Trading cards and Ebay, 101. : eBay Guides

The big question: "I have these cards, and I want to sell them on Ebay. What should I do, and how should I do it?"

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. I have typed up this very generic "answer checklist". I know this doesn't come close to answering everything a collector/seller might need to know, but it's better than the usual 2 or 3 sentence answers that are generally given on the chat boards. Feel free to use and modify it as you see fit. I'll sum it up in 10 points:

1) There is no way to know what/who will sell well, and what/who won't. Depends on the market. Player popularity. Current production (how well he is performing in his field). Card rarity. Condition. And probably several other factors I'm not mentioning. These must be applied on a case to case (card to card) basis.

2)  Know what you have, and what it's worth. Research through price guides, hobby publications, and auction comparisons (past sales on same/similar items) are a "must-do". I'm sorry...  I know that's a lot of work, and very time consuming... but that's just the way it is. You can/will spend hours, days, and yes, even weeks, doing this, depending on how many cards you have. It can be worth it though. You don't want to put a $20 "Buy it now" price on a $300 card, and you're never going to sell a $10 card with a $50 opening bid.

3)  Like learning "value", learning how to rate "CONDITION" of a card, and how that applies to assigning value, is one of the most important things you will NEED to know. A good rule of thumb here is to take whatever condition YOU feel applies to your card, and drop it down a level. No matter how honest you are, it's still your card, and you want to sell it, so it's hard to be truly unbiased. Again... any newsstand price guide or hobby publication usually will give you a general idea or basic tutorial on how to do this.

4) Once you have all that information... and before you start salivating over that new car down payment,  you need to accept the fact that you will rarely, if ever, sell a sports/trading card at auction for anywhere near a price guides "high book value". Usually, 30% of book value is considered a great sale. More is gravy. EXPECT less. Price guides DO NOT reflect TRUE market value. Remember the golden rule: "Something is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it."

5)  "Lot(s)", which are/is several or more cards lumped together as one sale, is probably the fastest and easiest way to liquidate your less valuable, and bulk common cards. One auction containing several or more cards. You can sort/list/sell "lots" of cards in so many ways... group the cards by player, set, year, team, manufacturer, sport, value... you name it. Which ever way suits you will be fine. One way is as good as the next.  Demand for lesser-valued non-superstar cards is usually pretty low, so basically... good luck, and take what you can get. Pennies on the dollar is to be expected for bulk common cards.

6)  More valuable cards are usually best listed individually by player. Because of a massive market saturation/glut, most card buyers have refined their collecting habits, and are looking for particular players, singles, and sets, these days. So higher value, more popular player/individual cards are usually an easier sell. But again... never forget to apply the golden rule.

7) Card collectors are, for the most part, an extremely well educated group of folks when it comes to their hobby. Auctions for sports cards need to be even more "descriptive" than most "average" ebay auctions. Scanned pictures are a super-plus (can't stress that enough!), and will draw far more interest than auctions without them. Descriptions must be as complete and HONEST as you can make them, even with photo's, and much more so without. Supply as much pertinent information on what you're selling as possible. Things like year, manufacturer, player, card numbers, and especially CONDITION of the card/cards are critical. Not only will all this information assist others in "finding" your auction when they do a search, but it will help them decide whether or not what you have is what they want.

8) Whether or not someone who wants what you're selling actually finds your auction in the 1st place can be one of the biggest hurdles. This is where including as much information as possible comes in handy. A little known player from an obsolete set may draw as much (if not more) bidding, from people who need it to complete a set, IF they find it, than a rookie card of a famous player. You may get few, if any, bids, on a better card if no one needs/wants it, or your auction doesn't come up on their search. Sometimes it's just the luck of the draw. Generally, if you're selling something someone wants, and they can find it, you'll get bids. If it's something nobody really wants, you won't.

9) Once you understand steps 1-8, setting up/understanding the auction process is the next step. This aspect could take pages and pages of advice alone. Just hitting a few high points then. Many sellers find that they get more bids on "non-reserve/low opening bid" type auctions. It's risky though. You may get a lot less than you want. If you absolutely have to have a minimum price, start your auction at, or just below, what you feel you MUST have to sell. Overall, reserve auctions turn people off. Many feel that if they wanted to pay a pre-determined price, they could do that at a store, and skip the auction site all together. They're looking for a bargain. And trust me... if it's that HOT a card, people will bid. If you're not getting the bids you want, then maybe it's not as good a card as you thought? And don't panic if the bidding isn't hot and furious from day one. Up to 90% of the best bidding activity takes place in the last hours/minutes of an auction. It's called "sniping". Most experienced auctioners bid/buy during this period. As mentioned, scanned images are huge. A lot of buyers won't even look at auctions without a photo. They want to see what they're buying. Wouldn't you?

10) As a seller, be courteous, friendly, and professional, in your auctions. Always reply to e-mails, and questions. Try not to be negative. Phrases like "Payment is expected 48 hours BEFORE the end of auction, or negative feedback will be left..." or un-realistic terms like "cash only, hand delivered by certified courier...", are big turn-offs to bidders. OK. That may be a bit much, but you get my meaning. You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. Do/deliver WHAT you promise, WHEN you promise. Don't forget to research and include your S+H charges in your auction lay-out, and be reasonable and patient. I once sent a MO accross country for a high $$$ purchase, and it arrived a month and a half later... two days after the seller received my replacement payment. This could have been a disaster had the seller not been patient. As it was, it turned out to be a very pleasant transaction, and I made a friend instead of an enemy. And so did she.

As a "buyer", don't bid unless you plan on paying. And pay quickly. Read the "terms of sale" and shipping and handling information, so you are not blind-sided. Refusing to pay an auction you won because you find something you don't like about it AFTER the fact, is no excuse. Don't bid unless you are sure you are happy with ALL the terms of the auction. That's a "bad" on you, not the seller. Even if the condition you find objectionable, is.

As either buyer OR seller, check feedback. Leave APPROPRIATE feedback. Don't expect feedback. It's not an obligation.

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That's about as complete a tutorial as I can give without starting my own monthly publication. Hope it helps, and good luck!