Rob Lifson has no involvement with REA. Brian Dwyer, who is one of the nicest, most honest people you will ever meet in this hobby, owns and runs it. He has assembled a crackerjack crew of professionals who run not only a clean auction but an outstanding back-office. My dealings with REA have been the smoothest experiences ever.
Alan, I selected REA for a variety of reasons, none of them in any way against Al and Love of the Game.
You have to choose an AH based on track record with the type of items you are selling and whether its goals mesh with your consignment. If I want to liquidate my Babe Ruth collection or my baseball photos, Al is my first and last stop. I had stuff in his last auction and I have stuff in his next. No finer or more careful person can be found in this business. That said, the Ringside auction I did with LOTG was a financial bust and was not going to be repeated. LOTG just isn't the place for a big boxing sale, so it didn't make sense to send the cards there. I'm a kickass construction and real estate lawyer but if a client comes in with a bankruptcy case, I refer it out because it isn't in my wheelhouse.
REA has been racking up a track record with boxing cards in the Encore auctions. Which is my 2nd reason for going with REA. REA has a monthly, low opening bid, single card format auction. If I am selling a large collection of cards, I want an auction that will sell the cards as singles, or as close to it as possible. If you let an auctioneer throw 100 of your cards into a grab bag lot, all you have done is hand a middleman--a dealer--a guaranteed profit when he buys the lot at a discount. I’ve made a ton of money breaking down and retailing cards that were inadvisably put into mass lots. I won't sell that way.
Lelands was my other choice at the time but the guy there who does the boxing cards was on paternity leave and they couldn't handle the sale in a timely manner. Which is my third reason: REA's process is fast and seamless. My cards were picked up at my office and in a few weeks they were up for sale. I will probably have a check in hand in a few weeks. Can't beat that turn time.
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