Alternative to ebay?
csmtampa
Posts: 1,828 ✭
I've read hundreds of complaints from sellers and buyers about ebay and Paypal. My question is what would you as a seller/buyer want in an auction site? What if there was a site that you could send in your sports cards and memorabilia and they sell it for you and charge less than ebay and Paypal? I'm not only talking about items that sell for 5 figures, but more along the lines of $10+. I was thinking about this a few days ago and would love to hear others opinions.
I personally would love an auction site with low fees, easy to use, and they do all the work for me and I just collect a consignment check.
I personally would love an auction site with low fees, easy to use, and they do all the work for me and I just collect a consignment check.
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Grand Slam Bids...
They launched recently and are run by good people. If they get the support it should be successful. We are in the process of integrating them into VCP.
<< <i>Bobby - I'm going more along the lines of not having to list the auctions. The auction company does everything for you. They scan/take pictures, list the items in there monthly auction (possibly 2 a month) , collect payments and mail out consignment checks. >>
Check Out My Cards is a site that offers some of what you are talking about. Been awhile since I had things listed there so I am not up to date with the fee table. They do most all the legwork out of the equation.
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
<< <i>Is it me or does GSB have a Ray Romeo feel to it? >>
Their fees seem almost the same as eBay, only with likely 1/1000th or less traffic. Can't imagine why anyone would use them unless they lock in those current discounted fees.
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
<< <i>I don't think what your asking for is reasonable. A company is not going to be able to all the work on a ton of low dollar items and have low fees. >>
That's what I was thinking as well.
1200 cards per month at an avg of $50 = 60,000 at 12% that's $7200
it would take about 4 days to scan that many cards and about double that to list.
Packing/Shipping/answering emails and administrative support would take approximately 8+ days.
That's about 3-3.5 weeks worth of work. You can hire some good employees at 600-800 per week.
Now let's take 2000 cards total
1200 at an avg of $10 = 12000 @25% = 3000
400 at an avg of $25 = 10000 @ 20% = 2000
250 at an avg of $50 = 12500 @ 15% = 1875
150 at an avg of 100 = 15000 @12% = 1800
that equals $8675 per month before labor costs
We tried this in the past with a couple of consignors (on ebay) -- and while it started off profitable -- it ended up going downhill when ebay raised their fees and the consignors started sending a higher percentage of $5-10 cards. The secret would be to maintain a decent level of higher price cards in the process.
CavalierCards Ebay Listings
<< <i>I actually think this works as long as there was a consistent source of cards.
1200 cards per month at an avg of $50 = 60,000 at 12% that's $7200
it would take about 4 days to scan that many cards and about double that to list.
Packing/Shipping/answering emails and administrative support would take approximately 8+ days.
That's about 3-3.5 weeks worth of work. You can hire some good employees at 600-800 per week.
Now let's take 2000 cards total
1200 at an avg of $10 = 12000 @25% = 3000
400 at an avg of $25 = 10000 @ 20% = 2000
250 at an avg of $50 = 12500 @ 15% = 1875
150 at an avg of 100 = 15000 @12% = 1800
that equals $8675 per month before labor costs
We tried this in the past with a couple of consignors (on ebay) -- and while it started off profitable -- it ended up going downhill when ebay raised their fees and the consignors started sending a higher percentage of $5-10 cards. The secret would be to maintain a decent level of higher price cards in the process.
CavalierCards Ebay Listings >>
The secret goes against what the OP wanted...a site for $10 cards.
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
<< <i>
<< <i>I actually think this works as long as there was a consistent source of cards.
1200 cards per month at an avg of $50 = 60,000 at 12% that's $7200
it would take about 4 days to scan that many cards and about double that to list.
Packing/Shipping/answering emails and administrative support would take approximately 8+ days.
That's about 3-3.5 weeks worth of work. You can hire some good employees at 600-800 per week.
Now let's take 2000 cards total
1200 at an avg of $10 = 12000 @25% = 3000
400 at an avg of $25 = 10000 @ 20% = 2000
250 at an avg of $50 = 12500 @ 15% = 1875
150 at an avg of 100 = 15000 @12% = 1800
that equals $8675 per month before labor costs
We tried this in the past with a couple of consignors (on ebay) -- and while it started off profitable -- it ended up going downhill when ebay raised their fees and the consignors started sending a higher percentage of $5-10 cards. The secret would be to maintain a decent level of higher price cards in the process.
CavalierCards Ebay Listings >>
The secret goes against what the OP wanted...a site for $10 cards. >>
Cavalier provided some good numbers. My op was for items that would sell for $10+ so the numbers he posted are relevant.
I think they show there is not enough money for it to work. Those numbers were with an average $50 sale, do not include most of your cost, and have commission fees pretty close to eBay.
Unless your doing all vintage...a $50 average is not easy with sport cards.
COMC has the best model like this, and its fees are around eBay.
If someone could sell my cards for the same on eBay, and do all the work for less fees....I would be all for it.
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
With that being said, I am no longer comfortable selling high dollar ($500+) cards on ebay since all of the power is with the buyers and honest sellers like me have no protection.
The problem is traffic on most sites other than ebay. I sell cards on sportlots and sometimes get MORE for item than the same cards finish for on ebay, but i think its because the people who buy smaller value cards do not LOOK on ebay and when I list a more common item, there isnt 100 other people also listing the same, sometimes traffic is a negative in that regard.. You cannot really sell high dollar cards on sportlots, though, because of the traffic being so small, although 15 cents total fee for an auction on smaller items is much better than anything ebay can offer.
I havent sold on the other sites yet, but ebay is still overall the best for selling cards that draw interest, but not so for cards with less interest. It will be interesting to see how it turns out as ebay, at least in collectibles, is becoming more BIN oriented than auction.