June Auction Now Live!

***Rather than start a new thread, I bumped my old one with an edited title--see the last post for details.***
Hi Everyone,

I briefly mentioned in the thread Chris started about auction houses that I just recently announced my new auction site, www.sterlingsportsauctions.com The site is now live and will host the inaugural auction in a little over one month. I've partnered with Simple Auction Site to use their platform which is in place in several other auctions and provides a very user-friendly method of bidding and otherwise navigating the auction. I thought that I'd provide a little more insight into the site, and I thank
Jay and Lee for their permission.

It's no secret that there are several auction options available to choose from within this hobby. It is my goal to provide a reliable venue for buyers and sellers while shortening the overall process and focusing on the cards and customer service. There aren't many things that collectors ask for when it comes to buying or selling cards, and the goal of Sterling Sports Auctions is to simplify the process and take care of the little things that ensure dealing with an auction house is easy and enjoyable while offering quality items and achieving excellent results.

Sterling Sports Auctions offers:

• A 15% buyer's premium

• Competitive consignment terms for sellers

• Paypal as a payment method--allowing flexibility for buyers and encouraging quicker payment

• Consignor payments starting immediately following the auction based on when the buyer pays for the item you've consigned

• The ability to net auction wins against consignment proceeds for easy processing and minimum cash outlay

• Reasonable shipping and insurance on every order

• A consignment process that can take three to four weeks compared to several months

• Monthly auctions meaning you're never more than a few weeks away from the next sale

• An extensive mailing list, targeted advertising, and established relationships with collectors and dealers all resulting in a highly visible venue for your items

The first auction will be available for preview on April 21 with bidding to begin May 5. I encourage you to visit the site beforehand to look around, register as a new user and stay up to date as the auction approaches. Anyone from this board can use Full Count as a reference. If you've never bid with an auction house before, don't worry. Additionally, I'd ask you to consider trying the auction as a consigner with even just one item.

I am in the process of gathering consignments for the May auction and welcome anyone interested in discussing a possible consignment to please call or e-mail me through the contact info below. I am actively seeking single cards, group lots, entire sets, or whole collections from the 19th century onward and already have a nice mix of sports and non-sports items catering to a wide array of tastes and budgets.

I worked with many board members during my time at SGC and afterwards on my own, and I look forward to continuing those relationships, as well as establishing new ones, in this latest capacity.

Thank you,

Brian Dwyer
brian@sterlingsportsauctions.com
845-849-1276

Brian,

Congratulations on the new project. When the news of your career change crossed the wires last year we all wondered what you'd do next. I hope it's a big success for you.

I wanted to let everyone know that the auction is now officially open for bidding. There are 525 lots--all offered with no reserve. Bidding will continue through May 19.

The auction lots can be viewed here.

If you have yet to register for an account, you can do so here.

There is a tremendous variety of sports and non-sports in this auction. There is a selection of cards from T3, T205, T206, T209, E90-1, E90-2, E90-3, E91, E92, E94, E95, E101, E103, N29, Colgan's (Regular, Square Proof & Red Border), Cracker Jack, Goudey, Tattoo Orbit, Play Ball, Leaf, Bowman, Topps, and more.

Single card highlights include a 1952 Mantle SGC 40, T205 Joss SGC 50, T205 Bobby Wallace No Cap--both variations--SGC 50, 1933 Goudey #181 Ruth SGC 80, E103 Bresnahan SGC 30, E103 Chance and Collins SGC 20, 1921 Schapira Bros. Candy Ruth SGC 30, 1914 WG4 Wagner and Cobb SGC 96, and many more.

I encourage everyone to check out the auction. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Please don't hesitate to call or email with any questions or suggestions.

Thank you,

Brian Dwyer
brian@sterlingsportsauctions.com
845-849-1276

In regard to a recent thread. Brian, I want to commend you on some of these descriptions where you explain why the card rated an "A".

I think it's important to specify why the Authentic since there are potentially dozens of different reasons, and not all of them have to do with alterations.

If anyone has any questions about any lot, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Thank you,

Brian

The auction ends tonight...several members have consigned, bid, or done both, so I'm very thankful for the support.

Initial bidding ends at 10 PM EST. The 15 minute rule is in effect after that point. You can bid on any item during the extended period provided you've bid in the auction at least once already, so if you see a deal, don't be afraid to jump on it.

Good luck to anyone bidding tonight!

Brian

Hi Brian,

Hope your auction was up to what you hoped. I bid on a few lots with no luck, but had to hold back because my REA winnings.

I was curious what your minimum dollar amount for an item to consign for your auctions. It appears that some auctions are $1000. This auction had a fair number of cards that were around $100 and thought that was great.

Lee

Hi Lee,

I was very pleased with the auction as a whole. Thank you to the many forum members who bid or consigned.

One of the advantages of running a monthly, non-catalog auction is that I can sell lesser value cards and don't have to be $1000+ cards only.

I'm accepting consignments of cards valued at $30+ for future auctions. The consignment deadline for the next auction is May 31.


Thanks again,

Brian

The June auction is now live. Over 1600 lots with types from 60+ prewar sets. I'm not sure if there's something for everyone, but there's a lot of great items.

You can visit the site at www.sterlingsportsauctions.com/catalog.aspx.

You can register to bid at www.sterlingsportsauctions.com/adduser.aspx

Thanks for looking!

Brian Dwyer

Brian - I am disappointed to see that you don't have pics of the backs of some of the cards in your auction, which to me is a turn-off. Why is this?
Val

I would agree with Val. Backs are an important part of the card, especially if there is text or bio info on there. I love to read that stuff and if I can't read it all, I'm not going to want the card no matter how nice the front looks. Granted, the back of a blank back card like an OJ isn't that important, but it's still nice to see what the back looks like.

brian has too many lots! no time for back scan?

alot of nice collector-grade stuff, i have my eyes on a few.

Val & Jay,

I absolutely agree with you about the back scans. In the first auction, there were scans of every back. For this auction, that was the plan as well. Part of the technical difficulties that I experienced in getting the auction online included losing a lot of the back scans. You'll notice as you go through that some lots have them and others don't. I know that backs are important so I will be working to upload back scans for every card throughout the auction. If you have a specific card that you'd like to see a back scan of, please email me at brian@sterlingsportsauctions.com and I will make sure that I get that one up first. This all has to be done manually, and there are 1600+ lots, so I'll be adding as much as possible as quickly as possible. The good news is that all the scans are done, they just need to be loaded.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

Brian

Good to hear. I figured there might have been a glitch somewhere but just wanted to make sure that every seller that is reading this thread understands the importance of back scans. It never ceases to amaze me the number of eBay sellers that still don't have back scans. Their excuse usually the being that the card is graded so why do you need to see it?

Brian - Thanks for your response and for the "damage-control" action you are taking. I've always felt that one indication of a person's character is how they respond to adversity.
Val

Hi guys,

I've added over 300 back scans since yesterday, and I'm continuing to plug away. If you're waiting on a particular card and don't see it up yet, please email or PM me. I'm going through them in the order they are on my computer which doesn't necessarily correspond to the order they're in the auction.

Thank you,

Brian
brian@sterlingsportsauctions.com

I'll say this, Brian: Your search engine kicks the crap out of REA. There was tremendous specificity to the searches I conducted, and it was buku fast. Plus, there's a tremendous diversity to your items. Granted, I didn't find anything this time around that I wanna chase, but a responsive search engine and a wide range of pre- and post-war items will always bring me back.

Please keep us updated about future auctions. I'll be a winner somewhere along the line. Hope this round pays off well!

Brian lot 222 t206 lajoie with bat. I dont see it browsing with my tablet