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Where do you buy cards from?
Sets
Posts: 184
I am debating closing my ebay store and wondered are there other places people buy from? Feel free to comment.
My ebay store IS CLOSED TEMPORARILY
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Sets
Posts: 184
Sets
Posts: 184
Comments
5% from private websites
5% from fellow CU members
1955 Bowman Raw complete with 90% Ex-NR or better
Now seeking 1949 Eureka Sportstamps...NM condition
Working on '78 Autographed set now 99.9% complete -
Working on '89 Topps autoed set now complete
80% Ebay
10% Local shops - Mostly modern, the need to open packs happens way to often.
5% shows - Probably would be more, however, the good shows are NOT in Central, CA
3% Naxcom - would buy more but prices are crazy most of the time. Deals can be had if you are patient and make reasonable offers.
2% Private Websites. Same as Naxcom. Most sellers will be fair if a reasonable offer is made.
Leaving ebay could work if you can drive enough business to your site. You will probably need to list every week on ebay in order to achieve that.
Good luck to you.
262
Collecting all cards - Gus Zernial
Post Cereal both raw and PSA Graded (1961-1963)
eBay - 95%
Fellow CU Members - 3%
Naxcom - 1%
Private sites - 1%
.....almost every purchase is through eBay for me. Of the 96% eBay purchases, I pick up probably 7-10% through eBay stores and the other 90-93% are through auction listings.
* C. PASCUAL BASIC #3
* T. PEREZ BASIC #4 100%
* L. TIANT BASIC #1
* DRYSDALE BASIC #4 100%
* MAGIC MASTER #4/BASIC #3
* PALMEIRO MASTER/BASIC #1
* '65 DISNEYLAND #2
* '78 ELVIS PRESLEY #6
* '78 THREE'S COMPANY #1
WaltDisneyBoards
Auction Houses 40%
Dealer Sites 5%
Other collectors 14%
Shows 1%
edited because I forgot about shows.
Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's
Remaining 10% from board members (80%), shows (10%), websites (10%)
"All evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
Fellow Set Registry/CU collectors--10%
Private website--5%
auction houses--3%
Naxcom--1% (about a card a year)
shows--1% (rarely find anything I need)
Other auction sites--0%
according to my values and my needs. Nothing holds dominion over me, I stand alone as the ruler of my life.
Auction Houses 10%
Other collectors 15%
Shows 5%
You will probably need to list every week on ebay in order to achieve that."
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These comments ONLY relate to the Card Category.
While eBay buyers have fled by the millions, and few new
ones have filled the gap, eBay remains the ONLY viable
spot.
I am deep into the experimentation phase of alternate venues.
Thus far, there have been ZERO sales on any of my "alternates."
eBay sales continue slow/steady, but are not improving.
eBay auctions no longer perform anywhere near the way they
did even in 2005. If eBay fully deploys and promotes the "My
Collectibles" concept, we will likley see a traffic boost.
Sports Card listings are way down on eBay. Prices are depressed
on all but the most sought after items.
It costs a small fortune to professionally roll-out, promote and
operate "your own" web-site. For most people, this is the wrong
road to start down --- especially with the holidays approaching.
Time is better spent stocking eBay stores and pricing right.
The folks who post here are not a good sampling of "where
folks buy." They are far too sophisticated, and they know
about non-eBay venues that most eBay buyers have never
even heard of.
There are excellent ways to reduce eBay selling fees and to
drive people to your eBay stores. The smart folks will now be
concentrating on driving buyers into their eBay stores, NOT to
some deserted public/private site.
eBay may be the evil empire, but they are the only REAL game in
town and will remain that way for a loooooooooong time.
storm
Private website--5%
auction houses--4%
Naxcom--4%
Other outlets 2%
<< <i>There are currently 1181 PSA graded card on auctions.yahoo.com - I have never bought from here but i do check in from time to time to see whats for sale. I only mention it because no one else has. I believe you can LIST YOUR AUCTIONS FOR FREE. I have not checked into it to see if it is governed at all - just FYI >>
I tested Yahoo when they returned to free listings. I had over 400 PSA graded items priced at the same level as my Ebay store. I did not find a single buyer via Yahoo. One person bid, but didn't pay. The Ebay Store was a consistant seller.
