REA March encore...

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Golfcollector

Had some bids on two different Sam Crawfords for my personal collection. The D304 Butter Krust went WAY higher than i thought it would and the E102 Anonymous Set of 25 also went pretty decently. Nice to see some Crawford cards for auction, but no deals for this guy.

I would have liked that D304 but my pockets aren't deep enough for everything I like.
.

[parkplace33]

Outside of some tobacco cards, I thought prices across the board were lower than expected.

[insidethewrapper]

I won but I always forget about the extra costs. Won at $ 250 then buyers premium , sales tax and shipping and the final is $ 339. I'll never learn.

[Metsfan0507]

Haha, pretty sure that's the exact point of buyers premium. To make you forget about the total cost when placing a bid.

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I won but I always forget about the extra costs. Won at $ 250 then buyers premium , sales tax and shipping and the final is $ 339. I'll never learn.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Metsfan0507

Haha, pretty sure that's the exact point of buyers premium. To make you forget about the total cost when placing a bid.

Excerpt from one of my recent columns:

"There is a substantial social science devoted to understanding how bidders behave, which you can find online readily. It all gets rather complicated and prolix. I boil it down to asking why are auction rules set up the way they are?. ... Why would the auctioneer add a buyer’s premium to the hammer price rather than just selling for the hammer and deducting a commission from it? ... because people don’t think to add the buyer’s premium to the bid in the heat of an auction. Many cannot. It all has to do with how we react to stressful environments. Homo sapiens is not a nice guy; he didn’t get to be the apex predator on this planet by being laid back. We are hard-wired to focus intently and compete with absolute concentration, to the exclusion of other things, when it matters. That last bit is called tunnel vision, and if you ever got into a ring to fight, you know exactly how it feels when the world around you goes fuzzy and slows down and all you see is the guy trying to smack you in the nose. ... The auction format produces stress that taps that primal beast, floods us with the same fight or flight hormones in the heat of the moment, and impairs our rational minds, the place where we do math, so we overbid to achieve the kill, the win. And when we win, we have the same burst of endorphins we experience when we prevail in a fight or conquer an obstacle. Followed shortly afterwards by that “oh f**k” moment when the high dissipates, the math mind turns back on, and we add 35% (buyer’s premium, shipping, and sales tax) to the hammer price and realize that we just set a record price on that card."

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Excerpt from one of my recent columns:

"There is a substantial social science devoted to understanding how bidders behave, which you can find online readily. It all gets rather complicated and prolix. I boil it down to asking why are auction rules set up the way they are?. ... Why would the auctioneer add a buyer’s premium to the hammer price rather than just selling for the hammer and deducting a commission from it? ... because people don’t think to add the buyer’s premium to the bid in the heat of an auction. Many cannot. It all has to do with how we react to stressful environments. Homo sapiens is not a nice guy; he didn’t get to be the apex predator on this planet by being laid back. We are hard-wired to focus intently and compete with absolute concentration, to the exclusion of other things, when it matters. That last bit is called tunnel vision, and if you ever got into a ring to fight, you know exactly how it feels when the world around you goes fuzzy and slows down and all you see is the guy trying to smack you in the nose. ... The auction format produces stress that taps that primal beast, floods us with the same fight or flight hormones in the heat of the moment, and impairs our rational minds, the place where we do math, so we overbid to achieve the kill, the win. And when we win, we have the same burst of endorphins we experience when we prevail in a fight or conquer an obstacle. Followed shortly afterwards by that “oh f**k” moment when the high dissipates, the math mind turns back on, and we add 35% (buyer’s premium, shipping, and sales tax) to the hammer price and realize that we just set a record price on that card."

While I don't dispute that, the reason buyer's premium was started was competition for consignments between Sotheby's and Christie's mainly in the Art realm. Basically they used the "hey we're only charging "x" commission" line, and glossed over (if mentioning at all) this newfangled Buyer's Premium.

Buyers not paying attention, getting caught up in the heat of the moment, etc. was an unlooked-for side bonus as hard as that may be to believe.

[RCMcKenzie]

I dunno, I see this topic on here a lot and am trying to understand better. I agree with PeterS's take that it's not that complicated, but I have participated in thousands of auctions throughout my life from a very early age beginning with going to them with my parents.

If the analogy is boxing, then I'm treating it like Roy Jones Jr., moving around the ring without even thinking about getting hit. To me, auctions are for bargains, and doing the math is all part of the game.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

While I don't dispute that, the reason buyer's premium was started was competition for consignments between Sotheby's and Christie's mainly in the Art realm. Basically they used the "hey we're only charging "x" commission" line, and glossed over (if mentioning at all) this newfangled Buyer's Premium.

Buyers not paying attention, getting caught up in the heat of the moment, etc. was an unlooked-for side bonus as hard as that may be to believe.

