Superiors Auction: Success or Flop

missinglink

I wanted to get your thoughts on the Superior auction that is going on. While I think it was an innovative idea to hold a live aution at the Nationals and coordinate it with Ebay Live, it seems that there were alot of lots that closed BELOW book value. My experience with all the auction houses is that this never happens. I almost always pay a premium (above the standard 15%) to get the items I really want.

Last night though I was very pleased. Picked up lot #146 with the Dan Dees and paid much less than SMR.

Basilone

I like the live auction format much better their normal auction format.

John

Mantlefan

I found it too confusing.....their site, EBAY [at 20% hammer fee] and live bidding. I would have made more bids if it were held their in traditional way.

acowa

Just got back from the National and I attended the live auction both nights for a few hours. The auctioneer was the CEO of Collectors Universe (which I thought was odd)

Chris Porter was a real class act and came over to our contingent of registry devotees and chatted for awhile. An additional nice touch was that they provided dinner and snacks throughout the evening.

Other than a guy running up another buyer on T-206's last night...I thought there were deals to be had. When that guy wasn't running the T-206's kept interrupting the auction and was making comments like "that will teach him to not return my calls". I think the obnoxious guys name was Lew Ser (at least people kept saying when is that Lew Ser going to shut up...so I assume that's his name)

I won a lot of 1962 Topps baseball for a pretty decent price and Wayne8348 won a lot of 1963's that were equal or better to the deal I got on the 1962's. Gaspipe26, EJGURU, and I were pretty shocked at the low prices on the 1972 Topps baseball PSA 8's(about half of SMR) but didn't bid. It was nice to be able to preview the items before bidding.

I thought there were quite a few deals but you needed to have big bucks to get them. For instance: the 1948 Leaf Satchell Paige went for about half of what the last one sold for. The funniest tidbit that got us going was that a 1975 Topps George Brett PSA 10 went for more than the 1934 Goudey Dizzy Dean PSA 9. I was talking with gaspipe about it and he had to remind me that one of the people bidding on it was right behind us. Anyways, I know that I would rather have a vintage Gehrig, Dean, Cobb, etc in PSA 8 versus a 1975 Brett (even in PSA 11)

Regards,


Alan

Skycap

acowa,

Thanks for the report. I'm curious: About how many people would you estimate attended the auction? And of those, about what percent participated in the bidding? Could you tell whether there were mainly dealers or mainly collectors who did the bidding? Or perhaps it was split.

Also, did they let people actually hold the cards in their hands before the auction so they could be closely examined?

I agree with Mantlefan (Frank) and thought the format was a bit confusing for those who didn't attend. They should have let people bid through the regular Superior Sports web site up until the end, but perhaps they are not equipped to handle live updates and so they went with eBay.

Skycap

Virtualizard

I agree with Mantlefan and Skycap. This was the first Superior Auction in the past 2 years that I haven't participated in. It was too confusing. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it to AC - that was the only way I was going to bid on any of these auctions.

I'd be curious to see %s of lots won through ebay, live in person, and through Superior's traditional methods (website, phone, fax, mail). Any ideas? Were a lot of bids in AC topped by ebay or other bids?

I do hope they continued to provide the DVD with future auctions. I thought that was interesting.

JEB.

murcerfan

gemint

It was very confusing. I'm still not certain if I won my lot or not. It didn't show my bid during or after the live auction and the final price was below my maximum bid on Superior's site. Today when I look at the final prices realized, it still matches the lower bid + 15% buyer's fee. Did they completely discard the Superior internet bids???

acowa

About how many people would you estimate attended the auction? (Last night there were probably 60 people)

And of those, about what percent participated in the bidding? (don't honestly know...they way it was set up was in rows and I was in front)

Could you tell whether there were mainly dealers or mainly collectors who did the bidding? Or perhaps it was split. (I honestly don't know...I saw many dealers at the Sheraton bar on Friday night blowing the auction off)

Also, did they let people actually hold the cards in their hands before the auction so they could be closely examined? (Yes, there was a 50 foot by 10 foot viewing area)

I agree with Mantlefan (Frank) and thought the format was a bit confusing for those who didn't attend.

