In today's internet age, do auction firms still distribute catalogs on a geographic basis?

Longacre · October 7, 2008 9:19PM

I need to check my files, but I think that I did not receive the last few Stack's auction catalogs. Looking back, none of those auctions were in my local area, though. However, I recently received the Stack's 73rd Anniversary Sale catalog, which will be held in New York City. NYC is local to me.

That got me thinking. Even though we are in the internet age where people can bid on coins in their pajamas from home, do auction firms still use a geographic distribution model when mailing catalogs? For example, since the 73rd Anniversary Auction is in NYC, do clients in this area tend to get mailed the catalogs, and might not get mailed a catalog for an auction in, say, California? Looking a bit forward, I see that Stack's is holding an auction as part of the CoinFest Show in Connecticut (which is in my backyard). If I were Stack's, I would flood the market with catalogs to local collectors in NY, NJ, and CT, in order to increase the chances of getting bids. Does anyone know if the auction firms follow a geographic distribution model with mailing catalogs?

Coinosaurus · October 8, 2008 12:31AM

I have been getting auction catalogs for twenty years and in all that time I have never been able to detect any pattern as to how they are distributed. Sometimes they show up and sometimes they don't. Stack's sent me every single Ford catalog except the last one. Heritage seems to be the most regular, while sometimes I would receive two copies from Superior or Goldberg's. Fortunately with the computer this is mostly a non-issue now, though I still like the hardcopies for skimming.

In today's internet age, do auction firms still distribute catalogs on a geographic basis?

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