Steiner Sports is out of touch with Reality

[theotheo]

if You Have Something People Will Pay For Why Would You Sell It For Less? As Insane As 400.00 Is For Bernie Williams To Sign Anything I Don't Think You Can Blame Steiner For Charging It If They Can Get It. The Problem Lies In People Willing To Pay That. Anybody Who Collects Autographs With Any Intention Whatsoever Of Re Selling Them In The Future Should Know That They Will Never Never Never Make Any Money Reselling A Bernie Wiliams Item If 400.00 Was Paid To Sign It. Bernie Is A Solid Player Who Would Be Just Another Player On Any Other Team. Even On The Yankees It Is Almost Impossible To Get 400.00 For A Bernie Game Used Bat. If Bernie Dies Tomorrow (or The Day After The Signing) You Still Have No Chance To Get That Back. Anyone With Any Hobby Knowledge At All Should Not By A Bernie For Even Close To That. Unfortunately You Have Yankees Fans With Too Much Money To Spend And 400.00 Does Not Seem Ridiculous To Them Because They Would Pay The Same For Chad Curtis Or Scott Brosius. If You Buy A Bernie Signature From Steiner I Hope You Plan To Keep It And Cherish It For Ever Because If You Ever Sell It You Will Lose Money. Bernie Is The Al Gore (boring ) Of The Yankees And His Stuff Is Great For Collecting Dust. I Assume Anybody Who Reads This Forum Does Not Even Entertain The Thought Of Paying That.

[Yankwood]

Well, I don't think the complaints of $400 were that you couldn't sell them at a profit. Anybody knows that. And I learned long ago that most everything you collect should be because you like a certain player and not to someday make money off it because most of the time you will not. But you learn this over time.

[JimCaravello]

Barry - great post and I am glad there are folks in the hobby like you and like Steiner - yes, like Steiner. Let's start over one more time - I am glad that Steiner is involved with GU equipment. I have been able to get a few pieces that years ago I would have never thought about getting. Back to the point of my original post about how they market items. How do you ask $250 for an item one day ( and no one one is willing to buy ) and $1,500 the next? How do you put a 1992 Roberto Kelly GU jersey up for auction, when its really a 1992 Roberto Kelly All Star Game Used jersey - a pretty rare and desirable piece to find these days ( another post on the Forum). The marketing people at Steiner seem to be "a little off the mark" - that's what this post is about. If they had a few more people from the industry involved, there wouldn't be posts like this on the Forum. Barry - you don't make these mistakes - you understand the hobby and GU equipment - you understand how to price items - you know how to market items - you treat people with respect - that's why you are an asset to the hobby and you are successful.

One last thought along this same line about their lack of knowledge of what they are selling and their lack of knowledge about GU equipment. A friend of mine told me recently that on the YES Network, on an episode of Yankees Steiner Collectibles, the question came up to Brandon Steiner as to what the value of an Ozzie Guillen Game Used Bat was worth in the market. Now I didn't see the episode, and I am going from memory of what my friend told me ( so I might be off like $25 - $50 ), but Brandon said that before the World Series, a Guillen might sell for $250 and because they won the Series a Guillen might now sell for $750......hmmm.....let's see - Guillen played in the 80's & 90's - fairly common bat......I don't ever think I have seen a Guillen sell for more than $100 period. To think that someone would pay $250 before the Series and $750 after the Series just proves my point about their lack of knowledge of the GU industry.

I guess I got a steal a year ago when I bought my Joe Torre Game Used bat from 1971 - his MVP year - for $500. I bet if the Yanks didn't win any World Series under him, I would have been able to get that bat for $100!!

