Why Am I "Addicted" (to Tracking Bids on My Consignments)?

[marzoumanian]

In the last REA auction, held Nov. 20-Dec. 6, I consigned two items, a 1970 Topps baseball complete set (with the top 10 stars graded by PSA) and a 1968 Topps baseball Mike McCormick card with white letters (graded PSA 7).
The process went very smoothly (thanks, Calvin Arnold). The catalog write-ups were very accurate. When the auction began I didn’t pay much attention to the bids. This wasn’t the first time I consigned sports memorabilia to an online auction house. I knew action in the first few days would be slow and, frankly, irrelevant. All that really counts for a consignor is the last dollar amount (before buyer’s premium) on the last day. I was grateful to see that on “opening day” my 1970 Topps set went from $300 to $450. There was interest.
But when I received the huge REA catalog in the mail and turned to my lot (#1435) I noticed that my set wasn’t the only one from 1970. One set had a huge number of graded cards but another (#1436) was very close in makeup to mine. Uh oh. I’ve got direct competition, I thought. Rarely did a day go by when a bid wasn’t placed for my set. And bids for that “competing” set rose in tandem.
By Saturday, December 5, bidding on these two sets was fast and furious. That’s when something strange happened. I found myself checking on the status of these two sets way too often. Like once every hour or so. Maybe it was because I couldn’t go out and see a movie or a live sporting event, thanks to COVID-19 restrictions.
Both sets stood at $825 late that afternoon. The rest of the evening I continued to check their status frequently. I didn’t understand why I was addicted to checking bids. I could have been spending my time much more wisely.
That’s when an old song popped into my head. Does anyone remember the singer Robert Palmer? Great voice. Sadly, he died at 54 of a heart attack. One of his hit singles was “Addicted to Love.” It’s a great song but the music video, made in 1985, is even better. If you haven’t watched it ever (or in a long time) it’s definitely worth checking out on YouTube. Five attractive young models, all dressed in tight black dresses. White face makeup. Bright red lipstick. Pretending to play their instruments. The “Ladies Edition” is my preferred version.
I found the lyrics to this song and printed them out. A couple of lines describe what I was experiencing:
“You can’t sleep. You can’t eat.
“There’s no doubt. You’re in deep.”
Forget love, I was addicted to tracking bids on my consignments.
By Sunday morning, December 6th, my 1970 Topps set had hit $900 while the competing Topps set remained at $825. Then everything changed. The bids for my set started taking off in mid-afternoon. When I went to bed that evening my set stood at $1800. The other set? $1500. When I woke up on Monday morning the 7th the final bid for my set (before buyer’s premium) was $2500 while the competition topped out at $1800. I was very pleased with the end result. But I wanted to determine why my set took off on the last day.
I found the answer by carefully reading the REA lot descriptions for these two sets. My set was described as 23 percent Nr/Mt to NrMt-Mt; the condition of the competition was 20 percent NR/Mt. But much more importantly, I had taken the top 10 star cards in my set and had them graded by PSA. My competition had submitted his set to REA completely raw. REA selected three cards for grading by SGC. I believe this difference was the main reason why my set went for $700 more than the other 1970 Topps set. And that’s why I can’t stress enough the importance of having your star cards graded and preferably graded by PSA. It remains the gold standard when it comes to auctioning of your graded cards/sets. Even if you disagree with the grades your star cards receive from PSA (or question its current struggles with customer service), the fact that they’re graded by PSA will, in my opinion, make a positive difference in the final auction price.
I still needed to pinpoint why I was “bid addicted” during the last weekend of this (and past) auction (s). It wasn’t about the money involved; I’m already financially secure for life. After much introspection I’ve concluded that it’s all about validation. It’s comforting to know that what I collected many years ago has value. Of course, the worst that could happen to any consignor’s item is to see no bids or one bid only. My 1970 Topps set had 52 bids. The check I received just 10 days later (thank you, REA) was the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae.
Now, I’m well aware that true addiction, in all its forms, is a very serious matter. I’m glad to see that people with drug, alcohol and gambling addictions can reach out and get help. I believe that what I did can help others with serious addictions problems. Specifically, I forced myself to take a hard look at my actions and ask that all-too-powerful one-word question: Why? No matter what the addiction, asking yourself, “Why am I doing this?” can aid in recovery.

I wish everyone a Healthy and Happy New Year!

[Exhibitman]

Until the net to you tops the amount you paid you feel like a dummy for buying the items. Then, when the price tops the cost you feel smarter and smarter for having made such a shrewd investment. Then, when the bidding gets hot and heavy and you are really making money, you start to feel the dread every man feels when he gets a bonus or makes money: home improvements. My wife has never seen a windfall that didn't burn a hole in her pocket.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I had a consignor say he had more fun watching the prices than he did collecting the cards. I think it's especially fun when you have a lot of items because SOMETHING is always moving.

