Henry Yee Winnings

[71buc]

Originally Posted by thecatspajamas

+1

Another thing to consider is that Henry Yee's auctions do bring buyers to eBay that would not normally venture onto the site.

Not everyone is willing to invest the time to dig through the morass of crap presented on eBay on a daily basis to pull out the few gems, in the same way that not everyone is willing to dig through a pile of clothes at the thrift store looking for designer labels. Many will just go to the designer's stores where they know there will be an abundance of what they are looking for, albeit at higher prices, rather than investing the time and energy hunting for something that might be at the thrift store for a cheaper price. Pull all the "good stuff" off into one small section that is only open a few days each year though, and make the buyers compete with each other for the opportunity to buy it, and you'll have well-heeled collectors and bargain hunters alike elbowing each other to get at the goods.

And the prices inch (or leap) up accordingly.

Lots of factors to consider here, and lots of things done right on Yee's end. I just get tired of the kneejerk "high prices = shill bidding" response without any real evidence to back it up.

I love his auctions as well but cannot afford to compete any longer. This is the first year I will be shut out on all items I wanted. I too continue to be amazed at the prices his items realize. Below are two items that sold the last couple of days in his auction. The unopened pen and pencil bat on the left sold for $86.00 yesterday. The one on the right I purchased for $10.00 about six months ago. The Jim Thorpe photo on the left sold an hour ago for $212.05. The one on the right is from the Tribune's Ebay site I paid $32.49 a year ago. The Yee bats include Maris and mine has Frank Robinson. Does Maris make it worth an additional $70.00? My photo has a small ink mark on the front which apparently devalues it $180.00. He is quite the salesman. That being said, I will continue to "dig through the morass of crap presented on eBay on a daily basis"

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by 71buc

I love his auctions as well but cannot afford to compete any longer. This is the first year I will be shut out on all items I wanted. I too continue to be amazed at the prices his items realize. Below are two items that sold the last couple of days in his auction. The unopened pen and pencil bat on the left sold for $86.00 yesterday. The one on the right I purchased for $10.00 about six months ago. The Jim Thorpe photo on the left sold an hour ago for $212.05. The one on the right is from the Tribune's Ebay site I paid $32.49 a year ago. The Yee bats include Maris and mine has Frank Robinson. Does Maris make it worth an additional $70.00? My photo has a small ink mark on the front which apparently devalues it $180.00. He is quite the salesman. That being said, I will continue to "dig through the morass of crap presented on eBay on a daily basis"

Henry Yee's "Chief" is certainly happier.

Maybe Chief is stoked that he finally got slabbed and brought the top dollar that he always felt he was worth, but previously was unable to bring in the morass of crap on the bay...

I think I would obviously rather own Chief at $32.49

[Lordstan]

Mike,
I think the differences you point out all still go back to the same points that have been made. Now, the specific reasons to what happened in individual auctions may vary.
1)High Quality - His Thorpe is a nicer image. Looking at camera and smiling with more flattering lighting. I think the ink mark makes only a little bit of difference.
2)Presentation - The Tribune auctions are very utilitarian without flattering descriptions.
3)Clientele/Morass of crap - Many will not put out the time and energy needed to weed through the tens of thousands of items on ebay to find bargains. A group of his buyers are those who only care about wanting the best quality item. Whether it is a bargain or market value isn't the main issue. I would think that there are a few items out there, for each of us, that would fall into the "gotta have it no matter what" category or at least ALMOST no matter what.
4)Reputation - People expect to pay more to win an auction from Henry.

I decided to add one more that hasn't been mentioned. After thinking about it, I think the lack of a buyers premium may make a significant difference as compared to other big auctions.
I know it's always something that gives me a little pause when looking at the Hunt's/REA/Heritage types that after I bid and win, I'll be paying an extra 15-20%. I know I can calculate it ahead of time and bid accordingly, but it just doesn't feel the same to me. I just wonder if the psychology is such that if a buyers knows that the final price is the final price, will they feel a certain freedom to bid more aggressively.

Morass of crap example
Lets say you want to buy a vintage Gehrig card. You're not a hard core collector, so you have no set card in mind. You'd just like to see what's available.
Search Lou Gehrig - 6115 listings.
Refinement 1 - category BB cards - 2931
Refinement 2 - Years 1922-1950 - 276
Refinement 3 - Era Pre WW2 - 262
Refinement 4 - "original" - 135
Refinement 4 - Product "single" - 105
Of those remaining, only 59 are actually original Gehrig cards from 1922-1950, and that number includes approx 15 exhibits and Wheaties panels.

We have an advantage. Most of us on this board know, after years of using and learning how to manipulate the searches on ebay, ways to cut down the time needed to find what we want. Most others do not.

Despite the fact that I do spend a little with Henry each auction, like many here, I will continue to sift through the morass of crap to find those diamonds in the rough as well.

Keep those winnings coming.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by 71buc

I love his auctions as well but cannot afford to compete any longer. This is the first year I will be shut out on all items I wanted. I too continue to be amazed at the prices his items realize. Below are two items that sold the last couple of days in his auction. The unopened pen and pencil bat on the left sold for $86.00 yesterday. The one on the right I purchased for $10.00 about six months ago. The Jim Thorpe photo on the left sold an hour ago for $212.05. The one on the right is from the Tribune's Ebay site I paid $32.49 a year ago. The Yee bats include Maris and mine has Frank Robinson. Does Maris make it worth an additional $70.00? My photo has a small ink mark on the front which apparently devalues it $180.00. He is quite the salesman. That being said, I will continue to "dig through the morass of crap presented on eBay on a daily basis"

I think you can also consider that you got a tremendous bargain on the Thorpe photo and benefited from finding it in a poorly designed Tribune photo auction.