(What made it even more confusing was that auctions would end and then magically reopen because of guys like Lew Ser. The way it was set up was that there was a panel of about 6 people monitoring computers on a stage...in the middle was the CEO of CU running the auction both nights. He did a nice job. One strange thing was that you couldn't pick up your items there to take home without paying sales tax. The only way to get around it was to have the items shipped to your home)

Hope this answers your questions.

Regards,


Alan

acowa

<Did they completely discard the Superior internet bids???>

No...but if someone in the audience got "recognized" before the person on the comuter shouted out that they had the bid...the first person won the right to that slot...then whomever wasn't first had to hit the next increment.


Regards,


Alan

gemint

But my bid was placed well before the live auction started. Perhaps this is why many lots sold below market.

acowa

<I'd be curious to see %s of lots won through ebay, live in person, and through Superior's traditional methods (website, phone, fax, mail). Any ideas? Were a lot of bids in AC topped by ebay or other bids?>

I saw people win with internet bids, mail in bids, live bids ...you name it. No bids were refused.

There were a few times that the auctioneer went a little too fast and almost closed out items that people still wanted to bid on.

One issue was that somethimes the bid increments between EBAY, Live, and Mail In, were out of whack making it painfully slow at times. Additionally, the auctioneer would let you go over the current bid, but less than the "next bid increment". However, you couldn't get back into the bidding after your bid was submitted...if someone topped your bid with the correct increment.


Regards,


Alan

acowa

Gemint,

That sounds like a legitimate beef that you should ask Chris Porter about. I wanted to clarify that I am only giving my impressions here. What item was it?


Regards,


Alan

gemint

#876, 1970 Topps set with 100+ graded cards. I just shot an email to Superior asking what's up. If anyone else in the same situation learns something, please PM me or post their response on here.

Thanks.

acowa

How do you know that you didn't win?

Regards,


Alan

gemint

I'm just going by the fact that the eBay auction listing and the auction archive on the Superior site are bothe showing the winning bid at $1750 ($2013 on Superior which includes the buyer's premium) which is lower than my max bid.

pc

When identical bids are received for a lot, preference is given to the first bid received as determined by the Auctioneer. A mail bid will take precedence over an identical floor bid; a Floor Bidder and Telephone Bidder must bid higher than the highest mail bid to be awarded any lot.

acowa

The way I interpreted the auction is that the auctioneer would move the bid using proxy (EBAY like bids). If nobody pushed your bid up, they didn't artificially take it to your maximum. If I had to guess, I would bet that you won the auction for less than your high (maximum) bid. Lord knows, the CU people want every last nickle for their cosigners. Please update the thread when you find out.

Regards,


Alan

Basilone

Hey guys-

I was one of those eBay bidders. I do not understand why everyone is saying it was confusing. It was easy as clicking "bid $450.00" on the ebay screen. Heck..you didnt even have to re-enter your name and password.

Piece of Cake.

I was not planning on bidding as I thought the 20% buyers fee was crazy...but after the first night and the prices I saw....I signed up and sent an email to Superior asking for them to contact eBay to process my registration. Figuring in the buyers fee (even at 20%) there were still deals to be had.....

Ideally you were supposed to register with eBay Live 48 hours prior. A couple of hours later (after the 1st session) I was notified that my eBay name was now registered with the Superior auction and I could bid at will.


John

sixdart

I was there until the end for each night and I had a great time! Even though I collect football cards, I did win 3 baseball card lots for a modest total $3K. Their were deals to be had, for example; the 1948 Bowman Baseball YOGI BERRA PSA 9 went for 50% SMR.

