Looking for alternatives to selling on eBay

[obcbeatle]

Hello, I'm looking for some alternatives to eBay for selling some of my personal collection. I'm a collector, not a dealer. My collection is primarily ephemera, like vintage cards, photo's, magazines. Many of these collectibles are not high end/high grade, and quite a few are not sports related. I've been buying/selling on eBay since 1998, but recently their fees seem excessive, plus, because of the massive number of listings on their platform it now feels like many items are lost in a sea of collectibles. And the eBay search engine is often erratic. eBay seems more like a good place to buy, not to sell. So I thought now might be a good time to look for some alternatives. And thought I'd ask here if anyone is having luck selling your collectibles elsewhere? Here are some alternatives that I've been thinking about. If anyone has any advice/recommendations, please feel free to share:

Private listings here on Net54 - I haven't tried much yet, but from what I've seen most listings here appear to be for higher end graded cards, or regional more scarce type issues, and not so much the run of the mill raw sports cards that I collect, e.g. Topps, Bowman. I understand that may be the market now, and probably into the future. I may try again to sell privately here. Certainly would be preferable for both buyer and seller. Are there any other forums that you would recommend for selling non-sport related ephemera?

Facebook Marketplace - can anyone recommend specific Facebook marketplace groups that you have had some success with selling, not only sports cards, but other non-sport ephemera? If so, do most groups allow for shipping your items, instead of meeting locally, like with Craigslist, which I don't care to use anymore? I've tried Googling for such groups, but I've not found much promising yet. I'm not a big fan of social media, but use it when I have to.

Auction houses - Seems like this would be a good option if I wanted to unload all or most of my collection. But I prefer to sell a little over time, until such time as I grow tired of selling it. Hence I've been using eBay. The thought of shipping a collection to a AH is not attractive to me. I'm not very trusting of dealers and AH's. There is a very dark side to this hobby (and other hobbies), which is a sad thing for collectors. I've seen it, and experienced it. I prefer selling to other collectors directly whenever possible. I see using a AH as a last option when you need to liquidate.

Right now I'm leaning towards trying the Facebook marketplace, and/or maybe selling privately here, or elsewhere, and seeing how that goes. Any comments/suggestions welcome. Thank you.

[OhioLawyerF5]

I prefer Facebook groups to marketplace. I find marketplace to be like a glorified craigslist in the wild west, sifting through 99% junk. However, there are Facebook groups for different types of collectibles where you can network with other people who are specifically interested in the things you collect. Selling privately through there is a good way to get actual value as well as getting your stuff in the hands of actual collectors.

[Jewish-collector]

Facebook Groups
Sports Collectors Digest ads
COMC
Sportlots
Get a table at card shows
Net54 B/S/T forum
Collectors Universe B/S/T
Blowout forums B/S/T
Auction houses - besides the large ones (Heritage, REA, etc,...) there are smaller ones that will be happy to sell your stuff.

Good luck !!!
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[bmattioli]

Facebook Marketplace with a local 50 mile radius is what I do and have had success..

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by obcbeatle

And the eBay search engine is often erratic.

Huh?! How so?

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Balticfox

Huh?! How so?

Not sure if this question was a joke. I’ll proceed assuming it’s not for now, although you can taunt me later for not understanding Canadian humor, eh?

But the issue is that eBay searches often return a long list of irrelevant nonsense. So you either have to wade through a long list of unrelated items, or you have to spend a lot of time refining your search parameters, and hope that you don’t accidentally exclude some items that you really want included.

There was a time not long ago when it wasn’t so terrible. But it’s really gone downhill in the last year or two. I assume it’s because they deliberately adjusted how the search function works. I also assume it’s because they wanted to make it better, although my experience has been the opposite.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by raulus

Not sure if this question was a joke. I’ll proceed assuming it’s not for now, although you can taunt me later for not understanding Canadian humor, eh?

It was a straightforward question. I don't understand why you would think otherwise.

[timn1]

I imagine it's because the shortcomings of ebay's search functions seem painfully self-evident to the poster (and to me). My impression is that they've gotten worse over the years rather than better, probably because ebay is trying to force users to view a larger number of pages before they find what they're looking for. For example, there used to be a dedicated search available for pre-1942 baseball cards - not any more.

