Lelands
Lelands is a privately held, 1985-founded auction house running online and in-person auctions of sports cards, memorabilia, and pop culture collectibles for serious collectors, operating alongside sister company Clean Sweep within the Collectors First Auction Group network.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1985
- HeadquartersMatawan, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Lelands does
Lelands is a privately held auction house founded in 1985 by Joshua Leland Evans and headquartered in Matawan, New Jersey, specializing in sports cards, sports memorabilia, and entertainment/pop culture collectibles. The company runs a recurring auction program anchored by three flagship Lelands Classic Auctions per year plus Pop-Up Auctions, and — through its Collectors First Auction Group — routes consignor material across Clean Sweep Auctions' complementary formats (Champions, Double Play, Players), enabling tiered placement of items from high-end museum-quality pieces to lower-priced vintage cards.
The technical platform is an online auction system at auction.lelands.com featuring two proprietary capabilities: Extended Bidding, which keeps lots open through a two-stage closing process to deter last-second sniping, and AutoBid, which executes bidder-set maximums while keeping the maximum confidential. Operations are supported by authentication coordination, professional photography, catalog production, marketing, and post-sale settlement, with the in-house team covering acquisitions, auction operations, promotions, and marketing under President Steve Verkman.
Lelands' revenue model is transaction-fee based, combining buyer's premiums on hammer prices, consignment fees paid by sellers, and, for qualified consignors, competitive cash advances or outright purchase options. Marketing combines an exclusive email newsletter, the Auction Ave blog, print/look book advertising, presence at major U.S. collectibles conventions, and recurring earned media in outlets such as ESPN, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Forbes. The customer base is a long-tail mix of serious individual sports collectors, estate/inherited collection sellers, investment-oriented memorabilia buyers, and pop culture / Americana collectors.
Lelands firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lelands
- Legal name
- Lelands Auctions
- Website
- https://lelands.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1985
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Lelands is a privately held, 1985-founded auction house running online and in-person auctions of sports cards, memorabilia, and pop culture collectibles for serious collectors, operating alongside sister company Clean Sweep within the Collectors First Auction Group network.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lelands industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Sports Memorabilia Auction Services
- NAICS
- Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (459120)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Sports Collectibles Marketplace & Auction Platforms (CRAMAOAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Sports Trading Cards Retail (CRALAGAA), Vintage & Antique Collectibles Retail (CRALAGAE)
Keywords
Where Lelands is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Matawan
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Lelands business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Auction Commissions (Consignor Fees): Lelands charges consignment fees to sellers who consign their sports cards, memorabilia, and collectibles to auction. The company also offers outright purchase options for qualified consignments.
- Buyer's Premium: Like most major auction houses, Lelands charges a Buyer's Premium added to the final hammer price of each winning lot, supporting services including photography, catalog production, marketing, and auction administration.
- Cash Advances: For qualified consignments, Lelands may offer competitive cash advances against future auction proceeds, providing liquidity to sellers before items are sold.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Auction-based transaction pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Lelands product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lelands is a sports collectibles auction house that sells sports cards, game-worn memorabilia, championship rings, autographed items, and related historic collectibles through scheduled online auctions. The company accepts consignments from collectors and estates, providing authentication coordination, professional photography, catalog production, marketing, and settlement services, while also offering appraisal and outright purchase options. Its offerings are distributed across the Lelands and Clean Sweep auction formats within the unified Collectors First Auction Group network.
Product overview
Lelands operates as a multi-brand auction platform specializing in sports cards, memorabilia, and historic collectibles. The core offering consists of Lelands Classic Auction and Pop-Up Auction events for premium memorabilia, supplemented by Clean Sweep Auctions sub-brands (Champions, Double Play, and Players Auctions) for cards and varied price-point material. All offerings are unified under the Collectors First Auction Group network, which strategically places each item into the optimal auction format. Additional services include professional appraisals, consignment handling with authentication and marketing support, and direct purchase options for qualified sellers seeking immediate liquidity.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Classic Auction Lelands' flagship premier auction event held three times annually, showcasing museum-level sports memorabilia, premier vintage and modern graded trading cards, and significant private collections including game-worn jerseys, championship rings, autographed memorabilia, and historic artifacts. Targeted at serious collectors of important sports material across baseball, basketball, football, hockey, boxing, and other sports.
- Pop-Up Auction Dynamic auction format featuring standout pieces drawn from larger collections, offering collectors opportunities across all price levels with sustained engagement and competitive bidding throughout the auction window.
- Collectors First Auction Group Integrated selling network uniting Lelands and Clean Sweep Auctions to match material with the optimal auction format based on item significance, value, and target audience, maximizing visibility and final hammer prices across the combined collector base.
- Appraisal Services Professional evaluation services for sports cards, memorabilia, and historic collectibles, providing placement recommendations and market value assessments to help collectors decide how best to sell their items.
- Consignment Services End-to-end consignment handling including authentication coordination, professional photography, catalog presentation, marketing, bidder engagement, and settlement processing for collectors consigning sports cards, memorabilia, and historic collectibles to Lelands auctions.
- Direct Purchase Outright purchase options for qualified consignments providing sellers with immediate liquidity and certainty without waiting for auction closure, available through Lelands' 'Why Sell With Us' evaluation process.
Companies that use Lelands
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Lelands technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Lelands partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Clean Sweep AuctionscoreClean Sweep Auctions operates as Lelands' sister company within the Collectors First Auction Group. Together, they provide consignors access to multiple auction formats, strategic placement of items across the network, and a larger base of serious collectors competing for quality material. Clean Sweep handles additional auction formats including Champions Auction, Double Play Auction, and Players Auction, complementing Lelands' Classic and Pop-Up auctions.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Lelands competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Lelands social profiles
Digital presenceLelands financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lelands leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Lelands funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lelands M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lelands
What does Lelands do?
Lelands is a sports collectibles auction house that sells sports cards, game-worn memorabilia, championship rings, autographed items, and related historic collectibles through scheduled online auctions. The company accepts consignments from collectors and estates, providing authentication coordination, professional photography, catalog production, marketing, and settlement services, while also offering appraisal and outright purchase options. Its offerings are distributed across the Lelands and Clean Sweep auction formats within the unified Collectors First Auction Group network.
Is Lelands a public or private company?
Lelands is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Lelands founded?
Lelands was founded in 1985. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Lelands based?
Lelands is headquartered in Matawan, United States, in the North America region.
How does Lelands make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Auction Commissions (Consignor Fees) is the primary driver. The others are buyer's Premium and cash Advances.
Does Lelands have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lelands.
What industry is Lelands in?
Lelands's product category is Sports Memorabilia Auction Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAMAOAI, Sports Collectibles Marketplace & Auction Platforms, with a secondary code of CRALAGAA, Sports Trading Cards Retail. Its NAICS code is 459120.