REA is beautiful, but browsing bids leaves me depressed

[Archive]

Posted By: bruce Dorskind

Last week, we predicted that the combined revenue for the Mastro and REA
auctions would exceed $25M. It now appears that our prediction will be too low.

The REA Auction is perfectly timed. We predict that the final total
(with th prices realized) will be about $13.5 million.

The top 20 lots will average in excess of $50,000.

There will be at least 50 lots which realize (with buyers premium) $25,000 or more

And over 150 lots which realize $10,000 or more.

The truly exceptional items have not appeared in auctions within the past 2-3 years.

Whilst Dimaggios and Ruths graded 8 are fairly common, even they tend to do
better in REA auction because of the fiercely competitive nature of the participants.

If one really "must have" a rare, graded card or exceptional piece of memorabilia,
then one should expect to pay 50-100% more than the highest price realized
in any previous public auction.

One excellent measure of just how rare some of the cards are is to go to
vintagecardprices.com and note that at least 65% of the "super rare" pre WWII
cards have not traded in a public auction in the past 2 years. We realize,
of course, that VCP only recognizes public sales of graded material, but we
believe it to be an excellent barometer.

When it comes to the super rare cards in the best grades extant, REA and Mastro
probably have a 75%+ marketshare... and that draws the BIG MONEY.

Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest Want List