Thank you for agreeing to do this interview! Please introduce yourself and your role with Heritage Auctions?
My name is Jesus Garcia, the Consignment Director of the Trading Card Game Department at Heritage Auctions.
Tell us a bit more about Heritage Auctions and where you specialize.
Heritage Auctions is the largest collectibles auctioneer in the world. We offer everything from coins, movie posters, sports memorabilia, fine art, trading card games, video games, animation art, action figures, to name a few. I specialize in all trading card games, including Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and Yu-Gi-Oh!, with some comics and animation art knowledge.
How has the auction market for collectibles been lately? Any insights you can share?
The collectibles market has been on an upward trend with no signs of slowing down. We’re all excited for the future of collectibles.
You will be at ToyConNJ meeting collectors and dealers and taking commissions, correct?
Yes.
Explain to our audience how the process works when Heritage takes on a commission.
We take possession of the material, and once it arrives in our main office, the items are assigned to auctions. The consignor is notified via e-mail as soon as the items are entered into the auctions. Items then are processed by Heritage cataloging and photography teams before the auction is posted. The auction will go live soon thereafter. The entire process is included with the seller’s commission; the only additional fee will be the grading fees. Heritage Auctions receives a discount for all grading fees, which is passed on to the consignor, who pays nothing up front. The fees will be deducted at settlement.
Any insights you can offer for how sellers can maximize their return on their collectibles investments?
Buy the best items in the best condition. The last several years have shown that people will purchase the “holy grails” of collectibles in the highest grade possible for a premium.
Everyone loves a crazy collecting story. Do you have a specific example of an unusual auction you can share?
One of the craziest stories I’ve heard is about a First Edition Base Set Booster Box. The owner was a young boy attending kindergarten, and during his student-parent conference, his teacher praised him for excellent conduct. As a reward, his father told him that he would take him to a card shop and buy him one of those card boxes from the Pokémon game. He was very excited! They went to the store and purchased the box. But the consignor had a meltdown on the way home, and the father took the box away as a punishment for his conduct and placed it in his closet. Now, 23 years later, that box is worth well over $300,000, and as you might imagine, the owner was in complete shock when he found out the price. Who would have believed that his father taking away the First Edition Base Set Booster Box would turn into such an amount in the future? You never know what you might have in your closet!
Any last words you want to leave our readers with about Heritage Auctions?
Heritage Auctions will be accepting consignments at ToyConNJ for our 40+ categories, including action figures and toys, comics and comic art, trading card games, video games, sports cards and memorabilia, and many more! Please stop by our booth and meet our specialists: Xavier Chavez, Joe Mannarino, Nadia Mannarino and me.
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