Rea

[legaleagle92481]

yeah, the "....who ends an auction on a saturday night though?" statement struck me as pretty funny as well given rea most likely followed up their 2009 $10 million+ record setting auction with another record setting auction this year! if you're eager to criticize how an auction house chooses to operate, my suggestion would be to look elsewhere 'cause rea has this sports memorabilia auction thing down....

...

There was one lot I was interested in and it sold for well under book value at about $1,100. It was a Walter Johnson large format signed check which is extremely scarce, there are no more than 15 in existance. On Ebay a number of the more common (estimates are that there are 200 in existance) small format Johnson checks have sold for over two grand, the only one currently on there is BIN for $2,999. The only other large format one I have seen on the market is one Kevin Keating is advertising for over $4,000. So ask the consigner of that lot how happy he is with REA today. Alot of the other autograph prices realized appear very low also. As far as "record setting" those numbers are always skewed as you have some items like the Wagner card and the Ruth homer bat that sell themselves and would go for huge money regardless of who auctioned them. The reality is no auction house is perfect. My point just was that people are the least likely to be home on Saturday night out of any night of the week even very serious hobbyists and I would think that ending the auction on a night when there would be more potential bidders home would lead to increased prices. The argument that having it on a work night will result in people staying up all night does not hold water because you can set your maximum bid at any time and there is no need to sit there and watch the action.

[Sonny25]

Does REA only do one auction a year?

[rose14]

LEAGLEEAGLE,

I can understand your thinking but REA has ended on a Saturday for quite some time now. One positive to ending on a weekend night is that most bidders don't have to go to work the following morning as opposed to a weekday night.

You state "Why not just put your max bid in"? Most auction houses are savvy and purposely end their auctions the way they do. They know that a percentage of bidders will continue placing bids on a particular item sometime even over their intended maximum bid when they keep getting outbid on an item. The longer an item sits open in the last minutes the likelyhood that one of those bidders will bid again. It's human nature that some bidders get caught up in the excitement or just with the item itself and will bid more than they orginally intended. REA auctions stand out because the rarity involved with alot of their items brings out a ton of emotions with those bidders.

As for the Johnson check, with an auction like REA it's easy for an item to get lost in the vast amount of premier items that they have each year.

[gorilla777]

Does REA only do one auction a year?

Yes, this is the annual auction, at least internet-wise.

It seemed like there was a ton of activity across the board.


Ben

[matt]

Not game used, but I got the Ted Williams letter from 1938. I liked that Bonds bat too.

I usually buy only game used stuff, but the letter has some great baseball content written by Ted to his buddy just before he made the Red Sox. I probably paid too much, but it is a 2 page, handwritten letter and really hooked me.

Here is the text:
Dear John, We're way up here in South Dakota on our barnstorming tour. Boy! is there a lot of pheasants up here. We have a 22 so the other day we shot 3 + had a cook at one of the towns we stayed at fix them up + oh! were they good. Official averages came out and I finished up leading the league with .366 - 23 points better than anyone. 43 homer 370 total bases in 193 hits also lead league in runs batted in. I'm going to try and see the football game between Minnesota + Washington next Saturday. We play the next day so I'll probably be home around 1 or 2 of October. We played 4 games + have averaged $15.00 a game but today (Sunday) we'll probably make 30.00 apiece. I've got 4900 miles on my car + it runs like a clock. I've been getting 14.4 miles per gallon on this trip but I've been going from 65 to 90 all the way. It used to quarts of oil on the last 1000 miles but that's alright [sic] because the mechanic said I should use some oil going at that speed. - Ted.

Here is the photo: http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/...emid=14132#pic

Matt

[legaleagle92481]

LEAGLEEAGLE,

I can understand your thinking but REA has ended on a Saturday for quite some time now. One positive to ending on a weekend night is that most bidders don't have to go to work the following morning as opposed to a weekday night.

You state "Why not just put your max bid in"? Most auction houses are savvy and purposely end their auctions the way they do. They know that a percentage of bidders will continue placing bids on a particular item sometime even over their intended maximum bid when they keep getting outbid on an item. The longer an item sits open in the last minutes the likelyhood that one of those bidders will bid again. It's human nature that some bidders get caught up in the excitement or just with the item itself and will bid more than they orginally intended. REA auctions stand out because the rarity involved with alot of their items brings out a ton of emotions with those bidders.

As for the Johnson check, with an auction like REA it's easy for an item to get lost in the vast amount of premier items that they have each year.

very good points. i can defintely see the logic of why they do that.

