SUBJECT: BEWARE Steve Verkman, Keith Vari, Leland�s, Clean Sweep & Paragon auctions

Gorditadogg · #1 02-05-2025, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayshum

Without knowing more details about the actual contents of the collection (aside from the few items mentioned by the OP) and how well it was or wasn't organized, it seems pretty hard to judge what a reasonable split of the auction proceeds would be.

I've spent the last few months going through a collection that a friend of mine had which filled 2/3 of a 20 foot UHaul and had almost no organization to it at all. Knowing how much time and effort I put in just to figure out what I had, to say that an auction house could easily take care of a collection that maybe filled 2 trucks of unknown size seems a little unrealistic. Sure, that's their job, but just like any job, the more work involved, the higher the cost.

OK. So if your friend's collection is worth well into six figures, say $300,000, would you say $120,000 is a fair price for the work you did? I'm just asking.

And obviously, none of us really know all the facts here, we are all just making up theories as we go along.

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jayshum · #2 02-05-2025, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

OK. So if your friend's collection is worth well into six figures, say $300,000, would you say $120,000 is a fair price for the work you did? I'm just asking.

And obviously, none of us really know all the facts here, we are all just making up theories as we go along.

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It's not an exact comparison because my friend inherited his collection and knows nothing about it or has ever been interested in sports cards and memorabilia. Without some kind of help from someone who knew about the hobby, he would have probably had a tough time finding someone to buy it (or an auction house to be willing to go through it all) at anywhere close to the value it turned out to be worth since the vast majority of items were low value. However, mixed in amongst everthing was a lot of value, so yes, I think the work I did for him was worth at least 40% to him. Below is a picture of what I was dealing with which only shows about 2/3 of what he had. This is a 10x15 storage unit it's in, and the rest was in another office he was renting.

For the OP, without knowing more details about how the collection was organized, the desirability of the items and their general value, it's hard to say what would be a fair cut for an auction house. Regardless of the value of an item, there's still some time required to list it in an auction. If something is going to sell for $5000, it doesn't take 1000x longer to list it than an item that will sell for $5. Based on a post by someone who knew the OP, it sounds like there were some better items but a large amount of items that would take a lot of time and effort to go through and organize before listing even though they were not high value, and if they're only going to sell for a small amount, the auction house needs to make more on the better items to make it worth their time and effort. I still don't think enough is known about the overall situation to be able to judge how fair it is to the OP.

Gorditadogg · #3 02-05-2025, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jayshum

It's not an exact comparison because my friend inherited his collection and knows nothing about it or has ever been interested in sports cards and memorabilia. Below is a picture of what I was dealing with which only shows about 2/3 of what he had.

That looks a lot like my collection. Are you going to be in Chicago anytime soon?

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jayshum · #4 02-05-2025, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

That looks a lot like my collection. Are you going to be in Chicago anytime soon?

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For the right price, maybe I could be.

ALR-bishop · #5 02-05-2025, 03:38 PM

Jay---that would have been a great unit for a Storage Wars episode

ajjohnsonsoxfan · #6 02-05-2025, 04:02 PM

Think this is my very first time over in the "water cooler" section. Didn't really know it existed until now. lol. Might have to wander over here more often.

BobbyStrawberry · #7 02-05-2025, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

Think this is my very first time over in the "water cooler" section. Didn't really know it existed until now. lol. Might have to wander over here more often.

Its a fun place! I think I spend more time in this section than the main one

4815162342 · #8 02-05-2025, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Jay---that would have been a great unit for a Storage Wars episode

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!

jayshum · #9 02-05-2025, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Jay---that would have been a great unit for a Storage Wars episode

The first few days I spent going through stuff was basically to determine if it was worth the time and effort or if we should just try to find someone to buy it as is. I found enough to decide to go through it all, and it was the right decision.

notfast · #10 02-06-2025, 10:09 AM

I can�t believe more people aren�t focused on how poor the document is.

You can�t tell me that the pictured contract is acceptable. Now there�s interest on the advance? Is that written on another piece of paper we don�t see?

Auction company and representatives can have all the history and positive experiences in the world but that contract is amateur at best and intentionally poor at worst.

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