the trouble with cards that don't often come to market

[BobC]

Doesn't Ebay still have it where you can save searches and get notified via email when certain items you're interested in are listed? Makes it so that people interested in such rare items that rarely come up for sale do get notified of them, and don't miss the chance to go after them.

Meanwhile, in regards to all the different AHs out there, has anyone come up with an app or anything else that monitors all the different card auctions, and that people can then save their want lists to, and thus get notified when a card or item they are interested in does come up for sale? That can also then let them know which AH is going to have it for sale so they can get a chance to register for it, if they aren't already, and then bid on those cards/items they really want and not miss out? I'm not aware of one, but would think that such an app or site could be a great item for people in the hobby, and something that AHs, and/or large independent sellers that aren't on Ebay, would possibly really want to participate in as well.

[Mungo Hungo]

Originally Posted by BobC

Doesn't Ebay still have it where you can save searches and get notified via email when certain items you're interested in are listed? Makes it so that people interested in such rare items that rarely come up for sale do get notified of them, and don't miss the chance to go after them.

Meanwhile, in regards to all the different AHs out there, has anyone come up with an app or anything else that monitors all the different card auctions, and that people can then save their want lists to, and thus get notified when a card or item they are interested in does come up for sale? That can also then let them know which AH is going to have it for sale so they can get a chance to register for it, if they aren't already, and then bid on those cards/items they really want and not miss out? I'm not aware of one, but would think that such an app or site could be a great item for people in the hobby, and something that AHs, and/or large independent sellers that aren't on Ebay, would possibly really want to participate in as well.

Ebay does have the saved searches function, which is great. But what it doesn't have is a way for would-be buyers to let potential sellers know of their wants. That might draw out some of the really hard-to-find items.

What you say in your second paragraph is a great idea as well.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Mungo Hungo

Ebay does have the saved searches function, which is great. But what it doesn't have is a way for would-be buyers to let potential sellers know of their wants. That might draw out some of the really hard-to-find items.

What you say in your second paragraph is a great idea as well.

Absolutely agree with your point, but was just commenting on the thread topic of how rare and obscure items that get put up for sale often may suffer due to potential interested buyers not being aware of those items put up for sale. Like others said, it can be a timing or lack of knowledge issue where not enough potential buyers know of a particular item being sold, and thus don't get a chance to bid on it, and as a result the seller may not then realize an item's true market value from its sale.

Your suggestion of a sort of reverse function to let sellers know what people are looking for, so they can then put those items up for sale, makes great sense also. The trick is to try and match up all the sellers and buyers, so the marketplace offers everything that someone wants, and there are enough people that want said item so that a seller realizes its true market value from the sale. Unfortunately, the system does not always work as efficiently as buyers and sellers would like.

However, your idea to draw out some of the really hard to find items may not be so easily or effectively done if there was some way for buyers to let others know what they are looking for. Just look at all the members here on Net54 that talk about and share images of their very rare and desirable items, and who also say they are not for sale. The definition of a collector is that of someone who acquires and then holds onto items, not sells them. Sellers and dealers in the business of selling will most likely put all of their inventory up for sale at some time or another, and the trick for them is then letting the public know when the items they may want are being put up for sale, and where they are being put up. I like your idea, but think the market works more efficiently when it is the buyers getting informed of what is for sale, not the other way around. Even if a seller finds out that a bunch of buyers want something they have, where do they go to sell it then so that ALL the potentially interested buyers will also know where to look and be able to bid on it? If a seller sees there are 5 people on Ebay looking for something they have to sell, and another 5 that don't go on Ebay and cruise the AH sales, where does that seller decide to put his item up for sale? He/she has no way of knowing if the more interested potential buyers would be on Ebay or at some AH, nor which one(s) had the deepest pockets. That's why having an app/site/whatever that alerts and attracts as many people as possible to a seller's particular venue and item may work best in the long run.

What would be really nice is to have both kinds of apps/sites functioning together for dealers/sellers and buyers, at the same time.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by BobC

Doesn't Ebay still have it where you can save searches and get notified via email when certain items you're interested in are listed? Makes it so that people interested in such rare items that rarely come up for sale do get notified of them, and don't miss the chance to go after them.

Going to go all BobC on BobC with a long(ish) post full of as many questions as answers.

I think part of the problem often is defining your search terms. As a buyer when questing for an item, if I use very specific search terms, then what are the odds that the seller will actually know what they have, and will use the right terms when they list the item?

On the other hand, if I cast a very wide net, then I end up getting emails every second of the day.

A couple of examples of this phenomenon come to mind. You will recall a little while back we had a bit of a kerfuffle over an auction being outed. Which one, you may ask? There was a Babe Ruth item, where the seller didn't know what they had - they just listed it as a Babe Ruth baseball card.

Here is the thread: https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...e+ruth+auction

Or you can also think of the seller who listed 4 Topps Dice Game cards on eBay for $4.99, not knowing what he had, and so not referring to them as Dice Game cards.

Here is the thread: https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...ight=dice+game

The point being that saved eBay searches only really function well when the seller actually knows what they have, and correctly lists it. Barring that, your quest for a particular rare item requires that you wade through a tremendous mountain of eBay listings to find that needle in the haystack.

