Collecting quarantine
 

I hope everyone is safe and doing well. I’ve stayed and worked from home this past week. Although my social and work habits have changed, my baseball card thirst has not (probably should in this uncertainty environment). As usual, I’ve periodically checked my want list with eBay auction listings.

I was optimistic that I would find a few deals. Although the BIN listings are still plentiful, especially ones with absurd prices, has anyone else noticed that quality auction listings are essentially bare? It appears that individual sellers have stopped listing quality cards in fear that they will not reach the desired price.

The auction listings that do exist have absurd minimum bid requirements. I guess I can’t blame the sellers. With quality card listings down, Beckett and PSA closed, and the National up in the air, looks like collecting is being shutdown as well.

Godspeed.

It does make sense. Not sure I'd be comfortable doing auctions right now unless I was an auction site and really had to keep doing them.

Hoping to see more items for sale on eBay
 

With the economy shut down in many areas, and with more eyes on eBay, I'm expecting to see some tougher items appear on eBay.

With all the extra eyes, a smart seller who prices his items well could still do very well.

I'll be watching here in Maine!

Patrick

A lot of sellers are worried about eBay returns if the economy stays bad for very long.

I auctioned a bunch of stuff that ended this month through COMC's new eBay auctions consignment option. Got hammered on the majority, and the only card that sold for way over expectation wasn't paid for.
So yeah, auctions are very risky for mid-grade stuff right now.

This is what I expected. People can only mow the yard, catch up on home projects, watch tv, etc. so many times before old habits return - such as shopping for baseball cards.

I expected sellers would want to sell now than before a recession potentially hits. Today’s market is surely stronger than what it will be months down the road. Maybe it’s me, but I was shocked that the listings were essentially barer than the supermarket’s toilet paper aisle. I’m excluding the consignment shops.

My Spring auction opened Friday morning and in the first 24 hours had twice the normal number of bids for that period.

I think most people are at home with little else to do and at this point most have money in their pocket that they have not been able to spend at shows, shops or ebay.

The lots range in price from $5 to several four-figure items, the more expensive items are see spirited bidding from many, many different bidders. At this time quality material is still doing well!

Ben makes a very good point. That 180 day return window is worrisome.

I've had more NPB in the last two weeks than in the entire year up to then.

Our auction that ends tonight has performed to expectations. FWIW.

Hadn’t even thought of that. These concerns that should not exist is why I won’t sell on eBay anymore. Just zero seller protections exist and yet they somehow erode the zero number into the negative consistently.

Good point, Justin. Mgmt. at eBay used to be content being America's garage sale, with all that entailed: final sales, part-time and occasional sellers, etc. But since the powers that be decided to be Amazon Lite, they treat some guy selling cards out of his rec room on the weekend like he was Wal-Mart. We are all forced to take credit cards now, with all that implies in terms of charge-backs and refunds. It will get worse as time goes on and people have second thoughts about purchases, and still worse when eBay forcibly migrates sellers to its payment system, which seems to have all of the screw the seller rules that PayPal figured were just too onerous to adopt.

I have a basic store which I probably will non-renew when it comes up. My cost of sales is practically the same as AH vig, and I don't have to work at stuff I consign.

The latest Sterling Auction closed on Thursday and it appeared to not be affected. The typical some record high prices and a few slipping through the crack. I had a consigner send an email saying that his consignments finished higher than expectations. A strong contingent of new registrations and the last two days were really strong.

The hope is that this continues and can bring some normalcy to our lives.

At this time everything is on schedule for the next auction.

Everyone be safe,

Lee Behrens

I have never tried to sell a card on ebay for reasons listed in this thread. It just doesn't seem worth the risk to me personally. If I can't find a buyer here at what I consider a fair price I just take my chances with an AH or consignment service.

I don't expect much of a decline in prices for the cards I'm looking for due to this virus, but I am trying to keep an eye on things. I'm still buying if the right card becomes available.

Good thing we have this forum.

I can see a lot of activity when the stimulus checks come out.

