Why do cards at auction sell for more?

[packs]

I know when I see a card for a fixed price I'll try to get it for a lower price than advertised if I can. But if it's a free-flowing price like in an auction I'll try to win against the competition.

[scooter729]

I think some people feel that with a fixed price, if it was a good deal then someone else would've bought it already, regardless of how fair the price is to start.

Everyone seems to want the best deal, and many feel that doesn't come from a fixed price these days. I don't agree when it comes to the BST here, as I have found many items priced very fairly and made purchases.

[T206Collector]

I always feel that if the price is fixed and it hasn't sold then that means you are over paying.

If you win an auction, it just means that you are paying over the next highest bid. You have more confidence that that bidder will still be there when you go to sell.

[thecatspajamas]

There also seems to be the sentiment that if an item is up for a fixed price today, it will probably still be there tomorrow, and the day after, and so on. The buyer can procrastinate pulling the trigger while they pursue more urgent purchases. Put it in an auction-type setting though, especially with low starting price, and that feeling of "oh crap, it's gonna be gone forever" sets in and stimulates the buyer to bid.

[Stonepony]

Yep, its the competition. Tough to lose out on a card you want because you couldnt pull the trigger on an extra $1.50

[glchen]

On ebay, many buyers exclude BIN's from their searches. Also with BIN's, many buyers are not sure that they are paying "fair market value" and believe they may be overpaying. With auctions, the buyer believes that they are paying the market price.

[ullmandds]

I agree in that BIN's are typically viewed as overpriced...to the point I never look at them!!!

[triwak]

One word: Alcohol.

[wonkaticket]

While it’s not always the case I can think of two cards recently that sold for way way more in private deals than they ever would have at auction. I can’t really share details but I can tell you it was much much more than an auction would have returned.

I think this happens more than we know but due to the private nature we just don’t know about it. I also will say they have to be significant or tougher cards were not talking run of the mill pre-war etc.

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by glchen

On ebay, many buyers exclude BIN's from their searches. Also with BIN's, many buyers are not sure that they are paying "fair market value" and believe they may be overpaying. With auctions, the buyer believes that they are paying the market price.

This (above) is generally my thought on the question.

I think there are so many bloated BIN prices and ridiculously high asking prices at card shows and card shops that a stigma attaches to private sales in a buyer's mind. I approach every private sale price with a high level of skepticism.

Despite saying and believing this, I have done way more deals on this Board in the last 3 years than I have done BINs on eBay in 15 years...

Still 95%+ of my buying is via auction.

Cheers,
Blair

[Sean]

I agree that there is always the thought that a BIN is overpriced, that is why it hasn't sold yet.

I also think that during an auction we can become emotionally invested in a card ( say a Merkle/ Pirates) and end up bidding more than you planned rather than lose the item at 4 AM.

[Cardboard Junkie]

Big time auctions tend to attract the "Whales", collectors who probably never surf ebay with the "bottom feeders", (like me). The upside, as we all know is that on occasion we score a great "deal". The downside, (for me) is I usually get "creamed" in the big auctions. Dave

[iwantitiwinit]

I think in general collectors of sports cards and related memoribilia are competitive people. There is definitely a competitive aspect to auctions and the bidding process. We don't like to lose and in an open auction setting that competitiveness rears its ugly head in the form of macho bidding.

[rhettyeakley]

There have been times in the past that I have kinda wanted a card and see it for sale via BIN and will make note of it that if there is nothing I want more I can always go back and buy the BIN I had my eye on. Sometimes that card will be relisted several times and it will remain on the "back burner" to me. Then the seller will decide he wants money and puts it up for auction and then I know it is now-or-never time and I end up bidding what the initial BIN price or slightly higher to get it. I almost always have some cards that people have for sale on my wish list but other purchases take priority.

[Brian Van Horn]

I have not read the other posts:

Why do cards at auction sell for more?

Adrenaline and greed overcome market value. If you get two guys who want something, the middleman, i.e. the auctioneer, profits.

Also, if you have one guy who really wants the card and the auctioneer knows it and is a little loose with shall we say ethics, the shill or phantom bidder comes into play.

To a large degree, the auction route is what the card market has been relying on for a while. Card shows and trading amongst collectors lag behind.

[Texxxx]

I think auction houses also have a tendency to get the people that are not collectors but are buying for investment. They don't know much about the cards and getting them from auction houses gives them a little more since of security that the cards they are buying are legit. The people that buy for investment are poor money managers to start with so paying to much does not click with them.

[Wymers Auction]

Auctions are the oldest and best form of selling items known to man. I am a bit biased.

[toledo_mudhen]

And Finally - the auction houses do a MUCH better job of marketing any given item on the front end. The auction house website (or in some cases full color glossy magazines) provide "in depth" descriptions and really nice photo quality images of both sides of the card. This, in turn, leaves a prospective bidder with a sense that he will be bidding on something "special" and the feeling that he is going in fully armed with the information needed to predetermine the price range he might be willing to pay.

On the other hand - nothing irritates me more than finding a particular item on feebay where the seller provides a single fuzzy image (usually taken at an angle with a cell phone) and then the seller goes on to provide a few words that simply reiterates the auction title. These sellers "just don't get it" and use ebay simply as a dumping ground for some "stuff" they have laying around.

I value (monetarily, aesthetically, and historically) the things that I purchase in this hobby and I need the seller to recognize this and cater to those needs.

[barrysloate]

You can't assume that everyone who buys something knows what the item is worth. In the case of a fixed price sale, a buyer may see an item listed for $1000, have no idea if that's fair, and pass because he does not want to later discover he overpaid badly.

But if he sees the same item in an auction with a bid of $1100, he's not afraid to bid $1200 because he thinks he could probably get nearly all his money out of it down the road.

Of course the answer is much more complicated than this, and I am citing just one aspect of it.