How has ebay changed collecting locally, in person?

[Twitch]

One thing auctions in general have begun to screw up is vintage autos. Some schmuck will put his #3 condition car on Ebay cause he saw the Barrett-Jackson auction where a 69 Dodge Road Runner, one of 60 made with a factory hemi that was professionally restored at high cost, brought $80,000.

He figures his fairly decent 69 Dodge that is not one of the 60 rare cars, should command high dollars due to seeing people with more money than brains bidding more than cars are worth simply because they want them like some spoiled child. His car is worth probably $15,000 max and he expects to get $30,000 for it and that ain't gonna happen.

I see cars go for more than their vintage market book value often and it's silly. The flip side of that is that when you see a nice vehicle people insult the seller with stupidly low bids.

 

[dr greg]

everyone's an expert

I've noticed the biggest change in charity shops and garage sales..everyone wants top dollar for everything based on "I saw it for X on ebay" Did you actually follow the auction and see someone actually pay that? is my usual question, like perhaps that record you saw was an original pressing and not scratched like a dog dish! I've picked up some good stuff on ebay and been burnt as well, but it has definitely changed 'collecting" forever.

 

[Twitch]

Dr Greg- Ok that seems to follow the automobile stuff I noticed. I'd wondered if it was just an abberation. I guess it's universal. Your 1955 Mickey Mantle card is a dogearred piece of crap but it must be worth a lot cause the almost never touched one in lucite on Ebay is $1,500.lol

 

[Vintage Betty]

I wanted to bump this thread up to date due to the change in the US ecomony and current buying practices world wide. It's now over a year later than the last post, anyone want to comment on this subject, now-a-days?

Vintage Betty

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I dunno. The goods are still turning up in charity shops here (at least in the ones i frequent). And i came back from Australia with quite an unexpected haul - i even left stuff behind (30s overcoats, suits, tuxedos) because they didn't fit and i couldn't carry them to sell on. I guess the eBay effect hasn't really hit menswear collecting as much as other fields.

bk

 

[MaryDeluxe]

I very rarely deal with the middleman, (ebay & antique shops). I go right to the source and frequent auctions & estate sales. I'm lucky to be in an area that has lots of old people with cool old stuff! I will say that ebay has changed estate sales. There's lots more competition from people who consider themselves "Ebay Dealers" and they will bid up certain items that they know would sell well. Long gone are the days when you could walk into places like goodwill and sals place and find hugh amounts of 40's & 50's clothing at really cheap prices!

 

[Foofoogal]

I was a collector before I became a seller mainly as I had to. I wanted to collector more. lol
I truly find it harder to find the good stuff and am more concerned about that then selling.
Locally noone wants the stuff I want to sell. Locally there is not much at all to find even.
I am way more a collector at heart then seller. Ask my family. lol

 

[John in Covina]

There is an economic theory called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winner's_curse">winner's curse</a>. Basically this idea means that the winner of an auction is that person who is most optimistic about the value of the item being sold and thus overvalues the item sufficiently to win the auction. Assuming that the item being sold has an objectively determinable market value, the winner's curse means that, from an economics standpoint, the winner of an auction has always overpaid.

*****************
Actually I disagree with this standpoint because, there are times when identical items come up for auction at the same time or even weeks apart. They will often sell for different dollar amounts. While each auction does come up with a microcosm of "what the market will bear" there are differnet demands and different bidders over time and that changes the dynamic of the price for an item. I bought a Gift Set copy of the Natural on DVD paid about 15 bucks plus 5 bucks shipping for a total of $20. Earlier one went for 5 to 6 bucks more. Did I pay too much compared to the person that paid $25?

Occasionally, I have gotten fountain pens that had a repairable problem, I bought at a lower price had the repairs done and the value of the pen is greater than the original price I paid plus the repairs. Did I still pay too much?

It all comes down to Percieved Value.

 

[John in Covina]

Ebay brings in greater selection as it allows you to see items from around the country and even around the globe. Ebay adds a greater element of chance since one may not examine an item first hand.

I have gotten some disappointments and sometimes the item was better than what I thought I was going to get also.

It has changed how I look for items and for the most part for the better.

