Rea

[Sonny25]

Anybody hoping to win anything tonight?

This is the part I absolutely hate the most.............waiting.

[gorilla777]

Still waiting myself.....tick, tock.....hopefully win....yawn

Ben

[mfsquirrelmaster]

Would have liked that Juan Beniquez lot, but went just a little bit higher than the my current fundage allows. Got a Ruth autographed piece though.

[legaleagle92481]

wow i missed this one. who ends an auction on a saturday night though? imo not a good idea as that is the night the fewest people are probably home. looks like they had some good stuff though. alot of the autographs sold well over reserve. the walter johnson check went way too low though it pains me to have missed that one.

[Schmoozer]

wow i missed this one. who ends an auction on a saturday night though? imo not a good idea as that is the night the fewest people are probably home. looks like they had some good stuff though. alot of the autographs sold well over reserve. the walter johnson check went way too low though it pains me to have missed that one.

The answer is, the best auction company in the business.

Any true serious collector probably appreciates the fact the auction ended on a weekend night. And for those that place a priority of doing something else than tending to their hobby when the fight bell rings, then too bad. It must not mean that much to them.

Quite frankly, anybody who wanted to paint the town could have stayed out til wee hours of the morning, then upon coming home (as long as they were coherent enough) logged in to do their damage. This auction didn't close until sun-up, so the day of the week makes the absolute MOST sense to end on as no-one who works a normal work week (Monday-Friday) had to go to work red-eyed, or worse yet miss a day of work because of staying up all-night to win.

[Schmoozer]

OK.....so who won what?

I won the Mike Schmidt first career GRAND SLAM (his rookie year) home run ball. Paid through the nose for it, but it's a keeper!!

[gorilla777]

A Bonds bat and 2 Ripken bats for me

Ben

[legaleagle92481]

The answer is, the best auction company in the business.

Any true serious collector probably appreciates the fact the auction ended on a weekend night. And for those that place a priority of doing something else than tending to their hobby when the fight bell rings, then too bad. It must not mean that much to them.

Quite frankly, anybody who wanted to paint the town could have stayed out til wee hours of the morning, then upon coming home (as long as they were coherent enough) logged in to do their damage. This auction didn't close until sun-up, so the day of the week makes the absolute MOST sense to end on as no-one who works a normal work week (Monday-Friday) had to go to work red-eyed, or worse yet miss a day of work because of staying up all-night to win.

i dont get the whole auction running all night thing. to me its easier just to log on a couple of minutes before the regular auction closes place my maximum bid and call it a day. i have won many items in auctionhouse auctions and this is what i do everytime. i have never had to stay up allnight watching the auction. to me im going to spend up to x because that is what i feel the item is worth. if someone else feels it is worth more they can have it and ill get the item or a comparable item the next time around.

[legaleagle92481]

OK.....so who won what?

I won the Mike Schmidt first career GRAND SLAM (his rookie year) home run ball. Paid through the nose for it, but it's a keeper!!

amazing get.

[aeneas01]

The answer is, the best auction company in the business.

yeah, the "....who ends an auction on a saturday night though?" statement struck me as pretty funny as well given rea most likely followed up their 2009 $10 million+ record setting auction with another record setting auction this year! if you're eager to criticize how an auction house chooses to operate, my suggestion would be to look elsewhere 'cause rea has this sports memorabilia auction thing down....

...

[legaleagle92481]

yeah, the "....who ends an auction on a saturday night though?" statement struck me as pretty funny as well given rea most likely followed up their 2009 $10 million+ record setting auction with another record setting auction this year! if you're eager to criticize how an auction house chooses to operate, my suggestion would be to look elsewhere 'cause rea has this sports memorabilia auction thing down....

...

