Writing Team Trial 2/5

By Kyle Hymel aka FootballCardFreak

One of the most common questions in the sports card world today is whether or not eBay is ruining the hobby. Many collectors say that Ebay is ruining the hobby because it is putting card shops out of business and making it easier for fakes to be passed as authentic. I, on the other hand, think eBay is the main reason why the hobby is so popular today.

Ebay allows people to buy sports cards for less than it would cost at a sports card store. The sole purpose of sports card stores is to make money for the owner, but on the flip side, Ebay is a free market system. Ebay shows us the value of a card from the perspective of the collectors and not the value of a card from the perspective of the manufacturers. You have to understand this about BV: BV is made by the manufacturers possibly for no other reason than to drive up the costs of their products.

Because of Ebay, collectors can find many cards to choose from with just a click of a button. Instead of driving 1 hour away to the hobby shop only to find 5 cards of your player, you can get on Ebay and within 5 minutes you will have found hundreds of cards that fit your needs. “There is one card shop remotely close to me and never has any Staal cards. Even going to the huge Fall and Spring Expo I might see between 20 to 40 cards of Staal. I go on Ebay and search "Staal" and I get like 1000 items.,” says gretzky_collector from sportscardforum.

The one thing that stops things from becoming big hits is the lack of international exposure. Ebay has brought sports card collecting not only to the rural areas of the U.S., but to the whole world. “As a UK citizen living in the Philippines, Ebay is a God send,” says Hairylemon, another sportscardforum member.

Ebay also shows collectors the latest hobby trends. Without Ebay, we would have to guess whose cards are hot and whose cards are not. Now we don't have to play the guessing game anymore. Now we know when we should capitalize on a player's hot streak.

I get it; a lot of you feel bad for the poor card shop owners who are forced to close down their beloved family shops because they just can't make ends meet anymore. That is the way that the world is. If you do not adapt to your surroundings, you will be taken over. I also encourage you to look at all of the online businesses that are popping up as a result of Ebay and not just look at all of the card shops that are closing down.

In conclusion, Ebay has helped the hobby 100 times more than it has hurt the hobby. It has provided collectors with information that would have been impossible for us to acquire on our own as well as provide the best possible prices and the widest selection available. It is the perfect card shop!

True and good read, I Don't see why more hobby shop owners expand to ebay..it always seems like they are afraid of the internet.

I’m All for eBay

By Kyle Hymel aka FootballCardFreak

One of the most common questions in the sports card world today is whether or not eBay is ruining the hobby. Many collectors say that eBay is ruining the hobby because it is putting card shops out of business and making it easier for fakes to be passed as authentic. I, on the other hand, think eBay is the main reason why the hobby is so popular today.

eBay allows people to buy sports cards for less than it would cost at a sports card store. The sole purpose of sports card stores is to make money for the owner but on the flip side eBay is a free market system. eBay shows us the value of a card from the perspective of the collectors and not the value of a card from the perspective of the manufacturers. You have to understand that the manufacturers and pricing companies make book values possibly for no other reason than to drive up the costs of their products.

Because of eBay collectors can find many cards to choose from with just a click of a button. Instead of driving one hour away to the hobby shop only to find five cards of your player, you can get on eBay and within five minutes you will have found hundreds of cards that fit your needs. “There is one card shop remotely close to me and never has any Staal cards. Even going to the huge Fall and Spring Expo I might see between 20 to 40 cards of Staal. I go on eBay and search ‘Staal’ and I get like 1000 items,” says gretzky_collector from Sports Card Forum.

The one problem that stops things from becoming big hits is the lack of international exposure. eBay has brought sports card collecting not only to the rural areas of the U.S. but also to the whole world. “As a UK citizen living in the Philippines, eBay is a God send,” says Hairylemon, another Sports Card Forum member.

eBay also shows collectors the latest hobby trends. Without eBay, we would have to guess whose cards are hot and whose cards are not. Now by looking at past sales we don't have to play the guessing game anymore and instead know when we should capitalize on a player's hot streak.

I get it; a lot of you feel bad for the poor card shop owners who are forced to close down their beloved family shops because they just can't make ends meet anymore. That is the way that the world is. If you do not adapt to your surroundings, you will be taken over. I also encourage you to look at all of the online businesses that are popping up as a result of eBay and not just look at all of the card shops that are closing down.

In conclusion eBay has helped the hobby 100 times more than it has hurt the hobby. It has provided collectors with information that would have been impossible for us to acquire on our own as well as provide the best possible prices and the widest selection available. It is the perfect card shop!

Hey....you quoted me, lol. I just saw an article about ebay and thought I would check it out.

I currently have 261 Jordan Staal cards with another 26 incoming. Total cards bought from card shops or card shows....8. The rest were from ebay (and since March 2009 here at SCF) Prices at shops and shows are through the roof! Well, I think so.
Why pay $150 for a card when you can win it for 16?

Look at my sig. All the Polk High auto's....you guessed it, EBAY!

I do miss going to shops but it all comes down to saving money, especially nowadays.

I couldn't agree with you more. If not for ebay the hobby might be down and out.

I totally agree, ebay has helped the hobby a lot.

I have to somewhat disagree with this article. I think eBay helps for those that only collect single but it has destroyed any point to opening boxes any more which I always thought was one of the most fun things about the hobby. Pretty much the only options you have when you open a box and get a good card are sell it on eBay and you would be lucky to get half you money back, trade it for eBay values because that is all that some one is willing to give you or keep it but what if the card is of some one you don't care for. I think eBay has lead to such an over production of everything that it has driven prices down so low that it's great for people who want to buy single but horrible for any one who wants to bust wax. And busting wax is how card companies make there money which might be part of the problem for poor card qualities and customer service from basically every company.

Articles: http://www.sportscardforum.com/articles/?p=738
Digg: http://digg.com/baseball/I_m_All_for_eBay_Sports_Card_Forum_Articles
Prop: http://www.propeller.com/story/2009/08/14/i8217m-all-for-ebay-sports-card-forum-articles/
Buzz: http://buzz.yahoo.com/article/1:04336a8f0df176e64b208827a806c85d:79fab3970ddba07 5e6ce6c025ae38a95/Im-All-for-eBay?usc=1

my local card shop owner sells his really nice cards on ebay and keeps his cheaper cards for the card shop. that way he can sell his good cards to buyers throughout the world.
i dont see how card shop owners can make a living by just selling cards through their shop