Originally Posted by G1911
1. Pals. Trades, buys or mutual gifting with hobby friends is the smoothest and easiest by far. If something goes wrong, it’s because the card really did get lost in the mail. We aren’t going to lie, cheat or steal for a couple hundred bucks worth of stuff. It’s the safest and simplest. My favorites are the collectors I’ve been doing it with long enough that we don’t even work out specific trades, but simply pass along to the other whatever they need, knowing it will roughly work out even over the years and not caring much if it doesn’t. It is quite fun to get a surprise card in the mail I did not know was even coming; and I hope those I send cards to in the same manner get that same joy when a surprise turns up.
2. Private deals with other collectors. It’s usually cheaper, it’s easier, and it’s usually honest. People are unlikely to ruin their trading rep by lying or cheating on a single deal. I’ve never had a single one awry.
3. Buys from dealers I am friendly with and have established a mutual level of trust with. Their incentive to BS about condition is outweighed by the value of the long term buying relationship, plus most generally decent people won’t try to cheat someone they actually know a little when they might take advantage of a stranger. Very low risk.
4. Local card show dealers I don’t know/LCS - I get to at least examine the card myself in hand before buying, at the worst.
5. eBay. You pay your bid, plus the stated shipping you know in advance, plus tax that nobody but the state can control. It’s easy, buyer protection is strong, and I have faith that eBay itself is not shilling to my max bid. The downside is that many sellers are shilling, a downside of the auction format.
6. Online sites of dealers I do not know but have a solid track record of delivering the items as described (like Battersbox, for one example).
Last - auction houses. A large number of people running respected auctions are the same people who have been involved in hobby frauds, horrible business practices, thefts, and staggering dishonesty. Honesty is rare, full disclosure rare, hyperbole everywhere. Fees are typically hidden (few state the shipping on an item at all), shilling is rampant and often done by the auction house and their cronies themselves, and I have 0 trust they are not bidding up to my max. They require references to even register which is offputting more than difficult (eBay, car dealerships, my bank, nobody I have ever done business with for amounts far more than I would be bidding in a card auction requires me to do this). It is likewise easy to calculate the buyers premium, but another annoying business practice that most hide it to try and make you forget to do the calculation (bid + premium + tax + the unknown shipping fee they don’t state). The format runs late into the night usually. It has the most cons, and items sell at the highest prices. It’s the clear loser for a buyer in my shoes. I usually do not register, about half of them I will decline to do business with even for my white whale items, and the other half I try and avoid unless it’s something unique I really want.
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