REA Losses

[marzoumanian]

I lost out on the 1952 Mantle card in a PSA 5 (early on!) but still tracked it. What I found strange was that the last bid on August 3 ended up being the WINNING bid. Does anyone have any insights as to why active bidding stopped 10 days before the auction ended? The card ended up going for $126,000 with buyer's premium. Thanks.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by marzoumanian

I lost out on the 1952 Mantle card in a PSA 5 (early on!) but still tracked it. What I found strange was that the last bid on August 3 ended up being the WINNING bid. Does anyone have any insights as to why active bidding stopped 10 days before the auction ended? The card ended up going for $126,000 with buyer's premium. Thanks.

Because no one else bid.
.

[Seven]

Might put up a Craiglist ad, to sell one of my kidneys, just to be able to finish out my low grade, Mantle, career run.

[ccre]

0-6 on my end. Even the easier to find cards were going for a premium compared to recent comps.

[parkplace33]

The big ticket items went big, but I actually thought there were some fair prices on a lot of things. No deal deals, but fair prices.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

I put in my max autobids, went to bed at a reasonable hour and was naturally outbid on all. My days of staying awake until stupid o'clock are behind me.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by Leon

Because no one else bid.
.

+1. The card got to its market-perceived FMV early and nobody wanted to pay more for it. I was watching the card and almost bid on it, as I thought it was very well centered. But ultimately, I did not like the surface issues and I want higher grade if/when I buy one. Ultimately, I the card sold in the (lower) range of where I comped it, and clearly at fair market value for itself. No shortage of 52 mantles out there.

I won one card, and I paid heavy for it. In general, I think prices were strong. A few good deals existed (the t206 green Cobb psa 5.5, for example), but most things ended at or above (and in many cases, far above) where I comped them.
Clearly the rare and high grade stuff is commanding significant premiums

[trambo]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

+1. The card got to its market-perceived FMV early and nobody wanted to pay more for it. I was watching the card and almost bid on it, as I thought it was very well centered. But ultimately, I did not like the surface issues and I want higher grade if/when I buy one. Ultimately, I the card sold in the (lower) range of where I comped it, and clearly at fair market value for itself. No shortage of 52 mantles out there.

I won one card, and I paid heavy for it. In general, I think prices were strong. A few good deals existed (the t206 green Cobb psa 5.5, for example), but most things ended at or above (and in many cases, far above) where I comped them.
Clearly the rare and high grade stuff is commanding significant premiums

I won the green 5.5 and still can't believe it didn't trade for more!

As for losses, I lost on a few of the southern leaguer upgrades I was hoping to snag. They went very strong. Some deals out there last night but also some stuff that went pretty heavy, I thought.

[calvindog]

I won 19 lots!

[raulus]

Although there was plenty of good stuff, there wasn't much on my primary wish list. I suppose that's more a function of my relatively narrow wish list than anything. My continuing desire to keep most of my powder dry could be another element.

I put in a couple of bids on pieces that I was interested in, but only at the right price. About a week ago they exceeded my price, and I cravenly scurried away without even making a token effort in extended bidding.

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by trambo

I won the green 5.5 and still can't believe it didn't trade for more!.

Congrats Troy. That was a steal. I almost went after it purely for trade or resale bc it went so cheap. Now you may pass me on the registry!

Jeff, 19 lots. Wow. Congrats.

[trambo]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Congrats Troy. That was a steal. I almost went after it purely for trade or resale bc it went so cheap. Now you may pass me on the registry!

Thanks! I thought so as well and expected to pay quite a bit more for it. I also stole the Demmitt PSA 4 although I don't love the card. I put a bid on it and it held. Didn't see that coming...haha!

As for the registry placement, I'm not smart enough to realize upgrading commons from 5s to 6s and 6s to 7s is a monumental waste of money and time. Maybe you can talk some sense in me so I don't keep buying commons...haha!

[raulus]

Originally Posted by marzoumanian

I lost out on the 1952 Mantle card in a PSA 5 (early on!) but still tracked it. What I found strange was that the last bid on August 3 ended up being the WINNING bid. Does anyone have any insights as to why active bidding stopped 10 days before the auction ended? The card ended up going for $126,000 with buyer's premium. Thanks.

With this auction format, you tend to see one of two approaches:

1) everyone gets in an initial bid just to throw their hat in the ring, but nothing really happens until the last day, with most of the action happening in extended bidding. In these cases, the price often stays crazy low. You get to the last day and you get all frisky thinking you might pick up a great deal on it. Until that last day rolls around or even until the last minute when 2 or more bidders finally max out on what they’re really willing to pay. The price might double or even jump 10x in extended bidding.

2) a few bidders go nuts early. A couple of bidders decide they really don’t want to wait, so they start their bidding war when there are still days or weeks left on the clock. The price goes to the moon, and eventually one of those bidders gives up. Over the next couple of weeks, the rest of the interested bidders decide it’s just not worth going any higher. So it never moves again, and closes at that price.

While approach #1 definitely seems the most common from what I’ve seen, approach #2 happens maybe 2% of the time? I suppose there’s also a hybrid approach, when it looks like approach #2, but then in extended bidding, some bidders get their second wind and decide they can keep the party going a bit longer until there’s only one poor fool left standing.

Reminds me of the quote from Highlander: “There can be only one!”

[Peter_Spaeth]

Brilliant thread title and very apropos.

I am pleased to say that I lost out on a Goudey Ruth despite bidding very high. Unfortunately, though, I won a Mantle card.

Do we know who won the Doyle?

[marcmandel]

Originally Posted by marzoumanian

I lost out on the 1952 Mantle card in a PSA 5 (early on!) but still tracked it. What I found strange was that the last bid on August 3 ended up being the WINNING bid. Does anyone have any insights as to why active bidding stopped 10 days before the auction ended? The card ended up going for $126,000 with buyer's premium. Thanks.

I also watched the Mick. IMHO the white specs in the blue sky background and possible slight paper loss on his face under magnification lead me to think the $126K is the max this card could be worth and did not command a higher price because it didn't deserve one. Any leaning toward a 150K+ on this one would have been purely based on buying the grade (5) and not the card and its eye appeal, which in this case, could have worked against its slotted value.

[Johnny630]

I won the Killer 49 Jackie Robinson SGC 8 I'm so pumped !!!!