Where would "the Hobby" be without Ebay?

BigKidAtHeart

Like Boggs,
I wonder the impact that Ebay has had on the hobby
of Baseball card collecting.

He specifically asked about how it has affected PSA,
but I want to know where you think the hobby
as a whole would be if Ebay never was...

koby

The hobby would suck if there were no ebay. In the past, I looked forward to card shows a few times each year with dealers bringing the same stuff over and over. Now there is a card show twenty four hours each day in my own home with new inventory each week.

Before there was no where to sell but cardshow dealers who would offer you 25 percent of the dollar for the hot cards. Screw those greedy cardshow dealers! Today we get full price on ebay. I hope those cardshow dealers go out of business.

WinPitcher

Today we get full price on ebay.




we do?

RepublicaninMass

<< <i>Today we get full price on ebay.

we do? >>


He must have meant he PAYS full price on ebay, for GEM MINT Koby material???

ArtRossLives

I live in Tidewater Virginia and as far as I know there are about 6 pre War Hockey cards for sale within 100 miles - all poor condition priced at full ExMt book from the latest Beckett guide. Thanks to eBay I'm back in the hobby and can find more than I can afford on any given day.

If I ever wanted to sell I could do it now and get somewhere near fair value on eBay. Imagine trying to sell old hockey to dealers in this market.

eBay also has propped up the grading companies IMO as most folks are more comfortable buying a PSA/SCG/GAI graded card than a raw card from someone you don't know or haven't dealt with before. I never bought graded before eBay and now play around with the Set Registry and generally spend more than I should (I see a class action suit coming from financially ruined eBay addicts - makes more sense than suing McDonalds).

yawie99

I doubt I would've returned to the hobby if it weren't for eBay. I started playing around with eBay in August '99, I think, and soon thereafter discovered PSA. The rest, as they say, is history.

As a couple others have said here, the variety and amount of cards conceivably available for purchase absolutely dwarfs what was available in the card shop/show days. Plus, almost anyone can now realize a fair market price for his or her cards. I suppose a few genuinely good card shop owners were buried thanks to eBay, but they were sacrificed in the name of equality of hobby opportunity.

goodriddance189

i better question is

where would my love life be without ebay?

Buckwheat

I'm with ART Ross---No Ebay, and no graded cards, and no way am I collecting like I do.

calleocho

an investment of 7,000 dollars in late 98 would have netted around 110,000 if you were to sell tomorrow

WarHoundR69

It's been a big help in assembling my GUM Inc. WW2 era War cards collection. There are almost always 75 to 100 lots of HOW cards and usually 5 to 10 of the less popular card sets. I recently inherited a Canadian Stamp collection. Stamp dealers (Both locally and in NYC) offered virtually nothing for the collection (It was missing only the 12 most valuable stamps ever issued by Canada). So far I have sold about 25% of the collection and netted 3 times what the dealers offered - and most of the buyers are from Canada. So I would say Ebay is a plus for both the collector and non dealer with some type of extra collectible to sell.

LordThanos1969

I live in Phoenix, where without eBay I would virtually have no chance at obtaining any quality, graded vintage cards. In fact, at the only monthly show of note, there are usually only two dealers selling any graded vintage cards and both have prices that are at SMR or above. I have never seen any graded vintage cards at the few remaining shops in town. So without eBay, I would mostly like have never started collecting cards again after a post 2000 lull, and I most certainly would never have put any sets on the registry.

On an off-topic note, eBay has also been phenomemal for comic book collecting, my other passion. Despite attending major conventions every year for the better part of a decade, I could never have advanced my collection without the aid of eBay.

RepublicaninMass

<< <i>.... I suppose a few genuinely good card shop owners were buried thanks to eBay, but they were sacrificed in the name of equality of hobby opportunity. >>



" Baseball card/ comic book store owner???? We call that profession the 'widow-maker'."
-Dr. Hibbert

WinPitcher

<< .... I suppose a few genuinely good card shop owners were buried thanks to eBay,



possibly not, they are the ones you know see on ebay doing well.

Buccaneer

<< <i><< .... I suppose a few genuinely good card shop owners were buried thanks to eBay,

>>



Here in Colorado Springs, that had been the case. I remember when I was active 15 years ago, there were 7-8 card shops in town. Now there are two: one large store with mountains of modern sports and magic cards, and the other is a dealer stuck in the 1980s = full book for VG/EX-EX cards that are stated to be NM-NMMT.

ydsotter

Without ebay, I never would have gotten back into the hobby. I was just about to lay out $300+ for a VG-EX / off centered copy of a 1972 Julius Erving RC at a local card brothel when my wife's mother said... "why don't you look on eBay first?"

I found about 19 different ones. I got an sgc 92 for about $268.00~
Got my first psa 8 for $232.
Ebay also made me aware of other cards and led me to the registry and player set building.

Lastly, some of the better friends I have made were through the hobby on eBay.

frankhardy

Ebay has totally revolutionized the hobby. I would not even be collecting again, where it not for Ebay. Back in 2001, I asked my uncle if he had any J D Drew rookie cards. He did, but told me to look on Ebay. He said to try it out and you will get hooked. I remember my first Ebay purchase. I still have it. It is a 1987 Fleer Update Set. I bought it for $4.00.

The Bottom Line - if you want something (even if it is very rare), keep looking on Ebay, it will eventually be for sale.

ctsoxfan

Lots of great points, the main one for me is being able to sell/flip my own cards as opposed to selling them to a traditional dealer for pennies on the dollar. Ebay as a rule has made the impossible possible - can you imagine putting together a large graded set without it? Unless you have tons of raw inventory of your own, it would take forever just frequenting local card shows.

marz

Everything would be cheaper. As it is,you can spend too much money on one card and wait until you have more money to spend too much on yet another. With regular auctions they rarely sell what otherwise would be inexpensive "single" card (because they want to make commission on a lot sale).the ability to nibble at cards at your leisure caused inflation. If you had cards already E-bay helped a lot..........if not.........

psa8myaz

Think ebay has allowed us all to see what is truly rare and what is not. It really has also become the great equalizer for buyers and sellers. Have found prices have actually gone down because the supply is now greater than the demand. Certainly there are exceptions to that rule but if you wait long enough it will appear and then appear again and again.

If you build it, he will come.

marz

<< <i>Think ebay has allowed us all to see what is truly rare and what is not. It really has also become the great equalizer for buyers and sellers. Have found prices have actually gone down because the supply is now greater than the demand. Certainly there are exceptions to that rule but if you wait long enough it will appear and then appear again and again.

If you build it, he will come. >>



If you build it..............and complete it.it will sell!

I left a Christmas joke,to be in the spirit just for you!