[riggs336]

Good story. What did the McCormick go for?

[marzoumanian]

Thank you for your kind words. Excellent question. The McCormick (white letters in a PSA 7) went for $675 BEFORE buyer's premium. Here's a neat footnote for you. Believe it or not, a year ago I had REA auction off ANOTHER McCormick/white letter for me BUT it was in a PSA 8. If you go to my website (www.markearzoumanian.com) and read my blog entitled "Auction House Integrity Shines" from last March I guarantee you you will be blown away by the story AND the price that PSA 8 went for.
Peace and stay healthy in 2021.

[ALBB]

entertaining story...Id guess most guys would want to stay on top of the stuff they put up, would be kind of like watching a stock you own ..keep going up

Im guessing there can be some temptation to " shill bid".. dont know how " easy or hard " that would be in a major auction ? Ive seen some big auction catalogs..and the first 20 pages are RULES ! LOL

..Im thinking all you gotta do is tell a buddy to bid...how would they be able to tell ??

[marzoumanian]

It all comes down to your personal ethics, doesn't it? The way you were raised, your sense of right and wrong. As I hope I made clear in the piece, for me it really wasn't about THE MONEY. I've long been set for life simply because I started saving in my 20s and never married. Perhaps you could think of it as points you get playing a video game, if that makes sense. Except you're not playing it. I'm happy with my "point total" for my 1970 Topps baseball set!
Peace.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by ALBB

entertaining story...Id guess most guys would want to stay on top of the stuff they put up, would be kind of like watching a stock you own ..keep going up

Im guessing there can be some temptation to " shill bid".. dont know how " easy or hard " that would be in a major auction ? Ive seen some big auction catalogs..and the first 20 pages are RULES ! LOL

..Im thinking all you gotta do is tell a buddy to bid...how would they be able to tell ??

They can't tell... unless there's some kind of careless tip-off, or perhaps if the same faux bidder continually bids, but only on a single consignor's multiple lots.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Until the net to you tops the amount you paid you feel like a dummy for buying the items. Then, when the price tops the cost you feel smarter and smarter for having made such a shrewd investment. Then, when the bidding gets hot and heavy and you are really making money, you start to feel the dread every man feels when he gets a bonus or makes money: home improvements. My wife has never seen a windfall that didn't burn a hole in her pocket.

OR - you should have held it another couple months and gotten more for it...

Yuck, who tells the wife about their hobby dealings? Oops, can that be held against me if my wife ever reads this post?

[egbeachley]

So......how much did it cost to grade hose 10 cards including shipping?

[conor912]

Because the advent of the internet has injected humanity with a serious and oft unhealthy dopamine addition.

[marzoumanian]

Great question. I did some research on this by going to the PSA website and found the order I placed for grading those 10 Topps baseball cards from 1970 was done in October 2018. But PSA doesn't include the TOTAL dollars I paid for the order. Soooo....back then economy pricing was still available at $20 per card, as I recall. I know that's what I would have gone with. So my guestimate would be about $250 (including shipping). Hope this helps. Peace and stay healthy!

[Kaneen]

Originally Posted by marzoumanian

When I woke up on Monday morning the 7th the final bid for my set (before buyer’s premium) was $2500 while the competition topped out at $1800. I was very pleased with the end result.

Let me set your mind at ease...You are not an addict. Here's your proof - You stopped watching and went to bed; and you were able to sleep until morning without obsessing about things that go "click" in the night!

This is not the behavior of an auction addict.

[marzoumanian]

My age (65) is showing. Oh to be young again and easily stay up until after midnight! However, I do recall waking up extra early that Monday morning, bleary-eyed and squinting at the screen to see the final results. I know, close only counts in horse shoes. I'm not a TRUE auction addict!
Peace.

[h2oya311]

Loved reading your story, Mark! Thanks for sharing.

There's addiction on both ends of a deal. The purchase side and the selling side. It's so much easier to buy than it is to sell, but it is nice to see good results in the end. It's funny how it's often the things that you don't expect to do well that do. That's exhilarating. It's excruciatingly painful, however, when the stuff you expect to do well does horribly.

Collect what you like. It'll often pay off in the end.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by marzoumanian

My age (65) is showing. Oh to be young again and easily stay up until after midnight! However, I do recall waking up extra early that Monday morning, bleary-eyed and squinting at the screen to see the final results. I know, close only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades. I'm not a TRUE auction addict!
Peace.

and hand grenades.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Fred

OR - you should have held it another couple months and gotten more for it...

Yuck, who tells the wife about their hobby dealings? Oops, can that be held against me if my wife ever reads this post?

I plead the 5th...