Soccerbid News
23rd June 2009
We cannot believe another month has gone by since the last penned letter from your (hopefully) favourite online memorabilia dealer
The move away for Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid from Manchester United. Although from the hardened fans of Man United it may be a very big disappointment for next season but for memorabilia terms, Renaldo goes down as one of the Legends of Manchester United and his memorabilia will continue to hold its own, if not rise.
One has only to look at how difficult it is now to get a signed David Beckham Man United shirt, or Roy Keane Manchester United shirt all of which have held their price and now are going up in value. We feel the same will happen with Renaldo’s material.
Initially the photographs may be a little slow going out but we still have a reasonable stock of photo’s and a couple of shirts, non of which we are concerned about.
The stock value at the moment is certainly not going down.
We have been delighted to sell an England Cap awarded to Don Revie and have also been able to move a number of worn England Shirts. Arguments still rave on the value of these items. The caps because obviously they haven’t been worn, but however, they have been awarded to the particular recipient and therefore form part of their life playing their chosen sport and a cap awarded to a player is genuine memorabilia.
With the worn shirts, we have just taken into stock an Alan Ball 1975 England Shirt. These aertex shirts which was at the time was the new fashion, have been in demand as memorabilia for the last few years, which has driven the price up. Although we don’t necessarily expect it to be a quick sale, with a World Cup year beckoning next year, we are fairly confident of this one going.
On other memorabilia front the value of Lewis Hamilton has seem to slowly going down, with Jenson Buttons going up, bearing in mind that it was worth virtually nothing at the beginning of the season. This can only go in the right direction. However, with his recent performance in the British Grand Prix who known’s where he will be at the end of the season.
We are all very excited about Wimbledon and could we have a British Champion this year. Andy Murray’s photographs will then increase in value, but not let’s get our expectations up to soon.
The British Lions which in previous years on previous tours memorabilia was a great seller, this year we have noticed it is quite slow. Maybe the British Lions have got to be seen to be doing it all before people start investing money in their memorabilia.
Summer months are traditionally a quite time for memorabilia, however, we are still delighted at the moment particular at short notice sales have come in and everybody wants things either the day after or even the same day.
We are very much in the hands of Royal Mail or Couriers, but we do push out all the stops to try and accommodate our customers. However, it would be nice if we could just be given just a little bit more notice! One client phoned at 11am and wanted the item delivered 50 miles away in 3 hours we did it but a little stressful! However I suppose that’s why our clients keep coming back! Have a good summer don’t forget birthday presents, wedding presents memorabilia makes a wonderful gift one client had a double “your face here” featuring the Tottenham team and the second one the Manchester Utd team both together in a frame with an engraved plate a unique present and a talking point at the wedding!
Written 20th May 2009
When we look back when we last gave you news on soccerbid in March what a busy time it has been since then.
It’s no secret and I am sure you don’t need reminding that it pretty tough out there at the moment; however there have been very encouraging signs with the memorabilia.
going on the road with our theatre shows up to Crewe with Tommy Smith and Norman Hunter. To Chelmsford with the ‘West ham Forever Blowing Bubbles show’ these shows introduced soccerbid to lots of new people.
We are also delighted to of worked with a variety of Charities and fund raisers and delighted through soccerbid supplied memorabilia up until the end of April this year we have helped Charities and fund raisers to take just over £600,000. Wouldn’t your club or charity organization like some of that money? Well you know how to contact us and why not experience one of our auction nights. In some cases we will also provide a celebrity to go along which not only helps sell the memorabilia but the punters are happy to meet and greet, shake hands with a celebrity from their chosen sport. Obviously at times like this we all keep an eye on the competition although we are probably one of the firms that are quite happy to have competition because more of our competition is buying memorabilia off us. We find it quite amusing as we look round other people’s websites to see stock that we have got and how much other websites are selling it for. However everyone has to earn a living. Lets look forward to the World cup 2010 already we are putting together plans for some World Cup special packages.
