I'm surprised to not see postings re. recent auction results. I'm still trying to determine the 'board culture' so don't know whether its verbotten to get into discussions re. relative bargains, auction comparisions, etc.
Anyhow, thought i lead with some of my observations. I focus on bats, so my comments may not apply to all area's.
Anyhow, thought i lead with some of my observations. I focus on bats, so my comments may not apply to all area's.
- too many auctions at the same time -i know the auction houses want to separate themselves from each other and beating out the competition is one way of doing it, but for the collector, the myriad of choices just numbs the senses. I totally missed out on an item in CSS because i was all over Mastro, GFC, Sothebys, etc. - the other side of this argument is that overall buying prices should be cheaper due to the large amount of things being offerred
- houses -i don't think the '1 day internet, then next day live' format helped GFC at all. I for one, figured that a NY local in attendance would emotionally bid up items above any internet bidding that i did, so i generally stayed away. Looks like i wasn't the only one. The Sothebys name tends to scare off some folks, though i saw some nice buys. The didn't have anything i had to have. Mastro is very card focused and again, they had nothing i had to have. I do like their 15 minute rule - not so keen on their picking my increments for me.
- bat bargains - throw in the vig and there weren't many in Mastro. I thought the Lazzari Batrite would go about 30% higher and the 50's Mantle seemed like a bargain, though the lack of a MEARS grade probably didn't help it (and a 13" crack). GFC had plenty of apparent bargains, even with the vig. Poor descriptions and lack of pictures didn't help consigners or buyers. If i'm buying a bat i'd like to know if its got use. I shouldn't have to email to find this out. Sotheby's got top dollar on most everything though the Furillo stands out to me as bargain. Lelands isn't over yet, but bargains are few and far between. I have to say that Lelands seems to be the premier game-used house, prices wise, if you're a consigner.
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