Recommended Auction House for Very High End Vintage

[Gr8Beldini]

Hi. I'm looking to consign a very high end vintage baseball card to an auction house, and would very much appreciate some input. Your experiences (good and bad), and your recommendations. Would very much appreciate the reason for your positive/negative recommendations. Thank you in advance.

[vthobby]

REA 100%

Ask for Dean, tell him Mike from Vermont recommended you.

https://robertedwardauctions.com

15 years now and never a problem, they get the highest prices, will pay you fast, and are always fair.

I've bought and sold through them.

REA

[raulus]

I assume you're looking to sell a big card that routinely hits 6 or 7 figures, so it's important to be selective here.

Here's how I would approach it:

1) Dig around the various auction sites to check out past auctions. Focus on the major auctions, which are usually every 3-4 months for most AHs. Ignore the weeklies or smaller encore auctions, since your card shouldn't be in one of those. See whether similar cards are ever listed in those major auctions. If not, that might be a sign whether this AH is a good choice. My guess is that this will skinny your list down to about a half dozen AHs.

2) Dig into the results to see whether any one AH tends to deliver a little better results. My guess is you won't see much of a difference, at least not once you adjust for the market and the card. But it's worth checking just so you can put your fears at ease about whether the results are similar enough. If you're seeing an AH that consistently struggles to deliver solid results, then remove them from the list.

3) Is your item rare or obscure? If so, then check to see how well the AH does with marketing similar stuff. Do they bury it in a big lot with little or no writeup and force buyers to figure it out? If so, then it's probably a good idea to remove this AH from your list.

In any event, given your assertion that you have a big card to sell, it's probably a good idea to ask each AH still on your list to determine how your item will be featured. Make sure to mention your specific card, so they know the context. Will your item be on the front cover? Inside front cover? Will you get a full page with pictures and a glowing write-up? A half page? Something less? If any of the AHs go cheap on their offered real estate, then you can probably take them off the list.

4) Start talking to your short list of AHs to ask them about their fee structure. Make sure to mention your specific card, so they know the context, and can give you their best rates.

Are they willing to share some of the BP with you? If so, how much? Are there other features that matter to you, like getting an advance? If so, what are the terms?

I've never consigned a card at this level before, but I hear from plenty of others around these parts that you should expect to have zero selling fees, and the AH should be willing to share a big piece of the BP with you. I guess you'll find out whether that's true.

My guess is that you'll probably have 3-5 AHs that are ready and willing to give you everything you want, or at least very similar deals overall. Then it's probably just a question of deciding which group has been treating you the best, and which one you feel confident will really take care of you, and not just ignore you.

Good luck!

[ValKehl]

Nicolo has provided lots of good points for the OP to consider. Also very important to me is an aiction house's intrgrity and reputation. This would narrow my choices to either REA or LOTG.

[LincolnVT]

If it were my card, I would likely try for a private sale option if you have a price in mind. Sounds like a card that many would likely want w/o having to take the auction route.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Gr8Beldini

Hi. I'm looking to consign a very high end vintage baseball card to an auction house, and would very much appreciate some input. Your experiences (good and bad), and your recommendations. Would very much appreciate the reason for your positive/negative recommendations. Thank you in advance.

If you haven't got contacted by pretty much every AH from this post just post the same question on the main page. They are on here and they will contact you.

I agree with trying a private sale first if possible to get the absolute most from your item.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by bnorth

If you haven't got contacted by pretty much every AH from this post just post the same question on the main page. They are on here and they will contact you.

I agree with trying a private sale first if possible to get the absolute most from your item.

Private sale can definitely be a good way to go. You save on selling costs, plus you get certainty about the final price. The buyer can skip the craziness of the auction process, and just buy it for a price that works for everyone.

Naturally, you usually give up the potential upside from an auction if a few bidders decide to get into a bidding war. But you also avoid the potential downside if everyone ignores your listing and it sells for a lot less.

Plus you save on whatever you might have paid to the AH. Depending on how much of the BP the AH is willing to give you, it's possible that the AH cost might only run 5-10% of your selling price, so the auction might not be all that spendy.