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#1
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Dan Bretta
REA is likely expanding to two auctions per year. With Mastro's recent problems this just adds to the challenge they will have trying to attract consignors. |
#2
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Fred C
Dan, |
#3
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Joe D.
I would enjoy an REA auction every month. |
#4
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: rand
they are way behind in paying consignors. supposedly they may be just getting to the live auction people now, and have sent a letter saying it will be at least another week. |
#5
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Dan Bretta
Fred, a few things... |
#6
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Fact: They've run out of that cool packing tape that always made me so happy. |
#7
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Rob
I think thats what makes REA so good though, is that they spend an entire year acquiring material and have a kick-@$$ auction. Would be tough, i think, to have such great material EVERY auction if they were to expand too much. |
#8
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Matt
The email REA just sent said that the 2nd offering will probably start out as a smaller offering and not another huge one like the April offering. |
#9
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: barrysloate
Oh my god, noooooo...not the packing tape! |
#10
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: travis
when is the next REA auction actually????Thanks |
#11
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: barrysloate
It usually closes around last week of April- May 1, give or take a few days. |
#12
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: rand
wow, that was quite a letter. mastro has no comment, silence is not a good thing sometimes. i dont think the next mastro auction is going to get many consignors, if REA gets a 2nd auction in this year they will pick up a ton of that stuff. hmmmm |
#13
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Cat
"Rumor: They laid off 15-17 employees yesterday." |
#14
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: barrysloate
Cat- they typically had about 40 employees. I always felt that was too many. But they don't consult with me. |
#15
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Fred C
Dan, |
#16
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: DJ
Just viewed the Classic Collector online. Never thought that a New York Yankees jersey "" to common player Stan Jefferson would ever be a lot for them. He did play 10 games for them in 1989. Or a Kelly Gruber Orioles jersey that was used his final season (during a comeback) where he didn't even play that season. Also, did they lay off those writing the descriptions? |
#17
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Cat
"Cat- they typically had about 40 employees. I always felt that was too many. But they don't consult with me." |
#18
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Bob C.
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#19
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: ScottDango
does he remind anyone of a young george steinbrenner ? maybe it just me? maybe its the white turtleneck.... |
#20
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Phil Garry
I just received my Mastro Classic Collector Auction catalogue in the mail today. Seems like a very weak offering compared to their past auctions, even the Classic Collector ones...... |
#21
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Robert Klevens
Dear Robert, |
#22
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Considering the fact that when you win a lot you can't get your cards until the check clears, why does it take months to 'process' consignors checks? It doesn't! It actually takes the same amount of time to 'process' the auction winners' checks as well. Mastro (and other auction houses that do this) are just taking interest free loans from their consignors. This is especially ironic considering how auctin houses profess to take care of consignors so well. Robert, if I were you I'd run that check to the bank. And I mean RUN! |
#23
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: boxingcardman
I mentioned that Mastro was using consignors as short term financiers last year when a discussion of this situation arose, and raised some doubters' hackles. Seems I was more correct than I'd like to have been. |
#24
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: marshall barkman
Jeff....you are 100% correct about your statement in regards to auction houses holding the cash. Milehigh set a record of over 2 million dollars so if they do not pay cosignors for 30 to 60 days then the money can be earning interest with the cash. I had to basically get on the phone and raise holy hell to get paid after waiting for two months with no payment. These auction houses always have excuses and anyone who has intelligence knows it is BS. The two antique auction houses i deal with are major ones but i have a special contract that has a clause about payment, when the auction house is paid then i get paid. Most folks want their items right away and pay for the things as soon as the auction closes. |
#25
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Bruce Dorskind
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#26
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: barrysloate
That was a strange post. Sounds a little like you work for the company. |
#27
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: James Feagin
Before I worked with Huggins & Scott as a writer, I consigned several items to them. I've always loved our policy of paying consignors. The day (heck, the minute) we get paid, the consignment check is made out and dispatched. It is a great policy that helped my decision to work with them. |
#28
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: marshall barkman
I must say Bill Huggins is hilarious and a good guy. I have never consigned with him but he sounded very cool when i spoke to him on the phone. |
#29
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: David Smith
I don't have ANY standing in this argument/discussion but I find it REALLY funny how it seems to takes SOOOOO long to get consignment checks out when, I am sure, SOME buyers pay for their auction wins by PayPal or wire/electronic transfer of funds. |
#30
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: marshall barkman
You are correct. |
#31
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Eric B
I don't understand the point of holding consignor's checks in order to earn interest. It's just not that much. Using the $2 million previously mentioned, with interest at 3% (if you can get that) it comes to just $60,000 per year. So holding checks for 3 months (1/4 year) is just $15,000 income. |
#32
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Bobby Binder
I think everyone is assuming that the winning bidders are paying lightning fast and it just not be the case now a days. As well you have no idea when they do get paid and it you have multiple items in the auction and they are won by different bidders you have to wait for all of them to pay. As well you need to consider that Mastro has been giving money up front for a lot of the consignments interest free so that is another factor in the equation. |
