One of the interesting ways to follow the auctions is to select Upcoming Auctions and voila and the first option on the down bar: Auction Home, There are the most recently posted auction results with an option to View Auction Report.
The most recently posted completed auction as of 7:07 pm PST on 2/25/23 was Leland Little Auctions, a report on 33 lots that fell into the categories we cover; books, manuscripts, maps and ephemera. Those 33 lots were offered and 32 sold for a total of $10,100.00. With each lot under Book Title is a full description. Simultaneously, when this information is posted to this report of Recent Auction Results they move into Transactions+.
Once you have scanned the full details for the present sale there is another link to the upper right corner that takes you to the next most recently completed sale, and so on, and on.
The second sale recently was completed by Heritage, their The Thrillingly Exciting Heroes of Nedor Comics Showcase Auction. They offered 151 lots and sold them all for $116,235.20.
The third sale posted and completed was Heritage’s The Estate of Veronique and Gregory Peck’s Hollywood & Entertainment Signature Auction. Mr. Peck, was famous for his role as Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Heritage sold 147 of the 149 lots offered and when you scan the list for the realizations you may notice a few things you might wish you had bid on. In Boomers heaven, Mr. Peck’s Personal book-bound presentation script To Kill a Mockingbird (Universal, 1962) would fit nicely on a nearby shelf. The action overall brought $718,291.50.
The fourth sale was held by Stair & Co. of Hudson, New York: The Matisse Legacy, Part II: Property from the Collection of Jacquelyn Miller Matisse. 82 lots brought $138,432.00.
Bonhams’ Prints & Multiples sale on 23 February brought $346,487.63. The four sales I’ve already mentioned all sold close to 100% of their lots. Not every sale is in the high cotton.
On the same day, the 23rd, Aste Bolaffi in Italy held a Comics auction, offering 244 examples and sold 213. That worked out to be a 87.3% success rate. The norm, for the field anymore is the sell-through percentage to push into the low 80%s.
Swann Galleries sold Fine Photographs on the 23rd. They offered 192 lots and sold 80.21% of them for $658,250.
PBA, otherwise known as Pacific Book Auction Galleries, offered Fine Bindings and Small Press material on the 23rd and sold 369 of their 431 posted lots. They sold 86.61% of their lots and raised $237,275.00 for their consignors.
Forum Auctions’ Online Sale: Books and Works on Paper also wrapped up on the 23rd, as they offered 313 lots and sold 261 for an 83.39% success rate. Their sales, in GBP, registered as 117,374.75.
On the 23rd, Doyle New York offered Sports and Travel Books providing 258 lots and sold 240 of them for a 93.02% success rate. Their material raised $101,466.00
And I could go, and on. Typically 50 auctions close each week and we capture their outcomes, post them to Recent Completed sales and enter them into Transactions+.
Net-net, the auctions tend to look like this every time you check. This is the pulse of the auction marketplace. It’s a free service for anyone and everyone. Make a point once or twice a week to click on the Upcoming Auctions, then Auction Home and then click on the Recent Results and then click, on and on..
You’ll understand the active market quickly.
So click here and start to use this exceptional tool: www.rarebookhub.com/auctions
