A Robert Edwards bloodbath
Copyboy1
Posts: 479 ✭✭✭✭
In another thread, there was lots of discussion about where prices are going these days. I mentioned I consigned a bunch of high-end vintage football, some high-end basketball, and some memorabilia and we'd see where it goes.
Based on a pretty conservative estimate using recent Ebay sales and auction sales, I was expecting to net about $5k.
It looks like I will net less than half than that.
Ouch. I regret sending them anything. I would have rather kept it all vs give it away for 50 cents on the dollar. Of the 22 things consigned, maybe 2 went for expected prices. I had $500 card go for $90. I had a $1000 card go for $350.
Absolutely brutal.
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Bad bad time to be a seller but a smart time to be a buyer. Seems like this is happening in a lot of hobbies. I can't remember ever seen it this bad.
The world is in a rough place.
I was hoping since a chunk of my stuff doesn't come up in those grades very often, the demand would be there. Apparently not.
Sorry to hear your cards didn't sell for what you thought they should. What cards did you consign?
For such a low dollar amount items (relatively), wouldn't it make more sense to sell on ebay.... You never know the number of eyeballs that you are going to get on an auction house sale, unless it is really some iconic big ticket item. When I look at PSA auction history for lower value cards, it's usually the non ebay sales that are low compared to prior same grade sales., and I'm not talking pandemic pump and dump sales.
What era were era's were the cards from?
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
I consigned with probstein a couple of times and decided to sell on my own.
I agree with you that I would rather just keep my items if I can't get a fair price on them and he actually lost some of my items, so I got nothing for them.
Selling myself, I have a lot more control over the listings.
Totally agree with this statement. If you sent in a "bunch" of stuff and the top 2 cards were $1k and $500 cards, it doesn't seem like the others would be very high dollar. I can't really imagine sending any individual item to an auction house that isn't $5k-$10k+.
Sorry about the poor results. When I sell, I never use auctions. I want control over how much my items sell for.
George Brett, Roger Clemens and Tommy Brady.
Very sorry to hear. It can be hit and miss depending on items and timing. I like to time my items with their sports and popularity. For example I wouldn't sell Football during the off season, etc.
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
i sent in a 3.5k item received 1000 with them.
Never again. just sell on EBay.
Sometimes i dont even know they have an auction.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
I had maybe 2-3 cards worth $100. Everything else was $300-$1500, which seems like the perfect range for an auction - I'm expecting a lot more buyers in that range than if I consigned $10,000 cards.
I'm also buying in that range and I NEVER seem to get those kinds of deals on RA or anywhere else. Maybe I should just buy my own cards!
Sorry to hear your results from the recent REA auction. IMO, auction houses attract high end buyers with deeper pockets that want the best or rare items. I only saw maybe two higher end basketball cards in their recent auction: Ultra Kobe PSA 10 rookie and 2nd year Kareem in SGC 88 and both sold for a thousand or so..... nothing really special. Sport cards are only worth what someone is willing to pay on any given day. The PSA auction history still doesn't show the '58 Frank Robinson PSA 10 that auctioned for $70K (230K a year earlier) or the '70 Reggie Jackson PSA 9 for 13K. Alleged completed sales are guidelines at best. If you've been collecting for 5 years or more, you still probably came out ahead monetary wise. Chock it up: lesson learned, don't look back.
They ranged, but here's an example: I sold a 1949 Leaf Chuck Bednarik SGC 5 with much better centering that you usually see.
There's a PSA 5 on Ebay right now for $1265. The last PSA 5 sold (at Robert Edward Auctions) 5 months ago for $1140.
Sure, mine's an SGC vs a PSA, but I was hoping for $750. It sold for $420 including the buyer's premium. So after I give RA 10%, I'm getting $315 for it.
so lesson here is, do not send anything less than 5k worth to auction houses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Major_League_Baseball_players_from_Panama
We are in the early stages of a pretty big correction. The stuff I follow is 30-50% of ATH’s, and dropping. And the economy is still ripping. Good times ahead for collectors that are in buy mode.
Luckily the high prices/inflation is just transitory, so things will be good soon.
I was tracking 15-20 items in that auction, and honestly just forgot to raise my bids. Just got busy and lost the thread.
Checking the results this morning made me wish I'd paid more attention. 2 1978 cello boxes sold for just over $2K each, that's a good price, but it makes me wonder how much things are going to drop. There was also a 74 PSA 10 Oliva that went for $500 that I wish I bought.
