Goldin Auctions Enters the Market 10 10

[oakenfelder]

On 9/20/2021 at 9:28 AM, szav said:

Fair enough, long term it is the average stuff that needs to do well for the company to be financially successful, and for them to gain the average consignor’s trust, but the big books will be what cause most people to even take a first or second look at the site to begin with.  I think it’s still important that they bring in a noticeable number of six figure books and that they continue to do well with them.  It will be interesting to see how they go about it with their next auction anyway.
 

I don't have a long history of comics purchases, but I have purchased sports cards from Goldin. I have found their internal grading of raw lots and their auction descriptions to be problematic. It's a mixed bag for the buyer. In the positive column for buyers (Negative for sellers) they don't really tell what is in a large lot. I bought lots with short prints that were not listed, which if listed would have likely driven the price up. On the negative for buyers side is that they do not describe major flaws, even for a key card in the lot and just group the items as X grade to Y grade with some better and some worse. The some worse can include the key card in the listing, that they fail to disclose what may not be obvious in a picture. The graded items that are simple to describe don't really suffer from this as what more can you say about a single item that has a 3rd party grade that isn't obvious. The record sales draw eyes to their auctions and their history of record prices realized draw sellers, but I feel like they have a lack of interest in improving the listings on the meat and potatoes. If they can brag about record setting prices on a handful of listings, then the higher ups are probably satisfied. It has not been my favorite auction experiences though and I rarely utilize their platform. I imagine the first submissions of bulk comic lots or raw copies will get higher attention, but with low experience and that any raw lots will be a similarly unsatisfying experience where nothing raw is graded properly or described sufficiently. 

I am used to the model of having one end time for the auction and then extending on either a lot by lot or whole auction basis. The auction houses that extend the entire auction if a single item gets a bid can be incredibly frustrating. The other ones where each item gets its own timer once a bid is made tend to allow me to make decisions on lesser tiered items if one of my main interests goes out of my price range. The item by item live bidding on Heritage just takes too long to get to books if I am interested in Justice League or X-Men.

Just my 2 pennies based on purchases from Goldin.

[onlyweaknesskryptonite]

On 9/21/2021 at 11:05 AM, lou_fine said:

That's what my initial thought was also, but not aware of any regular credit cards that accepts payments for $690K, let alone for $1.44M.  

Although not a "regular card" they do exist.  

American Express Centurion Card.

The largest known purchase made with the Centurion card is the Nu couché painting by Amedeo Modigliani, which businessman Liu Yiqian bought for US$170,405,000 at a Christie's auction in New York in 2015.

Edited September 21, 2021 by onlyweaknesskryptonite

[Mmehdy]

In order for Goldin to make any sort of impact on the comic book auction market for a sustained period of time, their entire bidding system with 30 min wait is going to have to be changed along with lets say 300 comic lots closing at the same time....it will not result in the maximum auction result over time such as Ha or CC could have obtained. Comic books are not cards, these are not just widgets, but there is a certain comic collector buyer who is not just a widget buyer. Goldin is going to have understand this if it wants to succeed in any type of long term basis or become any type of serious challenger or competitor to CL,CC, and Ha etc.

 The first auction had great stuff, but how long can they continue to do so, that is the real issue here, as I look forward to having a 4th  major auction house out there, its good for everyone who is a TCBC to have a 4th major venue.

Edited September 21, 2021 by Mmehdy

[Chicago Boy]

On 9/21/2021 at 3:03 PM, Mmehdy said:

In order for Goldin to make any sort of impact on the comic book auction market for a sustained period of time, their entire bidding system with 30 min wait is going to have to be changed along with lets say 300 comic lots closing at the same time....it will not result in the maximum auction result over time such as Ha or CC could have obtained. Comic books are not cards, these are not just widgets, but there is a certain comic collector buyer who is not just a widget buyer. Goldin is going to have understand this if it wants to succeed in any type of long term basis or become any type of serious challenger or competitor to CL,CC, and Ha etc.

 The first auction had great stuff, but how long can they continue to do so, that is the real issue here, as I look forward to having a 4th  major auction house out there, its good for everyone who is a TCBC to have a 4th major venue.

Well said.

[lou_fine]

On 9/21/2021 at 10:43 AM, oakenfelder said:

The other ones where each item gets its own timer once a bid is made tend to allow me to make decisions on lesser tiered items if one of my main interests goes out of my price range. The item by item live bidding on Heritage just takes too long to get to books if I am interested in Justice League or X-Men.

That's exactly why I prefer the CC extended bidding model because it sort of has the best of both worlds.  

