Joe O's Auction Commentary in SMR

fandango

in reading this months SMR, i thought it was interesting how Joe noted most sports items today (cards included) are sold via auction....it seemed Joe was asking for the industry to remember the other method, a Buy-it Now if you will.......

problem with that is the few ebay stores remaining that sell BIN , are GROSSLY OVERPRICED -see 707.....

if these dealers keep pricing their items WAY ABOVE SMR, then nobody is gonna buy them, and the industry will continue to move to all Auction style (which i love)......

the reason auctions have taken off is because buyers believe they will get a better deal this style and thus concentrate on buying only if under auction....i personally use advanced search and skip all BIN on thebay....they are a waste if time...especially when a PSA 1 t206 is being sold for $500 and you can get, in auction a PSA 3 for less.....

Joe, i think you have a few specific dealers to thank for pushing everyone to auctions and away fromn their "low end for the grade" overpriced BIN stuff....

mcolney1

As someone who is not a very good negotiator (I'm trying to get better) I find ebay the best way to buy cards. I can find the cards I want, I can set my own price, snipe and walk away. If I win, great! If I lose, they'll be another card just like it within weeks. No stress, no dirty looks, no problems as long as you buy from legitimate ebayer.

I don't even deal with ebay stores. I have patience. If you want something now you'll pay for it. If you're willing to wait - see VCP and the great range of ending prices for graded cards - you'll eventually get what you want at the price you want.

envoy98

I beg to differ a little bit on this one. I'm going to split hairs here actually.

When comparing Auction vs. Auction house, there is a big difference.

eBay, deals are found. Auction houses, if you've followed single card sales, even in mid-grade, tend to outsell ebay by a wide margin. I've been following football cards via the auction houses, and VCP for several months now. Cards that would get no more than $50-100 on ebay are getting triple that at auction houses. PSA 9 Walter Payton rc, $425-600 on ebay, $550-800 at auction. PSA 7 Clarke Hinkle rc, $1325 on ebay, $2k+ at auction.

I was watching some PSA 9 65 Philly's a while back. A lot of 8 of them. Combined vcp avg price was $355. VCP highest was just over $500. It sold at auction for $1400 + the vig.

These weren't low pop (many were 15-30+) nor were they superstars. To be honest, when I'm ready to move some of my better stuff from my HOF set, they'll be going to the auction houses over ebay. the 15% I'll pay on some of them is more than made up in the hammer price.

storm888

Some predictions based on EBAY's apparent hopes, goals and wishes:

Auctions are on the way out, on EBAY's primary site.

A new spin-off site will be launched to handle auctions.

BIN is the future of EBAY. In almost every category.

There will come a point when sellers simply will not be
willing to accept the low-prices that auctions are increasingly
bringing.

It is silly for me to run auctions and get 50% of what I will
yield if I throw stuff into stores and WAIT.

Small sellers are about to be run-off. New sellers now face
almost impossible odds; PayPal only, 21-day holds on money,
Best-Match search penalties.

If sellers are not well capitalized, they will not survive the
new EBAY.


//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////


WMT is going to be a HUGE player on EBAY. Folks will be able
to order LOTS of new-unopened card product.

BUY.com / Sears / Kmart / JCP / and every BIG retailer you can think of
are preparing to become EBAY's only relevant customers.

//////////////////////////////////////////

Update on Best Match: Some folks are kicking butt; trial/error is yielding
good results in landing on page-1 consistently, in most categories.

unitas

imo, auction houses are great if your the seller ,but rarely have i seen a "great" deal with an auction house on items i collect. I hate the BIG premiums auction house charge the buyer also. Anyway ebay has it's downside but i've been able to put some nice sets through ebay from many good dealers. just my expierence.

saucywombat

I think Orlando's point was that if dealers held more inventory it would create more stable pricing that would encourage more investment and dollars into the hobby- by providing a fairly clear floor for card value and easy avenue to take (selling to a dealer) if you need/had to get out. I don't think it was too much of a criticism of auctions.

Made sense to me.

rexvos

707 is grossly overpriced. I have even contacted about a few cards in their store and they said they could not move at all. The Football Card Store however (bravepuppy) has very fair prices in their store usually.