Auction Houses vs. Ebay

[egbeachley]

Originally Posted by Beastmode

Not sure where you guys are getting 13% at PWCC. They're 8% all-in on graded cards over $5K. It's on their consignment page. so the real analysis is 35% vs. 8%. .

You can't pick the best rate on one and the worst rate on another. $5K graded cards get 8% from PWCC but probably 0% - 5% sellers premium to go with the 20% buyers premium. So that's 8% vs 19% - 24% (not 20% - 25% if you do the math).

For lower value cards the rate is higher for both. But no matter how you slice it, the AH is a lot higher. By using PWCC you get all the advantages of the AH, they do the work and shipping, have many loyal customers, etc.

[Edwolf1963]

Originally Posted by egbeachley

You can't pick the best rate on one and the worst rate on another.

Agreed. Not sure where someone got that AH 35% happy-talk from? I have sold on both eBay and AH for years, very rare to get a seller's commission on AH for most cards/any value and if so, I would avoid. In fact, some AH's will negotiate a percentage back to seller off hammer price.

There are pros and cons for each. Some notes (IMO) below ..

AH - PROS: Auction format (buyers), focus on collectibles/appeal to collectors, no reprints/garbage or sifting through, generally a better quality of merchandise/rarer items, no PayPal, no fees to consignors (generally), harder to retract bids, AH assumes work and cost to list, print (those who have catalogs) and ship, a few AH's will work with TPGs to re-grade, re-slab damaged holders, usually better scans and descriptions. CONS: Too many AHs, hard to keep track of who, what, when. Buyer commissions (I've seen 12.5% to 22%), limited reach/audience, some charge ridiculous shipping ("handling") fees on top of buyer commission, sales tax where applicable factors/erodes into what buyers will bid, longer wait to be paid, usually only pay by check/MO, some AH's pass on PayPal/CC fees to buyer, auction format can be risky for sellers w/out reserve or minimum bid.

EBay - PROS: No buyer commission, broader reach/audience, quicker (you don't have to wait for the next auction), do it yourself formats, easy shipping, no sales tax (for sales under $20K + 200 items annually - some charge sales tax for sales within state), pay by CC/PayPal, easy to identify sellers you'd like to avoid. CONS: FVF (Final Value Fees) usually at/about 10%, PayPal fees on top of, sometimes listing fees as well, difficult feedback policy for sellers, can get unwarranted/unfair buyer feedback which is hard to remove, fraudulent listings, does little to shut down bad listings or sellers (especially if the seller does a lot of business w/eBay), endless BIN ridiculous listings/prices, hard to weed out junk/reprints, eBay customer service is awful.

Shill bidding can happen on both - a lot of hyperbole, hard to prove. Consigning on PWCC, Probstein, etc - basically you're having them do the work of listing and shipping for you. You get the benefit of their name/reach/familiarization but also increased cost of middle-man.

I don't see it as a definite one over the other - both have advantages and some disadvantages. Depends on what you want to do, when and weighing them out. I also like to buy/sell here - Net54 has it's own set of advantages worthy of consideration.

Again, just my opinion .. respectful of others, but never came close to knowing or realizing 35% noted on AHs.