PSA selling cards on Ebay!?!?!?

[Section103]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Now if you look at the link posted above, PSA charges the consignment fee "WITH NO ADDITIONAL EBAY FEES". So it appears I was correct in my assumption that there is no additional fee involved.

I agree. On the surface, it appears PSA charges no additional amount. My assumption (only that) is that PSA receives a significantly discounted rate from eBay and that's how they cover costs+. With that said and if my assumption is true, there is absolutely a conflict of interest on PSAs part. They are incentivized in the short term to provide higher grades in order to generate higher eBay sales which generates higher consignment fees. Is it enough to matter to PSA? Its a bit impossible to say - particularly with the lack of transparency on PSAs agreement with eBay. Obviously, a $50 card probably isnt worth them messing with. But a $50,000 card? Yeah, buyer beware.

[OhioLawyerF5]

Originally Posted by Section103

I agree. On the surface, it appears PSA charges no additional amount. My assumption (only that) is that PSA receives a significantly discounted rate from eBay and that's how they cover costs+. With that said and if my assumption is true, there is absolutely a conflict of interest on PSAs part. They are incentivized in the short term to provide higher grades in order to generate higher eBay sales which generates higher consignment fees. Is it enough to matter to PSA? Its a bit impossible to say - particularly with the lack of transparency on PSAs agreement with eBay. Obviously, a $50 card probably isnt worth them messing with. But a $50,000 card? Yeah, buyer beware.

Yeah, I wasn't commenting on the propriety of it. Just that since I knew there was a business relationship where ebay sold its vault to PSA, that it wasn't unreasonable of me to ask if they charged fees over and above ebay's fees. That's all I asked, and was accused of asking a strange question.

[Section103]

Originally Posted by OhioLawyerF5

Yeah, I wasn't commenting on the propriety of it. Just that since I knew there was a business relationship where ebay sold its vault to PSA, that it wasn't unreasonable of me to ask if they charged fees over and above ebay's fees. That's all I asked, and was accused of asking a strange question.

Yeah, sorry - I used your point of conversation to launch into my own take on PSAs practice. We should be asking all kinds of questions about PSAs income take on this because it absolutely matters. Maybe its just a ploy to buy even more market dominance. Maybe they're taking 10 of the 13% eBay traditionally charges. I cant tell based on what has been posted and I feel confident that is by design.