Auction House Help?
 

Hi all.

During my past 4 years collecting vintage baseball cards, I've never used auction houses. How do they compare to eBay? How are the deals? When is the next ending auction? What are some reputable websites. Such answers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much :)

Ohh Waz, the world you have yet to see. Its both the underbelly and glitz of the hobby.

Deals can be had, bidding wars are very public and expensive and they can be very entertaining.

Cant go wrong with LOTG who ended last night, read the threads going on the main page. There are tons of them out there offering different parts of the hobby.

Check the auction calendars on oldcardboard.com and auctionreport.com. Leon sends out reminders from Net54 advertisers which are helpful reminders.

man, your missing out on Xmas!
Its a blessing receiving these nice catalogs thru the mail.
Theres auctions going on, all the time...compared to Ebay, i think theres less shill-bidding and better quality of cards to be had.

As others have said, you're really missing out. Knowing your primary focus is T206s, I'd recommend starting by looking at Sterling, LOTG, B&L and Joe's Vintage. For higher grades, rarer backs, I'd also include Goodwin and Huggins and Scott. And don't forget to also get REA's catalog even if you can't afford anything in their auctions.

Two bits of advice: 1) don't get caught up in spur of the moment bidding war, it will cost you in the long run 2) don't forget to figure in the buyers premium as it can make a good purchase turn into a bad purchase real quick.

DJ

I think well established and reputable auctions are better for buying expensive items. You should feel safer sending $10,000 to Lelands or REA than someone you don't know on eBay.

At the least, auction houses can supplement your other buying. It's not an either/or situation. Plus it can be fun to follow other auctions and get their catalogs.

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I would also add Mile High, SCP, Greg Bussineau, Grey Flannel ( mostly memorabilia but they also have cards at times), Memory Lane, Baggers and Legendary Auctions as all having quality cards and memorabilia.