Auction question
 

Recommendations for which AH's seem to provide the best prices for the sellers. Any help is appreciated.

Depends on what you are selling. Raw low grade T206s? Sets? Postcards? 1950s high grade?

I have mostly graded t206's and pre-war cards and also some signed baseballs

the autographs will need to be authenticated to receive any significant prices. Sterling sounds good for what you have...they have frequent auctions...and pay very quickly. Lee is great.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. Bob

This site probably has as many t206 collectors as any. I'd try to sell them here first, save yourself the 20% bp.

Most of the consignment fees are negotiable, if you have a lot that's desirable. I've listed in a few auctions at different houses with lots that are $10k+, and I can always get the auction house to give me either a zero or a negative consignment rate (IE, they will pay me over hammer price). I would advise you to call a few up and let them earn your business.

Thank you for the response, very helpful.

I agree with this. My ears perked up with “graded t206”. Why don’t you try selling on BST and keep for yourself some of the AH’s buyer’s premium. There are plenty of peeps pls here who would likely be interested in your cards.

getting a negative consignment rate can be overrated. which would you rather have? 100 percent of a $10,000 high bid or 105 percent of an $8,500 high bid?

the term "auction houses" always covers a wide brush in these type of threads. those with larger mailing lists who do more than just buy an ad to promote their auction, don't gouge on shipping and have excellent customer service are typically going to realize higher prices than those that don't. some auction houses realize why they are in business. others don't. i would be ok with not getting a negative rate from those who do their job well.

I really like Scott from Birmingham Auctions. I have consigned several times and have had nothing but positive experiences. Scott works hard to get the right people seeing your stuff. He has a loyal following of bidders at the Parsippany auction who look for and bid on pre-war cards. I’m sure his other auctions are also very strong, just haven’t been able to personally attend yet. Payment is always quick & he has EXTREMELY reasonable rates for consigners!

I agree with what was stated here previously about selling here on BST section. T206s are always liquid and have interested buyers.

Unless the OP has a rare T206 back or a high-grade Cobb/Matty/WaJo that needs to be at a high-end auction house, PWCC is another good option for maximizing sale prices. They also run auctions more frequently than many of other non eBay auction houses.

Yup, and I have gotten negative rates at the big houses. Like I said, OP should do himself a service and call around.