ATTENDED A LOCAL AUCTION AND I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT 3 3

[zeezee]

An auction house near where I live had a sports card/ comic book auction today. The rules are that you can view all items a few days before the day of the auction. I went two days in a row about ten hours worth , shifting through lots and determining the grades of books. I attend these auctions with the mindset of adding some books to my collection and trying to see if any books are worth selling. Factoring grading maybe pressing, shipping, sellers fees, there is a percentage that you have to get close too in order to pull the trigger. Long story short, whatever value I placed on each lot that I was planning on bidding on, the sold price was 3-4 times higher than what I assessed. Most were from online bidding where they can only determine the value from pictures from the auctioneers website(they were not extensive). I understand the gamble but there were lots selling for 9-10 thousand. I  bring this up because it is a trend that  seems to be going on. This particular auction house has about 2 of these a year, and this was my 3rd year attending, and the speculation bidding is increasing every year. The only time I walked away with really good winnings was the first year I attended. Do you guys think its the market demand and more people getting into the game?

Edited June 22, 2018 by jzeze

[wolverine180]

Can you give us an idea or picture of one these lots. Your assessment and final price. Lots of factor to consider with such a broad description you have given. What was auction house description of one of these said lots? Where there a lot of keys in it or just 90s drek? Might be hidden gems you dont know about. And of course it could be someone or multiple people just over evaluating the lot and overpaying.  Some details would be most valuable to help answer your question. 

[Robot Man]

Comics are on fire right now. From GA to Modern. Superhero to funny animal. Everything sells if priced right. The movies have something to do with it as do news stories about books like the Action #1 that sold for over 2M last week. It is one of the few collectible categories that is VERY strong. There are a lot of newbies entering the market who smell the blood in the water and don't know much about what they are doing. 

The small local auction houses and estate auctions used to be a great place to score good books for a great price. That ship has pretty much sailed now. 

I sell at a monthly local antique flea market every month. I used to bring a few boxes of comics but got very few buyers or even lookers so I stopped. A couple of months ago, I tried it again and sold a ton of them. Last week, I brought a full table of boxes of GA-BA books. Mostly lower grade but a nice selection of genres. I also brought a box of nicer stuff just in case and kept it in the truck. I was hit right away hard. So much so that I had little time to put out my regular antique and collectible items. I sold books from a couple of bucks up to $250. One of the best days I've had in a long time. Comics made up about 3/4ths of my total sales. 

I have recently thought about de-bagging a bunch of lower grade or lessor title older books and putting them in one of these local auctions that specialize in antiques and collectibles. From the way it seems, I might be able to get rid of some stinkers and actually get some change for them...

[KryptoMayor]

I had a similar experience. It was a local auction house 2 hours from me. They posted poor pictures online. Looked like stock from a comic book store closure. Prices were way high. 

I put in a few bids and won one auction (one book). Lost the rest. Book I won had water damage I didn’t see in photo. Overpaid Big Time. Learned my lesson though. 

[zeezee]

Robot Man and KryptoMayor, you guys just elaborated the point. 

[Robot Man]

16 minutes ago, KryptoMayor said:

I had a similar experience. It was a local auction house 2 hours from me. They posted poor pictures online. Looked like stock from a comic book store closure. Prices were way high. 

I put in a few bids and won one auction (one book). Lost the rest. Book I won had water damage I didn’t see in photo. Overpaid Big Time. Learned my lesson though. 

Oh, never bid in those auctions but sell?  

[comicdonna]

The last live auction I was at, some guy (a bidder) kept switching books in the lots.  

[DanCooper]

Since the OP is from New York, I imagine the reference is to the Phil Weiss auction that happened today.

Examples - Raw Spidey lot 2, 4,5, 7-23, 28, 30-40, 42-150 (not continuous but 129 included) various conditions - $9,750

JLA lot - Raw BB 28-30 and 1-16 - $6,250

Like mentioned, a few days to preview. Phil's team is great to deal with to get specific descriptions before on phone/email.

Phil's auctions are well known. Significant dealers attend and bidding is very competitive.

Plus, Phil is a super guy to deal with!

[James J Johnson]

12 minutes ago, jzeze said:

Robot Man and KryptoMayor, you guys just elaborated the point. 

I agree. They're obviously in cahoots!

[zeezee]

2 minutes ago, DanCooper said:

Since the OP is from New York, I imagine the reference is to the Phil Weiss auction that happened today.

Examples - Raw Spidey lot 2, 4,5, 7-23, 28, 30-40, 42-150 (not continuous but 129 included) various conditions - $9,750

JLA lot - Raw BB 28-30 and 1-16 - $6,250

Like mentioned, a few days to preview. Phil's team is great to deal with to get specific descriptions before on phone/email.

