GA Books in Upcoming Mastro Auction 11/20 - 12/6

[Filter81]

But still, with a $75 upfront fee, with 20% buyer's premiums, with small front cover scans and no back cover scans, and with no archive of past auctions that I was able to find, they've done nothing to differentiate themselves in a positive way.

 

 

Sir, You are correct. If you will present me with an opportunity to pay a 20% vig the least you could do is to show me the book in detail. I'm willing to pay for service but you have to make an attempt to supply some..

 

I have bought a couple of books from Mastronet in the past and I was not disappointed. The books weren't that expensive and I relied on the CGC grading.

If I continue to buy books without large scans I fear that my luck will run out.

 

I agree, Mastronet needs to improve their set-up if they want to become a major player (and hopefully they will). But one thing to think about.. it is likely that less Mastronet books will have already been "upgraded to their full potential" compared to books being sold through a place like Heritage. Just looking at it percentage-wise, you are probably more likely to be happy with a CGC-graded book purchased via Mastronet only because less of them have been resubmitted/upgraded already.

 

However, I agree particularly for the more expensive books larger more detailed scans should be provided.

 

If they are Mark's books, true. But if they are large label, how do you know this? With the small scans it would be fairly easy to fob off fully "potentialized" comics.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all books sold through Mastronet have definitely never been potentialized. But there are people (whether its the owners of Heritage or customers of Heritage) who go through and purchase hundreds of books through Heritage for the sole purpose of having them cleaned/pressed/resubmitted to CGC and resold through Heritage later. Since whoever it is that does this is only using Heritage as an outlet to resell these books, you have a higher chance of buying a potentialized book if you buy through them.

 

Thats not to say there aren't other people who resub books who may consign to other sites. Just that there is at least one major submitter who buys and resells resubbed books only through Heritage, making books purchased from them more likely to be upgraded.

 

(Plus the owner of Heritage is a very heavy supporter of the clean/press/resub game. And he sells many of his books through Heritage auctions as well. I'm not sure how the people who run the Mastronet comic auctions feel about it)

[Filter81]

Actually Centaurman, I think you and I are in complete agreement. I just didn't choose my words carefully enough.

 

All I meant was that since Heritage is currently the primary venue for these upgraded books, you are more likely percentagewise to purchase an upgraded book through them than you are elsewhere. However, as you said, Heritage books have now been circulating throughout the community for years, and could appear on any site at any time.

[adamstrange]

But still, with a $75 upfront fee, with 20% buyer's premiums, with small front cover scans and no back cover scans, and with no archive of past auctions that I was able to find, they've done nothing to differentiate themselves in a positive way.

 

 

Sir, You are correct. If you will present me with an opportunity to pay a 20% vig the least you could do is to show me the book in detail. I'm willing to pay for service but you have to make an attempt to supply some..

 

I have bought a couple of books from Mastronet in the past and I was not disappointed. The books weren't that expensive and I relied on the CGC grading.

If I continue to buy books without large scans I fear that my luck will run out.

 

I agree, Mastronet needs to improve their set-up if they want to become a major player (and hopefully they will). But one thing to think about.. it is likely that less Mastronet books will have already been "upgraded to their full potential" compared to books being sold through a place like Heritage. Just looking at it percentage-wise, you are probably more likely to be happy with a CGC-graded book purchased via Mastronet only because less of them have been resubmitted/upgraded already.

 

However, I agree particularly for the more expensive books larger more detailed scans should be provided.

 

If they are Mark's books, true. But if they are large label, how do you know this? With the small scans it would be fairly easy to fob off fully "potentialized" comics.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all books sold through Mastronet have definitely never been potentialized. But there are people (whether its the owners of Heritage or customers of Heritage) who go through and purchase hundreds of books through Heritage for the sole purpose of having them cleaned/pressed/resubmitted to CGC and resold through Heritage later. Since whoever it is that does this is only using Heritage as an outlet to resell these books, you have a higher chance of buying a potentialized book if you buy through them.

 

Thats not to say there aren't other people who resub books who may consign to other sites. Just that there is at least one major submitter who buys and resells resubbed books only through Heritage, making books purchased from them more likely to be upgraded.

 

(Plus the owner of Heritage is a very heavy supporter of the clean/press/resub game. And he sells many of his books through Heritage auctions as well. I'm not sure how the people who run the Mastronet comic auctions feel about it)

 

I'm a pretty cautious guy and I dislike small scans where you're buying based on CGC grades only, with no chance of double-checking history. In other words, Mastronet, even assuming the best of intentions, may be no better than Heritage, even assuming the worst of intentions.