There was one lot I was interested in and it sold for well under book value at about $1,100. It was a Walter Johnson large format signed check which is extremely scarce, there are no more than 15 in existance. On Ebay a number of the more common (estimates are that there are 200 in existance) small format Johnson checks have sold for over two grand, the only one currently on there is BIN for $2,999. The only other large format one I have seen on the market is one Kevin Keating is advertising for over $4,000. So ask the consigner of that lot how happy he is with REA today. Alot of the other autograph prices realized appear very low also. As far as "record setting" those numbers are always skewed as you have some items like the Wagner card and the Ruth homer bat that sell themselves and would go for huge money regardless of who auctioned them. The reality is no auction house is perfect. My point just was that people are the least likely to be home on Saturday night out of any night of the week even very serious hobbyists and I would think that ending the auction on a night when there would be more potential bidders home would lead to increased prices. The argument that having it on a work night will result in people staying up all night does not hold water because you can set your maximum bid at any time and there is no need to sit there and watch the action.

[Sonny25]

Does REA only do one auction a year?

[rose14]

LEAGLEEAGLE,

I can understand your thinking but REA has ended on a Saturday for quite some time now. One positive to ending on a weekend night is that most bidders don't have to go to work the following morning as opposed to a weekday night.

You state "Why not just put your max bid in"? Most auction houses are savvy and purposely end their auctions the way they do. They know that a percentage of bidders will continue placing bids on a particular item sometime even over their intended maximum bid when they keep getting outbid on an item. The longer an item sits open in the last minutes the likelyhood that one of those bidders will bid again. It's human nature that some bidders get caught up in the excitement or just with the item itself and will bid more than they orginally intended. REA auctions stand out because the rarity involved with alot of their items brings out a ton of emotions with those bidders.

As for the Johnson check, with an auction like REA it's easy for an item to get lost in the vast amount of premier items that they have each year.

[gorilla777]

Does REA only do one auction a year?


Yes, this is the annual auction, at least internet-wise.

It seemed like there was a ton of activity across the board.


Ben

[matt]

Not game used, but I got the Ted Williams letter from 1938. I liked that Bonds bat too.

I usually buy only game used stuff, but the letter has some great baseball content written by Ted to his buddy just before he made the Red Sox. I probably paid too much, but it is a 2 page, handwritten letter and really hooked me.

Here is the text:
Dear John, We're way up here in South Dakota on our barnstorming tour. Boy! is there a lot of pheasants up here. We have a 22 so the other day we shot 3 + had a cook at one of the towns we stayed at fix them up + oh! were they good. Official averages came out and I finished up leading the league with .366 - 23 points better than anyone. 43 homer 370 total bases in 193 hits also lead league in runs batted in. I'm going to try and see the football game between Minnesota + Washington next Saturday. We play the next day so I'll probably be home around 1 or 2 of October. We played 4 games + have averaged $15.00 a game but today (Sunday) we'll probably make 30.00 apiece. I've got 4900 miles on my car + it runs like a clock. I've been getting 14.4 miles per gallon on this trip but I've been going from 65 to 90 all the way. It used to quarts of oil on the last 1000 miles but that's alright [sic] because the mechanic said I should use some oil going at that speed. - Ted.

Here is the photo: http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=14132#pic

Matt

[legaleagle92481]

LEAGLEEAGLE,

I can understand your thinking but REA has ended on a Saturday for quite some time now. One positive to ending on a weekend night is that most bidders don't have to go to work the following morning as opposed to a weekday night.

You state "Why not just put your max bid in"? Most auction houses are savvy and purposely end their auctions the way they do. They know that a percentage of bidders will continue placing bids on a particular item sometime even over their intended maximum bid when they keep getting outbid on an item. The longer an item sits open in the last minutes the likelyhood that one of those bidders will bid again. It's human nature that some bidders get caught up in the excitement or just with the item itself and will bid more than they orginally intended. REA auctions stand out because the rarity involved with alot of their items brings out a ton of emotions with those bidders.

As for the Johnson check, with an auction like REA it's easy for an item to get lost in the vast amount of premier items that they have each year.

very good points. i can defintely see the logic of why they do that.

[aeneas01]

There was one lot I was interested in and it sold for well under book value at about $1,100. It was a Walter Johnson large format signed check which is extremely scarce, there are no more than 15 in existance. On Ebay a number of the more common (estimates are that there are 200 in existance) small format Johnson checks have sold for over two grand, the only one currently on there is BIN for $2,999. The only other large format one I have seen on the market is one Kevin Keating is advertising for over $4,000. So ask the consigner of that lot how happy he is with REA today.

honestly, you can't be serious - you point to a lot or two that didn't set new industry highs as an example of what happens when an auction ends on a saturday night? as far as that walter johnson check selling for $1,300 (with bp) is concerned, isn't there anything about it that might suggest why it fetched the price it did? granted i'm not up to speed on sports memorabilia ephemera, but compared to photos of other wj checks that have sold in the past it seems to be somewhat lacking in condition, no?


