Question About Steiner Auctions

[eisenreich8]

Hi All,

I have a curious question I hope someone with way more experience with Steiner can answer. I suppose I could ask Steiner directly, but know I could get an impartial and informed reply from some of you. This is the first time I have participated in a Steiner auction.

Yesterday afternoon I wound up winning 2 Red Sox 2008 game worn BP jerseys. One was Mike Lowell, the other was Alex Cora. This was an MLB auction via Steiner and I wound up getting the Lowell for $190 and the Cora for $100.

If you check Steiner's website, they offer the exactly same described BP jerseys with photos, the Lowell available for sale for $1000 and the Cora for $500.

Did I get incredibly lucky, and get a fortuitous financial break, or if not, why do the jerseys being offered for sale command a much higher price than the ones I won?

I'd be grateful for any help you can offer. Thanks.

Joe

[suave1477]

eisenreich your question is valid but not nessicarily only obligated to Steiner.

This goes across the board for anyone who sells any item.

When selling an item retail your basically comanding a top dollar for an item.
When Steiner or anyone else lists an item on auction it could be for one of many reasons.
1) The item hasn't sold yet and your looking to move it quickly. So you list it at a low number in hopes it can come close too, meet, or maybe even exceed your original asking price.
2) Could be a very high desirable item and you think you might be able to get more for it then your asking price since auctions have more exposure to customers.

It is just business!!

So with all that being said

The items you won which you did in my opinion as much as a Yankee fan I think you got a good deal on the Lowell, but it is not far off market value.
So did you get a good deal from what Steiner was selling it for,SURE. But Steiner does tend to list there items well above overall market value.

So as far as your items compared to general market value I would say you paid within range of what a Cora Jersey goes for and the (Lowell) if I was bidding I would of went up to about $200 on it and let it go after that.
2008 Lowell was injured most of the season.

Probably why there wasn't much interest there.

[kingjammy24]

..why do the jerseys being offered for sale command a much higher price than the ones I won?

assuming they're run fairly and effectively, i think auctions are true indicators of market worth. what you paid was market value. what steiner was charging was what i'll refer to as "sucker pricing"; a strategy also employed by several other dealers.

rather than price an item close to market rate and have it sell in a reasonable timeframe, they'll price it at a ridiculous rate and just let it rot for months or even years if need be. their hope is that by waiting it out, they'll eventually attract the 1 sucker out there who'll pay the ridiculous rate. after all, all you need is 1 buyer right? it's a waiting game. if they don't need the money asap, it's not a bad strategy. they'll "sucker price" items initially and eventually when they don't sell they'll let them go via their clearinghouse GFC or firesell them in an auction. here on GUU, there was a steiner Arod shirt for about $16k. funny thing is, at the same time GUU was offering the shirt, so was steiner for $20k. same exact shirt.

mears also employs sucker pricing on their "for sale" section. ludicrous prices like $325 for a 1990 jim ganter BP shirt. they say their "for sale" section is doing incredibly well yet i look at it day after day, month after month, and it's same stale loaves rotting away. after awhile when it's apparent that the suckers aren't coming, mears finally decides they can't stand the stench of the overpriced loaves and they dump them via their auction. (saying nothing about the hypocrisy of a firm who railed for years about the importance of objective third party grading turning around and sticking their own authenticated items into their auction). anyway, they'll sell for about 1/3 of the price that they were in their "for sale" section. in another thread i posted some examples of the wild disparities between their auction prices, estimates, and "for sale" prices. in their latest auction, a 2004 dontrelle willis gamer rated A10 with "game used" inscription sold for $133. back when he was with the marlins, a retail authentic willis jersey cost $269 on mlb.com.

all of that said, i've paid sucker prices for items i really wanted because i had to have the item and didn't want to risk someone else getting it even if that risk was low. i've also lost out on items i wanted by not paying the sucker price, assuming noone else would and thinking it would eventually go down. it's a game of chicken between buyers and dealers. they're betting you're desperate enough to pay it. it can make sense for highly desireable and rare items like a mattingly rookie shirt or jeter world series gamer. the thing is, steiner and mears try it on almost all items from the mediocre to the mundane. if you absolutely must have it and couldn't live with yourself if it got away, then you'll probably pay the sucker price. that's what they're betting on. however, in my experience, those types of items are few and far between. in most cases, if you wait you can eventually get the item for 1/3 off after the dealers have tired of it rotting on their shelves for a year, as mears and steiner have shown. they can't wait for a sucker forever. anyway, if you're a lowell fan PMI seems to have a lot of his stuff. i wouldn't pay much mind to the lack of steiner certs because as it's been shown, steiner's "exclusive" deals are as airtight as the titantic. what's the 1 item from the '08 dodgers that most would want? a ramirez shirt i'm guessing. steiner got none via their "exclusive" team deal with the dodgers. instead ron fukushima got a road shirt and GFC is currently offering an '08 ramirez dodger home gamer with dodgers team tagging.

rudy.

[eisenreich8]

Thanks to both of you for the helpful info. And for all the valid points I didn't consider.

I just thought I'd take a casual shot at both jersey offerings, didn't bid more than I was comfortable with, and it turned out (for once) in my favor. I did previously get a Lowell 2004 game used/inscribed/auto Marlins bat from PMI for a good price.

Wish I could afford the true gamers. Thanks again for your appreciated input.

[suave1477]

eisenreich yeah there prices are a little on the high side.

Believe it or not I actually have Mike Lowells Yankees Home Rookie Game Used Jersey.

One of my favorite pieces!!:p

[stretch]

I doubt your going to have any issues with the jersey, but I noticed some of the autographed items don't have a perfect signature, and that's probably the reason there up for auction.

Like many said already, I feel an auction is a stronger way to gauge the value, and congratulation's on your pickup.

[eisenreich8]

Thank you Stretch!

The BP jerseys I won weren't signed. There was a bonus add-on item with each jersey; a crystal thingy and Fenway dirt.