Phil's auctions are well known. Significant dealers attend and bidding is very competitive.

Plus, Phil is a super guy to deal with!

You are right sir. They are great auction house, always happy with results. You pointed out the raw spidey lot. When I examined it , my estimate was half of the value, the winning bidder was via online, so I am assuming he/she did not inspect it. Which brings me to my point, how can someone drop that much money without knowing the approximate condition and without detail photos to really examine.

[zeezee]

6 minutes ago, James J Johnson said:

I agree. They're obviously in cahoots!

You are on to them.

[Robot Man]

1 minute ago, jzeze said:

You are right sir. They are great auction house, always happy with results. You pointed out the raw spidey lot. When I examined it , my estimate was half of the value, the winning bidder was via online, so I am assuming he/she did not inspect it. Which brings me to my point, how can someone drop that much money without knowing the approximate condition and without detail photos to really examine.

Gambling...

[zeezee]

1 minute ago, Robot Man said:

Gambling...

Very much so, the same bidder won a few other lots, he dropped over 20,000 today, big time gambling.

[DanCooper]

Just now, Robot Man said:

Gambling...

EXACTLY!

This past February, Phil sold a Showcase 4 CGC 6.5 at his auction.

Someone tried to "flip it" at Heritage in May (less than three months)

Result - LOST 20 grand (see details I wrote about in the Showcase 4 thread in the Silver Age forum)

[nrad1968]

I watched an online (but local) auction once too in So Cal, and the lots went for WAY more than I expected.  I recall a old spidey lot that was nice but went for more than double what I would have paid.  I have seen this more on Ebay too...in the past there were a lot of great lots but now it seems the big random lots are harder to come by and sellers have things more planned out, and lots of decent/good stuff always go for more an I expect.  I used to think buying in quantity was cheaper but that is not the case today because large lots of say silver age seem to go for more than the individual cost....sure the buyer saves in shipping and time in hunting down all those issues...but in the past I think there were better bargains.  I think theer are just WAY more online sellers and collectors now, and unlike in the past, with the internet virtually every collector is to some extent a seller.   

[zeezee]

4 minutes ago, DanCooper said:

EXACTLY!

This past February, Phil sold a Showcase 4 CGC 6.5 at his auction.

Someone tried to "flip it" at Heritage in May (less than three months)

Result - LOST 20 grand (see details I wrote about in the Showcase 4 thread in the Silver Age forum)

Wow, what a hit, but I think a lot of people are trying to do the flip with big priced books.

[Bird]

Just now, jzeze said:

Very much so, the same bidder won a few other lots, he dropped over 20,000 today, big time gambling.

There may be quite a few of these guys in the NJ/NY area too. I wonder if they guys who do this in Jersey are the same guys out on the Island? I have watched the same person buy 20 NM98 or another guy buy 30 ASM361, just outbidding everyone each time. Once in a while you get one in (I got one of each of the above) but which one you get is a crapshoot if there are 20 copies. The competition in the last 2 years has gone crazy but there are also new avenues to pursue. I am getting ready to launch a new strategy myself after summer vacation (where I will be on the lookout for foreign Walking Dead issues!).

[HENRYSPENCER]

Collectibles of any kind listed in those mom and pop auctions on AuctionZip.com can go for crazy amounts of money as many think they are getting the deal of the century and that they can make money by turning around and flipping their pickups at mega-venues like ComicConnect and Heritage. The famous Mound City Auctions were initially a single ad on AuctionZip.  Then one board member made mention of it on this forum, and suddenly the auction blew up, and you had dealers and collectors flying in from all over the country.  Books all went for many multiples of GPA.

Edited June 22, 2018 by HENRYSPENCER

[zeezee]

4 minutes ago, HENRYSPENCER said:

Collectibles of any kind listed in those mom and pop auctions on AuctionZip.com can go for crazy amounts of money as many think they are getting the deal of the century and that they can make money by turning around and flipping their pickups at mega-venues like ComicConnect and Heritage. The famous Mound City Auctions were initially a single ad on AuctionZip.  Then one board member made mention of it on this forum, and suddenly the auction blew up, and you had dealers and collectors flying in from all over the country.  Books all went for many multiples of GPA.

You bring up another point. While I was inspecting the lots a few days before the auction, several people were doing the same. Overheard them talking about which hotel they are staying in the area. Kind of brings up your point of people coming in from all over to participate. Its a sign of the times, a lot more people pouring time and money in this "hobby".

[october]

25 minutes ago, Bird said:

The competition in the last 2 years has gone crazy 

This tracks with what I have experienced. October of 2016 was the month I really noticed a sharp increase in the amount of competition and it hasn't slacked off since then.