Quote:
Originally Posted by Jewish-collector
The trick is to make those auction house reps drool  |
Sure, but they have all those auctions to fill so they drool a lot, or pretend to. Based on their databases and experience, they can predict a range for most upper end pieces, i.e. HOF awards and GU equipment, etc., but for many others they are guessing along with us. As a memorabilia dealer for many years, only lots of buying and selling and paying attention to the market gives you some feel for what might be truly special and what is not. When you do shoot the moon successfully, it's a great feeling, making up for all the times you're wrong. And of course, when a unique item does jumps off the table immediately, especially to another dealer, the tendency is to second-guess yourself for letting it go so low. Unlike cards or autographs, the 800 pound gorillas in the hobby that are pretty fungible and somewhat predictable, memorabilia is a tricky business.