by Bill Retskin

(The following are excerpts from Bill Retskin's article My Matchcover Mail Auction, which appeared in a 1990 issue of Barrs Postcard News.

MAIL AUCTIONS
In 1986, I began to offer a matchcover auction with my publication, The Front Striker Bulletin. The first auction had about 40 lots. Most were simple packages of 25 hotels, 50 restaurants, and 100 banks (matchcover collecting is primarily a volume hobby).

Occasionally, national political singles, girlie sets, and colorful, older matchcovers came up for auction. Initially, I followed the same single-track mentality that I had known from other non-matchcover mail auctions. I offered single bids, waited to the closing day, and mailed the invoices.

Around the time the third Front Striker Bulletin matchcover auction came out, I was able to offer just over 100 lots. Using traditional techniques learned through other mail auctions, I discovered that winning prices were lower than expected, bids dragged in slowly, and quite frankly, I was bored. I had attended live auctions since the mid-1960s and knew there had to be a better way to promote a matchcover mail auction.

MATCHCOVER MAIL AUCTIONS WITH A TWIST
My next auction had 200 lots and I decided to try something different. During this second year of publication of The Front Striker Bulletin in 1987, I waited for the first 20 collectors and mailed them an immediate update letter, advising on lots, which were not successfully bid. I didn't tell them the current high bid, as I was just feeling my way through the process and was concerned about jeopardizing the integrity of the auction.

These first updates were a phenomenal success. They gave bidders an opportunity to re-think their bids--kind of an auction status check. Now, they could re-bid important lots, just like in a live auction. During the eight-week auction, many collectors sent in at least one update, some updating four and five times. Each time they re-bid, I sent another update. This method of near-live auction bidding meant higher prices, was eminently more interesting for both bidder and auctioneer, and kept me busy much of the time.

The first club auction of 1989 featured over 500 quality matchcover and match book lots. By this time, I had over 70 bidders and had to ask them for an S.A.S.E. (self addressed stamped envelope) to continue updates. (Remember, this was years before e-mail was available to the masses.) I reciprocated with an S.A.E. (self addressed envelope) for their convenience. Although it is much more work, it is worth the time and effort expended.

THE AUCTION LISTING
A typical auction booklet included a subscription form (only Front Striker subscribers can bid in Front Striker auctions), a comprehensive legend, a brief set of auction rules, sample listing for new bidders, and a detachable auction bid sheet center fold. No two auctions were ever the same. As I learned more about what my subscribers wanted and needed, I changed various aspects of the auction.

Recent changes (c.1990) include a bid increment policy. The minimum bid is $1. Bids below $10 must be in 25-cent increments; between $10 and $25, in 50-cent increments; and over $25, in dollar increments. The "$5.00 over next highest bidder rule," had been in effect since 1987. It insures that if high bids are received, they will be reduced to $5.00 over the next highest bidder at the final gong. This is similar to the Barr's 10% rule and has worked well in Front Striker mail auctions. Offers to top all other bids are not accepted. Payment is required within 10 days of the closing and problem with auction lots must be addressed within two weeks after receipt of the winning lots.

Front Striker mail auctions are for the subscribers and between 30% and 40% of the lots offered are on consignment. Ten lots per subscriber are accepted. When lots arrive, they are subject to inspection and a form of quality control. They must be clean, undamaged and unstruck, with a relatively positive market value. Nationals (usually with coupons on the back, "800" numbers, or advertising national products) and common generic matchcovers (chain restaurants and hotels, etc.) are discouraged. Fifty assorted modern day hotels and motels rarely bring more than $1, so the auctioneer has the right to reject any lot.

FINAL COMMENTS
As true ephemera, matchcovers are still in their financial infancy. Although the national society celebrates its 50th anniversary in 1990, matchcover collecting has been predominantly a trading and swapping hobby. Matchcovers were once, and may still be, the single most prolific collectible. "Close Cover Before Striking," are the four most printed words ever. Hundreds of billions of match books were made, and visions of buying or selling matchcovers were once synonymous to bringing coals to New Castle. All that has now changed. The match industry is at its lowest ebb in 100 years. Smoking bans have curtailed cigarettes purchases and match book orders have fallen. Prices for matchcovers are still reasonable. By the turn of the century, when matchcovers will have surely taken their place in the financial hobby arena, there may be a different bounty to pay.