Stupid Auction(neers) *caution, I am ranty today*

[Gilhelmi]

Stupid I guess is a bit harsh, but I am getting so tired of the same thing at every auction I go to.

As a hobby, I have a roving comic book stand that I take to trade/craft/flee market type shows. I usually break even maybe a bit better. It is a tough market out here but I have fun.

Problem is, I need stock, and in my area, it has to be 70s or older (the younger generation never seen a comic in a grocery store, like I did, and the older generation wants the stuff they grew up with. There are no comic stores within 500 miles ). So every-time an auction comes up advertising comics, I try and get there. Guess what, a HUGH 200+ comic books coming up to auction. I call the Auctioneer, get message machine. Wife (every auctioneer I know is a husband/wife team) and tells me they are probably from the 40s and maybe earlier (seller inherited them from her father, allegedly, I think details may have been mixed up) and I get excited. I should have known better.

I drove up there today to look at the comics, and decide what sort of budget to plan. If the comics in poor condition they are hard to sell, so really low bid (if at all). If they are in "good" condition, then it depends on the comic. 200 comics, MAYBE 20 were from the 50s. The rest were Looney Toons and Disney from the 60s and 70s. Do not misunderstand, they are not bad, they will eventually sell if I buy them, eventually. I only found 1 that was worth more the $10. Not a single 40s era comic. Depending on how they sell them (see below) if I pay more then $300 I would be crazy. I would ask $5, and consider myself lucky to get $2.

AUCTIONEERS!!! I can forgive some of what they do, they are on a tight scheduled so they have to do the annoying "Take Bids and whoever wins takes which ones you want, repeat till there are none left". So if two people are bidding against each other for different items, it artificially drives the price up. I prefer the "Hold item up, bid on just that item" but it is slower. Really, this is a very minor gripe.

A moderate Gripe is when they hold the auction outside, In KANSAS. Kansas (Kanzaz is the correct spelling) translates to "Land of the Wind" in the local Native American language. It is completely accurate. It is not windy until the wind get above 15mph sustained. Wind is almost always moving at 3-5mph. Ya, that nice $100 dollar comic I was looking at .

The really bad thing is that they supposedly have no idea how to tell the books age other then price on the cover. They see 10 cent and assume it is from the 50s or before (99 out of 100 its not). 10 cent comics were available through the mid-60s, then 12 cent through the early-70s and 15-25 cent spread throughout all eras after 1960. I have never seen one Auctioneer or employee do the obvious thing and check the copyright date. They do for regular Hard Back books, so they can not use that excuse, and comics rarely come up in this number (usually 10-20) so I can not figure out why they just do not look. Seriously, 10 mins. look at a couple, that will give you a basic idea and you are not making a fool of yourselves.

Then the next group is not the Auctioneers fault. They are family and friends of the seller. I have a buddy who runs a Games/Table top store about an hour away, they USE to sell comic (they lost money on them), but the sign is still up and the buy comics (and sell them to me ) One day an Auctioneer (not one I have dealt with) came in and asked if they could tell him more about a pile of comics. The woman said they were "Golden age" and worth millions, the Auctioneer wanted as much information to help "promote" the auction. They were $1 comics from the 1980s (I know I just complained about them using prices to judge dates, but this auctioneer knew what was going on and wanted my buddy try and explain it to the woman). The woman swore her 1980s era comics were older and worth millions and left in a major huff.

Ya, anyway, friends and family do the same. They erroneously think I am ripping off their loved one by making such a low bid. So they will try and raise the price because most of them think that most comics are worth $20 or more . They usually stop trying this tactic after I reach my price mark and they outbid me thinking I was going higher (I set my marks well in advance and never go over, going over will only cost you money). Then they are stuck with a comic book that is hard to sell unless you know how to online. And it is not just put it up. You have to also explain condition, in collectors terms, then ship it correctly, and barely break even because no one is going to pay $10 (after shipping) for that particular $2 book you swore to me was worth big money. (If you ever seen that "storage wars" or similar show, they call it 'dumping a bin on someone'. I really do not mean to do it, but darn it people, internet exists now look-up the prices. I am a Christian Business man, I do not lie, I do not steal. If I say it is worth 'X', it is worth that much. I am willing to pay 40-60%, I can not afford to do more or I lose money. rant more on that later, probably on fratching).

