Auction dollars spent vis a vis ebay dollars spent

[Archive]

Posted By: vetekbob

Barry and Jay, you both bring up some very good points that I have wondered about lately myself. As someone that doesnt have a huge amount of money to spend on prewar cards, I have wondered where the ceiling is and are we nearing it. I personally agree with Jay, that if you are a true prewar collector you are in it because you love it and are not concerned about flipping cards all the time for money. Granted, if some sellers on ebay didnt flip like they do, I wouldnt have the ability such as it is to get a nice card here and there and for that I am thankful for. I buy graded for the authenticity issue realizing that at times mistakes can and are made by the grading companies. If I buy a card I want to see the beauty of the artwork and style of it without lots of handling and wear to distract from and handling cards holdered allows me to sit and appreciate such without worry about an accident happening that might would spell disaster if not holdered. I have been known to flip some cards when the scope of my collecting changed and or I had the opportunity to acquire something that struck my eye as a collector even more.
What I am sad about and miss is being able to actually walk into a card shop and look at true vintage cards and look at them up close and do business face to face and share and swap information. There isnt a card shop here in atlanta that I am aware of that has good prewar cards but thank god for ebay and other collectors who provide their knowledge as well as sharing from the heart to help collectors like me.
As to auction house purchases, I would like to do more in that venue when the opportunity arises but the 15 - 20% fee really hits me with a limited budget. The buyers fee on some places has kept me from being able to get that one card or cards that I really wanted. I have no problem at all with nice catalogues and such to promote but at the same time, I also think sometimes less is better from the collectors standpoint.
As I mentioned in a previous posting, I personally feel there is a gap widening between the average collector such as myself and one those that are high end which many of the houses seem to cater to in only offering up high end examples of prewar cards. I have recently seen Barry's site as well as Seth's and Lew's and it does my heart good to see they are doing what they can to help fill that gap and I hope I can get involved in some of those auctions. Call me old fashioned but personal one on one trading or buying is something I think has suffered over the years but its good to see the spirit and the heart of the people here that seek to help each other out not because an extra dollar can be made but because they have a true desire to help a fellow collector.