The other element that comes into play is that sometimes the one thing you really want is buried in a larger lot. Someone might just list "Big bag of old baseball cards", with a few pictures. And the one piece you've been questing to find for the last 20 years is buried in there. If you're lucky, they include some pictures, which might help you to find it, but only if you're willing to spend the time looking at a lot of listings and staring at a lot of pictures.

In terms of searches across auction sites, the closest you might get is some sort of a google search that pings you when new web pages come online that include your defined terms. It's been a while since I last attempted it, but if you're looking for something really specific, it seems like this might work for auction sites.

Here's a webpage that describes how to do it: https://support.google.com/websearch.../4815696?hl=en

Might not be perfect, but it might be the best we're going to get until someone a lot more tech savvy comes along and creates a tool to search across different auction sites.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by raulus

Going to go all BobC on BobC with a long(ish) post full of as many questions as answers.

I think part of the problem often is defining your search terms. As a buyer when questing for an item, if I use very specific search terms, then what are the odds that the seller will actually know what they have, and will use the right terms when they list the item?

On the other hand, if I cast a very wide net, then I end up getting emails every second of the day.

A couple of examples of this phenomenon come to mind. You will recall a little while back we had a bit of a kerfuffle over an auction being outed. Which one, you may ask? There was a Babe Ruth item, where the seller didn't know what they had - they just listed it as a Babe Ruth baseball card.

Here is the thread: https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...e+ruth+auction

Or you can also think of the seller who listed 4 Topps Dice Game cards on eBay for $4.99, not knowing what he had, and so not referring to them as Dice Game cards.

Here is the thread: https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...ight=dice+game

The point being that saved eBay searches only really function well when the seller actually knows what they have, and correctly lists it. Barring that, your quest for a particular rare item requires that you wade through a tremendous mountain of eBay listings to find that needle in the haystack.

The other element that comes into play is that sometimes the one thing you really want is buried in a larger lot. Someone might just list "Big bag of old baseball cards", with a few pictures. And the one piece you've been questing to find for the last 20 years is buried in there. If you're lucky, they include some pictures, which might help you to find it, but only if you're willing to spend the time looking at a lot of listings and staring at a lot of pictures.

In terms of searches across auction sites, the closest you might get is some sort of a google search that pings you when new web pages come online that include your defined terms. It's been a while since I last attempted it, but if you're looking for something really specific, it seems like this might work for auction sites.

Here's a webpage that describes how to do it: https://support.google.com/websearch.../4815696?hl=en

Might not be perfect, but it might be the best we're going to get until someone a lot more tech savvy comes along and creates a tool to search across different auction sites.

good information and very helpful

[BobC]

Originally Posted by raulus

Going to go all BobC on BobC with a long(ish) post full of as many questions as answers.

I think part of the problem often is defining your search terms. As a buyer when questing for an item, if I use very specific search terms, then what are the odds that the seller will actually know what they have, and will use the right terms when they list the item?

On the other hand, if I cast a very wide net, then I end up getting emails every second of the day.

A couple of examples of this phenomenon come to mind. You will recall a little while back we had a bit of a kerfuffle over an auction being outed. Which one, you may ask? There was a Babe Ruth item, where the seller didn't know what they had - they just listed it as a Babe Ruth baseball card.

Here is the thread: https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...e+ruth+auction

Or you can also think of the seller who listed 4 Topps Dice Game cards on eBay for $4.99, not knowing what he had, and so not referring to them as Dice Game cards.

Here is the thread: https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...ight=dice+game

The point being that saved eBay searches only really function well when the seller actually knows what they have, and correctly lists it. Barring that, your quest for a particular rare item requires that you wade through a tremendous mountain of eBay listings to find that needle in the haystack.

The other element that comes into play is that sometimes the one thing you really want is buried in a larger lot. Someone might just list "Big bag of old baseball cards", with a few pictures. And the one piece you've been questing to find for the last 20 years is buried in there. If you're lucky, they include some pictures, which might help you to find it, but only if you're willing to spend the time looking at a lot of listings and staring at a lot of pictures.

In terms of searches across auction sites, the closest you might get is some sort of a google search that pings you when new web pages come online that include your defined terms. It's been a while since I last attempted it, but if you're looking for something really specific, it seems like this might work for auction sites.

Here's a webpage that describes how to do it: https://support.google.com/websearch.../4815696?hl=en

Might not be perfect, but it might be the best we're going to get until someone a lot more tech savvy comes along and creates a tool to search across different auction sites.

Absolutely right. Never said the Ebay function worked perfectly, but it is certainly better than nothing. Not sure you could ever develop a really great such app or site that allows both buyers and sellers to know who wants exactly what, and then allows everyone to know exactly when and where it is coming up for sale. The biggest obstacle I think would be the need to have all selling sites, auction houses, independent dealer sites, and so on, agree and cooperate to allow whoever is setting up and operating such an app or site full and complete access to them and their sites and info. I can immediately see Ebay not wanting to potentially share information that could actually end up helping other sellers and sites. In fact, I could see a lot of dealers/sellers/auction houses not want to take part in such a venture as it could possibly steer customers away from them, just as easily as it may steer customers to them.