Auction houses..make money but the owners are they "smart"

[sflayank]

Mile high, lelands, scp, goldin, lotg
All ending 22nd 23rd and 24th
5 auctions in 3 days
Talk about not maximizing profits

[Leon]

There are other smaller ones ending now too. It is a lot to digest. It seems like a fairly healthy market right now. Putting simple math numbers to it (and I am imeninently aware of costs and expenses), it doesn't look like most are losing money.

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[mechanicalman]

I’m guessing a good deal of profits are made by bidders who have the disposal income to bid strong in multiple auctions at the same time.

[bensie]

Originally Posted by mechanicalman

I’m guessing a good deal of profits are made by bidders who have the disposal income to bid strong in multiple auctions at the same time.

I bid hard between two of the auctions ($40k+ each), and went in moderately on a few others ($5k+ each) because I thought the multiple overlapping end dates would mean market saturation and lower prices. Lower prices on the key cards did not materialize; each auction was getting very healthy bids pretty much across the board.

[barrysloate]

I haven't found any bargains.

[jjp3rd]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

I haven't found any bargains.

I agree--the bargains are increasingly scarce, specifically in the T206 realm.

[sflayank]

I said theyre making money, no doubt,
But not possible that they are maximizing profits

[Bicem]

Keep in mind Larry that closing dates are set well in advance without beforehand knowledge of each individual AH's planned closing dates.

That said, even with the number of closings this week, bidding for us has been crazy strong! Will be fun to watch tonight.

[egbeachley]

Or the consignors are collectors, can see how much cash they are going to receive, and are also bidding at the same time.

[botn]

There are so many auctions throughout the year. Even with auction house cooperation I am not sure there is an ability to space them out much more than they already are. Cannot see that prices would be even higher if LOTG, Leland's and Mile High were spaced a week apart. Based on what I have seen prices have not been hurt in the least. I think the hobby has a great deal of tolerance for what is being offered.

[drcy]

Originally Posted by Bicem

Keep in mind Larry that closing dates are set well in advance without beforehand knowledge of each individual AH's planned closing dates.

Those were my thoughts.

[MVSNYC]

FWIW, as a consignor of a top 3 lot in LOTG, I am very happy with the action the item has seen so far. And as a bidder on other lots, there's some really strong competition. So, I don't think the fact that several auctions are ending within the same week is hurting anything...one just needs to strategize when things close, and keep an eye on watched items, etc. It's manageable; in fact, it's quite exciting.

[OriolesHOF]

Originally Posted by Bicem

Keep in mind Larry that closing dates are set well in advance without beforehand knowledge of each individual AH's planned closing dates.

With that being said, I'm sure it's no coincidence that several AH closing dates are all within one week of MLB opening day.

[ValKehl]

There also seems to be a plethora of auctions in the fall, around the time of the MLB playoffs.