Each individual lot gets their own 3-minute extended bidding timer which gives you ample time to do your applicable analysis to make your decision on whether to bump it up to the next bid increment or not.  And yet at the same time unlike the Heritage model, they have the exact times down to the second as to when each individual lot ends and their extended bidding session(s) begin.  Hence, absolutely no waiting around for the books you are interested in as you know EXACTLY when each one of them will end.  

[jimjum12]

On 9/21/2021 at 7:19 PM, lou_fine said:

That's exactly why I prefer the CC extended bidding model because it sort of has the best of both worlds.  

Each individual lot gets their own 3-minute extended bidding timer which gives you ample time to do your applicable analysis to make your decision on whether to bump it up to the next bid increment or not.  And yet at the same time unlike the Heritage model, they have the exact times down to the second as to when each individual lot ends and their extended bidding session(s) begin.  Hence, absolutely no waiting around for the books you are interested in as you know EXACTLY when each one of them will end.  

It was a little weird at first, but I quickly got the hang of it.... it might, however,  be onerous for bidder 7102 who is interested in so MANY lots in an auction. GOD BLESS....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[oakenfelder]

On 9/21/2021 at 1:03 PM, Mmehdy said:

 Comic books are not cards, these are not just widgets, but there is a certain comic collector buyer who is not just a widget buyer

 

Could you clarify? I don't understand the widget buyer vs. non widget buyer and I'm not sure if you are saying that most comic collectors are or are not this widget buyer.

[Mmehdy]

On 9/22/2021 at 7:35 AM, oakenfelder said:

Could you clarify? I don't understand the widget buyer vs. non widget buyer and I'm not sure if you are saying that most comic collectors are or are not this widget buyer.

unlike a gold brick, or a share of stock or cypto...there are a lot of GA/SA collectors who enjoy and have a childhood connection to comic books and some who enjoy owning a historical item from the past.  Both in great story telling and art, we collect comic books because they were and are great, like a fine painting, a collectable  50's car etc. Given that, vs the pure investor, who just wants to make a profit, a true collector has a different purpose, yes if the book goes up...great but the true collector  is buying the comic book for the comic book itself, whether it is a EC comic book, Cap #1 etc.

 So for any TCBC I hope there is some difference between buying Cap#1 and share of stock, at least on some emotional level and I for one am glad we still care.

[oakenfelder]

On 9/22/2021 at 2:32 PM, Mmehdy said:

unlike a gold brick, or a share of stock or cypto...there are a lot of GA/SA collectors who enjoy and have a childhood connection to comic books and some who enjoy owning a historical item from the past.  Both in great story telling and art, we collect comic books because they were and are great, like a fine painting, a collectable  50's car etc. Given that, vs the pure investor, who just wants to make a profit, a true collector has a different purpose, yes if the book goes up...great but the true collector  is buying the comic book for the comic book itself, whether it is a EC comic book, Cap #1 etc.

 So for any TCBC I hope there is some difference between buying Cap#1 and share of stock, at least on some emotional level and I for one am glad we still care.

I deal with a lot of set collectors for sports cards. Buying a complete set from a dealer or auction is in all instances cheaper than putting together a set piece by piece. However Most set collectors that I speak to tell me that it's not as much fun or as satisfying to purchase a complete set. Yes, there are a lot of people out there hunting the Gem Mint 10 on modern sports cards the way some people send in handfuls of every new book to get the 9.8 CGC, but there is a big enough selection of collectors that have a childhood connection to the cards of their youth that I would hesitate to classify all sports card collectors as widget buyers based upon your definition. 

[jimbo_7071]

On 9/17/2021 at 3:34 PM, domuhnator said:

Hi All, Sorry it Took me so long to show up here in the thread, I am the Consignment director for Goldin auctions handing Comic book consignments. I have been with Goldin for just over a month and we have been working very very hard to make this first auction go smoothly. As for many of the concerns please let me alleviate them. For those of you who don't know me my name is Dominic DiAntonio. I have been buying and selling comics since 2013.  

No offense, Dom, but that makes you a newbie to many of us. Most of the guys here have collecting (and often dealing in) comic books since the 70s or 80s, and there are several guys here who have been buying and selling since the 1950s. We have one guy who bought his collection of the stands in the 1940s.

It's hard to see how someone so new to the hobby would have the breadth of knowledge or connections required to find the quantity and quality of material needed to make an auction a success.

[tth2]

On 9/27/2021 at 5:19 AM, oakenfelder said:

I would hesitate to classify all sports card collectors as widget buyers based upon your definition

I would hesitate to take anything that Meh says seriously.

[Chicago Boy]

On 9/26/2021 at 6:52 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

No offense, Dom, but that makes you a newbie to many of us. Most of the guys here have collecting (and often dealing in) comic books since the 70s or 80s, and there are several guys here who have been buying and selling since the 1950s. We have one guy who bought his collection of the stands in the 1940s.

