Ebay Seller Question - Best Time of Year to Sell

[Shoeless Moe]

Hi, just a general question out there to the sellers who sell good amounts of items year 'round. Do you notice that there is a best time of year to sell Baseball Memorabilia/Cards? Is a-Xmas time a good time, b-the baseball offseason, c-right when baseball kicks up in April or d-Sept/Oct when the stretch/playoffs/Series are heating up?

Or is there no real difference? Just wondering when you see a bump in watchers/prices....or does it stay fairly steady year round with no real peaks and valleys?

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Shoeless Moe

Hi, just a general question out there to the sellers who sell good amounts of items year 'round. Do you notice that there is a best time of year to sell Baseball Memorabilia/Cards? Is a-Xmas time a good time, b-the baseball offseason, c-right when baseball kicks up in April or d-Sept/Oct when the stretch/playoffs/Series are heating up?

Or is there no real difference? Just wondering when you see a bump in watchers/prices....or does it stay fairly steady year round with no real peaks and valleys?

Moe,
In the past I have always felt that the best time to sell baseball is anytime from spring training through the All Star game and after the Christmas/New Years holiday season.

That being said, I really see a marked difference with eBay over the last year. I suspect that this is the state of the economy steering prices in the hobby. Many collectors seem to be feeling the squeeze and have less discretionary income available for collectibles. Items on eBay either do not sell or have pretty low realized final prices. To put it simply, I believe that this is absolutely a buyers market. Some exceptions to note are vintage items that I would view as being very unique or limited. These still continue to bring out the collectors of this type of material and bring some really good realized auction prices.

I hope this helps and I would encourage other members to weigh in here with their thoughts on this topic.

[ibuysportsephemera]

I agree with Scott. I have always had success selling during the active season (Baseball, Football, etc.). There always seems to be a big jump around big events (Bowl Programs during New Years, etc.).

I have sold on eBay since 1997 and the one consistent time of year to me is December into January. December is for people purchasing gifts and January is for people spending gift money and year end bonuses.

I have also found that auction results are down, but my store sales have been pretty consistent. The truly unique or collectible seem to get good results, albeit not as good as before the economy tanked.