As far as "record setting" those numbers are always skewed as you have some items like the Wagner card and the Ruth homer bat that sell themselves and would go for huge money regardless of who auctioned them.

what? that's like saying adrian peterson's career rushing yardage is "skewed" because he's torn off so many 20+ gainers! you see that don't you? rea consistently lands the most big ticket consignments in the industry, it's as simple as that - and there's a reason why. in fact last year a whopping 11% of rea's lots fetched five-figures or more - the industry average is below 2%. all told, rea had 163 lots in their last auction that fetched five-figures or more - ask any sports memorabilia auction house owner what they think of that number!


The reality is no auction house is perfect.

certainly not.


...

[legaleagle92481]

honestly, you can't be serious - you point to a lot or two that didn't set new industry highs as an example of what happens when an auction ends on a saturday night? as far as that walter johnson check selling for $1,300 (with bp) is concerned, isn't there anything about it that might suggest why it fetched the price it did? granted i'm not up to speed on sports memorabilia ephemera, but compared to photos of other wj checks that have sold in the past it seems to be somewhat lacking in condition, no?



what? that's like saying adrian peterson's career rushing yardage is "skewed" because he's torn off so many 20+ gainers! you see that don't you? rea consistently lands the most big ticket consignments in the industry, it's as simple as that - and there's a reason why. in fact last year a whopping 11% of rea's lots fetched five-figures or more - the industry average is below 2%. all told, rea had 163 lots in their last auction that fetched five-figures or more - ask any sports memorabilia auction house owner what they think of that number!



certainly not.


...

I am not disputing that REA does very well with large ticket items and their auctions have alot of cream of the crop stuff. And like I said I can see their logic behind closing on Saturday but I defintely think that it can be argued both ways. Alot of the vintage autographs beyond the Johnson check did not sell for that much but that may be more because the market for vintage cards and game used stuff is much stronger and those items got lost in the shuffle by all the rare cards and gu stuff than anything else.

[earlywynnfan]

1) love the Saturday closing, don't think a weekday closing is practical at all for the rest of us. Confused as to why a Saturday close is impractical because most people are out, but if you can't stay awake for a Thursday auction, "just put in a ceiling bid"?? seems like contrary logic.

2) Won a Greenberg auto'd ball. Was absolutely STUNNED as to the WWII AAF GW Hitchcock uniform, sold for 2X what I figured. Who else out there is buying these things? Every time I post about WWII/BB memorabilia, I just hear crickets.

Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

[legaleagle92481]

Since this is generating a few misunderstandings on here. Here is my auction strategy in a nutshell. during the time period that the auction is open look through every lot and then decide what i am interested in, research them and if i am comfortable with them decide what they are worth to me. i Wait until the last couple of minutes of regular bidding and enter a maximum bid for each lot then step away from the computer and wait for the winning bidder email the next day. this way i pay no more than i felt the item was worth, if i miss an item because someone outbid me in ot bidding so be it and i will get something just as good or better next time. i do not get caught in bidding wars because the end result is paying more than one would like to for the item. i have seen people get caught in the heat of the moment and keep bidding and "winning" and then having to sell the item shortly thereafter at a steep loss because they could not afford to keep the item. i was the subsquent purchaser in two such situations in the last few months in one case i got a jersey that the seller paid over 6 grand for for 4.5 grand a month after the auction and in the other i got a jersey the seller paid 1,400 for for a grand also a month after the auction.

the weekend thing mattered to me because i work all week and on saturday night im not near a computer to post my max. bid and i would not want to post it earlier in the evening for strategic reasons.