[slidekellyslide]

It occurs to me that the people who spend dumb money just because it's Henry's auction and aren't able to navigate the sea of crap on ebay could save themselves a lot of money by learning how to use ebay's search function.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

It occurs to me that the people who spend dumb money just because it's Henry's auction and aren't able to navigate the sea of crap on ebay could save themselves a lot of money by learning how to use ebay's search function.

Completely agree... It's not exactly rocket science. Just a few "key words" and price parameters, and you're on your way.

Takes all of 10 seconds

[Forever Young]

I am VERY HAPPY to win this photo below... I believe I "stole" this for just over $500 dollars. I saved over 1k on my snipe bid. GEEE.... I guess MR YEE doesn't have access to everyone's snipe bids...
This is a $1500 plus photo in my eyes.

It depicts a Baby faced Ruth IN THE UNDERWOOD AND UNDERWOOD VAULT
as a ROOKIE in 1915 LOOKING AT PHOTOS(maybe a conlon of himself??) with his Red Sox pitching mates.




PS:

Leon-great pickup..looks like neither HYEE or shiller could see your snipe either.. we must be lucky.

Mark-Great Gehrig! Congrats!

BIGJJ-That glass negative is killer. Is that your first one? I do not have one.. would love to pick one up eventually. Yours stuck out in this auction for sure. Congrats to you!

[Lordstan]

Dan and Mark,
I do agree with your statements, but only if you know specifically what you are looking for.
It is my opinion that it is unlikely a bidder specifically came to Henry's auction, or ebay for that matter, looking for a picture of Jim Thorpe wearing a tribal headdress, a baseball pen/pencil set of Roger Maris, or many of the similar items which he routinely sells above market value. I think most of those are sold for more because he gets high end buyers who find impulse buys. Also there are the buyers who lost out on what they came for and figured they have extra money they were going to spend anyway, and they find something else.

I am curious as to what search terms Mike used to find his bat pen and pencil set. Was he searching specifically for that item or a general search?
Best,
Mark

Ben,
Incredible photo. Congrats!

[bcbgcbrcb]

Agreed, Ben, great pick-up on the 1915 Ruth photo.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

Dan and Mark,
I do agree with your statements, but only if you know specifically what you are looking for.
It is my opinion that it is unlikely a bidder specifically came to Henry's auction, or ebay for that matter, looking for a picture of Jim Thorpe wearing a tribal headdress, a baseball pen/pencil set of Roger Maris, or many of the similar items which he routinely sells above market value. I think most of those are sold for more because he gets high end buyers who find impulse buys. Also there are the buyers who lost out on what they came for and figured they have extra money they were going to spend anyway, and they find something else.

I am curious as to what search terms Mike used to find his bat pen and pencil set. Was he searching specifically for that item or a general search?
Best,
Mark

Ben,
Incredible photo. Congrats!

Good point, Mark... the general search words won't always pull up a unique listing (like perhaps that Pen and Pencil set). For the stuff I collect, search words like "Antique" "Vintage" "Old" and "Early" paired with "Baseball" turn up the vast majority of items I like to bid on. But every now and then, a nice/unique item can sneak by under the radar.

I collect early pennants, so my best search words are "pennant", "flag", "banner", and even the mis-spelled "penant" (which has surprisingly turned up several gems over the years). If you search by "highest price first" and "auction only format", you'll weed most of the cheap crap and the Buy it Now Ripoffs.

Those are just some helpful hints (resulting from a decade of ebay frustration and futility).

Ben - That photo of young Babe is razor-sharp and just so intriguing... many congrats!

[71buc]

Originally Posted by Lordstan

I am curious as to what search terms Mike used to find his bat pen and pencil set. Was he searching specifically for that item or a general search?
Best,
Mark

Ben,
Incredible photo. Congrats!

I agree That is an absolutely beautiful photo! The bat pen and pencil set was found using a search for (baseball advertising Louisville). I was fishing with a net an stumbled across it. I like such odd things in their original state and for $10.00 it was a great buy. I figure it was worth more than the asking price but certainly not $86! I haven't given up Yee's current auction but any purchase I make at this point will be either very lucky or very impulsive.

[baseballart]

Originally Posted by Forever Young

I am VERY HAPPY to win this photo below... I believe I "stole" this for just over $500 dollars. I saved over 1k on my snipe bid. GEEE.... I guess MR YEE doesn't have access to everyone's snipe bids...
This is a $1500 plus photo in my eyes.

It depicts a Baby faced Ruth IN THE UNDERWOOD AND UNDERWOOD VAULT
as a ROOKIE in 1915 LOOKING AT PHOTOS(maybe a conlon of himself??) with his Red Sox pitching mates.

Ben

That's a great photo. I didn't see it, despite scrolling through Henry's auctions a few times (then again, I don't buy many photos, and not Yankees or Red Sox photos in Henry's auctions )

I was shut out on the only two items I bid on. The Babe Ruth movie herald sold for $383; I recently bought one in similar condition for $315, with a buy it now obo of $375 (and yes, I did bid on that despite just buying another one but you have to have two to display the inside of the herald...). The other was the Stan Carlson Gehrig bio with promo material at $271. This winning bid is lower than what most booksellers would list it at--typically at $300 or above.

[Forever Young]

Thanks Mark y Mark, Phil and Max!

It was one of my favorite pickups! Below are a couple others I added to my rookie photo collection!

1951 Willie Howard Mays


1955 Sanford Braun Koufax


PS: Mark, you must have a rather large Gehrig photo collection by now! Congrats on the two latest additions.