Consignment/Auction House Question

Snapolit1 · #1 12-08-2023, 12:14 PM

Definitely speak with Al. You will get straight talk, not pie in the sky mumbo jumbo, but honest opinions and a fair appraisal of what you have.

There are some real unscrupulous operators in this business. This board will direct you to the right folks.

Personally speaking, I've been shocked at the number of identical cards (different grades) selling lately in recent auctions. 8 of these. 9 of these. 7 of these. Did the AH call the consignors and tell them that the card they were excited to sell is buried on page 127 with 7 other of the same card. Man I would be pissed to find that out for the first time when I receive a catalog 4 months later.

raulus · #2 12-08-2023, 01:18 PM

I suspect that most of us don�t spend much time over on the postwar side of the site, but we recently had a modest discussion about this issue, which you can find here:

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=342743

Madi$on18joshua · #3 12-10-2023, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Definitely speak with Al. You will get straight talk, not pie in the sky mumbo jumbo, but honest opinions and a fair appraisal of what you have.

There are some real unscrupulous operators in this business. This board will direct you to the right folks.

Personally speaking, I've been shocked at the number of identical cards (different grades) selling lately in recent auctions. 8 of these. 9 of these. 7 of these. Did the AH call the consignors and tell them that the card they were excited to sell is buried on page 127 with 7 other of the same card. Man I would be pissed to find that out for the first time when I receive a catalog 4 months later.

to your point, a great example is the last REA auction which had a 1915 Cracker Jack Joe Jackson as lot #900 and something! A $50k card buried on page 27.

Curious about which route you take and how happy you are with the outcome of your choice. Even tough I am always adding to my collection @ the same time I seem to be constantly thinking about selling my collection to put in a pool and a outdoor kitchen plus a family trip to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

It sounds like you have some great stuff that would be wanted. Have you considered using BST, you could give it a shot while you're researching and whatever you sold you'd e getting 100% of it.

GLWS, again let us know where you end ups putting it.

I added a picture of my collection as every post should have a picture!

rand1com · #4 12-10-2023, 08:24 PM

Nice collection. I think you can cover the cost of your projects/vacation pretty easily if you decide to.

Snowman · #5 12-11-2023, 12:54 AM

It amazes me that anyone sends any cards worth less than $25k or so to any of these auction houses when eBay, Probstein, and PWCC are all willing to offer you MUCH lower selling fees AND bring more eyeballs. You're getting absolutely ripped off if you're sending 4-figure cards to places like Goldin, Heritage, Mile High, Lelands, LOTG, and REA. These guys are telling you they don't want your cards/business when they tell you you're not getting ANY of the buyer's premium back, let alone charging a selling commission on top.

This hobby has a serious problem with the rake paid for transactions. I'm blown away that someone hasn't come along and created a seriously competitive platform yet to put all these guys out of business. PWCC had a chance, but they sorta blew it by wasting their money and charging way more than they needed to.

If the company you're considering consigning to employs a sales team, then you're sending your stuff to the wrong place.

Jewish-collector · #6 12-11-2023, 01:30 AM

Remember Travis, it's an unregulated industry.

Aquarian Sports Cards · #7 12-11-2023, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snowman

This hobby has a serious problem with the rake paid for transactions. I'm blown away that someone hasn't come along and created a seriously competitive platform yet to put all these guys out of business. PWCC had a chance, but they sorta blew it by wasting their money and charging way more than they needed to.

Go for it. People think auctions are just licenses to print money. They're wrong.

raulus · #8 12-11-2023, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Go for it. People think auctions are just licenses to print money. They're wrong.

It does seem like plenty of other auction houses in potentially bigger markets charge just as much, and sometimes more. So it's hard to imagine that it can realistically be done for a lot less. That's part of the fun with capitalism - if you're overcharging, then you leave yourself open to competitors who will come in and take market share by charging less, and ultimately drive you out of business.

I suspect that operating an AH is harder than it looks. I also suspect that at lower fee levels, the margins to the AH start to look too skinny. And any market share you might pick up by charging less ends up not being worth it.