[aeneas01]

Since this is generating a few misunderstandings on here. Here is my auction strategy in a nutshell...

i don't think there's any misunderstanding - you missed the rea auction, presumably because it ended on a saturday, then questioned why any auction house would end an auction on a saturday. here's what you wrote:

"wow i missed this one. who ends an auction on a saturday night though?"

then, in order to support your position, you pointed to a few items that you felt fetched less than market - again, presumably, because the auction ended on a saturday.

but here's the thing legaleagle, here's why your comments struck some collectors as peculiar, naive even: rea's auctions are an annual extravaganza - from their spectacular five pound, 600+ page catalogs to the staggering number of hall of fame / museum quality lots they consistently offer. many collectors prepare months in advance for this annual event by selling smaller items in their collection to fund big ticket rea items. other collectors consider themselves very fortunate if rea agrees to accept their piece(s) for consignment - such is life when you've been in the biz for 30+ years and have been chosen to oversee the sale of some of the most important sports memorabilia collectibles known to exist such as the $30 million dollar harper collection...

in other words legaleagle, the rea annual event is the super bowl of auctions to many collectors - for someone to say they slept through it or found it weird that it was played on a sunday just comes across as a little to goofy to some...

...

[legaleagle92481]

[quote=aeneas01;199382]i don't think there's any misunderstanding - you missed the rea auction, presumably because it ended on a saturday, then questioned why any auction house would end an auction on a saturday. here's what you wrote:

"wow i missed this one. who ends an auction on a saturday night though?"

then, in order to support your position, you pointed to a few items that you felt fetched less than market - again, presumably, because the auction ended on a saturday.

but here's the thing legaleagle, here's why your comments struck some collectors as peculiar, naive even: rea's auctions are an annual extravaganza - from their spectacular five pound, 600+ page catalogs to the staggering number of hall of fame / museum quality lots they consistently offer. many collectors prepare months in advance for this annual event by selling smaller items in their collection to fund big ticket rea items. other collectors consider themselves very fortunate if rea agrees to accept their piece(s) for consignment - such is life when you've been in the biz for 30+ years and have been chosen to oversee the sale of some of the most important sports memorabilia collectibles known to exist such as the $30 million dollar harper collection...

in other words legaleagle, the rea annual event is the super bowl of auctions to many collectors - for someone to say they slept through it or found it weird that it was played on a sunday just comes across as a little to goofy to some...

...[/quote

well I guess this just highlights how people have different collecting interests. i never knew much about REA because they don't auction much of what I collect. I collect mostly modern star jerseys and bats and signed checks of deceased baseball hall of famers (of which i have most of the hall of famers that checks hit the market of). like i said only one item in the whole auction was something that i would have bought. i notice they have alot of great cards and vintage gu stuff but that really is not my thing. and i am sure alot of people prefer saturdays but then im sure also that others feel how i feel it is all a matter of individual preference.

[Schmoozer]

Since this is generating a few misunderstandings on here. Here is my auction strategy in a nutshell. during the time period that the auction is open look through every lot and then decide what i am interested in, research them and if i am comfortable with them decide what they are worth to me. i Wait until the last couple of minutes of regular bidding and enter a maximum bid for each lot then step away from the computer and wait for the winning bidder email the next day.

legaleagle92481,

Maybe I shouldn't say this because it's a philosophy a bidder would consider as an insider secret......but in reality, it's not, so I'll share it with you.

As a collector who is after specific items, if I find something I just HAVE to have, I LOVE guys like you to bid against.

You see, if it truly is an item you can't live without, having another bidder who has already shot his load and is now asleep, to bid against.... is a dream come true. Paying one, maybe two extra bids to get something you JUST have to have, is just fine with me. The knowledge that once you become high bidder insures you won't be outbid by mister "I've placed my max, and I'm out"....I mean MAN, if it were only that easy every time, wow.

Your argument about collectors paying way too much only to be forced to sell it soon after winning it at a huge loss because they can't afford it? They've got bigger problems then you're alluding to here. That's just laughable. If they are truly doing that, their family needs to get them psychological help, and soon. You are referencing a situation that would bankrupt a family. That instantly escalates what should be a hobby into a serious mental problem of wreckless proportion.

But short of that, the guys that place a max bid and turn off the computer....oh PLEASE give me one of them on an item I'm going after every time!!!