#33
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: John
Rob is a class act and when it comes to jaw dropers REA is the place to be...and in terms of customer service REA is tops! |
#34
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: barrysloate
Bobby made a good point that I was going to bring up. Say someone consigns twenty lots to me. It's likely that fifteen of them will be paid in the first week after the auction. But I have never done a single one where I am not chasing after late payers. As sure as the sun rises, two weeks after the sale there will still be eight or ten bidders who haven't even written their checks yet. So that will slow down the whole process. |
#35
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: boxingcardman
You are thinking too linearly on this issue. Holding consignor money 45 days isn't about banking the cash and earning interest, it is about using the funds as a short term source of funding so as to minimize the amount of use made of a credit line, which has a far higher cost than what the money could earn. Many of us do the same thing to Visa, MC and AMEX when we pay down the card every month. Now factor in Mastro's schedule of auctions--3 CC and 3 regular, spaced roughly evenly throughout the year and you have a large anticipated cash flow every two months (plus an extra here and there like the live auction at the National). Instead of living on the net left after an auction supplemented by credit they have to pay for until the next stream of revenue and escrowing the auction proceeds, my bet is that they used the consignor money as it came in for operating expenses, advances, etc., minimizing the cost of credit by taking a free short term loan from the consignors. It probably saved them several months a year in interest on several million dollars in short term loans. My hunch is that the hiccup this month was that a bank pulled a credit line unexpectedly, leaving them with no cash (they'd spent that first) and nowhere to get it to write the checks at the 45 day mark, until they freed up funds from elsewhere or arranged a new line of credit. I would not be surprised if the story about the wrong account was literally true--it was probably a sweep type account into which the credit line was dumped as needed to cover checks. No line = rubber checks. |
#36
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Eric B
Great response. You are likely correct. I was under the assumption that they wouldn't need a line of credit. that would mean they are a "house of cards", pardon the pun. |
#37
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Ted Sherman
One of my friends has a red sox store and the bank recently told him that his "inventory" could be used as collateral or assets. I guess it is the same type of thing. |
#38
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: marty q
rea- is as good as they come !! period. i second bruce d's comment's also. i have been to rob's house on a number of occasion's, he and his staff are simply fantastic, i have asked him on more than one conversation to do more auctions, i think this is great, i hope it works out for him. i have seen rob and his staff in action during auction time, not 1 lot is taken for granted, attention to research and authenticity is 100%. |
#39
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Bill Panagopulos
Not to condemn nor praise Mastro, but... |
#40
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: marshall barkman
What is hogwash is the 45 day wait. When a consigonor buys the item he or she generally pays cash for the item because most folks do not even want a check. The consignor then has to find a auction house that is suitable for the highest return on the investment. Sometimes the auction will not be for 30 or 60 days due to advertising the sale. So basically what you are saying is a guy could buy a item put it in the auction which could be a month out and then have to wait 45 to 60 days for payment. My thoughts on that are good luck and you have no fear of ever getting any of my high end autographs. Auction houses should change their policies and payment should be made in 2 to 3 three weeks. |
#41
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Theoretically, there is no reason that consignment checks cannot go out the same day as the check clears paying for the lot. Both actions are dependent upon one thing: the lot winner's check clearing. |
#42
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Fred C
I've got to agree with Jeff on this. Once the lot is paid for (and payment is clear) then the auction house should pay the consignor. There will be consignors that have multiple lots sold. In those cases at least get a good portion of the payments out and then the auction house can make a second payment after the late payers finally come through. |
#43
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Robert Klevens
I actually consigned my lot at the National for their December auction. That was my poor decision. After waiting 5 months for the auction and 2 months more for my check I lost $1500 on my item. I know the winner of my item, and he paid quickly and received it already. Hopefully my check will arrive this week. |
#44
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Exactly. Send the lot and check on the day that the check for payment clears. Or maybe a couple days later? Why 45 days later? One reason: tax-free credit line. |
#45
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: barrysloate
Jeff- you still miss a point. That works if you consign one lot; what if you consign ten lots and each payment comes in a different day? How many consignment checks would you expect to receive? In that case you need to give the auction house the time to collect all the money before they pay you. |
#46
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
But let's say lot 1 is paid for with good funds on a Tuesday; why can't the consignment check go out on Weds? And then the following week, three more lots clear -- why can't those consignment checks go out when those lots clear? |
#47
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: barrysloate
If only one lot is involved and it is paid for quickly, I always try to get the check out ASAP. I do however feel it is a good policy to wait for the winning bidder to receive his lot before I disburse a check to the consignor, but it is not mandatory. |
#48
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Robert Klevens
I consigned only 1 lot that sold for $1200. The buyer paid right away. I was told that Mastro gets a whole bunch of money in and then starts sending the consignment checks after 45 days. |
#49
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Barry, I see your point and that makes sense. However, as someone who feeds his family based on the number of checks I receive I would prefer to get them as fast as possible even if one at a time. In all seriousness, I'd probably opt for half and half. And if 70% of my lots were paid for in 2 weeks, why should I have to wait 45 more days to get paid anything? |
#50
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More bad news for Mastro
Posted By: Bill Panagopulos
No offense, but...are you kidding??? |
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