These days I'm in no hurry to buy because I don't think we're at the floor yet.
Just like Jerry Rice I have given up on trying to ever hit a nice pack fresh 78 Murray. Even a PSA 8 would have been nice in either player.
Agreed, unless you have exceptionally high grade stuff to sell now is not the time.
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.
The market has been declining for most things across the board.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
The two 78 cello boxes sold for 3K and $2,880, respectively, with BP, plus tax and shipping.
A pop 3 PSA 10 75 Topps mini Oliva sold for $1,620.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Sorry to hear. Sometimes you take one on the chin and it hurts. Don't look back. You have to have the closers mentality. You now have X amount in your hand. Nothing can be done to change how much more you could have had it you sold a different time/way. Use that X amount of money whichever way makes you happy.
There was a PSA 4 Bednarik on Ebay auction that looked in about the same condition as your SGC 5. It closed on May 14th for $340, sold by Probstein. That may be where the true market is for that card. PSA does get better prices than SGC, unless the SGC card has tremendous centering or eye appeal then they may be closer in resale value in vintage.
Some Pre-War cards did well in this last REA auction.
Cards that are tougher to obtain are holding their ground(some gaining some slipping). Tougher as in the card itself, not just the grade. For example,
A 1920 W519 Babe Ruth strip card graded SGC Authentic sold for $7,200. Those don't come up for sale every day on Ebay.
Cards that are more common to find are slipping.
For example, a 1973 PSA 7 Schmidt with average centering in that REA auction sold for $390. Those can be found any day of the week on Ebay. They will never dry up.
Then you have the whole 'you never know' in an auction...
For example, this beat up Leaf Robinson in the same REA auction sold for $3,480....which I consider a strong price for that beat up of a card which isn't even that rare of a card either.
Here's another example. Not a high end card, but a 1993-1994 Upper Deck Basketball #466 Michael Jordan PSA 10.
Taking out a weird $1000 sale a few months ago, this card has sold between $250 and $350 eight times in the past year (most recently 2 months ago). Mine sold for $144.
I get that you never know with an auction, etc., etc. I wasn't expecting record prices for anything. I just thought I'd get a lot closer to current value.
Sorry to hear your results. When it's a buyers market, auctions are a terrible way to go unless you really need the money. This is not a new phenomenon, been this way for the last 20 years when most things turned electronic. That is for baseball , football is even more difficult to use auctions as the buyer pool is even thinner. Sure some very unique items will blow out expectations or stuff that hasn't hit the market for a while but the more general the item the riskier it is.
Oh. That makes me feel better. The final price in my account must have been before the mark-up, taxes, etc... Still decent prices on those cellos.
Saw the 73 PSA 10 Oliva did very well.
Prices are lower now than 2,3,4 months ago. You may have gotten current market value.
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
This is usually the time in the thread when someone comes in to post a super unique item that sold for a big price to try and convince that vintage is holding up
Exactly. Can't compare to 2 months ago, let alone 5 on most items.
That mid 90's Jordan base card sold for $20 in a 9 a month ago. OP was lucky to get $144 for the 10.
I never even look at REA auctions, but 3 Oliva 10’s have been mentioned in this thread. Sounds like somebody was liquidating one of the top Oliva master sets?
Yaz Master Set
#1 Gino Cappelletti master set
#1 John Hannah master set
Also collecting Andre Tippett, Patriots Greats' RCs, Dwight Evans, 1964 Venezuelan Topps, 1974 Topps Red Sox
It seems you're correct.
And if I remember correctly there was another 10 on a different auction recently.
Yes, a PSA 10 Oliva RC sold for $23,400 last fall.
https://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bids/bidplace?itemid=127075
Also, a PSA 10 1970 Oliva sold for 4K and a PSA 10 72 Oliva for $1,500/
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
I had an extremely bad experience with Robert Edwards Auctions about 20 years ago. Would never sell in an action house again. If you have a collection of rarities like I did at the time, you will most likely get hosed. I had an extensive Tom Seaver collection of various memorabilia and they grouped it into items that made little sense. The descriptions were terrible. I almost felt like they were deliberately sabotaging the auctions and had their own bidders in order to sell the stuff for a higher price at a later time.
I had a similar experience with Heritage when I sold my 1950 Otto Graham PSA 8.5. The "specialist" I got had the most amateurish description of the card, talking about "the look in his eye" and the blue sky, and other nonsense. I had to call him up before it got posted and educate him on who Otto Graham was. I ended up re-writing the entire description myself for him for the auction...SMH....never again.