[aeneas01]

There was one lot I was interested in and it sold for well under book value at about $1,100. It was a Walter Johnson large format signed check which is extremely scarce, there are no more than 15 in existance. On Ebay a number of the more common (estimates are that there are 200 in existance) small format Johnson checks have sold for over two grand, the only one currently on there is BIN for $2,999. The only other large format one I have seen on the market is one Kevin Keating is advertising for over $4,000. So ask the consigner of that lot how happy he is with REA today.

honestly, you can't be serious - you point to a lot or two that didn't set new industry highs as an example of what happens when an auction ends on a saturday night? as far as that walter johnson check selling for $1,300 (with bp) is concerned, isn't there anything about it that might suggest why it fetched the price it did? granted i'm not up to speed on sports memorabilia ephemera, but compared to photos of other wj checks that have sold in the past it seems to be somewhat lacking in condition, no?

As far as "record setting" those numbers are always skewed as you have some items like the Wagner card and the Ruth homer bat that sell themselves and would go for huge money regardless of who auctioned them.

what? that's like saying adrian peterson's career rushing yardage is "skewed" because he's torn off so many 20+ gainers! you see that don't you? rea consistently lands the most big ticket consignments in the industry, it's as simple as that - and there's a reason why. in fact last year a whopping 11% of rea's lots fetched five-figures or more - the industry average is below 2%. all told, rea had 163 lots in their last auction that fetched five-figures or more - ask any sports memorabilia auction house owner what they think of that number!

The reality is no auction house is perfect.

certainly not.


...

[legaleagle92481]

honestly, you can't be serious - you point to a lot or two that didn't set new industry highs as an example of what happens when an auction ends on a saturday night? as far as that walter johnson check selling for $1,300 (with bp) is concerned, isn't there anything about it that might suggest why it fetched the price it did? granted i'm not up to speed on sports memorabilia ephemera, but compared to photos of other wj checks that have sold in the past it seems to be somewhat lacking in condition, no?



what? that's like saying adrian peterson's career rushing yardage is "skewed" because he's torn off so many 20+ gainers! you see that don't you? rea consistently lands the most big ticket consignments in the industry, it's as simple as that - and there's a reason why. in fact last year a whopping 11% of rea's lots fetched five-figures or more - the industry average is below 2%. all told, rea had 163 lots in their last auction that fetched five-figures or more - ask any sports memorabilia auction house owner what they think of that number!



certainly not.


...

I am not disputing that REA does very well with large ticket items and their auctions have alot of cream of the crop stuff. And like I said I can see their logic behind closing on Saturday but I defintely think that it can be argued both ways. Alot of the vintage autographs beyond the Johnson check did not sell for that much but that may be more because the market for vintage cards and game used stuff is much stronger and those items got lost in the shuffle by all the rare cards and gu stuff than anything else.

[earlywynnfan]

1) love the Saturday closing, don't think a weekday closing is practical at all for the rest of us. Confused as to why a Saturday close is impractical because most people are out, but if you can't stay awake for a Thursday auction, "just put in a ceiling bid"?? seems like contrary logic.

2) Won a Greenberg auto'd ball. Was absolutely STUNNED as to the WWII AAF GW Hitchcock uniform, sold for 2X what I figured. Who else out there is buying these things? Every time I post about WWII/BB memorabilia, I just hear crickets.

Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

[legaleagle92481]

Since this is generating a few misunderstandings on here. Here is my auction strategy in a nutshell. during the time period that the auction is open look through every lot and then decide what i am interested in, research them and if i am comfortable with them decide what they are worth to me. i Wait until the last couple of minutes of regular bidding and enter a maximum bid for each lot then step away from the computer and wait for the winning bidder email the next day. this way i pay no more than i felt the item was worth, if i miss an item because someone outbid me in ot bidding so be it and i will get something just as good or better next time. i do not get caught in bidding wars because the end result is paying more than one would like to for the item. i have seen people get caught in the heat of the moment and keep bidding and "winning" and then having to sell the item shortly thereafter at a steep loss because they could not afford to keep the item. i was the subsquent purchaser in two such situations in the last few months in one case i got a jersey that the seller paid over 6 grand for for 4.5 grand a month after the auction and in the other i got a jersey the seller paid 1,400 for for a grand also a month after the auction.

the weekend thing mattered to me because i work all week and on saturday night im not near a computer to post my max. bid and i would not want to post it earlier in the evening for strategic reasons.