Originally Posted by Balticfox

It was a straightforward question. I don't understand why you would think otherwise.

[Leon]

Tim, my friend, you know the answer to anything crazy that eBay does, is to make more money. You would think they would quiz collectors and dealers about what they want, but I doubt they ever have. One of my more recent purchases from ebay, below. Personally, I still buy a fair amount on our BST too....

Originally Posted by timn1

I imagine it's because the shortcomings of ebay's search functions seem painfully self-evident to the poster (and to me). My impression is that they've gotten worse over the years rather than better, probably because ebay is trying to force users to view a larger number of pages before they find what they're looking for. For example, there used to be a dedicated search available for pre-1942 baseball cards - not any more.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by raulus

Not sure if this question was a joke. I’ll proceed assuming it’s not for now, although you can taunt me later for not understanding Canadian humor, eh?

But the issue is that eBay searches often return a long list of irrelevant nonsense. So you either have to wade through a long list of unrelated items, or you have to spend a lot of time refining your search parameters, and hope that you don’t accidentally exclude some items that you really want included.

There was a time not long ago when it wasn’t so terrible. But it’s really gone downhill in the last year or two. I assume it’s because they deliberately adjusted how the search function works. I also assume it’s because they wanted to make it better, although my experience has been the opposite.

I hear about this so much on this forum but do not experience it. Like Baltic, I'm in Canada, so perhaps this annoyance is limited to Americans. I use ebay.com and ebay.ca and this doesn't happen.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Back to OP's question.

Regarding Facebook Marketplace & Facebook groups:

Use Marketplace more for cheaper, pedestrian listings that will appeal to a broad audience. Also, this is a good place to list larger/bulkier items that would not make sense to ship. Batches of hobby supplies such as Ultra Pro pages, boxes, top loaders, etc. are good for Marketplace. Monster boxes of junk wax are a biggie, too.

With Facebook groups, do some searching and find the best groups suited to your interests. Then, further refine these searches to cherry pick the groups that appear to have the best group moderation and least kooky members (that last point being akin to rediscovering Noah's Ark).

There are next to no blocking features as on eBay which save you from dealing with lowballers and tire kickers, and Facebook brings out the worst of them. No automatic decline feature if somebody offers five cents for your 1933 Dusenberg. Be prepared for a lot of wasted time and general annoyance. You will be hearing from a lot of people who apparently only started learning how to type in English in spite of it being their first language. Also, nobody is interested in paying anywhere near what something is actually worth unless it's a super high demand item. Few people seem to bother properly reading your description. Things like "PRICE FIRM" and "NO TRADES" are routinely ignored. You'll be offered to swap their $20 item for your $1000 item, or $150 for your $2500 piece. The only thing that can be done is to individually block their incoming messages via Messenger if you don't wish to spend any more time dealing with them. It honestly feels like every buyer on there is playing that asinine game of trying to turn a red paperclip into a three bedroom house by always getting the better end of the deal.

There have been upsides, however. If you are willing to put in all that time dealing with the riff-raff, you can occasionally (and I mean very occasionally) make a great, longstanding connection with a buyer or seller who approaches being rational! I value the few decent contacts I have made through this, so it all depends on how much time you're willing to invest and how much patience you have in dealing with the public. Hey, at least it's free. Then again, I wouldn't pay a dime to use it.

[Snapolit1]

eBay gets my items before literally tens of millions of eyeballs. Around the world. Just sold a card to a dude in China. No, I’m not interested in some 50 miles nearby Facebook group. Not interested in any aspect of Facebook.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

I hear about this so much on this forum but do not experience it. Like Baltic, I'm in Canada, so perhaps this annoyance is limited to Americans. I use ebay.com and ebay.ca and this doesn't happen.

Search 1914 Cracker Jacks, you'll get 1915s, 1990s reprints of Mike Piazza, stupid algorithm additions, and all sorts of irrelevant results. Not my idea of a good time.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Casey2296

Search 1914 Cracker Jacks, you'll get 1915s, 1990s reprints of Mike Piazza, stupid algorithm additions, and all sorts of irrelevant results. Not my idea of a good time.

"1914 Cracker Jack -1915 -1990 -reprint"

You're welcome