Ebay realizing higher prices than auction houses?

[kingjammy24]

i realize this is hardly scientific but i thought it was interesting nonetheless. a few items were recently flipped from the last vintage authentics auction to ebay. here's how they faired (assuming a BP of 17.5% and SP of 15%):

Dennis Eckersley 1990 Game Used Jersey
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250148610375
vintage: $678.56 (not incl BP. $822.50 with BP)
ebay: $810.00

Mark McGwire 1994 Game Used Jersey
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250148622615
vintage: $504.07 (not incl BP. $611.00 with BP)
ebay: $1,050.25

George Brett 1992 Game Used Jersey
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250148637014
vintage: $781.32 (not incl BP. $947.05 with BP)
ebay: $909.99

Tim Raines 1992 Game Used Jersey
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=250148633225
vintage: $190.00 (not incl BP. $230.30 with BP)
ebay: $449.44

total: it cost $2610.85 incl. BP to buy the lot from vintage authentics

total: it cost $3219.68 to buy the lot from ebay

total: vintage consigners received a total of $1829.86 incl. SP

total: ebay seller received a total of $3112.08 incl. ebay fees

total: $107.61 fees collected by ebay

total: $700.03 fees collected by vintage authentics

total: the consigners would've made an extra $1282.22 if they had chosen ebay

total: buyers paid $608.88 more by buying from ebay instead of vintage

after all paying all fees, the flipper made $501.23. nice day's work.

***shipping charges not included in any calculations
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rudy.

[Ozric]

This has worked out well for me a few times by flipping items I had purchased from Grey Flannel. I actually doubled my money on a Ventura rookie jersey. Not sure exactly why this has worked for me in the past. Maybe there is a pool of "Ebay" collectors that are just not aware of some of the other auction houses.

[Jason]

This has worked out well for me a few times by flipping items I had purchased from Grey Flannel. I actually doubled my money on a Ventura rookie jersey. Not sure exactly why this has worked for me in the past. Maybe there is a pool of "Ebay" collectors that are just not aware of some of the other auction houses.

I would agree with that assumption. I think a lot of small time or recreational collectors are not even aware of online auction houses. More seasoned collectors know the real value of items. And when bidding against other seasoned collectors on these auction house websites, they are able to win auctions at a more realistic price.

eBay is full of small timers who will often times spend way too much on an item because of their lack of knowledge, which makes it great for people flipping items won at auction houses.

[kylehess10]

I have another perfect example for this......about a year ago I purchased a Miguel Tejada game used bat for $54 on eBay. A few months later, I decided to sell it on eBay and I got $170 for it. Then I saw that it was listed in American Memorabilia and it didn't sell for a starting bid $200. It was re-listed and eventually sold for $146:

http://americanmemorabilia.com/Aucti...ction_ID=35794

[aeneas01]

i realize this is hardly scientific but i thought it was interesting nonetheless. a few items were recently flipped from the last vintage authentics auction to ebay. here's how they faired (assuming a BP of 17.5% and SP of 15%):

while far from being scientific as you mentioned, it's still an interesting piece of info - especially for those of us that watch items go from auction houses to ebay and vice versa.

frankly, i don't think sports memorabila auction sites can come close to matching the number of views that an ebay item gets - for example, the items you mentioned averaged 250 views with a couple of them hitting well above 300. further, i would guess that most of these views are unique given ebay's item watch feauture...