With all the auctions out there

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I won a lot at REA for the opening bid and a lot of 10 graded OJ's for $1560 (with the juice) so I think if you're a careful shopper you can bargain hunt any source.

[joshuanip]

Where else than eBay can you see a babe Ruth rookie and a T206 Honus for sale at the same time!

[Section103]

I have a bit of an odd ball collecting list. A few of the rarer, higher end cards will probably only end up coming up at an auction house; but so many more of the cards can, will and have been found quicker -and- cheaper on ebay.

In my experience, most of the ebay headaches come about from being a seller. Its a pretty favorable experience for buyers (most of the time).

[Fballguy]

eBay all day every day.

No outrageous buyer's premium. I shouldn't have to pay for the privilege of paying for something. The auction house is selling for the seller. They are not providing any service for the buyer that isn't covered in the "shipping and handling" charge. The seller should pay the fee.

[Peter_Spaeth]

.

[Leon]

This is what is wrong with America > Just where do you think the money the auction is being paid is coming from? See bold below. Whether it is a sellers fee or a buyers premium any monies being paid to the auction house come from the consignors.

Originally Posted by Fballguy

eBay all day every day.

No outrageous buyer's premium. I shouldn't have to pay for the privilege of paying for something. The auction house is selling for the seller. They are not providing any service for the buyer that isn't covered in the "shipping and handling" charge. The seller should pay the fee.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Leon

This is what is wrong with America > Just where do you think the money the auction is being paid is coming from? See bold below. Whether it is a sellers fee or a buyers premium any monies being paid to the auction house come from the consignors.

He just doesn't grasp this. We went through this before with him. What's frustrating is that after all that he just goes and posts the same thing again. Since he apparently doesn't understand auctions, it's just as well he prefers ebay.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by Leon

This is what is wrong with America > Just where do you think the money the auction is being paid is coming from? See bold below. Whether it is a sellers fee or a buyers premium any monies being paid to the auction house come from the consignors.

You and Peter have been in the game too long. You've accepted it as normal and come up with some way to rationalize it. Just because something has always been done, doesn't mean it has to be done.

eBay is an auction house. eBay doesn't charge a buyer's premium. What's that you say? eBay doesn't have overhead? Their 12,000+ employees work for free?

Who doesn't get it Peter?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

You and Peter have been in the game too long. You've accepted it as normal and come up with some way to rationalize it. Just because something has always been done, doesn't mean it has to be done.

eBay is an auction house. eBay doesn't charge a buyer's premium. What's that you say? eBay doesn't have overhead? Their 12,000+ employees work for free?

Who doesn't get it Peter?

You don't get it, Rob, sorry to say.

[x2drich2000]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

You and Peter have been in the game too long. You've accepted it as normal and come up with some way to rationalize it. Just because something has always been done, doesn't mean it has to be done.

eBay is an auction house. eBay doesn't charge a buyer's premium. What's that you say? eBay doesn't have overhead? Their 12,000+ employees work for free?

Who doesn't get it Peter?

You forget Ebay doesn't do most of the work. They are the discount broker in the auction world. They do not research items, list items, scan items, package items, solicit consignments, attend shows, promote the sale, etc. All of these tasks are done by the seller on Ebay, who ultimately still has to pay Ebay a fee for using their platform. Ebay is simply just a hosting company. This would be comparable to the AH using Simpleauctionsite or Createauction as the platform for their auction. Out of the buyer premium charged, the AH pays for whichever company that hosts the auction (unless, of course, they built and maintain the platform themselves). When you list on Ebay you are taking the role of the AH and just using their platform.

Regarding who pays the AH fee. Mathematically, it doesn't matter. Either the buyer pays it in the form of a buyer's premium or the consignor pays it in the form of a seller premium. The total amount the the buyer pays should never be different. The auction house needs to net $x per $y in sales in order to stay in business.

The big difference is the AH needs to solicit consignments. Without consignors the auction house will not survive. Psychologically, it is a lot easier to convince someone to consign something with zero fees then it is to tell them they will pay 10 or 20%, especially if another auction house is offering zero fees. Losing consignors to try to change a process everyone else follows does not seem like a smart business plan to me.

DJ

[dabigyankeeman]

I live on Ebay. Most auction houses are chock full of really high condition cards that are too expensive for me, and on Ebay I can find various conditions of almost any card I am looking for. You get the advantage of Ebay Bucks, which really add up when you use the specials when you get 8 or 10 pct extra. Incredible selection on Ebay too.

[Rhotchkiss]

Considering eBay is there 24/7 and I check it several times per day, I wish eBay was more useful for me. But unfortunately, it is not. It either doesn’t have the cards I want and/or when it does, they are overpriced. I like rare and old and the cards I collect tend to be a bit pricey, and I feel Auction houses more often have these cards and I get better deals on auction-style opportunities than in a store (e-store or card show). I now know privately most of the eBay sellers who carry cards I like, and my eBay opportunities seem now to only be pwcc, probstein and other auctions held on eBay. For me, almost 100% of my cards come from auctions or private deals, and, as an aside, net54 has been a total/major asset to making connections and doing private deals.

eBay is a great thing, and I check it constantly. But for me, it yields very few acquisitions unless via an ebay auction

[x2drich2000]

For my personal collection, it is really hit or miss with both auction houses and Ebay, but I think that is just due to the limit scope of things I'm looking for. So far this year I think I've picked up probably a half dozen cards though auction houses, 2 or 3 through Ebay, 1 at a show, and can't remember seeing something I'm interested in on the BST.

From a reselling prospective, I still prefer looking for bargain at auction houses over Ebay because there is just so much on Ebay that it is overwhelming trying to find bargains without a narrower focus. On the other hand, I prefer selling on Ebay over auction houses simply cause I have more control on how I price things and can therefore reduce the risk of losing money on the sale.

DJ