Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

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  • richpick
    Senior Member
    • Oct 2006
    • 166

    Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

    Having a company monopolize the market and buy all of the game-used items from a team and then have to charge higher prices to cover their costs is this good or bad?

    My thoughts:
    In one way I believe it is good because if Steiner has all of a teams items and then that year an item pops up that is not from Steiner then it will raise eyebrows.

    In a negative aspect it makes everything priced higher and it is more costly to collect. I would much rather teams sell their own items at Fanfests or through a charity.

    Your thoughts?
  • jon_8_us
    Senior Member
    • May 2006
    • 848

    #2
    Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

    With Steiner recently signing on with the Red Sox i was very excited and worried at the same time.Excited because i now have a spot to get rock solid authentic bats.Worried because i'm gonna have to take out a loan at the bank to afford the stuff.I don't know why Steiner charges so much above normal market value but it puts a lot of collectors of regular means like myself in an expensive bind.The Red Sox secondary bat market where prices are somewhat reasonable will soon slow down which is bad news to collectors such as myself.However i hope to see some Sox bats come out with prices like some of those 99$ dollar Yankees bats did earlier this year.Time will tell.It certainly will be an adjustment for me.
    Jon
    Always looking for Manny Ramirez game used items

    Comment

    • kylehess10
      Senior Member
      • Feb 2006
      • 3100

      #3
      Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

      Authenticity: Good
      Prices: Bad

      Plain and simple
      kylehess941@hotmail.com

      My Game Used Collection:
      http://www.wix.com/kylehess941/gameused


      http://www.kylehessphotography.com/

      Comment

      • jon_8_us
        Senior Member
        • May 2006
        • 848

        #4
        Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

        Originally posted by kylehess10
        Authenticity: Good
        Prices: Bad

        Plain and simple
        Ain't that the truth!
        Jon
        Always looking for Manny Ramirez game used items

        Comment

        • soxbats
          Senior Member
          • Dec 2005
          • 275

          #5
          Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

          Disagree, to a certain extent. I am actually pleased that Steiner has taken over the Red Sox game used equipment market. For those of us who collect Red Sox bats there have been very few sources and, as a result, these souces have had free reign to charge very high prices, even for common players. This is due, in part to a number of "middle men" who were getting their piece on the way to the market.

          Yes, I am sure that the star player jerseys will be overpriced, but given the uncertainty in the market and the flood of star jerseys we have seen, at least now you can have some confidence what you get is a gamer (I understand that Steiner makes mistakes in this regard).

          For the guys who had sources and got Red Sox equipment directly for low prices this is a bad development. For the rest of us this is great and, at least with regard to bats, I think we will see a reduction in prices over time as Steiner brings more bats (supply) to the mainstream market. I think we have seen this for the mid level and common player Yankee bats already. I have bought an absolutely fatastic Red Sox bat from them at a price that I consider at or below market value for the bat and much less than I have paid in the past for other similar bats. The person at Steiner was great, understood exactly what I was looking for, and found me the best bat among a number of choices. They also called me back, twice, to complete the deal.

          On the other hand the thrill and rush of the hunt for new bats will be gone.

          Always looking for Red Sox Bats, email me at soxbats@aol.com for my wantlist

          Comment

          • TNTtoys
            Moderator
            • Aug 2006
            • 2618

            #6
            Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

            Originally posted by soxbats
            I think we will see a reduction in prices over time as Steiner brings more bats (supply) to the mainstream market. I think we have seen this for the mid level and common player Yankee bats already.
            This is exactly what I have experienced with Mets items. I think Steiner sports is capitalism at its very best... They put out an initial offering. If the price makes sense to you, buy. If it doesn't, wait. Likely case is that there aren't many who would pay the price if it's many factors higher than the market value. The price then starts to come down... and comes down again... and again... until a buyer for the item shows up. Or the item appears in a sale... or Steiner/MLB auctions... Likely case, it may ultimately sell for a fraction of the original offering. Law of supply and demand at its finest.
            Looking for ...
            Any Game Used Mets jerseys from 1986 and 1987
            Any Keith Hernandez, Ron Darling, Lee Mazzilli and John Olerud Mets items
            Email me at TNT_Toys@yahoo.com

            Comment

            • JETEFAN
              Senior Member
              • Dec 2005
              • 528

              #7
              Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

              Agreed that Steiner has a direct link to the team, but as we have seen time and time again, they have no clue as to who, what, where and when an item was used, BP or games. Items sold of a player actually used by another etc. With their prices they have to do better than that!!

              Comment

              • Game Used Bats
                Senior Member
                • Feb 2006
                • 242

                #8
                Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

                I don't see how this effects the price of Red Sox bats at all. Bats are owned by the players and are not given to Steiner in their agreeement. Bats that make it to Steiner that are uncracked were surrendered by the player or cracked and the player agrees to give it up.

                Comment

                • cjclong
                  Senior Member
                  • Feb 2006
                  • 936

                  #9
                  Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

                  What would Steiner normally charge for an a game used bat for a player like Jeter that is not autographed. Do they handle ARod or does he keep all his own?

                  Comment

                  • mphcollectibles
                    Member
                    • Nov 2005
                    • 73

                    #10
                    Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

                    Bats or any game-used equipment can still come from the player and what ever company the player has representing him. A-Rod is not under Steiners umbrella of players and can make deals with his game-used stuff. David Wright has an exclusive with Locker Room Memorabilia and Steiner-Mets has no control over his game-used memorabilia. Collectors need to realize that just because Steiner labels themself Steiner-Mets or Steiner-Yankees does not mean they get the rights to every piece of game used piece a team produces. The partnership means that Steiner is a reputable source of game used material from those teams they partnered up with. Does that mean the middlemen will get cut out?? No, it just means that they will have a harder time re-selling the stuff they do acquire because the collector will only think to trust Steiner.

