Is It Just Me?

[chakhae1]

well, that is good and bad is it not? making cards so readily accessible is great for the pc collector but it really does destroy the value of cards which is why in the first place that in person such as shows, everyone is looking to max out their profit. do i want to get rid of ebay and the internet? of course not b/c it is a great resource to buy/sell cards, check values and so and so forth. i just wish there was some kind of middle ground in terms of value and that some people would be more objective when dealing with ebay.

[chakhae1]

You just have to find the right people to deal with I suppose. I'd say at least 50% of my trades lately have been with people that I have already traded with before. Start to build relationships with people and trades turn into you telling the person you're sending them a package, and then maybe a few weeks later they send you a package and it just keeps going and you guys stop caring about every little $ of BV. It all works out in the end.

when i used to be active in trading online i didn't have many problems with dealing with people and most people didn't penny pinch. typically they had a card i wanted or i had a card they wanted and it was a pc card so typically the trade went off with no problems. i have since stopped trading for the past few years b/c i simply don't want to deal with the hassles of shipping due to the price increase and waiting around, the stress is just something i don't want to deal with. but ya, most people online that i have dealth with have been totally fine.

[RGM81]

well, that is good and bad is it not? making cards so readily accessible is great for the pc collector but it really does destroy the value of cards which is why in the first place that in person such as shows, everyone is looking to max out their profit. do i want to get rid of ebay and the internet? of course not b/c it is a great resource to buy/sell cards, check values and so and so forth. i just wish there was some kind of middle ground in terms of value and that some people would be more objective when dealing with ebay.

LOL We're perilously close to jumping the shark here. Saying that eBay "really does destroy the value of cards" is one of the sillier things I've ever seen lobbed as a criticism against eBay. The "world's largest marketplace" is a venue--no more, no less. If it weren't for eBay and other online retail places, how many of us would even have a collection worth talking about? In my 8+ years in the hobby, I would say that 95% of my Carey Price collection was obtained through online purchases and trading, with probably 40% of it coming from eBay. For the Gorges collection, probably an even higher percentage. No eBay, no venue for those sellers to sell those cards to me. What good is it for a guy in Wisconsin to have a Gorges card? What value does that card have to him if he has no market outside of where he can travel to set up at a show?

eBay buying can be a pain at times when you're factoring in the Canadian dollar and the cost of US-to-Canada shipping, but you adjust your buying practices accordingly. When you're selling, there's always going to be lowball offers. You may have to wait a few days or even weeks to get the offer you really want. But that's part of the game. If you're remotely near a point where you're yelling "Death to eBay" on a hobby community board, you're going to get a lot of people shaking their heads.

[30ranfordfan]

well, that is good and bad is it not? making cards so readily accessible is great for the pc collector but it really does destroy the value of cards which is why in the first place that in person such as shows, everyone is looking to max out their profit. do i want to get rid of ebay and the internet? of course not b/c it is a great resource to buy/sell cards, check values and so and so forth. i just wish there was some kind of middle ground in terms of value and that some people would be more objective when dealing with ebay.

Cards & their values.... and the value in busting wax.... I've thought for a bunch of years were were heading towards a big "late 90s"-esque crash in this hobby, but the more I think about it, and the more I see, I think it's more like the housing market in South Western Ontario: Predictions of a big "market correction" have been going on for years, but it's never going to happen :)

There are enough customers out there.... that are happy to toss their money at a chance to hit something huge... that spending $140 on a box of cards that's worth about $25, it doesn't seem to phase people.... and I can be as guilty as the next guy or girl.... I have a lot of fun busting wax too.

So I refuse to recognize anything about eBay as a problem for card collecting. That UD Game Jersey card that falls 2-per box only sells for $1 online? Well, that's because Upper Deck insists on making thousands of copies of a card that only dozens of people actually want to own... and we're all happy to keep buying those products (and UD would be crazy to stop. The configuration obvious works).

I also get that there's some sentiment out there that an autographed card or a jersey card should be looked at as being "special" but the truth is, they're not. They've been produced so many times that they're no longer anything special in the eyes of most collectors.

LOL We're perilously close to jumping the shark here. Saying that eBay "really does destroy the value of cards" is one of the sillier things I've ever seen lobbed as a criticism against eBay. The "world's largest marketplace" is a venue--no more, no less. If it weren't for eBay and other online retail places, how many of us would even have a collection worth talking about? In my 8+ years in the hobby, I would say that 95% of my Carey Price collection was obtained through online purchases and trading, with probably 40% of it coming from eBay. For the Gorges collection, probably an even higher percentage. No eBay, no venue for those sellers to sell those cards to me. What good is it for a guy in Wisconsin to have a Gorges card? What value does that card have to him if he has no market outside of where he can travel to set up at a show?

eBay buying can be a pain at times when you're factoring in the Canadian dollar and the cost of US-to-Canada shipping, but you adjust your buying practices accordingly. When you're selling, there's always going to be lowball offers. You may have to wait a few days or even weeks to get the offer you really want. But that's part of the game. If you're remotely near a point where you're yelling "Death to eBay" on a hobby community board, you're going to get a lot of people shaking their heads.

Yup! eBay has the most traffic, by far. I've been selling quite a bit of stuff recently - I've tried my best to move cards out here.... and I know that SCF doesn't have nearly the traffic eBay does, but I'm amazing that I've been able to sell some cards for significantly more money on eBay (I'm talking more than double in a few cases) than I was asking here. There are fees, you have to deal with disgruntled buyers once in a while, they do stuff that's a pain, but it's worth it.

I enjoy trading as much as the next guy.... and if I've got something that someone wants in trade, I do try and make an effort to work out a swap. The thing is though, my collecting interests aren't really all that wide.... so it's difficult for me to find cards from other people's trade lists that I genuinely want. I might be able to find something I'll take, but quite often I can't.

What does that have to do with eBay? Well, simple. eBay is the easy outlet. I don't want to trade my $15 card... I want to sell it for $15, and then spend the $15 on something I do want.


Without eBay, I don't have anywhere near the collection that I've got right now..... and even with eBay, I couldn't duplicate the deals I did 10-12 years ago. You used to be able to contact the sellers directly (via email). Many would take want lists, and you could get others out there to help you track down cards. Now emailing each other is frowned upon....

[lmanson]

Whats funny is I had an extremely frustrating and ridiculous experience with this person too.

I dont normally trade because its time consuming for me and I prefer to give up my hard earned money and get on with it. There was a situation where I posted a thread with a decent amount of cards I was willing to trade, again, not my normal MO. I get contacted by him and it turns out I have cards he needs and he has one card I need. BV favored him SIGNIFICANTLY. He wanted more. I offered to pay $$ and he wanted 10x more than what I paid for the exact same card. (No exaggeration, the numbers really worked out to that multiplier) then he said he didnt want to give up the card and wanted to keep it for his PC. At that point I gave up because I started realizing it was a waste of my time. A month later I get a message from him telling me he posted it on eBay. I submit a Best Offer. I get declined BECAUSE HE BLOCKED ME ON EBAY! Why would you tell me to bid on your card if you know you blocked me from biding on your items?!?!?! I'm officially done with this character..... so I think. About a year later I ask if he still has it, hoping he realized he was asking a ridiculous amount, and then finally getting this card I need. He tells me he sold it to his "friend" for the same $$ amount I previously offered him. He sets up a fake email, contacts me as the dude's "friend", and tries to put together the exact same outrageous deal from our first interaction!

Hhhooooo! Finally got that off my chest..... In short, never do any type of business with this person......

[geschrocks33]

Man I'd love to know who this character is