[legaleagle92481]

legaleagle92481,

Maybe I shouldn't say this because it's a philosophy a bidder would consider as an insider secret......but in reality, it's not, so I'll share it with you.

As a collector who is after specific items, if I find something I just HAVE to have, I LOVE guys like you to bid against.

You see, if it truly is an item you can't live without, having another bidder who has already shot his load and is now asleep, to bid against.... is a dream come true. Paying one, maybe two extra bids to get something you JUST have to have, is just fine with me. The knowledge that once you become high bidder insures you won't be outbid by mister "I've placed my max, and I'm out"....I mean MAN, if it were only that easy every time, wow.

Your argument about collectors paying way too much only to be forced to sell it soon after winning it at a huge loss because they can't afford it? They've got bigger problems then you're alluding to here. That's just laughable. If they are truly doing that, their family needs to get them psychological help, and soon. You are referencing a situation that would bankrupt a family. That instantly escalates what should be a hobby into a serious mental problem of wreckless proportion.

But short of that, the guys that place a max bid and turn off the computer....oh PLEASE give me one of them on an item I'm going after every time!!!

Well I set my bid depending on the value of the item to me. There are some items that are worth an awful lot to me that I will set a very, very high maximum bid for and in that case if someone wants to outbid me it will cost them big time. But no item is worth so much to me that I will exceed the value that I set for it. Especially since most auctions require you to beat the top bid by 10% I would be paying 20% more than I had valued the item. Yes some items are unique but noone can own everything and there are other unique items out there to pursue so if I don't get it i will get something else.

As far as people buying things they cannot afford it is rampant in this hobby. Many members here are guilty of it. I can see people buying to flip for a profit if something is a good price but over paying and flipping to break even or for a loss shortly after? What is the point of buying it then? I mean either keep for awhile it in that case or pass on it. Yes sometimes unplanned things come up quickly but alot of these people do it all the time. And I agree such people have a serious, serious problem. If you buy an item for 1,500 and sell it a month later for a 1,000 you just threw 500 bucks in the trash to possess a jersey for a couple of weeks which is just crazy. Alot of families have no idea they are doing it because they have seperate accounts for their hobby purchases and ship the items somewhere else like to their office and sneak them home. I mean you have a bunch of jerseys in your basement is your wife really going to notice that you suddendly have one or two more than you had before down there? Or the guy lies and says he got it cheap and is going to resell it at a profit and his wife thinks he made a couple of hundred on it. Until the losses start to really add up and suddenly the family cannot meet the bills the family probably won't even know about it. If you don't think this happens check Ebay and when you see an item that originated with an auction house or a league auction go back and look up when the auction was and how much it sold for with bp and you will be shocked on how common this is.

[Mark17]

I love the way Hunt Auctions handles the close of their auctions. The auction will close at a certain time, and then, on a per lot basis, there is an extended period of 20 minutes. When no more bids come in on a given lot, that lot is closed.

It's the best of both worlds. If you're aggressively after a prime piece, you can go toe-to-toe with other bidders as long as you want. If you're after an inexpensive item with little action, you don't have to stay up all night. This is what happened with me at Hunt's latest auction, I was high bidder on the Rico Carty gamer, and 20 minutes after the auction ended, my lot was closed and I was the winner. I got to bed at my normal time with no worries about any surprise "outbid" emails the next morning.

I think the spirit of an auction should be bidders competing with each other, to the benefit of the seller. It shouldn't be who can outwait the other guy. I suppose from the auctioneer's point of view, as long as they're manning the phones, they probably figure it benefits the seller to take every bid for as long as possible. But to me, the way Hunt does it (and I'm sure other houses also do it that way) is the best mix between letting bidders have every chance to get their bids in, while being reasonable about how late people have to stay up.

[legaleagle92481]

I love the way Hunt Auctions handles the close of their auctions. The auction will close at a certain time, and then, on a per lot basis, there is an extended period of 20 minutes. When no more bids come in on a given lot, that lot is closed.

It's the best of both worlds. If you're aggressively after a prime piece, you can go toe-to-toe with other bidders as long as you want. If you're after an inexpensive item with little action, you don't have to stay up all night. This is what happened with me at Hunt's latest auction, I was high bidder on the Rico Carty gamer, and 20 minutes after the auction ended, my lot was closed and I was the winner. I got to bed at my normal time with no worries about any surprise "outbid" emails the next morning.