You would have noticed the montages we put together with a number of legends. These were using pen pics magazine pages from the 70s and 80s that were signed that don’t necessarily have the higher value maybe on their own, but put together with a montage we have examples with Arsenal, Chelsea & currently have an England one where you have the opportunity to have autographs up to 25 legends from a particular club or country on one signed presentation for under £500. The Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal ones even Manchester united ones were under £300.
We have been watching with interest The Formula One this year where we stocked up with many Lewis Hamilton’s and he doesn’t seem to be doing much on the race track. Jenson Button is someone we are aware of although our presentations with the toy cars actually in the presentation are something that are really proven to be very popular; however we are struggling to find a toy car from the Brawn team driven by Jenson Button although I’m sure it will come along later in the season.
The British Lions tour this year generally provides a bit of brisk memorabilia remember last tour lots of expectations for the British Lions and it really didn’t happen on the pitch or the memorabilia. This year we are probably laid back a little bit and waiting to see how the performance on the pitch makes any difference to sales of memorabilia.
You may have noticed we were advertising on the soccerbid site the visit to Kentucky to meet Muhammad Ali. Due to a number of reasons the promoters have postponed this trip. For boxing and sports fans the opportunity to meet this wonderful man probably one of the greatest sportsman ever is something all sports fans would relish. We understand from the promoters as so many deposits and money has been paid out abroad the trip will be going ahead but probably to tie in with the Kentucky Derby next year.
If you are interested with this please let us know.
As the season nears to a close who would of said at the beginning of the season that Newcastle would be fighting for their lives. The early part of the season it looked as if Spurs would stay near to the bottom of the table; however they have improved vastly under Harry Houdini Redknapp this year, perhaps to the disappointment of the West ham fans. As we are West Ham fans here with us it’s a normal uneventful season but glad to be in the better end of the premiership with promising signs for next season.
You will notice we are selling some official signed items from Cristiano Ronaldo we have a couple of shirts still available.
On the Aftal business you would of noticed that membership has grown from strength to strength and its amazing how many people are still in this day and age look at buying from a non Aftal member.
Soccerbid is going back on the road 1st October we are doing an Arsenal special in Hertford with Ray Parlour and Charlie George. November 22nd Manchester we are doing a show with Bryan Robson and Norman Whiteside. Soccerbid will be there in attendance with our memorabilia.
We are very close in finishing our tests on valuations on the telephone system. We will be offering a valuation for a cost of a telephone call and also if you wish to sell memorabilia our buying department will be offering a system where you can find out if you wish to your item all for the cost of a phone call. Our buyers will be pleased to consider some of that original memorabilia so we will be advertising that in the next month or so.
We are once again thankful for your business and support. We know its tough for a lot of people out there but we thank many thousands of you who keep coming back for presents, valuations etc.
Written 17th March 2009
It would be fair to say that on new sales it is very quiet at the moment, however, we are still having sales, the auctions are still very busy and we had many requests to assist for BBC Red Nose Day.
We are delighted to welcome to our Sporting Agency former Arsenal and England player Ray Parlour, along with the fact that we can use him for appearances he also has a lot of memorabilia and has a direct “in” at Arsenal.
We are also delighted to have made a connection with a current player at Portsmouth this has opened up quite a lot of England and Portsmouth items.
The Valuation department is now busier than ever and it would be fair to say that more people are trying to sell us their memorabilia than ever before.
It is amazing despite this current credit crunch; there are still lots of people out there buying memorabilia, and recent signing for Eric Cantonar and Pele have shown good returns on investment for shirts and photos.
I suppose we are all banking on an England World Cup entry, which will certainly start pushing, particularly the England related memorabilia for new year. Manchester United doing well this season will also help the case.
We must congratulate our boss, who is now the Vice Chairman of AFTAL. For those of you who are not aware AFTAL is the policing authority for memorabilia and memorabilia dealers in the UK. During these desperate times in recession there are a number of so called dealers that are either faking signatures themselves or buying fake signatures and selling them, just to get themselves a wage.
