New Auction House being revealed

I read on another forum there is going to be a new auction house started, your thoughts.

I'm glad someone else brought this up. I saw it and thought, "There's going to be some interesting things said about this endeavor." Barry Sloate (a genuinely great guy), was open to the idea. I don't think I could be so gracious to have new "competitors".

I think you mean Scott and Leon.
I am all for no catalog and lower BPs. Also if the collector base or mailing list is less than some of the major auction houses it will be better for buying.
I remember when James Verrill had those monthly auctions (BBV) I got alot of nice cards at really good prices.

Nothing wrong with competition. The rub lies in the fact that one of the owners charges for ads on his forum. If I'm an advertiser, I'm yanking my ads in a heartbeat because there is no way I am feeding money to the competition to help keep them afloat.

Barry is a great guy and even if he didn't like this venture, he's never going to say so publicly. He is one of the people that will impacted the most if this new venture works out as there would seem to be a lot overlap in the type of material that they get.

If the other auction houses are dumb enough to keep advertising on the competition's website, then that's their own fault.

Jay

You nailed it Jay. When the banner ads started, objectivity went out the window. Now, it's more of a slap in the face to long-time advertisers. I don't know Leon personally, but this may not have been the best decision for him.

I hate to say I told everyone so, but Leon is out for Leon (I learned this years ago, when he would tell people on Full Count and Net 54 that Hobby Veterans told him cards were no good, then win them at lower prices after scaring everyone). Scott is a great guy, whom I have dealt with for years.

Personally, I don't think their scheme is going to work. First of all, there are smaller auctions like Barry Sloate's and Lew Lipset's which have been in business for years (plus, Lipset's buyer's premium is only 10%). Then, you have eBay where the "take" is less than 12.5% (or the 17.5% if the card is valued under $500). If you have high dollar cards, the bigger auction houses are the best route. Another factor where I don't think Leon and Scott can compete is their customer base. I am certain Rob Lifson has the largest mailing list in Vintage, followed by Mastro and the others. These will definitely be a better route for a consignor, as there will be more viewers/bidders for the material.

Personally, I think with Scott's huge hoard of cards and Leon cashing in several of his cards lately, this might be an auction house set up to sell their (Scott's and Leon's) own cards without losing money to an auction house. I do know Leon has said he wishes to make enough money from ads and the Hobby to quit his day job (he has stated this to several people since he first started the banner ads on Net 54), so he might think this is the route.

I believe Leon will probably step on some toes with this auction house - mainly the banner advertisers, but I could be wrong. IMHO, this is NOT ethical and is a conflict of interest.

TBH, I came up with this idea on the Aimoo Board (probably where Leon got it from). Except, my idea was an auction house with a Buyer's premium of only 10%, no seller's fee, AND if a card sold for over $10k, the seller would get half of the Buyer's premium! I just never had the time to do this.

For some reason, Leon sent me this e-mail about his and Scott's auction house before it was on Net 54. He probably did so hoping I would say something negative about it on this board, but I kept it quite - only e-mailing a copy to the other moderators to get their opinions on it (which were the same as mine I have stated here for the ones who had a response). Here is a copy of the e-mail Leon forwarded me (of all people ):

CONSIGNMENT INFO:

What Brockelman and Luckey Auctions is looking for:
Baseball cards - WWII era. We will also consider Post WWII era cards valued at $500 or more up to the 1970’s.
Cards we are specifically looking for… baseball related and other:
Tobacco cards
Early candy cards
Nineteenth Century cards
Any other sports cards, and some non-sports cards, that are Pre-WWII will also fit well into our customer base. Our auctions will specialize in cards that collectors are looking for, whether they are high grade rarities or total population rarities. We are also interested in all vintage sports memorabilia as our clients have varied collecting interests. Please call anytime for a personal consultation.
************************************************************************
To consign to Brockelman and Luckey Auctions please call in strict confidence:
Scott Brockelman - 817-688-9499
Email to: scott@b-lauctions.com
Leon Luckey - 214-282-4943
Email to: leon@b-lauctions.com

A few thoughts that struck me (not much different from the rest of you I'm afraid).

• If I were another auction house I would stop purchasing banners on Net 54 - no need to fund the competition
  
• Leon will probably be liquidating his 19th century cards through this venue
  
• With no catalogue and the audience limited to mostly N54 visitors there might be some good deals
  

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. I have had good transactions with both Scott and Leon in the past and wish them the best of luck.

If they have good cards, there will be no good deals.

Was it me, or did I see Leon stating on Net 54 that there will be some type of "Hidden Reserve" on some lots?