MEARS auction: poor economy or lousy estimating?

[kingjammy24]

it seems to me that the general sentiment regarding setting auction lot estimates is to set them relatively low in order to a) encourage interest and bidding and b) to impress consigners when their items go for more than the estimate; "we beat the estimate!". in my experience, most times hammer prices exceed estimates.

that said, i was persuing MEARS' latest auction results and noticed that many of their items fell FAR short of the published estimates. (note: i'm talking about estimates here not reserves). some examples:

Lot #453: 1993-94 Elden Campbell Los Angeles Lakers game-worn warm-up
Estimate $250/$350
Final Bid: $101.20

Lot #474: 1985-86 Granville Waiters Houston Rockets road game jersey
Estimate $300/$400
Final Bid: $121.00
Price: $425.00 (this item was priced at $425 on their website prior to the auction).

Lot #454: 1991-92 Mark Jackson New York Knicks game-worn jersey
Estimate $250/$350
Final Bid: $133.10

Lot #456: 1995-96 Gerald Wilkins Vancouver Grizzlies game-worn jersey
Estimate $500/$600
Final Bid: $110.00

Lot #455: 2002 Carlos Delgado Toronto Blue Jays Alternate game-worn jersey MEARS A10
Estimate $1000/$1500
Final Bid: $399.30

Lot #411: 1986-87 Dave Winfield Louisville Slugger professional game-used bat
Estimate $750/$1000
Final Bid: $184.80

Lot #106: 1994 Fred Lester New York Jets road game jersey
Estimate $250
Final Bid: $74.80

Lot #447: 1989 David Viaene New England Patriots game-worn jersey
Estimate $650
Final Bid: $220.00

Lot #475: 1992 Mark Sander Miami Dolphins home game jersey
Estimate $200/$300
Final Bid: $91.30

rough economy or wildly unrealistic estimates? the differences between some of those estimates and the final hammer prices is pretty shocking. also surprising was the granville waiters shirt that MEARS priced at $425 on their website and the market determined it was worth $121.

rudy.

[otismalibu]

Mears has a shirt listed for $350. Scrub player, no name on back.

I got the same team, scrub player, no name on back for $100 from BPH.

Just sayin'.

[yanks12025]

When mears starts to get more bidders, i think you will see the prices go up but with that said some of their estimates are still high. Also most of their items in their for sale section are over priced.

[suave1477]

I am going to have to go with poor estimating on this one.

I was a big fan of basketball in the late 80's to mid 90's and then lost interest.

So looking over the list a name that I looked at anmd stuck out to me was Eldin Campbell, I say him because of the years he was on the Lakers listed. 95 - 96.
The funny thing is I never heard of him.

now granted this was during the time i fell out of touch with basketball but I am sure I would of still been familiar with some of the names. So I decided to look up his stats/history of playing and it seems his only claim to fame was over years due to his size he was a good blocker.

But during those periods I remember there being such bigger names.

Michael Jordan
Shaquille Oneal
Jamal Mashburn
Grant Hill
J.R. Reid
Scottie Pippen
Dennis Rodman
Patrick Ewing
Clyde Drexler
Karl Malone
John Stockton
Derrick Coleman
Charles Barkley
Reggie Miller
Chris Mullin
David Robinson
Sean Elliot
Nick Van Excel
Jason Kidd
Vlade Divac
Glenn Robinson

And the list goes on


So with all that being said I am not sure how they came up with there estimate for someone who doesn't even come anywhere near one of these guys as far as fame and not even a Game Used Jersey but a warm-up????

Like I said poor estimating

[jppopma]

I think to get their auction off the ground, many of the items in the auctions are being consigned by MEARS guys themselves. It may just be them trying to hype the product to put a figure in people's heads when bidding.

Then again, maybe this is how real auctions with without all of the shilling...

[aeneas01]

i always thought the leather helmets found in their store section were priced very aggressively, far too high - they used to buy leather helmets on ebay quite frequently (not sure if they're still at it) and relist them at their store with hefty markups. i will say that they usually went after the better leather helmets listed on ebay, those in the best condition.... btw i was glad to hear about the many positive experiences collectors are having with mears, good for all concerned.

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