AFTAL was created to try and stamp out rogue dealers. To be asked to be on the board is an honour, particularly as there are only 8 board members selected out of all the UK’s dealers. With a couple of up and coming court cases regarding dodgy dealers, due to commence very shortly AFTAL, will once again be in the for front of trying to straighten out the memorabilia industry.
We have been approached by a number of photo libraries and print companies, to start stocking some of their products, this is something we will experiment with and see what happens and what sort of sales we get from this.
With so many charities and people fund raising at the moment, don’t forget we will offer for fund raisers and charities a sale of return basis, however there will be certain security checks which has to be put in place as there do seems to be some unscrupulous people who think they can just have memorabilia and walk away with it. This has not happened to us, but has happened to some of our competitors.
We have noticed in the last month or so that quite a number of retailers have gone into administration or just disappeared. I am please to announce that
SOCCER BID is trading very healthily and do not fear when buying any memorabilia from us, we will not be disappearing.
It is also worth reflecting that when you buy memorabilia from a retailer or a company that could go into administration that your certificate of authenticity is not valid once that company goes into administration.
Our holding company has been trading now for 29 years, and as far as we are aware there aren’t too many other memorabilia companies that have such a long track record.
Febuary news
January was a very busy month with Clyde Best over from Bermuda and it was wonderful to meet thousands of new people this included lot of existing Soccerbid customers and hopefully plenty of new ones as well.
We were delighted to say particularly at Southend it was like the old days with memorabilia we actually run out of frames. We now have some wonderful West Ham memorabilia signed by Clyde Best, Pop Robson, Billy Bonds and Phil Parkes.
With shows in different parts of the country we were bought back into the recession very quickly when we went to Stevenage and sold very little and nothing went in the auction. We keep reminding ourselves we are in a luxury business and compared to quite a lot of our competitors we must be grateful for everything that comes in of which we eternally thank you.
On the memorabilia front there seems generally a trend away from the premiership and now looking at the legends of sport. The 1966 prices have seemed to have stabilized at last although Bobby Moore’s autograph continues to rise. More and more people are asking for Alf Ramsey, Kenneth Wolstenholme and Howard Shepherdson which makes up the complete picture for World cup 1966.
We were delighted to put together quite a number of Rugby montages for hospitality companies for the six nation championships and with our boss being a Davies he is confident that Wales will retain the crown as far as the six nations is concerned. However we still think there could be a few surprises with France. England seems to be very much trying to organize themselves with Martin Johnson appearing to be still experimenting with several members of the team.
We are constantly laughing at some of the players going backwards and forwards in the premiership Jermaine Defoe’s Tottenham autographs which were worth nothing when he was in Portsmouth but suddenly are popular again and how many people picked up on the Robbie Keane Tottenham photographs we were selling which went as cheap as £10 when he went to Liverpool. That would have been a good investment who would have worked out that that transfer was going to happen?
It’s amazing at last people are starting to recognize that Manchester City now could be one of the bigger clubs in the next ten years if the financial investment continues to go into the club. Will it ever get to the heights of Chelsea, Man United or Liverpool only time will tell? It’s at this time in memorabilia we have a look at a lot of the previous legends which form quite a lot of the history of the club and we have quite a substantial collection.
Over the years we have built up a large collection of signed magazine pictures and photos we have given quite a lot of our customers the opportunity to buy these at very reasonable prices a lot of which have sold. Using quite a number of these we have now assembled 2 Manchester United 1 Liverpool, 1 Chelsea and 1 England montage which are truly unique items and because some of these images were originally from magazines as opposed to glossy photographs they are that much cheaper the signatures are all original and some of the images are those not used before and certainly not ones that are being seen or sold by other memorabilia dealers. When you look at the England one which was something like 23 signatures we are talking about English football legends here not just journeyman under £450 this is an amazing bargain. When on the wall you would not know it was coloured magazine pages! If you favourite team isn’t featured in a montage why not give us a call because we do have lots of material for most of the big teams.