[RareHighGrade]

I'm a pretty cautious guy and I dislike small scans where you're buying based on CGC grades only, with no chance of double-checking history. In other words, Mastronet, even assuming the best of intentions, may be no better than Heritage, even assuming the worst of intentions.

 

In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is pretty clear to me that Mastronet is WORSE than Heritage when you factor in (1) the sign-up fee, (2) the small scans (which, by the way, are not enlarged as the end-time approaches), (3) the inferior selection, and (4) the fact that all of the books have fairly steep reserves (unlike Heritage, which has some books at no reserve).

 

I was extremely disappointed when Mastronet raised the buyer's premium, since that was the one and only aspect that made them more attractive than Heritage (because a lower buyer's premium translates into lower reserves).

[jimm94]

I'm a pretty cautious guy and I dislike small scans where you're buying based on CGC grades only, with no chance of double-checking history. In other words, Mastronet, even assuming the best of intentions, may be no better than Heritage, even assuming the worst of intentions.

 

I have to agree with you and CentaurMan, Adam. The 20% BP doesn't bother me too much as a buyer (I always simply bid accordingly on Heritage), but the registration fee and small scans are very unfortunate obstacles when it comes to getting serious about a book, especially expensive ones.

[tth2]

Why would esquire put such nice books up there if they have such high premiums and low market penetration?

Because he has not as of yet designated them as part of the Axis of Evil.

[tth2]

Some sweet books in the upcoming Mastro auction (well, ok, some are mine! ).

Mark, have Mastro signed up to the Network of Disclosure?

[batman_fan]

Mark,

 

I thought you sold the Batman 2, 5, and 6?

 

Greg

[sacentaur]

Why would esquire put such nice books up there if they have such high premiums and low market penetration?

Because he has not as of yet designated them as part of the Axis of Evil.

 

 

STEVE

[sacentaur]

And gents, when bidding on a lot WITH NO BACK COVER SCAN remember that your book may end up looking like this: (oh, the horror!)

 

 

STEVE

[CW]

That's cute. Did that come out of one of the big auction sites or was that an ebay special. The rest of the BC looks really white.

[innocuous]

I just checked out the auction. There are a few really nice pre-hero DC books in there that I would like to bid on. But, $75 for the privilege to "possibly" win...forget it.

[CentaurMan]

Why would esquire put such nice books up there if they have such high premiums and low market penetration?

Because he has not as of yet designated them as part of the Axis of Evil.

 

 

STEVE

 

I'm sure there's some real truth to that. And honestly, as I said before, I'd just LOVE for another auction house to put up a credible threat to the existing alternatives, so in theory I'm rooting for Mastro. But in practice I'm terribly disappointed that they seem to have fumbled away a clear opportunity to differentiate themselves (and in fact, are offering an inferior product to Heritage given their lack of large scans and lack of archive, two things that should've been relatively simple to accomplish).

 

I think Mark bought a number of those books pretty recently (within the past 2-5 years) in public auctions. Rather than try and flip them in other public auctions, I'd say crack the slabs, enjoy the books, make sure they're out of the marketplace for 5-10 years (collectors generally have a good sense for fresh vs. recycled inventory, especially with the Heritage archives available), and then finally, re-excite the market by re-introducing them for sale. Raw books from a reputable collector with the former CGC label included would do very well, I think. At least, that's how I'd likely do it, but obviously I'm not sure of Mark's current financial needs or other constraints that would require sales of recently purchased material.

 

Anyway, I've gotten off-topic. My hope is that Mastro adds these relatively easy improvements (large scans, archives) in the near future and drops their punitive $75 fee (which in all likelihood creates more ill will than it does profits, especially given how profitable they'd be with more bidders paying 20% per item). The buyer's premium doesn't bother me (it can be 50% for all I care), as I think everyone just factors it into their bidding, but depending on whether there's a seller's fee it may ultimately discourage consignors, which long-term would hurt Mastro's potential inventory.

[tth2]

I think Mark bought a number of those books pretty recently (within the past 2-5 years) in public auctions. Rather than try and flip them in other public auctions, I'd say crack the slabs, enjoy the books, make sure they're out of the marketplace for 5-10 years (collectors generally have a good sense for fresh vs. recycled inventory, especially with the Heritage archives available), and then finally, re-excite the market by re-introducing them for sale.

