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With eBay having grown the hobby the last few years...how many of you still prefer the old fashioned auction house?
I really enjoy the strategy (yes, I feel there is one) to bidding with an auction house. I enjoy the late nights, or the factor of not knowing when the night will end. You just can't get that same feel with the way an eBay auction ends.
Also...are you more comfortable consigning your own items in an auction house these days? More comfortable sticking with eBay?
There's definitely a special feeling when a catalog from a quality auction house arrives in the mail or by UPS. I get as fired up in that scenario as I did 10 years ago.
Personally...as a marginal collector...by Net 54 standards...I love receiving auction catalogs and perusing them in the tub...but...I don't often bid in them as I don't like the buyers' premiums usually attached to such houses. I have been bidding more often lately in some of the smaller auction houses that have more reasonable buyers premiums.
I kinda like ebays wham bam thank you m'aam process...I like knowing when the auction ends...who wants to stay up all night if you don't have to?
If the big auction house is expert, competent and honest (and some are!), it's the superior experience. With eBay, it's sometimes like purchasing from the cast of Welcome Back Kotter.
This message has been edited by dereb12 on Feb 24, 2009 8:51 PM
I like the anonymity of auction house bidding, and the fact that you can't get sniped at the end. But many of them drag on too long -- like the whole thing runs for a month or something. I prefer the 'Mastro' method of closing the auction, where each lot closes independently (not to re-open that debate), which usually lets me get to bed at a reasonable hour.
I enjoy auctions as they are the places I can find things I can't find elsewhere. Staying up real late isn't fun though. Plus, in auctions I know that I have every opportunity to win something. On ebay if I don't snipe high enough I can regret the outcome.
The auction houses rarely have anything I may be interested in whereas ebay almost always has something for me. Plus it's almost torturous for me to wait an entire month out. The Nebraska Indians cabinet I won in the REA auction a few years ago made me antsy. I bid all the time in Hunts monthly auctions and usually I run through the whole auction and bid on a ton of crap and totally forget about it until I sometimes get an invoice.
I still enjoy e-bay quite a bit. There are things they have changed with navigating the system that are a bit of a pain, but I like the fact that I can log-on any time I want and search for an item I may want to buy. Sure the BINs are annoying, but where else can you get access to just about anything you want.
Card stores and shows (for the most part) have gone the way of the dinosaur. Even the decent shows still around (i.e. Ft. Washington), there are nice items, but the price tags are crazy. It seems as though many dealers are just showing their inventory or fishing for the one buyer who will pay a crazy price.
As for auctions, I still enjoy looking at the incredible material and I always will, but for the items I like, it seems prices are at market value. One thing that really bothers me are the rising buyers premiums + state taxes (if applicable) + excessive shipping charges...just kinda kills it for me.
All in all, I like e-bay best. After approx. 600 transactions, maybe only 1 or 2 bad transactions.
I like them. I like receiving the catalogs and I love browsing through the websites. A couple of things I don't like, however, are the higher prices that some relatively easy cards seem to go for versus on eBay.
I also don't like the idea that I have to pay to register at one particular auction house. I imagine this is a touchy issue, but I'm just being honest. I resent the fact that that place thinks I should give them $75 for the privilege of bidding. There's a card I want right now which I think will sell for around $500, but the idea that I'd have to pay the buyers premium plus the $75 plus the shipping makes the actual price way more expensive than it should be. They probably lose a lot of business to people like me who only want a card or two at any given moment and don't want to pay to play.
As far as selling goes, more and more I like the idea of consigning my stuff to an auction house, or at least one of the companies who sell on eBay. My cards sell for ridiculous losses anytime I put one up. My scans are always big and crisp, my auctions are listed on Sunday nights, in the right category, with accurate listing titles, but I think that because I'm not a bigwig with a gazillion positives, I don't get the kind or prices that consignment places get. I definitely follow the same skewed logic as a bidder (I tend to bid higher on a seller with 30000 positives than someone with 300), but I don't understand why that is how it is. I can see not trusting someone with only 30 positives selling a high-grade HOFer and his positives were all from sales of Milli Vanilli records, but there doesn't seem to be much room in the middle. On the other hand, ultimately, I don't know if I'd have more cash in my pocket if I do the work myself and take a loss versus consigning and paying more fees.
I should also mention that I prefer the real auction format "going once, going twice, etc." I think thats better for buyers and sellers. Commands higher prices, but I can't tell you how many times I've kicked myself for not bidding higher for something on eBay.
I still very much enjoy both and live auctions as well. I do have to say the news about some auction houses and sometimes ebay is disturbing, but I try not to let that bother me too much. The hobby is about having fun and trying to make some investments, so I can keep doing what has made me keep going in this hobby. I love the history
David P.....registering for Mastro is free for us....
February 25 2009, 10:10 AM
Call their customer service and tell them that you are a Net54 member and they will let you register for free. You may use me as a reference. Tell them Doug Allen said so...and if there is an issue please call me on my cell at 214-282-4943.....Membership has it's privileges....
Can any of us members register for free with said auction house?Or do we need the ok from one of the mods or Leon?They have some stuff I would like to bid on but like the previous poster I don't want to pay to bid.
Mike
In general, I enjoy the large houses as they seem to have more of the quality material, but I don't enjoy shill bidding, or possibly having to take legal action to get my money back should a house go under.
My involvement is not needed. Just call their customer service and mention what I said to. I only gave my number in case there is an issue. I doubt there will be. Good luck in their auction unless you are bidding on something I am bidding on ....
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