2026 May 13 Cherrystone Auction

Large lots - seems to be a lot of passed lots. Didnt look earlier , but here is now.

Cherrystone always has a lot of passed lots. Their estimates and openings are on the high side.

Interesting - what's the logic behind this, I wonder? Wouldn't it be better to open things lower and 'get them sold' rather than ticking off consignors when material sits around for repeated auctions? Or do they have a pretty decent track record of getting things to sell in subsequent auctions, even at higher openings?

Lots are not always from consignors, they can be from the Auction House itself. Basicly: If you do not try, you do not get. But also current economics, Consignors demanding high reserves can be a cause. And there are probably a few more reasons out there.

Yes.

This goes for singles as well. I know first hand since I have won single and set lots that I was not thrilled with and they immediately offered replacements out of stock.

Siegel takes the opposite approach with their large lots by estimating low. Siegel large lots go for multiples of estimate 90% of the time.

I find auction psychology fascinating.

I have seen before , for instance on Siegel where they will lower min price at auction in order to sell item. I have just never noticed this many unsolds before. These were mostly all large lots section and I habe no t had time to compare to their singles items. I will note though that auctioneer did not once lower min price in order to sell.
As mentioned, different programs for different houses and who knows if house owned items or consignments??

" I find auction psychology fascinating " I do too !

It was a lot more fun before the internet , better when everybody was in the same room .

With the internet it is a whole different game ,when 80% of the bidding is by people you can't read .

Somebody needs to write a long piece about selling a huge and valuable collection on consignment where it is broken down into dozens of lots .Some lots sell and a whole bunch doesn't sell at auction .

What happens next ? Your collection just got ripped apart lots of nice parts sold and where are you with the guts pulled out ,what do you have and what value is it --------- NO ONE EVER ADDRESS THIS HORROR STORY .

It is called a remainder lot floortrader shows up in the back of a catalogue and sell, if at all, for pennies.

Now if left over postal history, that would still sell for a few more pennies and find its way to ebay as individual cover lots by one of the several big postal history ebay sellers all beginning at 99c or less.

Edited to add what I often say: Lots of individual items (stamps and postal history) have no real value, all you are paying for is the cost of the labor it took to sell it to you plus related expenses unrelated to item value.