Of course, the counterpoint to that argument is the video of one of the industry's more outspoken auction operators bragging about the number of zeros in his bank account, and the location of his house on a golf course.

Snapolit1 · #9 12-11-2023, 02:44 PM

If the guy living on the golf course made a mint in the last few years selling Zion refractors, Wander Franco rookie superfractors, and Trevor Lawrence relic cards, I suspect his business model ain't what it used to be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raulus

It does seem like plenty of other auction houses in potentially bigger markets charge just as much, and sometimes more. So it's hard to imagine that it can realistically be done for a lot less. That's part of the fun with capitalism - if you're overcharging, then you leave yourself open to competitors who will come in and take market share by charging less, and ultimately drive you out of business.

I suspect that operating an AH is harder than it looks. I also suspect that at lower fee levels, the margins to the AH start to look too skinny. And any market share you might pick up by charging less ends up not being worth it.

Of course, the counterpoint to that argument is the video of one of the industry's more outspoken auction operators bragging about the number of zeros in his bank account, and the location of his house on a golf course.

sealmark41 · #10 12-11-2023, 02:48 PM

It's only my two cents worth but I have been dealing with Brockelman Auctions for years and have been very pleased with every aspect of our dealings from start to finish. Good material, fine communications as needed and very pleased with the results. Strange they have not been mentioned in this thread.
Sealmark

Snowman · #11 12-11-2023, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Go for it. People think auctions are just licenses to print money. They're wrong.

I'm not trying to belittle the amount of work you have to put in to sell cards for consigners. I've scanned, sold, packed, and shipped many thousands of cards myself. It's work. And a lot of cards is a lot of work. Building an auction house is a grind. Getting people to consign takes work, getting traffic to your site, taking scans, creating the listings, packing, shipping, dealing with annoying customers, I get it. Trust me.

For most of the smaller auction houses, you guys are earning every bit of what you bring in. People sending you boxes full of random commons and $10-20 cards is a grind. Even cards below $100 are hardly worth your time.

What I'm talking about primarily are the large auction houses that won't even accept any cards below $1,000 from anyone, and then want 20-30% of what they sell for. Goldin hiking up their fee to 22% is just a giant middle finger to the hobby. Taking cards that are worth 6 figures from consigners and keeping 15% of the price. That's the type of BS that we shouldn't put up with.

eBay caps their selling fees at ~$300 per item, regardless of what it sells for (plus a ~2% payment processing fee after that). Probstein charges just 5% for anything above $1k.

sb1 · #12 12-11-2023, 04:09 PM

I am not sure you are aware of the bidders in the deep end of the pool, they don't frequent Ebay or PWCC or Probstein. Nor do they pay sellers commissions.

bks14sr · #13 12-11-2023, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Definitely speak with Al. You will get straight talk, not pie in the sky mumbo jumbo, but honest opinions and a fair appraisal of what you have.

There are some real unscrupulous operators in this business. This board will direct you to the right folks.

Personally speaking, I've been shocked at the number of identical cards (different grades) selling lately in recent auctions. 8 of these. 9 of these. 7 of these. Did the AH call the consignors and tell them that the card they were excited to sell is buried on page 127 with 7 other of the same card. Man I would be pissed to find that out for the first time when I receive a catalog 4 months later.

I recently consigned in the REA fall auction, and exactly what�s mentioned in your last paragraph happened to me. Very pissed. I consigned my 54 Topps set (w/ Aaron and Banks broken out to a separate lot), 48 Leaf Robinson, 48 Leaf mid grade lot annd SPs, and 50 Bowman Robinson. Each had nearly 10 or more examples in this auction. This was glazed over when I asked prior to consigning of how they deal with similar offerings and whether or not we should hold until the next auction for better placement. Upon auction going live, sure enough, each card is flooded. My 10 lots sold for half to 3/4 of recent prices realized. View counts on my lots over the 3 weeks of the auction were lower than I�d get on BST here in a week. Essentially gave away my 54 Topps set. Expensive lesson to trust REA hype.

Unless you�re selling something that essentially markets itself, like some of the headliners, I see no reason to justify the 20% AH premium.

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