Welcome to the Buying Sports Cards on eBay Tips series! This is going to be a combination of both an article and video series, and it’s meant to build you into a better eBay shopper for sports cards.
Since eBay is easily the largest seller of sports cards in the world (we make them so much money!), it stands to reason that there should be ways to shop smarter on this platform! These buying sports card on eBay tips should help save you some money and improve your collection! Are you looking to buy some of the best rookie cards from Topps over the past 70 years? We can help you save money!
I’m currently doing a video series for this very topic, and I’m a few episodes in – here’s a link to the playlist!
As I do these Buying Sports Cards on eBay videos, I’ll post them here, so bookmark this article because we’re going to be updating it throughout the next few weeks with more videos and more tips for buying sports cards on eBay!
Here’s a list of what we’ll be covering in each video, and in each article section! (Bold indicates I’ve already created and embedded a video based on that topic below.)
Part 1: Auctions vs. Buy It Now
Part 2: Which Auctions To Target
Part 3: Buy It Now
Part 4: Determining a Card’s Cost
Part 5: Comparing Prices
Part 6: Sending Offers
Part 7: Examine Seller’s Closely
Part 8: Searching For Cards
Part 9: Why Buying Lots is Smart
Part 10: Best Times To Buy
Part 11: Video Your Packages
Part 12: Communicating with Sellers
Part 13: Understanding Feedback
Part 14: Don’t Fall For These Tricks
Buying Sports Cards on eBay Tips Part 1: Auctions vs. Buy It Now
One of the major decisions a sports card buyer on eBay has to consider is if they want to join an auction for a certain card, or if they’re just willing to buy that card for what someone has listed as the “Buy It Now” price, which is usually more expensive than an auction, but less time consuming.
You’ll have to consider which is more valuable – your time dealing with an auction or the possible difference in money if you pay for a Buy It Now?
Why are auctions often cheaper? There might be a few reasons for that, but it’s possible the seller would prefer to get his money sooner (like in a week to 10 days for an auction) compared to waiting for someone to pay their Buy It Now price, which is competing with who knows how many other Buy It Now sellers.
Even if you choose to try to save money, there are a few other things to consider, including, what if you don’t win the card? What if the auction goes at a price higher than the Buy It Now that has already sold? Am I willing to work hard at winning an auction?
Some people consider winning auctions part of the game of sports card collecting – it’s a sport all to itself!
Common Cards, Uncommon Cards or Rare Cards?
If the card has many listings available, then you can really take your time and make the best decision for you. For instance, you can search for a rookie card of a player from a recent season, and you’ll likely find dozens of listings, most of which will be the Buy It Now variety. But what if it’s a numbered parallel of a rookie card from 2019? There are likely far fewer sales available, and the odds of you finding an auction for that card might be slim, so you might be forced to go the Buy It Now route.
Winning auctions can be difficult, as many people wait until the very last second to make their highest bids. That’s a strategy you should consider doing, but just be prepared if that high bid actually wins – or if someone out-snipes you, and you’ll have to go back to the drawing board on another auction.
A rule I like to go by is if I can buy a similar card, with similar centering, corners, condition, shipping cost, etc., on a Buy It Now listing, then I’ll try to win the auction with a high bid that’s 10-15% lower than the Buy It Now price.
Stay tuned for more tips on buying sports card on eBay!
Buying Sports Cards on eBay Part 2: Which Auctions To Target
Part 3: “Buy It Now” Tips
Some of the same stuff applies to the eBay Buy It Now Tips as the eBay auction tips listed above. You want to make sure you:
- Check the shipping costs.
- Check the percentage of positive feedback on the seller, as well as number of sales they’ve made from that account.
- Read the description carefully, since they toss in weird stuff once in awhile, like the card is a reprint, or maybe you think it’s for several cards, but the listing is for just one card.
- Compare prices of the same cards already sold.
As we mentioned, “Buy It Now” (or BIN) sales are for people not in a hurry to sell. The sellers can ask a premium price because they are going against buyers who are in a hurry to buy! (Buyers might not be in a hurry, but they’ve decided they’d prefer not to fight for the card in an auction, and/or they just want to get the card, and saving a couple dollars isn’t worth their time.)
Sometimes, the cheap stuff goes quickly, so consider sorting your eBay page by “Newly Listed” for good buys that haven’t had a ton of eyes on it yet.
One thing some sellers do is what’s called a “Reverse Auction,” where they list it high as a BIN for a week or so. Then, if no one buys it, they drop it down a small percentage the next week, then they repeat until it’s sold.
Ideally, you can find a BIN that also has a “Best Offer” option. We’ll cover this a little deeper later on in another video, but just know that the seller set their starting price, allowing you to negotiate from whatever your starting price might be.
“Add To Watchlist” is a valuable tool, also. Rather than just using BIN, I like to find several sellers of the same BIN item I want at the lowest prices, click “Add To Watchlist” and then give it a day or two. Many times, sellers will email out lower-priced offers to those “Watching” their items.
Part 4: Determining a Card’s True Cost
Buying Sports Cards on eBay Part 5: Finding Sports Card Price Comps
Part 6: Sending Offers
Part 7: Examine eBay Seller’s Closely
Buying Sports Cards on eBay Part 8: Searching For Cards
Part 9: Why Buying Lots is Smart
Part 10: Best Times To Buy
Buying Sports Cards on eBay Part 11: Video Your Packages
Part 12: Communicating with Sellers
Part 13: Understanding Feedback
Part 14: Don’t Fall For These Tricks
There’s a lot to figuring out how to buy sports cards on eBay, and as you can see, there are many tricky steps where you could lose money or not get what you thought you were buying. Hopefully, these tips will help you get great cards for less money!
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