So what if one item doesn't sell. They make money either way whether your item sells for $10 or $10,000. Their interest is in protecting their butt and not the consignor's. They also claim they have to pay a writer to write a description, and the costs of printing the catalogs. That's part of the job. They wouldn't be printing catalogs if it affected their bottom dollar. Everyone needs to understand that the Auction houses make big bucks every auction.

I may be wrong, but 20% gross margin before expenses doesn't strike me as a tremendous money making opportunity. Maybe the big boys turn a decent coin but the mid level guys, and their families in some cases, work their tails off year round to make a living.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I may be wrong, but 20% gross margin before expenses doesn't strike me as a tremendous money making opportunity. Maybe the big boys turn a decent coin but the mid level guys, and their families in some cases, work their tails off year round to make a living.

+1

Phil, you fully speak for me on this thread!

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

+1

Phil, you fully speak for me on this thread!

I think that's why Al called his AH "Love of the Game" instead of "Love the Profit Margin".

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

I think that's why Al called his AH "Love of the Game" instead of "Love the Profit Margin".

Despite what some may believe but running an auction house isn't easy money. It is quite the grind and there are numerous expenses that aren't commonly taken into account. Regarding reserves, we tried expanding that option a few years ago but it didn't take off at all. In listening to our bidders, frankly, they hate bidding on any item with a reserve. It discourages bidding and end of auction competition. We have since phased out reserves and have at most 2-3 per auction.

[Al C.risafulli]

Most auction houses refuse to do Mimimum bids or Reserve auctions. Boo Hoo if the item doesn't sell. Most major auctions have a million in sales per auction. So what if one item doesn't sell. They make money either way whether your item sells for $10 or $10,000. Their interest is in protecting their butt and not the consignor's.

I don't refuse to do them. I strongly advise against them. I've got ten years of empirical proof that shows that items with reserves do worse than items without, and items with higher opening bids get less action than items with lower ones.

I did a customer survey a few years ago, and one of the questions dealt with reserves. 50% of the people surveyed WILL NOT BID if there's a reserve. Doesn't matter what it is, doesn't matter how the reserve works, doesn't matter how transparent it is. They won't bid. The people I surveyed were my actual auction bidders.

To see if it was true, I put a card of my own in one of my auctions. It was a $12,000 card. I put an $8,000 reserve. I opened the card at $2,000. Bidding stopped at $5,000, and it did not meet the reserve.

Two auctions later, I listed the exact same card, with the exact description, the exact layout in the catalog, and the exact same opening bid. No reserve. Card sold for $15,000.

My job isn't to protect my butt. My job is to work as hard as I can to get the highest price possible for my consignors, to advise them and counsel them as to the best way to sell their material, and to earn their trust through the quality of my company's performance. My job is to make sure that my consignors never question the amount of effort I put in to selling their items, and to present an auction that can get bidders excited. Every time something sells for less than expected, it reflects on my company. Every time something sells for more, it does as well. In no other industry I can think of are companies so intensely scrutinized and judged with each and every transaction. In that environment, protecting my butt is the least of my concerns.

Most of the time, when I run an item with a reserve, it doesn't meet the reserve. That doesn't help my consignors, and it doesn't get bidders excited.

This is a good thread. There are a lot of good questions in it. A lot of them are hard to answer in writing, I think, but I'd certainly be happy to sit and do an in-person Q&A with a group - maybe at the national?

-Al