Win, I totally agree with you except for the cracking out part. I can't see why Mark would want to go and incur substantial slabbing fees at a later date, rather than just leave them in their current slabs, particularly if there is a risk in getting a different/worse grade from CGC the next time.

 

Anyway, I've gotten off-topic. My hope is that Mastro adds these relatively easy improvements (large scans, archives) in the near future and drops their punitive $75 fee (which in all likelihood creates more ill will than it does profits, especially given how profitable they'd be with more bidders paying 20% per item). The buyer's premium doesn't bother me (it can be 50% for all I care), as I think everyone just factors it into their bidding, but depending on whether there's a seller's fee it may ultimately discourage consignors, which long-term would hurt Mastro's potential inventory.

Agree with you 100%. I'd like to see more competition too. From a consignor's point of view, Heritage's 19.5% BP has been painful for my current consignment, and I'd love to see some competition drive it down.

[CentaurMan]

I think Mark bought a number of those books pretty recently (within the past 2-5 years) in public auctions. Rather than try and flip them in other public auctions, I'd say crack the slabs, enjoy the books, make sure they're out of the marketplace for 5-10 years (collectors generally have a good sense for fresh vs. recycled inventory, especially with the Heritage archives available), and then finally, re-excite the market by re-introducing them for sale.

Win, I totally agree with you except for the cracking out part. I can't see why Mark would want to go and incur substantial slabbing fees at a later date, rather than just leave them in their current slabs, particularly if there is a risk in getting a different/worse grade from CGC the next time.

 

My thoughts there are that I think the enjoyment of owning the books increases greatly with the ability to read them, and that a collector of Mark's reputation eventually offering raw books for sale with the CGC labels wouldn't suffer much (if any) in terms of prices realized. I don't know a lot of GA collectors who are super slab-focused (that tends to be more of a Silver/Bronze/Modern thing, in which reading copies are readily available and scarcity needs to be forced onto the marketplace by emphasizing minute differences in grade). The presence of a blue label with a CGC grade suggestion should be enough to generate excellent prices without having to pay to re-slab the books.

 

Mark's said in the past that he's not confident in his ability to handle unslabbed books without damaging them, but unless he's truly two standard deviations above normal on the spastic scale, I suspect he's underrating his ability to hold a comic. In the back of his mind he may have been thinking about resale all along and has been concerned that cracking the slabs will affect his ability to recoup his purchase prices, although he's never explicitly cited anything other than book safety as his reason for leaving them encased in their shells.

[stagedoorjohnny]

and that a collector of Mark's reputation eventually offering raw books for sale with the CGC labels wouldn't suffer much (if any) in terms of prices realized. I don't know a lot of GA collectors who are super slab-focused (that tends to be more of a Silver/Bronze/Modern thing, in which reading copies are readily available and scarcity needs to be forced onto the marketplace by emphasizing minute differences in grade). The presence of a blue label with a CGC grade suggestion should be enough to generate excellent prices without having to pay to re-slab the books.

 

I personally would not hesitate to buy a book cracked out of its plastic tomb. As long as it was done by a reputable collector/dealer who kept its original label. IMHO, I don't think the seller would miss a beat.

[sacentaur]

I personally would not hesitate to buy a book cracked out of its plastic tomb. As long as it was done by a reputable collector/dealer who kept its original label. IMHO, I don't think the seller would miss a beat.

 

My thoughts exactly.

 

I missed the boat ...who is this "Mark" fellow?

[sacentaur]

That's cute. Did that come out of one of the big auction sites or was that an ebay special. The rest of the BC looks really white.

 

Chris, the mouse chew book is a Fight 1 which I obtained out of the last CLink auction (the book is very white, which helps mitigate the pain just a bit). "Front cover presents better than grade", which is true...too bad nothing was mentioned about the back cover.

 

BTW, no reply from Josh and I'm dropping CLink (CLunk!) from my watch list for the time being.

 

STEVE

[Scrooge]

I missed the boat ...who is this "Mark" fellow?

 

errr ... that would be Mark = EsquireComics who started this thread ...

[CentaurMan]

I missed the boat ...who is this "Mark" fellow?

 

errr ... that would be Mark = EsquireComics who started this thread ...

 

Usually if you say his name three times he appears, but not this time.

 

I think he's talked to the Mastro guys on a few occasions and is obviously a consignor, so I'd be curious whether he believes any of our feedback on their format is valid and if so, whether he's spoken to them about possible changes and if so, whether they are receptive to making the modifications.