I'll take a card show over eBay every time. I sell at card shows every weekend (I'll be at Two Hearts in St. Louis on Sunday) because I make much more money at shows than on eBay and I find much better buys. If you factor in PayPal fees, I pay more to sell on eBay than I do in table fees.
I really dislike eBay. I've been on the site for 11 years now and in that time I've had to buy two computers, countless system software upgrades, and a new scanner and printer just to be able to continue to sell on the site. It's also sooo time consuming, i.e., searching my inventory for stuff to sell, scanning, filling out the sell form, dealing with questions/offers, packaging items and going to the post office every day.
As far as deadbeats go, I just had a guy stiff me on 14 items. I closed all 14 cases and the guy (I Bleed Dodger Blue) is still in good standing. I usually get several non-paying bidders a month. Also, eBay is constantly changing the site and its rules -- none for the better in my opinion. Now eBay wants me to give delivery confirmation on every item I sell or I lose my fee discount. Well, I sell a lot of post-war $5- $10 cards. I'll lose my shirt if I purchase delivery confirmation for every card. I may just have to finally throw in the towel and stick with shows. Did I say I dislike eBay?
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