My wife and I are millennials. Our age group is just starting to put college debt (amid other debt) in a reasonable position to move into a house. I can see others my age using the stimulus checks to further life goals rather than buy a card. I'd like to buy a card, that would be cool, but that would be harming my family. My wife and I have already talked about more debt we can pay off to increase our disposable income. It's a tradeoff I'm willing to make to get out of renting and buy a house.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

From what I understand, the stimulus is an advance on everyone’s 2020 tax refund, so the IRS will recoup it next tax season.

It’s not. The recoup only occurs if your 2019 income put you in the bracket to receive part of the stimulus, but you gross more than the threshold in 2020.

I tried to do an online search to verify this but was unsuccessful. Does anyone know for sure?

President Donald Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, into law on Friday.

Under the $2 trillion coronavirus relief package, millions of Americans will receive one-time direct payments in the coming weeks to help offset the ongoing financial burden caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

These stimulus checks, formally called "recovery rebates," will be delivered to Americans via direct deposit or US mail, and they won't be taxed as income, according to Nicole Kaeding, the vice president of policy promotion and an economist at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.

To qualify to receive a payment, you need to have a Social Security number and be a resident of the US. Nonresident aliens, people without a Social Security number, and adult dependents are not eligible.

The adjusted gross income (AGI) listed on the most recent tax return you filed will determine how much you get. The maximum payment is $1,200 for single filers with an AGI below $75,000 or single parents with an AGI below $112,500. Married couples who file jointly and have an AGI below $150,000 will get a total of $2,400.

Payments will begin to phase out at a rate of $5 for each $100 over the AGI threshold before ceasing at an AGI of $99,000 for single filers, $146,500 for heads of household, and $198,000 for married filers. There's also an additional $500 allotted to parents who have an AGI within the phaseout range for each child under age 16.

Americans who haven't had to file a tax return in recent years but get Social Security payments for retirement or disability will also be paid.

Kaeding said Americans would have to report the amount they received on next year's tax return to ensure their payment was correct. If the check was too big, they likely wouldn't have to repay the government, she said on Twitter.

Lawmakers are pushing to get the payments out within three weeks to Americans who have direct deposits set up with the IRS. For people who don't, or those who haven't filed a tax return for 2019 or 2018, checks could take several weeks to arrive by mail.

Looks like I was mistaken. Glad to be wrong on this one.

That's about what I found. They won't be taxed as income. But are they simply an advance against next year's refund or not?

If the check was too big we likely would not have to repay the money. Either it would have to be repaid or it wouldn't. I found words like likely and probably in different write ups. Couldn't find definitive answers, but I spent about 5 minutes looking then gave up. I'm sure my accountant will figure it out. I was just curious.

I think their use of "rebate" is the confusion factor. It's intended to be a stimulus check to inject money into the economy. And it the government authorized $2 trillion dollars in new debt (effectively) to give out these checks. So no, they don't want it back later, or they would make that clear up front. I believe they are calling it a "rebate" since it is basically giving you back some of your previously paid tax money.

But I keep thinking is the 1200 dollars really going to help that much? I guess it will but that isn't a ton of money in today's economy.

To most people on this board that spend hundreds and thousands on individual cards it isn't much. To those that are working multiple part time jobs or making minimum wage it will make a huge difference for them.

I live in a small town out in the middle of nowhere that has been hit hard by the virus. There are a ton of people out of work that can really use that cash. I am far from rich but have everything I need. The wife and I are trying to figure out the best way to use our check when we get it to help those in town that need it.

Stay safe everyone.:)

I have gotten some really good deals (as buyer) lately. I like 'best offer' lately. BIN is almost a waste of time to look at cause prices are so high. I do feel people are holding back selling and buying right now.

I have friends and family in industries shut down right now. The extra 600 per week from federal unemployment will help a lot more.

As for how this affects the hobby remains to be seen. I doubt it has much of an impact on big name prewar cards.

I think the lack of auctions may have to do with the 100,000 free fixed priced listings being given by eBay though March/April. I normally run auctions (modern though) but rather save $0.25/card!

Make sure you cancel them all before they automatically renew...