I think the card went very cheap. A creased SGC 2 sold for $313k in October of 2021. I would think a PSA 5 would be at least 2.5x an SGC 2, or $782k. Add 2.5 years to that last comp, 2.5 years in which the card market has gone nuts, and I think it should have been $1mm+.

I believe the card would have gotten much more in a US sports-card auction, and the consignor did themselves an expensive disservice here. Had Jay not outed the auction, the disservice may have been even more expense.

Prices are a lot lower now than they were 2.5 years ago.

Agreed.

I would venture out on a limb and say that card is presently worth 762k.

Yes it is worth what it sold for but in my opinion if it was at a different auction house and had more exposure and more potential bidders and email blasts, and catologs and social media like instagram it would have done better.

But we will never know what could have been.

Maybe the winner can do another consignment to REA and then buy Jay a really nice steak dinner.

This is a generalization and it is false in many cases. Ruth rookies are not lower compared to 2021. Almost all Ruth stuff is more today than 2.5 years ago. Same is very true with Wagner cards. Most Cobbs have retained value (t206 down some for sure), and Joe Jackson is much higher.

Yes, 2021 was a high point for some cards, but most certainly not for all, and many, including Ruth, are worth more today than 2.5 years ago.

I was the underbidder. Just missed.

You outbid me with 6 minutes left. I was at 500k (640k) with BP.

Ruth Rookie
 

This Ruth rookie goes at least $100-$150K higher in a serious & well-advertised major sports auction

I agree fully. I have read that here and on Blowout that "all" vintage card prices are down, but that's simply not true.
I follow 52's, and although there are outliers, not all have come down. Many, in fact have risen and continue to do so.

For a poor schmuck like myself, $762k is nowhere close to $900k.

;) :)

Ruth Rookie
 

Indeed, scarce Pre-war such as Ruth, Cobb, Wagner, Gehrig, etc. continue to realize very strong numbers. Hobby icons are doing very well.

Re: High Grade Ruth Rookie
 

I respectfully disagree. I don't think we can reach any conclusions about the current "market value" based on this auction. The winning bidder may have had several more increments left and would have happily paid north on $1M for it. Regrettably for the consignor, there was no third party willing to push it to that level. If that card were offered at a private sale for $1.2M and the buyer agreed, wouldn't that establish a true "market value"?

Whoever bought that card is a genius and will easily double their money (if not far more) in next few years.

Two Net54 members state they were the immediate under bidders. On any lot in any auction the person who wins that item could always been willing to pay more but if nobody else bids then in the auction format, that is market value. We use those results predominantly as market value in the hobby. Fixed price is another way to determine market value but it does not in any way invalidate the auction result. What something is worth or what its value is in many cases can be a fluid concept. As it stands, 762K is a valid comp, love it or not.

Indisputably, $762k is a valid comp. It sold, in an auction, for $762k. I do think it would have done better in a different auction house, but that's pure speculation. The fact is it sold for $762k

Re: Re: High Grade Ruth Rookie
 

Not saying that the auction result is "invalid" or that it isn't a valid comp. Point is that market value is not determined by an underbidder or lack thereof.

Who is the underbidder, to the underbidder?

Perhaps THAT is the new market value of the card, since the "over-bidder" is out of the picture now.

Deep Thoughts! ;)

That is true for every single card ever auctioned. It is worth on that day and time what the person who was willing to pay the most for it ended up paying for it. 762K, like it or not, is a valid comp and the market value.

So do we start tossing out hammer prices arbitrarily or questioning them based on speculation?