Other examples of Steiner really not knowing what they are selling include:
1. They have auctioned jerseys as game used tagged with players and years that do not coincide with the player being on the team that year.
2. The 1997 Jackie patch debate - they have auctioned sold a lot of these jerseys with no patches and no explanation whay they are missing. If there is no evidence of a patch being there, the jersey is not game used and yet they have sold a ton with this description.
3.They have auctioned & sold game used bats of players that never used that model bat in a game - but they show use, so they must be game used.
4. Numerous game used jerseys with just a year number and set number in the collar have been sold and they have been tied to a player that wore that number in the year - without the stitching of the player's name. They may be good, but are they? Did they speak with the Yankees Equipment Managers? They are so emphatic that they are game used of that player, but most people won't touch them.
5. A Posada jersey is currently on the auction site from 1997 - it had the Jackie patch! But the tail tag did not have Posada's name - it had the year and the lettering X-97. Well - can you explain to us why Posada's name is not in the tail? Why don't you find out before you sell it and give us an explanation? It might sell for more if you do that and you could educate us all at the same time. What does X-97 mean?

Steiner - get some people involved in your company that understand the GU industry. Get some people involved on the sales side who know what they are talking about. You have a great thing going - but think of what you could really do for your company, the Yankees and the hobby if you brought on the right people to direct this venture. THAT'S MY POINT. Jim Caravello

[BarryMeisel]

Jim,

Thanks very much for your kind words.
Happy Holidays to you, and to everyone on the Forum.

Regards,

Barry

[axel900]

Here's an interesting question. If you wanted the pants at $250 so bad why didnt you bid on them?? I guess you have never participated in an auction before, If the item does not sell it goes back to the house. It is theirs to sell. Stop complaining and take advantage when you can.

[ChrisCavalier]

Here's an interesting question. If you wanted the pants at $250 so bad why didnt you bid on them?? I guess you have never participated in an auction before, If the item does not sell it goes back to the house. It is theirs to sell. Stop complaining and take advantage when you can.

Hello Axel-

The answer to your question was in the original post. Here it is:

"Last night, there were some Bobby Murcer pants in auction that had an opening bid of $250. Since Murcer jerseys are almost impossible, I had planned on bidding on these pants. $250 was really more than I wanted to pay - but in today's world - probably not too bad a price. They were home pinstripes from 1979. Well, I had a Christmas party to attend last night and I thought the auction would still be going when I came home, but it had ended."

Sincerely,
Christopher Cavalier

[Yankwood]

Hello Axel-

The answer to your question was in the original post. Here it is:

"Last night, there were some Bobby Murcer pants in auction that had an opening bid of $250. Since Murcer jerseys are almost impossible, I had planned on bidding on these pants. $250 was really more than I wanted to pay - but in today's world - probably not too bad a price. They were home pinstripes from 1979. Well, I had a Christmas party to attend last night and I thought the auction would still be going when I came home, but it had ended."

Sincerely,
Christopher Cavalier

Hey, I've gotten drunk and missed auctions before, too. Who hasn't. That's how other people get bargains. The hardcores get home late or pass out early and the clean livers (with clean livers) take over the auction.

[ChrisCavalier]

Hey, I've gotten drunk and missed auctions before, too. Who hasn't. That's how other people get bargains. The hardcores get home late or pass out early and the clean livers (with clean livers) take over the auction.

Yankwood, do you do stand-up comedy?

The only problem with your theory is that Jim doesn't strike me as a person who would come home late because he got ripped. In fact, I think it's more likely he got home late because he drove someone else home who was inebriated than getting drunk himself.

-Christopher Cavalier

[s.carter]

Chris, I see two problems with this situation. One is you think Yankwood is kidding and giving a theory, I'm more inclined to believe he's 100% serious and speaking from personal experiences. Two this is the guy giving business tips to a multi million dollar company...very troubling.

[Yankwood]

Chris, I see two problems with this situation. One is you think Yankwood is kidding and giving a theory, I'm more inclined to believe he's 100% serious and speaking from personal experiences. Two this is the guy giving business tips to a multi million dollar company...very troubling.

Not business tips. Just someone who's aghast that a business that is supposed to be so brilliant has nobody that knows where the records are kept that shows when an item was shipped. Is that too much to ask?