We have got to give a mention to a certain gentleman James Colborn from Preston who for the last 6 years has been trying to put together a lot of old autographs going back to the 1940s, 50s, 60s and 70s and we have managed to help with his collection. We have probably now supplied him with something like 80 autographs and we were delighted to make him the first “Special one” customer of 2009 and he will be receiving a little something from us in the post. With the positive comments he has written in a note to us we were the only company that were prepared to go a little step further compared to all our competition. We find that’s the one constant comment we always receive “our customer service is better than all our competitors” This is why we do not want order and pay online we like to talk to you!
Talking of our competition it’s healthy out there and one good thing I suppose with the credit crunch that’s its slowly getting rid of a lot of competition and of course the best way to try and buy memorabilia from a genuine dealer is to telephone between 9am-10am on a Monday morning and see if the answer phone is on at home or if they are doing their other job and their memorabilia is just part time occupation or they are a proper memorabilia dealer.
We feel that the next three to four months is going to be a tough time for people out there and we are constantly being asked for valuations for people who want to sell their memorabilia. A strong word of warning at the moment if you are trying to sell your memorabilia unless it is an item pre 1990 you might end up being offered a lot less money than the value it may be worth holding on at least another 12 months. Its very much a buyers market not a sellers market and its amazing how many people are offering Man united triple signed shirts which a few years ago were anything between £750 and £1500 and now people are accepting £200/ £300.It they wait a year there will find they will get more money than that.
As always we thank you for looking at soccerbid we KNOW its tough out there although we are in a luxury industry. We are ever thankful people are looking at the site and hopefully one day will spend some money with us.
31st December 2008
Well Xmas did not happen for us but then we had some exceptional previous years to compare with. We had a request for a John Elway item from a Big legal man in London now we had (with respect to our American clients never heard of him) however our American associates within 24 hours had sorted out a big choice of in person signed items and guess what another satisfied customer!
We are finding that the legends are now more and more in demand mainly we suppose as the currant sports stars move teams so much and David Beckham Real Madrid items have just dropped in value again! We have now teamed up with a long standing insurance company that specializes and understands insurance for memorabilia, when we first starting trading our insurance company did not understand what memorabilia was and said “oh is it like paintings and jewellery?!” that’s fine till you need to make a claim, so make your new years resolution one to insure your prized collection with a company that understands what memorabilia is! Hopefully we can introduce you to our associates. As we are about to have a glass of bubbly it is everyone at soccerbid wishing you a happy no lets be sensible in these times as happy as possible with us all holding on to our jobs and most of all our loved ones for the next 12 months safely. Any spare money would be nice to see here at soccerbid buying from the best no lets re phrase that from the nicest hopefully the most professional but certainly the most caring memorabilia company in the world. Every one of our competitors says their the best memorabilia company in the world there are hundreds of them! We believe in our customers telling us and for the amount of you that come back time and time again we must be doing something right.
Written 10/12/08
Well its hard out there soccerbid has arrived at the dreaded recession, Xmas sales are down on all previous years however we are still selling to our loyal customers. Last week we had lots of calls from people who wanted non sports memorabilia although its not our regular stock we know all the genuine dealers in music, TV, Hollywood etc as we have existing relationships with all on sport so its better to go to someone you trust than try and build a relationship with someone you do not know. Romford was brisk business for Frank Bruno, St Albans with the West Ham boys was okay. We are now looking forward to the theatre shows with Clyde Best, and other football legends in January. Tickets will make an excellent present for your loved one. We are visiting Southend, Dartford, Bedford, Crewe, Chelmsford, and Stevenage. What are the investment items to buy for this Xmas? We recommend Lewis Hamilton again, Henry Cooper, and of course Bobby Moore! But as we always say buy an item because you like it and if it proves to be an investment especially in this day and age that’s a bonus. Getting back to the non sports items we have discovered cunning men who now are having wives saying no more sports items then the old man buys a piece of music or TV memorabilia that the wife likes then uses that as an excuse for another sports item! We do not know when we will put pen to paper or keyboard to screen so on behalf of all of us at soccerbid thanks for your consideration and sales this year. We really do appreciate it. It goes without saying that we will be very much here next year something a lot of our competitors are telling us that maybe they will have to fold or get a real job in the new year. We ask you all what ever your circumstances or situation to have the best time you can over the festive period but try and remember others and consider their happiness.
