major auction houses a lesson to be learned

[Al C.risafulli]

If I consigned something to an auction house - whether it be something really rare like a really difficult type card, or something common like a 1967 Topps set, if I opened the auction catalog and saw a two-sentence description, I would be pissed and probably would never use that auction house again.

I want to know that the auction house has made every possible effort to present my consignment in the best possible light. The more descriptive of the item, the more pictures, the more background, the better.

As a bidder, nobody has to read the descriptions. If you don't like them, by all means, just look at the pictures.

But when I win a Henry Johnson Confectioners Ty Cobb for $400 in an auction because the description simply read "1922 W575-1 Ty Cobb with H. Johnson Confectioners back" and didn't describe the rarity of that particular card, well, if I were the consigner, I'd be out of my mind. And I have a really difficult time finding an example where an item didn't sell because the description was too LONG.

-Al