I had a friend use them for a guitar collection auction. They didn't come close to what his "specialist" told him.
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I also think the seasonal auctions get more eyeballs because they contain rarer collectibles as well as the printed catalog that ships to registrants.
No, it didn't. It's sold predictably between $250-$350 as far back as a year ago. 8 different times over the last 12 months as a PSA 10 (which is what I had).
I would like to see a list of what you consigned with REA.
the other issue with consigning to auction houses in today's market is that there are just to many auctions it is impossible to keep up. it was kind of manageable pre pandemic but then every large auction house added a monthly auction as well as their signature auctions and then they threw in some speciality auctions and to top it off another 10 auction sites popped up. oh and then some others added weekly .....
I used to be very diligent about keeping up , now I just don't bother and if I miss something I miss something, oh well
I think eBay is a better route than an auction house. I think BP is complete bull crap and I refuse to pay it, so I never (ever) even look at auction houses. I know not every collector thinks like me, but I also know some do, and when you’re consigning items every eyeball counts.
Yaz Master Set
#1 Gino Cappelletti master set
#1 John Hannah master set
Also collecting Andre Tippett, Patriots Greats' RCs, Dwight Evans, 1964 Venezuelan Topps, 1974 Topps Red Sox
Right now, unless it is a rare or high demand item, auctions are basically giving away product. Case in point, I purchased an auto card numbered to 400 last night for $72 at auction on ebay, the average sale price on BINS is over $125 and there are lots of examples like this
A confluence of factors contributed to achieving much less than desired results. (1) SGC graded, not PSA. (2) Number of card collectors registered for this auction versus any eBay auction. (3) Football not played in May. (4) Market for collectibles in general and cards in particular is slumping. (5) Cards were truly not that rare.
It's a painful experience to depart with one's treasures "for a song," but the sun'll come out tomorrow.
Recent REA was a weak auction in terms of high end (8.5 or higher) vintage HOFs (1960s and earlier). REA seems to be stronger in unopened material rather than high end vintage sports cards. JMHO
Wait.... You paid REA a fee to sell your cards? I only know PWCC, but with them starting at a $10 or higher selling price, you get the full payout and eventually a cut of the BP as the sales price goes higher. I always figured that the auctions houses worked the same way....
Yeah. 10% seller commission fee. I figured that's what I'd pay to sell them on Ebay.
The one that went highest over expected was a 2005 Topps Football Aaron Rodgers RC PSA 10. Sold prices are around $275. It sold for $330.
I had a 1950 Bowman Football Jim Finks HoF RC PSA 8 that last sold in 2021 for $260. It went for $330.
Those were the two highlights.
OK, it was $22.25. I did find 2 other 9's that sold for under $20 in the last 4 months, as low as $15.50.
I found a current BIN that's not selling for $36 OBO. Raw cards can be had for $5 or less.
We're talking mid 90's Upper Deck junk wax base cards, right?
Yeah it's MJ, but how many MJ cards from the 90's are there from UD?
This isn't a tough issue to get a 10. 10% submitted gets a 10, and 44% gets a 9 or 10.
There has been 90 additional PSA10's graded in the past year alone according to an ebay listing.
That's double what was previously available.
Now you're comparing prices from a year ago? That's even worse than the prices from 5 months ago.
8's go for $10-20. 9's go for $20-30. What do you expect a 10 to fetch? (Don't answer that LOL)
If you wanted $250 for yours, then join the others on ebay not selling theirs for $250 OBO.
I was bidding on a vintage PSA9 card I really needed and willing to overpay $80 for it. Problem was, 2 others really really wanted it. Final price....$1100+. Are you kidding me?
But, I also bid on another vintage card, PSA9, and won it. Final price...$0.99 (That's 99 cents!).
Anything can happen in an auction setting.
My general rule is you don't sell sports cards during the respective off-seasons.....
I'm not sure if you're trolling or not.
I've said what the card is. It is not a PSA 9. It's a PSA 10. I'm not comparing prices from a year ago or 5 months ago. I said the sales prices for it have been relatively steady for a year, including a sale less than 60 days ago.
Let me know what parts you're having trouble understanding.
I agree. In the old days I liked getting the color mailers etc. when it was only 4 or 5 big AH.
Successful card BST transactions with cbcnow, brogurt, gstarling, Bravesfan 007, and rajah 424.