Semi OT: Need Some eBay Advice

[corsairs22]

Re: Semi OT: Need Some eBay Advice

In addition to all that's been said, it seems to me that you gave the card its chance to sell at $325 and now it's time to find out what people will pay for the card in an open auction. Good luck with it.

[AWA85]

Re: Semi OT: Need Some eBay Advice

Went for little over $200, are you ok with that price? Keep us updated!

[frikativ54]

Re: Semi OT: Need Some eBay Advice

Went for little over $200, are you ok with that price? Keep us updated!

When the auction was first over, I felt bad about it. I kept trying to tell myself that it's just a baseball card, and that $200 is still $200 toward a game-used jersey I am buying. So - I guess I have mixed feelings. I am so glad I didn't give it away, though. It could have been a lot worse, as I would simply be unhappy only getting $125 for it.

I have a feeling I am going to have a similar situation with my Hunter Pence bat. I need to sell it in order to pay for the aforementioned jersey, and I'm not sure I can get what I originally paid for it. It's a nice D-Bat, but I didn't have a pleasant experience with Hunter Pence, so I don't feel that badly about letting it go.

[TNTtoys]

Re: Semi OT: Need Some eBay Advice

When the auction was first over, I felt bad about it. I kept trying to tell myself that it's just a baseball card, and that $200 is still $200 toward a game-used jersey I am buying. So - I guess I have mixed feelings. I am so glad I didn't give it away, though. It could have been a lot worse, as I would simply be unhappy only getting $125 for it.

I have a feeling I am going to have a similar situation with my Hunter Pence bat. I need to sell it in order to pay for the aforementioned jersey, and I'm not sure I can get what I originally paid for it. It's a nice D-Bat, but I didn't have a pleasant experience with Hunter Pence, so I don't feel that badly about letting it go.

My two cents for whatever they're worth. Protect your assets and don't be "penny wise/dollar foolish." If you have something worth $200-300, either start it higher or put a reserve on it. Worst thing that can happen is that it doesn't sell, and you eat $2-3 worth of fees. Certainly a lot better than selling it for $100 or more less than its value. Too many times sellers get hung up on saving a few cents with fees that they put their item at high risk and lose hundreds in the process.

[commando]

Re: Semi OT: Need Some eBay Advice

I guess I should also chime in and note the huge difference between long-term values of newer cards versus game-used equipment. Take the most expensive insert cards produced in 2003 as an example. If you compared the values of 98% of these cards today versus five years ago, you'd see cards that have lost around half their value. Frankly, most card collectors are not concerned with inserts from five years ago. Even many hard-core collectors who collect one specific player have long given up on trying to collect all the different "1 of 1" cards that come out every year.

The bottom line is if you see this card show up on eBay three years from now, I can almost guarantee it will go for much less than you got this week. The equipment you bought will be much more stable if you paid a fair price.

[frikativ54]

Re: Semi OT: Need Some eBay Advice

I guess I should also chime in and note the huge difference between long-term values of newer cards versus game-used equipment. Take the most expensive insert cards produced in 2003 as an example. If you compared the values of 98% of these cards today versus five years ago, you'd see cards that have lost around half their value. Frankly, most card collectors are not concerned with inserts from five years ago. Even many hard-core collectors who collect one specific player have long given up on trying to collect all the different "1 of 1" cards that come out every year.

The bottom line is if you see this card show up on eBay three years from now, I can almost guarantee it will go for much less than you got this week. The equipment you bought will be much more stable if you paid a fair price.

You make really good points. Although I wanted to hang on to the Berkman until he got hot, there is always the issue of cards going down in value. I thought: if I hold on to it much longer, the card's value would really be lowered. Plus, I am not so confident that Berkman will have a great year this year.

There are some cards that do hold value though. Like I anticipate the Craig Biggio 1989 Upper Deck rookie card graded Pristine BGS 10 card to maintain its value, as well as a BGS 9.5 Gem Mint Griffey/Bagwell/Thomas UD Ultimate auto I have. However, the trick is to know what sets hold their value and when to sell.

The thing about baseball cards is that I just don't understand why people keep pouring their money into them. People will spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on cards with small pieces of g/u jerseys in them. And furthermore, the companies flood the market so it becomes more of an addiction with collectors than a genuine hobby.

For me, it was like over a period of a month or so that I woke up to what the card companies were doing to collectors. People on the Beckett Message Boards called me a hypocrite for having patch cards in my signature but then inveighing against this quasi-scam. The thing that kept me away from g/u collecting for so long is that I didn't know of legit sources to get good stuff.

Once I was recommended to reliable dealers and found this forum, I felt more confident about selling my baseball card collection and getting more into g/u stuff. I remember this summer asking at Minute Maid Park for good places to get game-used memorabilia, and they told me they didn't know and to check out eBay - as if I hadn't already been doing that. I actually haven't acquired that much (some Bagwell batting gloves and a pair of cleats, a Hunter Pence bat, and a Bagwell g/u jersey within the next two months), but I am much happier with it than I am with my card collection.