King of Collectibles?

[Rhotchkiss]

I just watched the first two episodes while on a train home from
NYC. A few observations:

1. It’s impressive what Ken has built. Congrats.
2. I think the show is a bit misleading bc it does not talk about or explain buyers premiums. You have shots of an “appraisal” at $500k and then it says “possible commission” of $100k, which implies the total cost is $600k, or that the consignor gets $500k and Goldin gets $100k. At the least, it does not show that the hammer and the final price are different, giving the impression the consignor gets the whole amount, which they almost never do. I am watching the episode where the guy with the Steph Curry rookie passed on a $150k cash offer to grade and consign to Goldin. As the second episode ends, it’s unclear whether the card will get the consignor enough and we (do far) are not told whether the current cost/bid includes the BP. Same thing with the Jackie jersey - was the hammer $7.2mm, so $8.65mm with BP, or was the hammer $6mm and $7.2mm with BP? I think it would be better to show, at least in one episode, how an auction actually works.
3. I find it interesting, and frankly refreshing, that the Goldin submitted Curry got a PSA 8. I don’t know if PSA owned Goldin at the time, but if so, that result implies there seems to be a clear separation between the two.

I think it’s a fun show to watch.

Ken, I would love if you got into entertainment memorabilia and other Americana. I think you would be especially successful and competitive with others if you kept the BP to 20%, not the 25% that AHs often charge on this stuff (RR, Heritage Sothebys).