Is Ebay turning into a wholesale market?

RonBurgundy

I've been tracking Ebay prices on a number of items for several months now, and also just generally paying attention to prices realized on several items that I own. It's been interesting how prices paid seem to have declined, in some cases by significant amounts. What I've found is that except for the highest end material - PSA 9 quality - across the board selling prices are down and in many cases close to "wholesale" prices - assuming that retail is somewhere within 90% of SMR or higher. Even some PSA 8 material I have seen sell for less than 70% of SMR. There are some cards out there that are selling for SMR or even exceeding SMR, but they seem to be isolated circumstances.

If this is part of a broader trend, it could spell bad news in the short term for dealers and also for collectors who sell on Ebay. For buyers obviously it is great, although the concept of "bargain" may be overstated. If a card consistently sells for 65% of SMR, chances are that's the market price, which does not make it a "bargain". Long term this could be bad for collectors, if dealers react by selling less on Ebay and putting more material into their Ebay stores marked up to retail prices.

Would love to hear others' thoughts on this.




Stay Classy,



Ron

yankeeno7

Though I think that is bound to happen, I think 8's in the 60s and 70s have been quite strong. Or maybe it is stronger than I would like
But there are tons of great buys out there. I recently got a 1957 PSA 5 (ok so its not 'investment' material) Duke Snider....I won it for just over 17 bucks including shipping! And the card has no creases and overall a pretty darn good looking card! It's crazy! Crazy I tell ya! But I'll buy cards like that all day long if I could.

tennesseebanker

Ron, have you been tracking Baseball card prices or prices for all sports cards the last few months? The last few months arent really a good selling season for baseball. I think if you had followed Football card prices(especially 70's cards) you would have seen increases. Check the prices from about now until july on Baseball and see if you can tell a difference.

Boopotts

This was bound to happen once every swinging richard with an Internet hook up was able to hawk his collectibles to the rest of the world. Think about it-- do any of us really have any idea just how many shoeboxes of '65 Topps are still out there, floating around in the ether? As more of these get upturned more and more product hits Ebay, since anybody can sell there. It's not like it was 15 years ago where a dealer may have 14 1964 Mantles in stock, and keep 13 of them in cold storage while he held out for $200 on each of them. Now the price realized is whatever a guy can get for a card in the next seven days.

SDavid

Ron -

With modern graded cards, I have noticed more dealers switching to fixed priced listings (either in stores or regular ebay listings) for the majority of their listings.

RonBurgundy

Banker.....


Good point. I've been following them closely since about last May, and really closely since September or so. I've actually noticed a big drop off in the last 90 days. I am sure some of that is seasonal, but I wonder if it's not part of a broader trend.

I would also add that in the raw market, prices there have fallen off the deep end. But there's another issue there - buyers have wised up and now seem to assume that everything they buy raw will turn out to be a grade or two lower than advertised - thus, EX prices often win for NM described material.




Stay Classy,



Ron

GoDodgersFan

Great post.

I just started selling some of my 1980s collection and they are worthless unless in PSA 9 or higher and popular among collectors,
such as Clemens and Ripken rookie cards. The 1985 Topps Clemens PSA 9 is a strong seller and very close to SMR. I am mostly
baseball so I won't mention the other sports.

I'll end up keeing most of my stuff since they are not even worth selling, which is fine with me. Again, I collect for
fun and also sell for fun so generating an income is not an issue. I will say this, you can find some true bargains
for PSA 8s 1980s stuff (even HOFs rookie cards) and I am talking close to or slightly above the cost of grading
a card. This is not good for the hobby. An example are 1983 Boggs and Sandberg PSA 8s.

My knowledge of pre-1980s stuff is limited so I won't comment.

packCollector

I think prices are usually soft in Jan/Feb , start to pick up in march and hold through mid June , then they drop off in the summer , heat up again from Sept - Nov and December is a crap shoot. That is my opinion of the seasonal factor.

I have been watching 56 topps stars and the prices for some have been through the roof and others are pretty stable from what they have been. more modern stuff , I have seen real bargains in. don't forget about supply and demand. If someone is going to list a card with a low bid there is always a chance someone will get it cheap even though the buyer may be willing to pay double what he actually does. that is jsut how the ebay world works

Treetop

would also add that in the raw market, prices there have fallen off the deep end. But there's another issue there - buyers have wised up and now seem to assume that everything they buy raw will turn out to be a grade or two lower than advertised - thus, EX prices often win for NM described material.

Ron,

This is ture, and this is why I won't even think about selling any high end (nrmt on up) raw cards on ebay. Most don't belive that there are nrmt or nrmt/mt cards on ebay so most won't even look anymore, let alone bid. I feel one of the reasons we need slabbed cards is so we can sell on the internet, leaving no doudt on what the grade (approximately) is. I'm hoarding a good percentage of my raw cards (approximately 7000-8000 between 1960 and 1975) to sell at the National this year and I believe I will do very well. Just about everybody LOVES to buy in person a nice high grade raw card for there collections

Mark

RonBurgundy

Mark - good post. You'll have a table at the National this year?



Ron

Treetop

Ron,

Yes, I already have a table and will get you the table / booth number later today or in the a.m. I'm typing these posts at a remote and won't be back in my area until late this evening.

Mark

JasP24

Must be a baseball thing...Football prices continue to set records..At least in the HOF RC category...

Jason

RonBurgundy

Great, do let me know. I will stop by.



Ron

calleocho

pre war is on fire ...beat up cards are getting decent prices and high end its off the charts.

50's stuff seems to be holding on fine...especially high grade.

I dont follow modern stuff ...but the trend has been lower prices for a few years now ...I would think its about as cheap as it can get right now. Not a bad deal for collectors.

I have noticed a lot more fixed price auctions ...

Treetop

Ron,

In follow up my booth # is 1445 for this years National in Anaheim.

Please do drop by.

Mark
MKWSportscards

pandrews

the stuff i buy keeps getting more expensive..

even the raw cards..

yankeeno7

PA
If you are buying raw....a great guy to buy from even though he doesnt take paypal...smonize7
Ive been spending 150-200 a month with this guy. A VERY conservative grader. I have purchased a few really nice things from him...in fact, I'll be tossing up a couple of scans on the thread that everyone posts their most recent pickups.
Barry

pandrews

<< <i>PA
If you are buying raw....a great guy to buy from even though he doesnt take paypal...smonize7
Ive been spending 150-200 a month with this guy. A VERY conservative grader. I have purchased a few really nice things from him...in fact, I'll be tossing up a couple of scans on the thread that everyone posts their most recent pickups.
Barry >>



awesome, thanks for the tip.. i'll hafta check it out..