Filling Every Collector Niche, Pristine Auction COO Jeromy Murray Gives Insight on the Hobby-Leading Business
ROSEMONT, Ill. – There’s a famous Gordon Gekko quote in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film Wall Street delivered by Michael Douglas that fits the hobby perfectly: “Money never sleeps, pal.” That idea summarizes the amount of work Pristine Auction puts into their daily, weekly, and monthly portfolio.
Pristine Auction is one of the leaders in the industry, auctioning off a wide variety of collectibles to fit every niche. Fans seeking pop culture items, coins, fine art, and jewelry can find it at Pristine. But the backbone of their business is trading cards – both sports and TCG.
Something else that sets Pristine apart from some of their competitors, it not only caters to the everyday collector but has different time intervals on various items, including 60-second auctions on artifacts with valuations of $90,000 or more.
To learn more about the collect at your pace and within your budget business model Pristine has set up for the industry, Beckett spoke with Chief Operating Officer Jeromy Murray from The National to gain insight one of the hobby’s most trusted sources for everything hobby related.
Interview with Pristine Auction COO Jeromy Murray
BN: Jeromy, it is hard to keep up with all the success Pristine has had in 2026. Please tell us about some of the highlights in your auction so far this year.
Jeromy Murray: “The big thing for us this year is the immediate gratification from auctions. We’ve always been an auction house that has 10-minute auctions, daily auctions, and things like that. But everyone is now going to that live format, and that has shifted a lot of our business.
“We have from 11:00 a.m. MST until midnight MST, there are live auctions going. And that is usually cards, memorabilia, rips, mystery product – a little bit of everything.
“There’s eBay Live, Fanatics Live, and Whatnot, and there is Pristine Live. We are leaning heavily into that right now. That is an exciting part of our business in 2026.”
BN: How can the public consign with Pristine Auction, and how does your auction house decide what makes the cut to be auctioned off?
Jeromy Murray: “It is amazing when people come to our warehouse and see the amount of stuff coming in every day. We welcome that. We love that. We want people to see that because to do as many auctions as we do per day, per week, per month, and per year, you have to have a lot of inventory.
“Large consigners will ship us pallets and we have individual customers dropping off items constantly. We take anything. If it is MEMs (memorabilia), cards, Pokémon – we have a spot for it in our auctions.
“It is really easy. You can reach out to us on PristineAuction.com. Say, ‘Hey, I have some stuff. How do I get started selling?’
“Our consignors get paid quickly. Once the auction is completed, if you’ve set up a wire payment, you get paid the next day. We are the fastest in the industry on this side of the auction houses.
“Get your stuff in, get it sold, and get paid right away.”
BN: Running that many auctions per day, per week and per month, how far in advance is Pristine planning out each event?
Jeromy Murray: “Every day there is an auction running, and you are filling that out well in advance. You will get to the point where you say, ‘Hey, we need some more of this, and this, and this,’ and then our sales team goes out to fill that up.
“What is also great about it, when people reach out and say, ‘Hey, I have a load of this product.’ We can do exclusive auctions for those folks, getting it set up in a couple of weeks. You can have your own dedicated auction with your own pieces – however you want it.
“It does take some planning, but the team is amazing. There’s 105 of us at Pristine. A lot of auction houses are not that big; we have a pretty intricate system.”
BN: Pristine is well known for the pace and style of its auctions, especially the quick-hitting ones with high-end items. Tell us about that approach.
Jeromy Murray: “Our owner, Jared Kavlie, is a collector and a fan of auctions. He loves that live auction experience. He pushes it to the limit. He will sell $50,000, $60,000, and $90,000 cards in a live format. He will start it at $1, sets it for 30 or 60 seconds, and it runs. There is no reserve. It goes for what it sells for, and that is what it is.
“That is the excitement of the platform. You are live. You get to see a $90,000 Jackie Robinson rookie sold in a minute and a half essentially. It is absolutely crazy.”
BN: What are some of the biggest items Pristine has sold this year?
Jeromy Murray: “Last night our Elite Live Auction at The National, Jared sold a 1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan rookie with a rookie autograph on it; a full signature. Jared really, really wanted the piece. He couldn’t buy the piece, but he really wanted it.
“Finding those unique pieces is really what excites us. All the stuff we are seeing is amazing. It is really cool. But those odd balls, the one-of-one pieces are what is really exciting for us.”
BN: What types of sports cards is Pristine typically auctioning?
Jeromy Murray: “Sports is our bread and butter. But this market is TCG crazy. Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering – all of that stuff is blowing up right now. The 30th Anniversary of Pokémon is coming up, so we now have dedicated auctions just for TCG products, specifically Pokémon. We are adjusting to the trend and adding Pokémon to our auctions.
“Sports is our bread and butter, but in our auctions we have coins, we have gold, art, Pokémon – if it is a collectible and there is value, there’s a good chance we can sell it for you.
“There’s a lot going on in this industry, and it is exciting to be in this industry. If you are at The National you are seeing all these cards and all of these people here to collect.
“What is great about Pristine, and it is one of the reasons why I love working here, is we have stuff for every level of collectors. There are some auction houses that are really high dollar with their items; those are rare. Not everyone can get that. But if you are a fan of a certain athlete or looking for a certain card, you can get things here at a much more reasonable price.
“You can get some high-end pieces here, for sure, but we really pride ourselves as being an auction house where every fan can play and collect and know that they are getting an authentic piece.”
BN: After seeing consistent results from Pristine’s auctions, what trends within the hobby are you seeing? What do you feel is the next big thing for collectors?
Jeromy Murray: “It is weird. You think that you know this market, and then you realize you don’t know this market. A perfect example of that is the Michael Jordan stuff in our booth. You would think that the Michael Jordan stuff couldn’t get any higher or any more valuable, he’s not playing anymore, but it constantly goes up and up.
“I wish I had a magic ball to say, ‘You need to buy this player right now.’ The key thing is to find a player that you have faith in, that you will enjoy watching, and are somewhat invested in, but not monetarily per se, and just enjoy it.
“Pokémon is where it’s at right now. The 30-year anniversary is coming up, and the way the market is going right now, the big hype on that right now is they are building and building this market for their big celebration of their 30th year.”
The sheer volume of items flowing through Pristine Auction on a daily basis is staggering. As an example, at the time of this writing, 2,385 auction lots were scheduled to end before the end of the day. Whether you’re searching for an affordable collectible or a six-figure grail, Pristine Auction truly has something for every type of collector, and a lot of it.
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