How reliable is the market for old baseball cards on ebay?

[SamClemensMT]

I've been considering trying to sell some of my baseball cards on ebay. Only thing is I don't know if that's an efficient market for valuing and pricing such items. Anyone have experience there? Is it a good move? Please somebody let met know.

 

[camaropat]

ebay is all I use to value cards. There is no better pricing guide than actual completed sales. I always search out completed auctions for cards I want to sell so I know what price to put on them.

 

[ranbethscards]

Agreeing with Pat on this... eBay is a good place to get the "value" of the card. However, it is a hit and miss when you are selling on eBay.

Case-in-point... a few years ago I picked up a Kyle Busch (NASCAR) autographed printing plate for a little under $10.00 because the guy had the name misspelled! It is Busch, NOT Bush. If he had spelled the name correctly he could have sold it for $100-plus.

My advice, if you are going to sell on the 'bay, make sure you do the following:

- Make sure you have at least ONE (1) good picture. Front and back is preferable for vintage and close up of the corners.

- Make sure you spell the players name correctly.

- Make sure you identify the card correctly (i.e., Topps, 1962, Mickey Mantle, card number, etc.)

- Older Vintage (I would say anything older that 1965) should be graded.

...and remember, just because one card sold for $150.00, that does not mean that your card will sell for the same price.

Good luck with your eBay sells!

 

[Mike]

Yep, agree with the above. You've just got to be sure you're looking at actual completed sales. I often see people make the mistake of using BIN prices of unsold listings. Sometimes people list things with unrealistic BIN pricing.

Another thing, when you're looking at sold listings on eBay, be sure you rule out the anomalous listings. If you're looking at an item where 50 of the in similar condition sold in the last month, it's easy enough to average that out for a very accurate estimate of value. But, if it's something that doesn't come up for sale very often, you've got to be more careful.