ebay is disgusting, just disgusting

[Northviewcats]

I have had a lot of luck selling on both eBay and the BST. I'm not a big seller, but I usually average about $1500 to $2000 a month. I buy and sell to build my Prewar collection. Lately I've retired and I need to sell a bit to augment my retirement.

Usually on eBay I start my auctions at a low starting price and let the market determine the value. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but it all seems to average out for me. Also, I have found that you will get a higher price for HOF players and low to midgrade lots on eBay than anywhere else because there are so many buyers.

Lately, I have been selling more on the BST than on eBay. I really appreciate the relationships that I have built up with some of the collectors here. There are some really nice people on this Board. When I get return customers it makes me happy. You don't get that feeling often on eBay.

The key to selling on the BST is not to let the low ball offers, and worse, that dreadful silence that occurs after listing one of your treasures bother you. Sometimes you may even have a card priced fairly, but you just have to wait to find the right buyer. I cannot tell you how many times that I have been contacted by a member about a card that I listed on the BST a month ago and now they now want to buy it. Sometimes, just relisting a card in a different format does the trick.

Occasionally, there is a misunderstanding on the BST because we are using electronic instead of face to face communication. (I still haven't figured out how to use the smiley faces to correctly determine the appropriate tone.) However, most buyers here are very polite, and its not hard to work through a problem. Sometimes (not frequently), a buyer will make an offer and then disappear, but that happens on eBay, too. It is just part of the business.

Being patient is important when dealing on the BST. A good sense of humor helps as well.

The best part of selling a card on the BST is when you know that the buyer is happy to add a card to his or her collection that they really wanted. You may have gotten a little less than you wanted in money, but now you have a friend. The motivational speaker Zig Zigler used to say that "you can have everything in life that you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."

So, if you need to sell a card by a certain date you need to run straight auctions on eBay, but in my opinion the best place to sell is here.

I want to thank Leon, Scot and all the board members for giving us this platform to sell our cards.

Best regards,

Joe