Is Heritage that much better than EBay?

[bounce]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

Joe, I agree with you and Conner on the one-less bidder theory, but I think there is more to it than that. The exact same 33 Goudey Lajoie sold in Heritage for a 20% premium over what the same exact card sold for in Heritage in May. I know it’s a small sample, but that is an example of a major card being immediately relisted with better results (in Heritage). So while I think that may be a factor, I am thinking the following are equally applicable:

1. Heritage (and memory lane, REA, etc) get more eyes on stud cards than eBay, especially a Greg Morris auction on eBay (as opposed to pwcc, no offense to Greg Morris); and

2. I agree that the extended bidding format of Heritage (and REA and all other lot by lot closings), likely create a few extra bids, whereas the close at one-time, set -a-snipe format of eBay auctions may leave bids (and money) on the table.

Couple things I think..

The auction companies make sure you get paid. It seems quite rare that when you consign to one of the auction houses someone backs out on their bid. This happens ALL THE TIME on eBay, because they protect buyers interests first. This is also why some of what we see at Probstein and PWCC may not be able to be trusted - because the buyers didn't ultimately pay.

The other reason someone else pointed out, there are sometimes just not as many eyes on eBay. I actually was in the market for that specific Hindu Wajo, as I was one of the underbidders at Heritage the first time around. I would have definitely been after this card had I seen it, but I don't search eBay that frequently for T cards (my fault obviously this time) and didn't know it was even out there.

For five and six figure cards, though, I really do think it has as much to do with the auction houses getting you paid than anything else. There's just too many shenanigans that eBay let's buyers play with you and people who are selling cards at this level I assume want their money, lots of times because they're using it to fund something else.