Written early November
23rd November soccerbid will be having a mobile shop and signing with Frank Bruno in “The Liberty” Romford 11-4pm
This last month we have had more calls from people wishing to sell items than buy and we are thinking of setting up an advice line. If you wish to sell an item please bear in mind when you contact us or any other dealer you are on the back foot- there is nothing that we are desperate to get our hands on. The price you will be offered will be a trade less forced sale price. The currant climate is not a good time to sell unless you just want to get rid of the item and are prepared to accept the offer you are given. Soccerbid was delighted to once again to be featured in The Sun talking about the amount of fakes on the market and that big reseller of fake memorabilia. We were also featured in the Mail on Sunday and lots of smaller local papers. We were involved with the Autograph show in Coventry a few weeks ago, we did not have a stand there just supplied some of the faces there, also some of the dealers who buy off us were there. It was very quiet and why do you need to go out on a cold weekend when you can look on the site from the warmth of your sitting room! Xmas has started but we are expecting a quiet one this year. We are “back on the road” in January visiting Bedford, Stevenage, Crewe, Southend, Dartford and Barking. The West Ham legend Clyde Best will be coming over for a theatre tour. Soccerbid will have a shop in attendance for each of these shows. Come and say hello! A new American president well if we dealt in political memorabilia we would buy a signed item of Obama in fact we are able to get a few signed items from our associate in the US so if you are interested please let us know.
Written October
What is happening in the world? Now memorabilia is a good investment if you buy wisely. We have been busier than ever no we are not being flash or clever just because we are busy it does not mean we are earning lots of money! With 3 West Ham related shows under out belt we have one more to go in St Albans, it is wonderful to see a lot of our customers and can we say hello to George Grainger from Erith in Kent he has been buying off us for 9 years every other month or so and we gave him VIP tickets at Dartford where he met his hero Billy Bonds. We have eventually got rid of our oldest piece of memorabilia the Oil painting of David Beckham its been with us for years. The Gazza worn shirt has also gone. We have lots of customers phoning us to say they love the site but have no spending money at the moment well keep looking and soon you can advise the family what soccerbid items you want for xmas! The 1966 team sheets are now virtually gone with the sad passing of Alan Ball hundreds have gone in the last few months.
In football Alan Curbishley, Kevin Keegan what’s going on? The Curbishley items have dropped in price! For the West Ham fans will Curbishley be regarded as a memorable manager? Only time will tell. Keegan--- well his playing days to us at soccerbid towers outshine his managerial career. Its amazing there are not many managers who outshine as a player then become a wonderful manager some of course are better known as a manager than a player Harry Redknapp, Bobby Robson then of course Jack Charlton? Well he went to the top of his profession as a player winning the world cup and made a pretty good manager, but we digress. In the memorabilia world it’s strange we still are selling items daily however the enquires are definitely down and everybody in the world wants to sell us their memorabilia. Last month our company was offered 600 items 120 of them were fake, if you are thinking of buying a Bobby Moore autograph make sure it was one he signed before he died when it is dated 1996 it gives the game away! Our valuation department is as busy as ever but remember the item is worth what someone is prepared to pay not any more! At the moment like houses it’s a buyers market! We are sensible and realise this therefore are discounting lots of items why not consider Xmas presents now!! We are delighted that Bid up TV are dealing with us again lots of water under the bridge but it would be fair to say that we were approached we did not do the chasing for the business. If you are into investment we have just done a signing with a non sports individual that we feel confident will go up in value in fact we are keeping a 100 pieces for ourselves. If you have a minimum of £500 to spend and accept you will need to wait at least 3-4 years please drop dave@football1966.com a line for more info. |