Being present was a definite advantage over e-mail, phone and EBAY bidding. Once an internet (EBAY) bidder won a lot, Superior could not go back. This happened more so last night as the auctioneer went too fast on lower-end lots. You had to know your bid or be shut out. I think this happened to phone bidders when the staff was speaking with them.

I thought Chris and his staff did a wonderful job. Being able to view the lots on site was really helpful in evaluating bids. Chris made an effort to speak with everyone in attendance, or at least thank them for their participation. The light buffet offered was an unexpected surprise.

There was a definite buzz about the Goudey Gehrig PSA 8 selling less than the Brett PSA 10. The loud mouth bidding up the T206s was really annoying - I sat in front of him. I wanted to win one of those PSA 8s, but not for $2K!

Overall a B+ for me, I had a lot of fun with the live auction.

ejguru

Have to wonder what everybody is doing with their 1975 sealed stuff. If a Brett 10 is worth 10K, doesn't that make some folks want to break it open? Am I missing something? As for the auction(s), I thought they were terrific and look forward to attending again. I did snag one lot (Mathewson 206-psa 4), but I was outbid on about 4-5 others.

E

Galveston

I guess I won the only bid that I made. I bid $300 and the Superior website indicates that the final price of $345 includes the 15% that is tacked on.
Can someone refresh my memory. If no one bids me up, do they automatically raise the price to meet my highest offered price? Or, is it like e-bay. I'm always a little suspicious when I bid $300 and then I'm told, that's exactly the price it went for.

Basilone

<< <i>If no one bids me up, do they automatically raise the price to meet my highest offered price? Or, is it like e-bay. I'm always a little suspicious when I bid $300 and then I'm told, that's exactly the price it went for. >>



That would kill the credibility of the auction house for sure!! Thats one reason why I liked the live auction this time....you knew that no one else would know what your high bid was except you.

John

acowa

Just to add to John's comments... the auctioneer started the bidding at what I assumed was the initial high bid from the bids that were registered on the website or from mail in. So, if you had bid your way to the top before the live auction started on the website...yours was the opening bid. For example:

An item had that had a minimum of $100 and had been bid up on the website prior to the live auction beginning to $300 ...started at $300

An item that started at $100 with no bids on the website ... but a mail bid of $300 max... would start at $100 and have to be pushed up to or past the initial mail in bid.

The only strange thing was that since a cosignor might be able to bid on his own lot...you really don't know what really sold and what didn't.


Regards,



Alan

Galveston

Here's where I'm confused: My $300 bid was listed as something like $245 after the internet part of the auction closed. Which seemed to indicate that I was something like $55 higher than the second bid. It doesn't seem right to start the live auction at $300. Is that what they did?

acowa

<It doesn't seem right to start the live auction at $300. Is that what they did?>

There were 500+ auctions each night ... I honestly have no idea. Maybe someone with a particular interest in the auction can comment. I cant even remember where they started the one I bought.


Regards,


Alan

The53Kid

I attended the Thursday night auction for about 3 hours, so I thought I would give you my impressions.

I have to give it the thumbs up! A real handful to run. Basically there were about 10 staff running the auction. As stated the CU president was the auctioneer. One lady was keeping "the book" of bids accumulated off the Superior website, or phoned or faxed in before the live part began. She would always be asked for the current high bid. Then the website would refresh to the current lot and live bidding would commence. There was a big screen in from of the room to watch the internet bids come in. Two other staff where watching these bids and calling them out. Then there were 4 other staffers in the back of the room calling people directly on the phone for bids. And of course about 50 people in the audience. It was very well orchestraded considering bids were coming from all directions.

I would say half of the people there were bidding and the other half were there to watch. Many dealers were present, Andy Madec, Skerbe's, Rich Gove, and many others faces I have seen behind the tables. And right in front of me .....John Branca. And I can tell you he won 99% of what he bid on. And he seemed very surprised, and pleased at the prices realized.