It's hard to see how someone so new to the hobby would have the breadth of knowledge or connections required to find the quantity and quality of material needed to make an auction a success.

The Comic Book Consignment Director for Goldin Auctions has been collecting funny books for less than 8 years ?  No offense to Dom  is right but that shows me how serious Goldin is about making themselves a player in our hobby. 

[bpc3qh]

On 9/26/2021 at 11:00 PM, Chicago Boy said:

The Comic Book Consignment Director for Goldin Auctions has been collecting funny books for less than 8 years ?  No offense to Dom  is right but that shows me how serious Goldin is about making themselves a player in our hobby. 

That pales in comparison to Goldin, who likes to boast that he's been involved with sports cards since the 70s. It is quite surprising--and how does it compare to the other auction houses (obvious CL can say ~20 years b/c of Josh).

[szav]

On 9/26/2021 at 4:52 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

No offense, Dom, but that makes you a newbie to many of us. Most of the guys here have collecting (and often dealing in) comic books since the 70s or 80s, and there are several guys here who have been buying and selling since the 1950s. We have one guy who bought his collection of the stands in the 1940s.

It's hard to see how someone so new to the hobby would have the breadth of knowledge or connections required to find the quantity and quality of material needed to make an auction a success.

I guess its too bad for the old farts that none of them interviewed as well for the job I guess.

[circumstances]

On 9/26/2021 at 11:03 PM, bpc3qh said:

That pales in comparison to Goldin, who likes to boast that he's been involved with sports cards since the 70s. It is quite surprising--and how does it compare to the other auction houses (obvious CL can say ~20 years b/c of Josh).

i've known Vince and Stephen (comicconect) for well over 20 years.

[Bronty]

It doesn’t matter if he’s been collecting 8 minutes or 8 years or 8 decades if he can get consignments.    Time in the hobby might be one factor but it’s hardly the most important one.  

[domuhnator]

On 9/26/2021 at 7:52 PM, jimbo_7071 said:

No offense, Dom, but that makes you a newbie to many of us. Most of the guys here have collecting (and often dealing in) comic books since the 70s or 80s, and there are several guys here who have been buying and selling since the 1950s. We have one guy who bought his collection of the stands in the 1940s.

It's hard to see how someone so new to the hobby would have the breadth of knowledge or connections required to find the quantity and quality of material needed to make an auction a success.

I guess being young and hungry doesn't count for as much as I thought then! Oh well. Im going to do the best I can with what I have. I never claimed to have as much experience as most of you guys. But inexperienced is hardly a word I would use to describe myself. At the end of the day I made it though a very rigorous hiring process. Goldin is not the kind of company thats just going to hire anyone off the street for this job. They believe in what I can bring to the table as much as I do. 

[bpc3qh]

On 9/27/2021 at 10:08 AM, domuhnator said:

I guess being young and hungry doesn't count for as much as I thought then! Oh well. Im going to do the best I can with what I have. I never claimed to have as much experience as most of you guys. But inexperienced is hardly a word I would use to describe myself. At the end of the day I made it though a very rigorous hiring process. Goldin is not the kind of company thats just going to hire anyone off the street for this job. They believe in what I can bring to the table as much as I do. 

Dom, you haven't exactly put your best foot forward, except that Goldin decided to hire you. You said you've been selling and buying for 8 years, but haven't given much details about where and what you've sold, who you buy from, etc. And you now seem to dismiss people who've been doing this for 4-5x as long--the same people who, you know, you want as future customers and consigners. You're betraying a lack of experience in this very moment.

[domuhnator]

On 9/27/2021 at 10:12 AM, bpc3qh said:

Dom, you haven't exactly put your best foot forward, except that Goldin decided to hire you. You said you've been selling and buying for 8 years, but haven't given much details about where and what you've sold, who you buy from, etc. And you now seem to dismiss people who've been doing this for 4-5x as long--the same people who, you know, you want as future customers and consigners. You're betraying a lack of experience in this very moment.

If I came off as dismissive of anyones experience that was not my intention. My apologies. 

I don't believe anyone ever asked for details regarding my qualifications. Sorry if I missed any questions direct at me. But Im an open book, ask me anything you like. 

 

[Chicago Boy]

On 9/27/2021 at 9:08 AM, domuhnator said:

I guess being young and hungry doesn't count for as much as I thought then! Oh well. Im going to do the best I can with what I have. I never claimed to have as much experience as most of you guys. But inexperienced is hardly a word I would use to describe myself. At the end of the day I made it though a very rigorous hiring process. Goldin is not the kind of company thats just going to hire anyone off the street for this job. They believe in what I can bring to the table as much as I do. 

Thanks for letting us know your "young".  Actually with the above response we kind of figured that out n our own.  When's the next auction and what are you able to share in regards to an advanced look ?