I think the spirit of an auction should be bidders competing with each other, to the benefit of the seller. It shouldn't be who can outwait the other guy. I suppose from the auctioneer's point of view, as long as they're manning the phones, they probably figure it benefits the seller to take every bid for as long as possible. But to me, the way Hunt does it (and I'm sure other houses also do it that way) is the best mix between letting bidders have every chance to get their bids in, while being reasonable about how late people have to stay up.

Alot don't do that for several reasons. 1. if someone is bidding on alot of lots it is hard to keep up with all of them. 20 minutes may seem like awhile but if your bidding on 15 lots it is not long at all. 2. during regulation people often place bids on several lots that they are interested in before the prices escalate just so they will be eligible to bid on them in the ot period with hopes of winning some of them but knowing they wont win them all. if the bidding on one lot gets out of their league they will bid more on another lot which will drive up prices.

An interesting idea is what clean sweep does. if you a bid after a certain time they increase the bp so people are encouraged to place their maximum bids earlier.

[Mark17]

I think the Hunt way is a far better remedy than the REA way with regards to your point #1. Suppose you are bidding on 15 items, as you say in your example. With REA, you have to stay up all night, monitoring every one to see where a new bid has been snuck in.

The Hunt way, after the first 20 minutes, maybe 5 of your lots have closed, so now you're down to just 10. And as the rest gradually close as well, the presure eases considerably.

Also, in this example, you'll know whether or not you've won several of the items before the others close, and this will help you determine how much money you have left to bid on those outstanding items.

Otherwise, if you are competitively bidding on 15 pieces, and they are all going to close at the same moment, you have to guess as to which you will be outbid on, and which you won't.

Unless funds are not an issue. :) http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Schmoozer]

I think the Hunt way is a far better remedy than the REA way with regards to your point #1. Suppose you are bidding on 15 items, as you say in your example. With REA, you have to stay up all night, monitoring every one to see where a new bid has been snuck in.



Not true.

You can call the auction house, and request a "call back" on any item you are outbid on. That gives you instant notification via a live voice on the phone that you are no longer the high bidder. Then you have the opportunity right then and there to up your bid again if you so desire.

[Mark17]

Not true.

You can call the auction house, and request a "call back" on any item you are outbid on. That gives you instant notification via a live voice on the phone that you are no longer the high bidder. Then you have the opportunity right then and there to up your bid again if you so desire.


The Eagle's example was when you're bidding on 15 items. So, what's the difference between staying up all night, monitoring other people bidding on those items, or having the phone ring throughout the night, waking you up repeatedly, to inform you of same?

My point is, if the lots you are interested in close at varying times, you can track your progress, manage your available funds, and probably get to bed much earlier (for good-- no 5:30 AM phone calls.)

[Schmoozer]

So we don't misunderstand ourselves here, I have a liking for Hunt's method too. But you are referring to their online auction, not their major sports auctions where you are either present, or have a phone line reserved.

There is a very BIG difference between the two. If you want to refer to only an online auction, which REA follows as their auction format, then I understand your gripe. It is definately troublesome to stay up all night long to win an item.

But it is what it is.

And what it is.....is the most celebrated auction of the year, held on a Saturday night so everyone has an opportunity to win as it does not interfere with the majority of the "normal" work schedules out there (and that's the best they can do...we all understand that some of us collectors do work different hours), with a call-back option if you want to be notified if you have been outbid on any item.

I don't really find the justification in complaining about a well-thought-out auction which gives the benefit of time and availability to all who participate, without the need of being glued to a computer screen trying to manage bids on potentially several different items you might be bidding on.

And, if you do win something after a long grueling battle through the night, it makes that first Sunday cup of java taste that much better.

[Mark17]

I'm not attacking REA...... it sounds like you think I am, and see a need to defend them. I simply entered this thread with the statement: "I love the way Hunt Auctions handles the close of their auctions...."

It's a positive to Hunt and their policy, not a slam on someone else.

I have absolutely no problem with REA or any other auction house, and I'm sincerely sorry if I left that impression.