Good point, and also points to the psychological feature to entice and attract more consignors. Think about it, if someone is looking for an AH to sell/auction a card for them, guess who that consignor/seller is more likely to choose if one AH says they only charge the seller say a 15% commission, while the other says they only charge the buyer say a 20% commission? You know that some sellers/consignors will hear that the AH will only be charging the buyer a fee/commission, and think that means they'll end up with more money, and also because they like the idea of no money coming out of their pocket to pay the AH. Truth is, assuming that the buyers are smart and properly do their math and factor in their buyer's premium in the amount they end up bidding, the consignor/seller is actually better off choosing to pay the seller's commission in my example. But as mentioned, many times the buyers also forget about the buyer's premium in the heat of the moment.

[BobC]

Assuming that people will always react and be thinking smartly and rationally...............isn't smart or rational! LOL

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

While I don't dispute that, the reason buyer's premium was started was competition for consignments between Sotheby's and Christie's mainly in the Art realm. Basically they used the "hey we're only charging "x" commission" line, and glossed over (if mentioning at all) this newfangled Buyer's Premium.

Buyers not paying attention, getting caught up in the heat of the moment, etc. was an unlooked-for side bonus as hard as that may be to believe.

I don't really buy their justification; trying to gloss over the total size of the commission tells me that they were thinking carefully about how to bamboozle people and that was the driving force. Regardless of the origin of the practice, however, the 'side bonus' is the main reason it persisted and persists.

Don't get me wrong, I am not trashing the right of auctioneers to make a living, I am just searching for the underpinnings of a practice that is harder for people to understand and work with than a straightforward consignor's commission would be and I think that the various practices of auctioneers have been crafted carefully to maximize the outcomes for consignors and themselves. Like it or not, auctioning items is a classic zero-sum game: someone winning means someone else loses. In this case, every bidder who loses track of the math and bids more than he would have otherwise puts money into the pockets of the consignor and auctioneer.

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by Leon

I would have liked that D304 but my pockets aren't deep enough for everything I like.
.

Don't feel bad Leon. I can't even afford to buy pants with pockets anymore.

[packs]

I really wanted the Matty T205. Someone got a nice one.

[Snapolit1]

Endless cycle of auctions. . . same stuff again and again . . . . rinse and repeat . . . didn't used to be like this . . . .

[BobbyStrawberry]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Endless cycle of auctions. . . same stuff again and again . . . . rinse and repeat . . . didn't used to be like this . . . .

Speaking of how things used to be... What is always the case that 20% of the items won at auction immediately show up on eBay for 3x the price?

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by BobbyStrawberry

Speaking of how things used to be... What is always the case that 20% of the items won at auction immediately show up on eBay for 3x the price?

Its funny how that works right?

I would love to know how many dealers vs collectors are buying in these auctions.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

Its funny how that works right?

I would love to know how many dealers vs collectors are buying in these auctions.

Now it seems more like 40% of the items and are at 4 times the prices and set on eBay for twice as long.

[brianclat11]

One of the rare occasions where my bid held up throughout extended bidding. Maybe things are settling out a little bit or I bid too much in pre-bidding. Always hard to tell. Anyway, l’m happy with what I got. So many auctions, it’s hard to keep up.

[Jewish-collector]

REA usually separates the men from the boys.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Jewish-collector

REA usually separates the men from the boys.

But Alan, the question is which is which. Are the men spending all that money for little pieces of cardboard, or the boys?

[NYYFan63]

Originally Posted by brianclat11

One of the rare occasions where my bid held up throughout extended bidding. Maybe things are settling out a little bit or I bid too much in pre-bidding. Always hard to tell. Anyway, l’m happy with what I got. So many auctions, it’s hard to keep up.

Congrats Brian!

[puckpaul]

Won some diamond stars i needed, down to 2 to complete the set now and finished the high numbers (which are really tough). Prices were all over the place, many DS went pretty cheap (psa 7’a for $100 or less on a couple is cheap).

I wanted the Butter Crusts, too, really like those cards but just too much for them. Clearly not the only ones who like them!

[brianclat11]

Originally Posted by NYYFan63

Congrats Brian!

Thanks Rob. I guess I should include a picture. One of my all time favorites, but first card of him.

item_134774_1_310244.jpg

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Endless cycle of auctions. . . same stuff again and again . . . . rinse and repeat . . . didn't used to be like this . . . .

Yeah. It now seems like forever since there was not one sale after another. Do we have to go back to before 2010 when we could actually catch our breath between offerings?

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by Lorewalker

Yeah. It now seems like forever since there was not one sale after another. Do we have to go back to before 2010 when we could actually catch our breath between offerings?

Correct me if I'm wrong but quality ecards have become more scarce since 2010 no matter how many auctions are out there.

[NYYFan63]

Originally Posted by packs

I really wanted the Matty T205. Someone got a nice one.

I bid on it as well but fell asleep before the auction ended. It was a nice one.

[t206fanatic]

Originally Posted by Leon

I would have liked that D304 but my pockets aren't deep enough for everything I like.
.

i was the underbidder on it, someone got a great one.