Frustrated By The Lack Of Images At The Westpex Sale

There are half a dozen collection lots that look interesting but no images. I can't bid on them unseen. I'm sure I'm not the only potential bidder left out because they are too lazy to post images. Lot 1927 as a good example. Described as unusually nice, mint and centered - no pictures :(

Totally agree! 30 Vol Scott no pictures????

In part due to M Kewriga (spelling?) leaving them to start his own auction.

There was one lot I didn't bid on and another I went light one due to no images.

To be fair in one of their recent auctions I took a chance on a couple WW collections that looked reasonable based on the description and I was very pleased. I thought they were both undervalued, but it's risky doing that. I'll probably do it again in a couple hours.

The firm does not have the staff to do extensive illustration. That is just the way it is. As a seller, if your material needs to be well photographed, Kelleher is the way to go.

Of course I can and did view lots in person at the WESTPEX sales.

I agree too, but it's WESTPEX, there is some level of trust.

On a lot as expensive as lot 1927 (realized 18K), that's too much to gamble on sight-unseen, I agree. Based on the description, I agree that lot, in particular should have had photos.

While I don't buy US/WW collection lots, I do sometimes buy specialized collections/groupings in my areas of interest. Sometimes I do it sight unseen, if its cheap enough. When I do that, I read the description language very very carefully, and I compare the language to other lots that do have illustrations, to get a baseline. Its imprecise, and still a gamble, but Rumsey often does have decent material, at least in areas I collect, so, from them, occasionally its worth a shot for me.

A friend who was there said the auction was a bloodbath and I can believe it as I got skunked (underbidder on one lot and also an on the rest).

What is a bloodbath? High prices or low prices?
From your remark that you were the underbidder, it appears the latter.

Bulk lots for the most part did very well at Rumsey (which has a long history of estimating them conservatively). I was a frequent bridesmaid but managed to pick off one or two.

There were a lot of Stanley Piller balance lots - the remainders of his stock. When I studied the ones that had photos (not many) I was convinced that they were being too optimistic on the estimates for Piller's stuff. Granted, I didn't see photos for most of the lots, but I think I got the "gist" of them. The prices realized seem to have validated my suspicion, as most of them went below low estimate, to way below low estimate.

Of course, one could put the blame on no pictures, but my feel based on the one(s) with pictures is that the realizations were probably about where they should have been.

A blood bath means fierce bidding

Rumsey was a good firm to buy large lots from and I was happy for many years . The last two years things have change and prices are more in line with other firms .

It goes without saying and has been true for the past 50 years ,the best stuff goes to those who had spend time viewing lots in person and stay to sit in on the auction any phone bidders is rolling the dice ,with the results being more loses than happy surprises

Not only no pictures but VERY slow to ship. I paid the Invoice immediately over a week ago but have received no shipping notice so I called them. They were very polite and told me that my item was in the queue and would be packed in 2 or 3 days. This means almost 3 weeks from auction to delivery. If it was Siegel, Kelleher, DCA or Rasdale I would have had the items by now. I think Rumsey has to get with the times.

Yea, I'm in the same boat. Last year they shipped my lots in a reasonable amount of time for both sales I bid in. This sale, obviously was a big one for them, but yes, it is taking longer. I mailed them a check last wednesday morning, and maybe they are just waiting for that; although I've had credit with them for years and they don't typically wait to get paid first prior to shipping.

I got a FedEx notice yesterday that my lots have been shipped. I would not call Rumsey "VERY slow to ship." They are maybe 2 or 3 days slower than Siegel, but Siegel is the fastest to ship in my experience. I don't typically bid on large lots, but in my experience with individual lots, Rumsey takes about the same time to ship as Kelleher.
Remember that this sale was held at WESTPEX, so they had to pack-up all the lots at the Marriott and move them back to their office in San Francisco. It was a big sale with a lot of large lots. Also, many auction houses only ship in the early part of the week (Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday), so that the lots are not in the shipping system over the weekend. By the time they got the lots back to SF and organized, there was not much time to ship last week.
I have dealt with houses that I would consider "VERY slow to ship" including a Canadian house that held my lots for 3 weeks after depositing my rather small check to make sure it cleared; and Sotheby's which took about a month and required a ton of paperwork for shipping.