For me, it's probably 85/15 ebay and shows.
I had over 400 PSA graded items priced at the same
level as my Ebay store. I did not find a single buyer via
Yahoo. One person bid, but didn't pay. The Ebay Store
was a consistent seller."
///////////////////////////////////////////////////
There will be exceptions to this, obvioulsy. But, not many.
While PSA listings are way down on eBay, and way up on
alternate sites, the buying dynamics will hardly change at
all.
Many sellers have convinced themselves that loading alternate
sites with cards is going to translate into sales. It just does not
work like that. Buyers call the shots in ALL retail markets. The
buyers are pre-sold to show up at eBay. The search engines
are SEO-gamed to send buyers to eBay.
If the alternate sites suddenly had 50% of the cards, they would
still only have X% of buyers. (I use X because I cannot prove what
I believe to be the real number; 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%).
Increased inventory does not drive buyers into a new venue.
Sellers who keep relying on this faulty theory are going to be
very let down when reality bites.
In retail, the venue draws the crowd. There is no exception to this rule
taught in any business school in America. When the crowd is
conditioned to the venue, they are considered "pre-sold" or
"pre-disposed." NONE of the alternate venues have come close
to "pre-disposing" ANYBODY. Wishful thinking does not change
that. Billions of bucks have been spent in the past decade to
place eBay at the top-of-mind in online consumers. (That abstract figure
does not include earned media, and the other forces that have caused
eBay to become part of the lexicon that means "online buying.")
I work with a bunch of really smart online sellers. Not one of them
is even thinking about alternate venues. All of their energy goes
into making their eBay stores work better and more profitably.
eBay stores are the most economical and BEST method of selling
stuff that currently exists. That may not be true ten-years from now,
but it is going to be true for a long time. Trying to be a pioneer in
the forefront of establishing new venues is not a winning strategy
for retailers.
Show me the sales at the other venues. No one can do that because
the sales are miniscule compared to eBay. Why would I want to spend
my time listing stuff on sites that nobody is ever going to see? I
want to sell stuff and I need buyers to make that happen. ONLY eBay
can deliver those buyers, currently.
Even though eBay has managed to chase millions of buyers away due
to frauds and rip-offs, their site is still the ONLY place that large numbers
of the remaining buyers are shopping.
I am on the "other venues," and they DO NOT WORK! I have no axe
to grind in favor of eBay. I am ONLY telling the truth about what the
current circumstances are. You are wasting your valuable time if you
are loading product into the alternates.
Free listings and free stores do not mean jack when there are NO BUYERS.
storm
ebay - 85%
forum members - 5%
auction houses - 5%
shows 5% (and this is just due to my having bought stuff years ago that I still have)...now I usually only buy my supplies at shows.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Auctions no longer work like they used to. MANY
folks that were active in 2004 and 2005 have
stopped buying cards. Auctions are best only
used on scarifice items to drive traffic; loss leader
style. Highly-prized items still do fairly well at auction,
but even there the competition is lighter than it
was.
When I do auctions, I start them at the lowest price
I am willing to take. These days, that price is usually
all that I am going to get. Raw cards have been
working well as traffic builders at one of my stores.
I start a lot that should retail for $5 or $10 at 1-cent;
it is shocking how many of those lookers have come
into the store and bought graded cards and auto
items. Such auctions should be set for 10-days
because they are really ONLY the road map to your
store.
FP is now the preferred format among many buyers.
If that was not so, we would not see a full 85%+
of listings in stores, and 30%+ of CORE in FP.
If reserves are meeting resistance, try FP w/BO.
I do not like BO. I prefer FP and a gradual lowering
of the price.
All store owners need to find new ways to drive
folks into those stores. It can be done, but it is
not free. If your store is paying for itself, there
is no reason to think of closing it. You will do much
worse at ANY other site, and making your own site
is a HUGE project if you do it correctly and professionally.
The BIN tab on the search pages now includes many
store items, so that may start to show up in sales pretty soon.
August is always a bad month. The holidays are on
the way. Sales will improve and you will have some
extra cash to help make your decisions in January
and February.
storm