When newcomers enter the auction world, they learn about basic rules such as extended bidding and the buyer's premium, two of the more intuitive aspects of the process.
Understanding auction items that have reserves can be a more difficult part of that indoctrination.
Auction houses have different rules and, sometimes, a reserve is never disclosed and only pops up when the bidding is over.
That's what happened Sunday night at Goldin Auctions, as many of the top items in the much-publicized "King of Collectibles" Elite Auction did not sell.
Consigners clearly headed to Goldin with the hopes of cashing in, thanks to the halo from the second season of the collectibles show on Netflix. But many of the top items flashed "Reserve Not Met" on Sunday night.
These items included a Jackie Robinson game-used bat, a Marvel set, game-worn gloves from Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays, a Reggie Jackson car, a Mao Zedong autograph, and a Batman suit.
While Goldin doesn't have to mention the reserve until after the auction, Goldin posted the reserves at 10:01 pm ET, as the auction went into extended bidding.
When a significant amount of items don’t sell, bidders lose a bit of faith in bidding at the auction house, which is one of the reasons why Goldin founder Ken Goldin openly doesn't like reserves.
"I hate them," Goldin told cllct Monday morning. "We typically don't do it."
In the last three Elite auctions, Goldin didn't have a single item with a reserve. Goldin said this was a different situation because this auction was tied to his show.
As it turns out, Reggie Jackson, who was on the show, consigned many of the items that didn't hit reserve.
"For Reggie, if he doesn't get what he needs, he's not going to let it go," Goldin said.
Jackson, it turns out, was the owner of four of the seven items: the Robinson bat, the Koufax and Mays gloves and, obviously, his car.
Another aspect that bidders might know is that Goldin, per its rules, can bid on these items "below the reserve on behalf of the seller, either consecutively or in response to other bids."
Ken Goldin would not say if the auction house made any bids on behalf of its consignors.
Other auction houses do this as well. Last Saturday, Iconic boosted its reserve items all at once hours ahead of the conclusion of the sale. At least four items failed to sell, including a Steve Jobs autograph, a J.D. Salinger signed "The Catcher In The Rye," a Benjamin Franklin signed document and a Marilyn Monroe signed early modeling contract.
That situation is even more complicated. Arizona, where Iconic is located, doesn't require auction houses to ever disclose there was a reserve on an item, which is why the final prices of those items are still displayed as if they sold. This creates a greater problem because those prices are then used for comps when, in reality, not only did they not sell, but the auction house often has bid it up. That's one of the reasons why Arizona has become a popular place for auction houses, including Iconic and Grey Flannel.
Some auction houses, including Sotheby's, are used to having reserves and don't particularly feel it's a negative if something passes and they have to disclose it. But it's not a "no-risk" game for the seller.
Jackson, for example, likely can't put any of his items to auction for the next two years because they've already been given a good look, and the price might drop just by virtue of the appearance of it not selling the first time.
Given the marketing power of Goldin, and especially for this auction tied to the Netflix show, there's no person in the universe interested in a Jackie Robinson game-used bat who didn’t know it was being auctioned off at Goldin.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.