Auction Houses vs. Ebay

[pokerplyr80]

If you're not a major ebay seller it's going to be hard to sell a card for what a major auction house could, even after the buyer's premium. I know I couldn't unless I got lucky. People don't trust sellers without high ratings and feedback scores as much as say Heritage, Goodwin, etc.

And it's easier. You don't have to post pictures, deal with buyers not paying, or run the risk that someone will receive your card and file an ebay claim any way. You're paying for a service.

I have also consigned to ebay seller PWCC and been pleased with results. Lower fees than AHs and they've got quite a following.

[TanksAndSpartans]

When you say "instead of ebay", do you mean an eBay consigner or selling yourself on eBay?

And one thing that hasn't been mentioned, if you have something rare, that is valuable, but not really mainstream and as a result the number of collectors chasing it is smaller, you may get more eyeballs on it from the AH because they send out catalogs and the length of time the item is "up" is typically longer than the eBay 7 day standard. For a graded card from a mainstream set, I'd probably go with an eBay consigner.

[drcy]

It's also not an either/or proposition. Many dealers sell some items on eBay and consign other items to auction houses. Most dealers have multiple avenues for selling, and use which avenue they deem best for what item and what situation.