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Permalink Reply by Findbooks on May 4, 2023 at 3:42am

Just had a look - it looks pretty good!

Some random observations, though.

I notice they don't actually have a specialist Music department - it's "Popular Culture", embracing Film/TV/Music etc. I had a look at their last sale results and there were some good results - 9k for a signed Clash poster, e.g. Some of the other stuff I would say was pretty conservative and a fair few items did not sell. Beatles prices seemed modest.

I couldn't find any publicity material on their website about the item - "forthcoming highlights" type of marketing. Do you know if there has been any press involvement? Remember that you will be paying them quite a lot of money and they need to be able to demonstrate that you are getting value for that money. How are they promoting it?

It's early days and auctions are impossible to predict but you can have some confidence if you know the auctioneers are doing their job to obtain the best possible price for an extraordinary item. If you are not, well, you can always pull it - don't be bullied into accepting a lowball figure. If you are happy with the reserve, fair enough but I would be watching the bidding very carefully.

I have myself on four occasions consigned items I considered "extraordinary" for auction to major auctioneers. The first of these was a specialist book auctioneer and I was delighted with the result. The other three occasions were with the big three and on each of those occasions I was very disappointed - bloody angry in one case.

Let's hope none of this is relevant, however - the sky's the limit!

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Permalink Reply by Lewis on May 4, 2023 at 4:17am

Hi, thanks for your message. 

I agree with the points you have made above, and obviously will be hoping that they are getting the word out to prospective buyers. 

I am happy with the reserve, and all of this is a lucky accident for me, but obviously hoping for the best outcome. 

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on May 4, 2023 at 4:37am

Thanks for the link Lewis. Considering that you are new to this site, I think you've handled yourself (in a manner of speaking!) very well indeed.

I am sure you will do very well but I'm not sure that Bonhams have really done your find justice. 

At the item level:

1. They seem to rather underplay the rarity of the item. "It is rare to see..." is not very specific. It would be much more powerful to state that only x number of signed Hendrix LPs are known to have been offered in the last x years (by Bonhams or others).

2. The info about the mis-match between the sleeve code and vinyl code could cause uncertainty. I don't know anything about this subject but the sleeve gives both stereo and mono numbers - so is there an issue at all?

3. The footnotes add nothing at all. Anyone prepared to fork out a minimum of £20k on this album surely knows all this information. None of the footnote information is likely to persuade anyone to bid or bid higher anyway.

4. There is absolutely no condition information. I daresay most "top-dollar" bidders would be used to asking for condition reports but maybe some super rich casual buyers would not want to make the extra effort or only see the item very late and not feel they have the time to ask.

At the auction level:

1. It is rather a mixed bag of offerings - in terms of entertainment areas and types of item covered.

2. Some of the estimates seem too high (e.g. White album, Dr. No quad) or too low (e.g. some Beatles autographs, Queen signed photo).

3. The buyer's premium is pretty substantial. If someone gets your LP for the low estimate of £15,000 their actual bill will be around £20,000 - and this assumes they bid directly with Bonhams and don't go through a third party bidding platform that charges another 3-5%. To be honest, I'm not sure this buyer's premium problem is really avoidable. I know of only one auction house (the movie poster specialist auctioneer, emovieposter.com) that doesn't charge any buyer's premium at all.

As I said, I think you will do very well despite all of the above.  

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Permalink Reply by Lewis on May 4, 2023 at 4:49am

I noticed the 2. Issue re stereo and mono. It's definitely the correct sleeve for the record. It's this one -

Url: https://www.discogs.com/release/1197114-The-Jimi-Hendrix-Experience...

I will get in touch with them to see if they can amend that.

It's been tough to decide on auction house, reserve, when etc and I'm not sure there is an absolute correct answer, so just trying to have a positive outlook and hoping for the best.

As long as it sells it will provide my family with a nice summer!

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on May 4, 2023 at 5:59am

You certainly have the right attitude. After all, this windfall will be a very nice "free gift" however much it is. I'm 99.9% certain that someone will meet the reserve and almost as certain that the upper estimate will be met or exceeded.

An "elephant in the room" that I didn't mention is, of course, the lack of third party authentication. I assume Bonhams' view is that the authenticity of an autograph is a given if they are selling it but maybe some bidders might prefer more comfort. I couldn't see anything specifc in the T&Cs about buyers' rights of return in the case of autographs - but I only glanced at them quickly. 

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on May 4, 2023 at 6:42am

I know I sound like a "sad case" worrying about someone else's auction, but I think something about the provenance might also be appealing. I never buy in this kind of price range but I would certainly find it appealing to know how this LP was found and, more especially, that it is therefore completely "fresh to the market". A bit like Paul's "Hey Jude" lyrics being found at Portobello Road Market...   

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Permalink Reply by Lewis on May 4, 2023 at 6:57am

I supplied a letter giving the provenance, i don't know if or why they've chosen not to use it

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Permalink Reply by michelle on May 4, 2023 at 7:32am

Good luck. It will be a really   lovely holiday this summer. What I hate about Bonhams is their condition reports can be very vague, incomplete and are only sent just before the sale, or maybe I have had bad experiences with Bonhams UK

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Permalink Reply by Findbooks on May 8, 2023 at 1:12pm

No real-time reporting of bids, then?

I hate that.

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Permalink Reply by Lewis on May 8, 2023 at 1:41pm

I would love to know if there has been a bid and what it is up to, but guess that's what will make it exciting on the day

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Permalink Reply by Findbooks on May 8, 2023 at 3:37pm

Oh sure - take it you will be at the event! It's funny how I feel invested (and I'm sure others) and I have no idea who you are - lol. I guess it's just a feelgood story which appeals to this community.

That book-auction event I referenced earlier - well, that was the early nineties. That sale paid for the deposit on my first house purchase - pretty meaningful (and we moved into that house on the day our first child was born. I say "we" but obviously....- anyway, that's another story). So, hoping this will afford you and your family the best possible summer, at the very least.

But as for the no-bids reveal, well that just does my head in - I see no logical reason for it. Do they believe it encourages bidders to put their max bids in immediately? Or does it encourage a frenzy at the last minute? Sure would like to know the psychology behind it - seems to be a Brit thing.

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Permalink Reply by a pug called eva on May 8, 2023 at 10:05pm

I think "I feel invested" puts it very well. Me too. Strange but true.

Bonhams show current bids on "thesaleroom.com" but the auction isn't on there yet. I would imagine it will be loaded up soon as there is already a  sale for 25 May on there.   

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