High Grade Ruth Rookie

[Lorewalker]

That this is the only sports card in their auction, it is safe to assume the consignor picked it up as a trinket to go with his/her/their 200 million dollar art, vintage car and whatever else they collect. With or without the members of this board, the card would likely have done just fine.

I am in the camp that you do not out an auction and nobody would ever do it is they had interest in bidding but would if they had interest in the final price being as high as possible.

[benjulmag]

Originally Posted by Lorewalker

I am in the camp that you do not out an auction .................

+1

Jay is my friend and I have high regard for him, and I do not want to speculate on his motive. That said, I couldn't agree more with this point, and from my perspective, if through hard diligence (e.g., reading trading journals, making connections, going to obscure trade shows, doing detective work, etc.) I uncovered a gem that likely others in my field did not know about, I would be pissed as hell if someone outed that auction.

[benjulmag]

In regard to using Bonhams to sell this card, Bonhams is a highly regarded auction house headquartered in the height of a high-trafficked retail area in midtown Manhattan. They have locations throughout the world. Likely for an item such as this the card will reach its market level. Where a selection of Bonham's as the AH for a baseball card consignment (i.e., items outside the AH's recognized areas of specializations) will have an adverse impact is in the instance of a multi-lot collection. In that instance, the lack of a sufficient number of baseball card collectors in their customer base would likely result in some items going for less than they would in an AH that specializes in baseball cards.

I think we saw that in the recent Christies sale. That sale featured items from two spectacular sports memorabilia collections, and in my view some of the items went for significantly less than I perceived their market value to be.

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

In regard to using Bonhams to sell this card, Bonhams is a highly regarded auction house headquartered in the height of a high-trafficked retail area in midtown Manhattan. They have locations throughout the world. Likely for an item such as this the card will reach its market level. Where a selection of Bonham's as the AH for a baseball card consignment (i.e., items outside the AH's recognized areas of specializations) will have an adverse impact is in the instance of a multi-lot collection. In that instance, the lack of a sufficient number of baseball card collectors in their customer base would likely result in some items going for less than they would in an AH that specializes in baseball cards.

I think we saw that in the recent Christies sale. That sale featured items from two spectacular sports memorabilia collections, and in my view some of the items went for significantly less than I perceived their market value to be.

+1 - Well said Corey.

[Republicaninmass]

Nothing gets missed this day and age. Nothing. Everyone is out to hoard, or flip, or buy with the intent of making even a small margin or Dollar cost averaging to protect their assets, or add an epic card.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Nothing gets missed this day and age. Nothing. Everyone is out to hoard, or flip, or buy with the intent of making even a small margin or Dollar cost averaging to protect their assets, or add an epic card.

I dunno about that...

From time to time, I see someone selling stuff on eBay with a low BIN, just because they don't know what they have. I've personally even picked up a couple of pieces at attractive prices this way.

[robertsmithnocure]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

+1

Jay is my friend and I have high regard for him, and I do not want to speculate on his motive. That said, I couldn't agree more with this point, and from my perspective, if through hard diligence (e.g., reading trading journals, making connections, going to obscure trade shows, doing detective work, etc.) I uncovered a gem that likely others in my field did not know about, I would be pissed as hell if someone outed that auction.

I completely agree with this. IMHO, it is not right to out auctions, especially those that are relatively unknown in our hobby and do not advertise on this website.

[mrreality68]

$762k with BP

Thoughts?

[4815162342]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

$762k with BP

Thoughts?

How much less would it have sold for without this thread’s free advertising?

It still would have sold for much more in REA or Heritage.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

$762k with BP

Thoughts?

Seems low but the market has softened a bit AND that number has too many digits for my budget so I am not an expert.

Maybe Jay, who told us about the auction, can shed some light on the strength of the sale.

[mrreality68]

You are correct the market has softened a bit

But I honestly felt it should have gone for more but it did not have the broad exposure of other auction houses to get more eyes and bids on it.

A High Grade Ruth are rare and I high grade Ruth Ad Back is even more so and more desirable.

Mu un-educated experiences feels in REA, Heritage, Memory Lane that it would have gotten several more bids even in this market and closed out closer to $900K.

Good for this particular buyer to get it at that price but I feel the consignor could have gotten more money for it

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

You are correct the market has softened a bit

But I honestly felt it should have gone for more but it did not have the broad exposure of other auction houses to get more eyes and bids on it.

A High Grade Ruth are rare and I high grade Ruth Ad Back is even more so and more desirable.

Mu un-educated experiences feels in REA, Heritage, Memory Lane that it would have gotten several more bids even in this market and closed out closer to $900K.

Good for this particular buyer to get it at that price but I feel the consignor could have gotten more money for it

762 is pretty close to 900 so it did not do that badly. I had the impression with the ad back, the grade and centering it would be more like a million plus.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by robertsmithnocure

I completely agree with this. IMHO, it is not right to out auctions, especially those that are relatively unknown in our hobby and do not advertise on this website.

I respectfully disagree

[Rhotchkiss]

I think the card went very cheap. A creased SGC 2 sold for $313k in October of 2021. I would think a PSA 5 would be at least 2.5x an SGC 2, or $782k. Add 2.5 years to that last comp, 2.5 years in which the card market has gone nuts, and I think it should have been $1mm+.

I believe the card would have gotten much more in a US sports-card auction, and the consignor did themselves an expensive disservice here. Had Jay not outed the auction, the disservice may have been even more expense.

[darwinbulldog]

Prices are a lot lower now than they were 2.5 years ago.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Prices are a lot lower now than they were 2.5 years ago.

This is a generalization and it is false in many cases. Ruth rookies are not lower compared to 2021. Almost all Ruth stuff is more today than 2.5 years ago. Same is very true with Wagner cards. Most Cobbs have retained value (t206 down some for sure), and Joe Jackson is much higher.

Yes, 2021 was a high point for some cards, but most certainly not for all, and many, including Ruth, are worth more today than 2.5 years ago.

[calvindog]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

I think the card went very cheap. A creased SGC 2 sold for $313k in October of 2021. I would think a PSA 5 would be at least 2.5x an SGC 2, or $782k. Add 2.5 years to that last comp, 2.5 years in which the card market has gone nuts, and I think it should have been $1mm+.

I believe the card would have gotten much more in a US sports-card auction, and the consignor did themselves an expensive disservice here. Had Jay not outed the auction, the disservice may have been even more expense.

Agreed.

[MattyC]

I would venture out on a limb and say that card is presently worth 762k.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

I think the card went very cheap. A creased SGC 2 sold for $313k in October of 2021. I would think a PSA 5 would be at least 2.5x an SGC 2, or $782k. Add 2.5 years to that last comp, 2.5 years in which the card market has gone nuts, and I think it should have been $1mm+.

I believe the card would have gotten much more in a US sports-card auction, and the consignor did themselves an expensive disservice here. Had Jay not outed the auction, the disservice may have been even more expense.

Maybe the winner can do another consignment to REA and then buy Jay a really nice steak dinner.