american memorabilia auctions?

[tidehoops]

any opinions on their auctions?

[trsent]

any opinions on their auctions?

They have realized some great prices for consignors in the past few auctions. I have been pleased.

[earlywynnfan]

I used to have good luck with them, too, as a consignor, but Beans retired and they seemed to want bigger stuff than I had to offer (and yet I see page after page of $50 items!) They can take a while to get you your check, though.

As a buyer, I have won a few things and been very pleased.

Ken

[Oil Can Dan]

I won two items in their last auction:

On one the LOA from 100% Authentic is shaky in that it's two pages long, and the first page is basically a printout of what you see on the website and the second is one that basically says "I have reviewed this item and in my opinion it is authentic - Lou Lampson". A skeptical person may question whether page 2 is actually tied to page 1. There is nothing on page 2 that ties it to page 1. For a $5,000 item I would expect a little more.

On the second item the description said PSA/DNA autheticated, and the description said that the autograph was a "9", however the paper that came with it explicitely stated that this item did not have the "full PSA/DNA" review and there's no mention of a grade for the autograph anywhere.

Those two points aside, I had a good experience with AM on the phone both before and after the auction closed. Although they could not provide any written document on the history of the first item, they gave me some understanding of how the item came to their hands. Of course they could have been BSing me, but I didn't get that sense.

[corsairs25]

I just had my first experience with them---as a buyer. I bought a bat from them for what seemed a good price and am very satisfied. The description was right on the money and the letter of authenticity, contacts, etc. were fine.

[CollectGU]

I've hadgood experiences as both a buyer and consignor. A side note to Oils Can Dan above. Unless the item is said to have been graded by PSA/DNA in the description, then the auction house rating on the strength of the sig., is simply a guide for the buyer..Every auction house does that. Also, the PSA auction house letter is standard for all auction houses

[Frank]

I never had a problem buying from them but when I started consigning my items, it took a while for them to pay me. I'd rather take my items elsewhere to sell.

[Oil Can Dan]

I've hadgood experiences as both a buyer and consignor. A side note to Oils Can Dan above. Unless the item is said to have been graded by PSA/DNA in the description, then the auction house rating on the strength of the sig., is simply a guide for the buyer..Every auction house does that. Also, the PSA auction house letter is standard for all auction houses

Got ya. Thanks. After the fact I see the authenticator is "PSA/DNA letter", which I took to mean PSA/DNA authenticated it. In really, it's just a letter that goes on to say that PSA/DNA didn't really look at the item. In addition the jersey came with a "Mounted Memories" authentication but oddly enough the item description made no mention of that. Why they didn't bother with that is beyond me, but then again I find many odd things about how these auctions are run.

[SSB15]

They are fine. I have bought items from them that appear to be legitimate.

Scott

[silverschmidts]

As is true with SO MANY of the sports memorabilia auction houses, I feel their customer service is weak. I consigned with them once and it took a very long time to get paid. I had multiple items consigned and they failed to pay me for all of the items sold until I contacted them about it several times. Many months later they finally paid me. That was ridiculous and it convinced me not to consign with them again. I've also purchased a couple of items from them. One was a framed, autographed lithograph. I paid the usual inflated shipping charge and then it arrived with the glass broken. I contacted them to inquire about insurance coverage for replacing the glass or at least an adjustment on the shipping charge since I now was going to have to go so some trouble and expense to replace the glass. They refused, suggesting that the glass was not a meaningful part of the purchase (then why did you include it?). Since then, I have not purchased anything from them again. --Steve

[trsent]

As is true with SO MANY of the sports memorabilia auction houses, I feel their customer service is weak. I consigned with them once and it took a very long time to get paid. I had multiple items consigned and they failed to pay me for all of the items sold until I contacted them about it several times. Many months later they finally paid me. That was ridiculous and it convinced me not to consign with them again. I've also purchased a couple of items from them. One was a framed, autographed lithograph. I paid the usual inflated shipping charge and then it arrived with the glass broken. I contacted them to inquire about insurance coverage for replacing the glass or at least an adjustment on the shipping charge since I now was going to have to go so some trouble and expense to replace the glass. They refused, suggesting that the glass was not a meaningful part of the purchase (then why did you include it?). Since then, I have not purchased anything from them again. --Steve

I now see all framed memorabilia they sell has the clause:

"This item is framed and is sold 'AS IS'. Please ask about frame conditions." listed with the auction. I don't understand, if an item is damaged in shipping why they don't file a claim with the shipping company to recoup loses. I know when I have shipped framed merchandise it is properly packaged so the shipping company (generally UPS) would pay for repairs for damaged merchandise.

I also know the customer was responsible to keep the box and item until UPS came to inspect, generally 1-2 days after they were notified of the claim.

[silverschmidts]

I don't think the change in their policy would have affected my situation. The condition of the item when sold was fine; it was the shipping that changed its condition and made it less valuable. Regarding the insurance issue, I think their position was that it wasn't a big enough claim to be worth filing. My feeling was that it was just bad customer service. If a customer (in my case, a repeat customer) receives a broken item from you, you should be apologetic, offer to do something about it, etc. However, they were curt, unresponsive, and completely unsympathetic. They were unwilling to do anything about it and basically responded by saying, "so what." This is just extremely typical of the sports memorabilia auction house industry. I had a similar experience that I related on this forum with Lelands and I've also received some very bad customer service with Grey Flannel. I'm not saying it's impossible to get good customer service from these business; sometimes they perform well. But the sad truth is that they are very inconsistent. Your only defense is to stop doing business with them, which is what I've done with Lelands, Grey Flannel and American Memorabilia. I still buy things from Bricol because, although authenticity is not rigorous, they have good customer service. Brian Collard is very attentive to that issue. And Vintage Authentics continues to get my business. They had some issues when they first started, but I find they are now pretty responsive to issues when they arise. I also like the fact that they are innovative on COAs and authenticity. Their willingness to post the COAs on the internet for all prospective bidders to see is a welcome bit of transparency in an otherwise murky industry. --Steve