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What I wouldn't give for a true auction site!
#11

RE: What I wouldn't give for a true auction site!
(03-11-2015, 11:05 AM)winningsforthebirds Wrote: For instance if one guy paid $25 for a card at a store, but 20 guys on eBay paid a combined average of $15 for the card, the cards value is closer to $15 in the real world, however beckett would list close to the highest reported sale.
That's apples to oranges. Your example illustrates my point. They are not comparable experiences. I would not be willing to pay the same amount on Ebay as I would at a store where I can touch it, inspect it, feel assured that I will actually receive what I paid for, not deal with shipping costs, deal with a seller I have a certain level of trust/relationship with, AND get it right away.

Ebay values should be taken into account when determining a book value, but are NOT representative of the market as a whole.

You also cannot compare it to the stock exchange because EVERY share of stock is the same. There are no advantages gained from being able to inspect the stock certificate. I know EXACTLY what I am buying when I buy it. There are no variables.
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#12

RE: What I wouldn't give for a true auction site!
(03-11-2015, 08:12 AM)joe callahan13 Wrote: Uhhhh no. I would pay more at a brick and mortar store, and do. I will buy on Ebay as a last resort. I don't like the risk I take that I will be scammed by an Ebay seller and I ESPECIALLY don't like buying a card sight unseen. Some people are more comfortable with that, but I would rather know what I am getting and I am fine with paying a little more for that luxury. You can get cards for lower prices on Ebay specifically BECAUSE it is sight unseen. That's like Kelley Blue Book stating that the market value of a used car is what it sells for at a dealer auction. That is not an accurate reflection, it is a subset.
I'm not sure how eBay is "sight unseen". Other than dealers who use Beckett's stock photo emporium, most sellers provide an image of the actual card you are going to purchase. And it's not like it was 10 years ago. Unless the person posts a blurry or grainy picture (I avoid these because, what are they trying to hide?), those images are pretty clear. A little attention to detail goes a long way. And as I posted earlier. if you are getting scammed so often that you are paranoid about it, then you have some horrible luck, poor decision making abilities, or both. I have been using eBay since 1996-'97, and I can count the number of times I have been done wrong on one hand. And I buy everything from clothes to car parts.

Concerning how much you pay at the LCS...if you are willing to pay more there, then you are unusual in that regard. Why do you think so many LCS's have gone out of business over the years? Because the MAJORITY of people out there are just not willing to pay LCS prices when they can go on eBay or COMC and get it for way less. But heck...I will overpay on eBay for certain items in my PC, so WHERE you buy it probably does not carry as much weight as HOW BADLY you want it.

Now, to compare this to an auto dealer's auction & Kelley Blue Book is, as you say in a later post, apples to oranges. The most immediate and glaring difference is that most people buying on eBay are not dealers, rather, they are collector's. If they were all dealers the sports card category would dry up overnight. The second is that eBay is not a wholesale site, it is a retail site. There are no special privileges for dealers making purchases; no discounts. You can open a storefront and get listing fee discounts, but the last I checked dealers pay in full for purchases just like everyone else.

No...winningsforthebirds is correct. The proper value of a card is what the PUBLIC is willing to pay...regardless of what they intend to do with the item they purchase. That is business 101...literally...I learned that in the first business course I ever took.
"A collection isn't a collection unless you have some of everything." ~kollectornet

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#13

RE: What I wouldn't give for a true auction site!
I too miss the old auction days....I understand why so many sellers have moved to the BIN/BO for many of the reasons talked about on other threads but too many are just wasting time with their goofy high prices listed with the Buy It Now, and then they offer the Best Offer option because of their silly pricing. I get the concept of throwing it out there and someone uninformed my pay too much for it....but I doubt that happens too often.

I deal primarily in graded cards so very little guesswork to the condition right? I was looking at a card this morning that was $69.99 or best offer. That very card with the grade it had is listed in the price guide for $25. What are the chances of the seller getting anywhere near $69.99? Oh and this is for a card from the 1960s so not a new hot player....just an old graded card.

There are cards that are so overpriced that they have been sitting out there at the same price for years.
http://s1147.photobucket.com/albums/o558/dmasci/
Always looking for BGS or BVG graded cards for HOFers....especially the skilled positions.

[Image: DmasciBanner.jpg]
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