I really do not mind real competition, in-fact I welcome it. I enjoy meeting Antique dealers from all over the area, I have fun even when I lose the bid. Meet a nice dealer at the last auction, I was bidding on a lead brick (I like to make things, toy soldiers mostly), she was bidding on a lead brick that had rare makers marks on it, she won and I got a great conversation about makers marks. I love dealers. Dealers make it almost worth going to the auctions, they are great people.

I am just so tired of the same crap every time, at every auction I go to.

[Geek King]

One thing that may be worth watching Pawn Stars for is the way Rick and his dad have of delivering what I call The Letdown Speech. This is when someone comes in with something they are just sure is worth huge money, and it turns out its not. The speech is firm, but polite, explaining the facts of running a business where they have to resell what they buy.

I don't watch the show often, because their non-business escapades bore the hell out of me, but I think they do a great job with that bit of customer interaction.

[Gilhelmi]

That is true, I love Pawn Stars and American Pickers. They are they type of bussness people I aspire to be. Honest, Fair, and not over-paying because the 'customer' wants them too. I get annoyed when people accuse them of being "rip-offs". They have overhead, paying 50% of value might get them a profit, Might.

UPDATE: Got done with the auction, did not do badly. I averaged $1.63/book, I will ask $5 and settle for $3. Heavy Disney and Looney Tunes. Hopefully, selling them all before the decade is out. Though I did find a "bounty" book for a client. It was an old "LuLu and friends" in Spanish. This client loves comics in Spanish. Sadly, there were no Speedy Gonzales, the main thing he is looking for (200+ Looney Tunes/Disney and not one Speedy). I am hoping that the rarity of it will make it $15, but settle for $8.

One guy thought I was under-biding, but unlike the ones who try and drive me up. This guy actually picked up a large number of books (he averaged $3+ on the books, and did not look at condition). He was thinking of sending them to his daughter in California to be sold. I almost did not have the heart to tell him that they most a big comic store would only pay for these is $3. Oh well, I think he will be stopping by to sell them to me next time I have a booth in that area.

Honestly, I kind-of this type of competitor. At least he puts his money where his mouth is unlike other armchair bidders. AND, It forces me be more selective of what I pick up, knowing that they cost more, giving me a more discerning eye for condition and type of book ($1 I can clean the table, $2 I can take a small gamble but ignore the damaged ones, $3 I am only selecting the best. Again, the most I will get for most these books is $5). These people make me better.

[wolfie]

Meet a nice dealer at the last auction, I was bidding on a lead brick (I like to make things, toy soldiers mostly), she was bidding on a lead brick that had rare makers marks on it, she won and I got a great conversation about makers marks.

If I understand this correctly, you were both bidding on the same lead brick - you because you wanted it as lead (and based your price mark on the value per pound), her because she wanted it as an artifact due to the rare makers marks (and based her price mark on the artifact value).

If that's correct, I'm glad she won - your purposes can be served equally well by a couple bars of solder at the hardware store, but if she hadn't been there bidding on the brick you'd have (unknowingly) melted down a rare artifact.

At one convention some years back, I wound up in a bidding war for a batch of books, and won. Never did catch up to the last person to drop out - I wanted one of the books (about WW2 aviation), and if he'd been interested in the book about the U.S. Civil War I'd have gladly sold it to him.

[Gilhelmi]

If I understand this correctly, you were both bidding on the same lead brick - you because you wanted it as lead (and based your price mark on the value per pound), her because she wanted it as an artifact due to the rare makers marks (and based her price mark on the artifact value).

If that's correct, I'm glad she won - your purposes can be served equally well by a couple bars of solder at the hardware store, but if she hadn't been there bidding on the brick you'd have (unknowingly) melted down a rare artifact.

At one convention some years back, I wound up in a bidding war for a batch of books, and won. Never did catch up to the last person to drop out - I wanted one of the books (about WW2 aviation), and if he'd been interested in the book about the U.S. Civil War I'd have gladly sold it to him.

You are correct. I was glad she won them too after I talked to her. She said that many people (like me) do not know about rare marks so the vast majority have been melted down. She is probably going to be able to sell the block for about $60 to a collector of "maker" marks. (I bid up to $25 on a 20lb brick, she said that she would have gone well over $40 for it. I am glad it all worked out)