                    Comment

                    • Vintagedeputy
                      Senior Member
                      • Oct 2005
                      • 3172

                      #11
                      Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

                      Remember too that Steiner is not the only game in town.Last month I picked up a gorgeous Posada cracked game used bat for a third of what Steiner asks for. You have to look and be patient but its out there.

                      Comment

                      • JimCaravello
                        Senior Member
                        • Jan 1970
                        • 1241

                        #12
                        Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

                        I think Steiner is serving a great Large niche in the market place.......

                        I'll be the first one to admit that when they came into the market a few years ago, I complained about their prices and wondered where the Yankees GU market was going with so much merchandise available all of a sudden. Since they hit the market, I have bid in their continuing auctions and have bought a few nice things for my collection along the way. I bought three jerseys from them at the National as I felt they were priced appropriately.

                        They have sold many items at high prices off their site - but they represent capitalism at its best.....they had a product that no one else had and they tried to capitalize on it initially with high prices and they were succesful in selling many items to collectors who were willing to pay for them at that time.

                        It's supply and demand folks - it's plain and simple and their pricing adjustments along the way - both up and down reflect the true market sources at work - which is the way it should be. If you don't like the prices - don't buy - if you do - then buy........if they are not selling enough, the market will tell them that and price adjustments will occur.

                        I was fortunate enough to meet Bob Malandro at the National along with some of the other Steiner reps and to be quite honest - I was really impressed with everyone I met. Bob is a great guy and he took a lot of time out of his busy schedule to talk to me. I also learned a great deal about their initital ineractions with the Yankees and the voluminous amount of material they were given to auction and sell. In Steiner's defense - I don't think even the Yankees knew what they had given to Steiner at times to auction or sell.......It appears Steiner had a very daunting task initially and to date - I feel they have done a good job in bringing Yankees GU merchandise to market.

                        Now they are signing agreements with other teams including the Red Sox and I think this is awesome. As most of you know, I bleed Yankee blue - but have always loved Tim Wakefield and I would like to own one of his GU jerseys. He played Double A ball down in the Raleigh area when he was with the Pirates and I have followed his career ever since. I would never touch a post late 1990's Red Sox jersey in the marketplace - period. With Steiner now offering Red Sox jerseys, I will most likely find a few dollars to obtain a Wakefield at some point in time.

                        Steiner brings great credibility to a GU market that at times can be hard to navigate through........

                        Jim Caravello

                        Comment

                        • indyred
                          Senior Member
                          • May 2006
                          • 952

                          #13
                          Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

                          I agree with what most have said. I like the idea of Steiner getting more teams. Although they are not perfect (no one is), you know most of the stuff will be rock solid and came from the team itself. It's worth paying more knowing this. I'd love to see Meigray work with MLB teams. I wonder if Steiner will get a deal like Meigray has with Getty and photomatch stuff, with a photo LOA when it can be done. The one's Meigray has done with hockey are look awesome.

                          Comment

                          • soxbats
                            Senior Member
                            • Dec 2005
                            • 275

                            #14
                            Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

                            Originally posted by Game Used Bats
                            I don't see how this effects the price of Red Sox bats at all. Bats are owned by the players and are not given to Steiner in their agreeement. Bats that make it to Steiner that are uncracked were surrendered by the player or cracked and the player agrees to give it up.

                            Hi Game Used, if you have some inside knowledge that I am unaware of then I defer to you. However, I have been collecting Red Sox bats for about 20 years and have handled over 700+ and have a couple of thoughts in response:

                            First, in most cases (stars sometimes excepted) the players do not buy their bats, they are purchased by the team in bulk. People like Bonds have been an exception to this rule. Also, smaller bat companies may give bats to a player so, in that case, they are arguably the player's. While the bats are owened by the team, in years past the Sox, like many teams, have appeared to have no policy on game used equipment and apparently allowed the players to do whatever they liked, leading to a market of middlemen who had "access." I think that the Sox, like many teams, are now looking for a new revenue stream.

                            Second, and I spoke with Steiner on this, they believe that the Red Sox will be shipping out bats to Steiner on a bi-weekly basis. Apparently there is someone onsite that will do the authenticating before they are sent to Steiner HQ.

                            Third, Steiner has sold numerous red Sox bats already on their site and on MLB.com. While some of the prices have been at or above market they have not brought multiple bids, suggesting one time purchasers but limited market interest. The rest are around market and noted by the Mets bat collector, given the pricing of Mets and Yankee bats, are sure to head down. I follow these prices closely not just to buy but also to value my collection.

                            Fourth, it is my understanding that Steiner gets all the cracked bats but a player would have to give up an uncracked bat, (I believe this is less about ownership of the bat and more about not taking things out of players lockers that are prepared for game use). Thus, if you collect uncracked bats you will need to rely on the old direct sources from the players.

                            As to the point about price, I can speak only from experience. Over the last few years Red Sox bats have jumped up in price astronomically with some of the new players reaching 300-400. I attribute this to a limited direct supply and the fact that these bats seem to pass through multiple hands and into the market. As the supply get more consistent, I think the prices will come down. Again, my personal opinion based on experience (and possibly some hope too!)

                            Always looking for Red Sox bats, email me at Soxbats@aol.com

                            Comment

                            • beavisrules
                              Senior Member
                              • Sep 2006
                              • 159

                              #15
                              Re: Steiner Sports Good or Bad?

                              have bought a couple of items from them, and have been very pleased all around (price, shipping, quality of item); would definitely buy from again
                              -Mike

                              Always looking for Notre Dame memorabilia
                              Private messages ARE enabled

                              Comment

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