My impressions where the winning bidders came from all areas. I saw a phone in caller win 3 straight lots and several lots get no bids beyond what was tallied on the Superior website. It seemed the registry was the driving factor, and of course total cost. I say this because many PSA 9 commons went for double book or about $400, when associated stars in PSA 9 went for much less that book but cost you $2000-3000. But I would have to say this is similar to my EBAY experiences. I have seen 53 Topps PSA 9 commons go for 3-4 times book. But I also saw a 53 Topps PSA 9 Whitey Ford go for 75% of book.

I was on the sidelines and not bidding this time. But I think I've learned you always have to be ready to jump on a great deal...sign me up for the next one.

If I can provide any other info, let me know......Bruce

Skycap

The53Kid,

You said that "And right in front of me .....John Branca. And I can tell you he won 99% of what he bid on. And he seemed very surprised, and pleased at the prices realized.

I think I may have been the one who outbid him for a certain 1957 PSA 9 card. Let's just say I would not be denied on this one!

Skycap

Basilone

hmmm..

was it 12,53,140 or 245?

The53Kid

Skycap,

I think you are correct. There was one lot that I remember him backing down on. From what I remember it was a common in PSA 9 and seemed to go very high. I believe well over the estimate. On all the other lots, he just immediately raised his card to up the bid, no hesitation.

Vargha

Bidding against John is usually a losing proposition.

gemint

Well I just received word from Superior that I did win lot 876. Whoohoo! Very confusing though. I watched the live auction and never saw my bids register. I guess all's well that ends well.

acowa

<Well I just received word from Superior that I did win lot 876.>

Which validates my assumption that Superior would squeeze every last nickle for their cosignors! They did an incredible job given the fact that bids were hitting them from all different sources.


Regards,


Alan

gaspipe26

The bids started during the "Live " portion of the auction at whatever the bid price was when the interenet auction closed. It did not start at the interenet high bid unless the high bid was reached during the internet bidding. I'm sure there were high bids placed on the internet that did not reach that level. There were lots that were not bid on during the live portion. They sold to the internet bidder.

Tipem

Does anyone know if there is a website that lists all the lots with their final hammer price? I would be curious to see what some of the lots went for.

Vic

acowa

Follow this link and then click previous auctions. There are actually two seperate sites broken down by Friday & Saturday night.

Auctions

Regards,


Alan

crazysc

As a dealer, I was simply unable to attend the auction either evening. I wanted to go, especially the second night, but it was simply too much. Walking on that concrete (why can't they carpet it @ $700-1000/booth??), being at the show for 10+ hours, then going to the PSA Dealer meeting one night - boy was I eager to spend another 5 hours at an auction at night.

I was really hoping to attend too, but just not much could be done at that point. How many show dealers did attend the auction?

sjeanblanc

I thought it was way too confusing. I was the high bidder on a 1970 Frank Robinson PSA 9 on Thursday at $285 with my high bid at $300. When I checked the Superior site Saturday for my lots it basically looked like I never bid, because nothing showed up. Well needless to say I was a little suprised when I received an invoice today for being the winner of the 70 Robinson PSA 9 at $300. If the bidding was at $285 and 10% bid increments were in place there is no way I should have won this auction, because one more bid would have been over $300.

When I looked at the Ebay live part of this auction the starting bid was $100 with no bids placed, which is like what was the point of having any bidding take place on the Superior site.

Hope they don't do it this way again.

Scott

---------------------------
Collecting 1970-75 baseball, Pete Rose, and Nolan Ryan

Mantlefan

I posted previously about my confusion with this auction. I thought I won a "lot" of mid-series 1957 Topps PSA 8 BB on the Superior bidding site. Then, the final results looked like I had been outbid. Today I get an envelope from Superior which looks like an invoice....looks like I won after all! Unfortunately, it was just a listing of the final prices realized in the auction. Not pleased!