Why do cards at auction sell for more?

[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.