 

[green papaya]

90% of my purchases come off ebay

flea markets and antique shops rarely have anything

dealers at shows are all over priced

ebay is still the best source for most of my purchases

 

[miss_elise]

ebay is a blessing and a curse, because often i 'get a bargain' and then have to fork out stupid amounts of postage... plus i seem to get sniped quite a lot....

if i'm looking for something specific, i'll browse ebay...

if i'm just looking i'll shop locally...

 

[John in Covina]

One thing is at Antique Stores, fountian pens are over priced. The seller never seems to understand the difference of the price of a pen in pristine condition versus the one he is selling which is dirty, cracked and missing the gold nib. Also the price he is quoting happens to be from a 20 year old book when the prices were at their highest.


the Antique Roadshow had a little section that talked about "the Ebay Effect" in which the rare / scarcity issue came up. Certain items were priced higher because no one really knew that they were NOT as scarce as originally thought. When Ebay came on it became apparent that the perception of scarcity was wrong. It had something to do with movie stuff, maybe animations cells.

 

[Foofoogal]

Originally different items were local. Ohio river pottery for example. Everything looked exotic to those locals who had never seen one before. I remember I took a trip to the East coast about 10 years ago. I was blown away by all the flow blue I could find.
Here in Texas it is the iron beds and primitives it seems.
With the internet in beginning this is why things sold for so much as they were perceived rare. Till everyone and his cousin found more in the attic etc.
So what may be in great supply in one area still is not in another area. This is why there is still a wide range of price.
As the stuff gets shipped back and forth it will get damaged as someones idea is different on packaging than others also.
Hence supply and demand changes as does popularity. I remember when I first came to the internet Art Glass and midcentury was hot, hot, hot. Now not so much. It changes as age groups discover stuff also. No rhyme or reason really.
Most still want what was on their mom or aunt or grandmas table and what they played with as a child.
I just put together the neatest outfit with all new items except one black and white striped silk shirt. It is from the early 70s or late 60s and now is very much back in style.
Other factors affect things also like gas prices, Martha Stewart, magazine articles etc.
One thing I think should always be higher in value IMHO is Art Deco. Fabulous and fabulous.
I just flat do not see ebay as the judge of value at all. It is and always has been an auction. If 10 people are watching an auction and it sells vs if 1000 are makes a huge difference.

 

[Brinybay]

I can't really say how eBay has impacted my local thrift market because I don't have much of a "pre-eBay" experience, although I've always liked to browse local thrift stores. The vast majority of the items I purchase on eBay are nowhere to be found locally. To be specific, I collect artifacts from the now defunct GOEBEL Beer (except for cans). I would faint if I found something like that locally, as the beer was never in my neck of the woods and has been out of business for 40 years.

Not to change the subject, but one thing I have noticed that has made a profound, and IMO, negative impact on local thrifts (at least in my area), is many of them are now filled with crap made in China. Although I still go to thrift stores, it gets really depressing sometimes. Even "antique" stores have Chinese made knock-offs. There is a town not far from here (Snohomish) that has several blocks of antique stores. When I first went there, I just wandered in to the nearest one where I parked. To make a long story short, I was appalled that all the "antique" stuff they had was Chinese-made garbage! I was so po'd I wanted to find the owner and give them a good bitch slapping! That's not to say the other stores were like that, they weren't, apparently just this one, but I was very wary when looking at items in the other stores.

 

[Rufus]

I collect Comic book original art, and I used to primarily get the art at comic conventions and shows.

Sadly in the UK that's almost a thing of the past as many dealers will forego all but the biggest shows now and concentrate on online auctioning. While I can completely understand this, I miss the thrill of the unexpected find, something harder to achieve in the era of 'saved searches' and email alerts.

Like most collectors, it's the looking for, rather than the acquisition that is often most thrilling.

Having said all that... I've been buying all the toys I DIDN'T have as a kiddie..

Hurray!

rufus.. playing with too many robots..

 

[Foofoogal]

I'm one of those people that believes that eBay is a phenomenon that's time has come

I am one of those people who think ebay has run its course.
I saw a show about ebay on some channel the other night. Could not of been that long ago and I caught tailend but Meg basically said in USA the same thing. They are shooting and spending money on the China market.
Yahoo auction has the Japan mkt.
I think in long run Etsy will blow them out of the water with vintage and antiques. I am a seller now on Etsy but not just saying that.

 

[sixsexsix]

Not so much antique shops, but a lot of the vintage clothing stores here put all their best stuff online and their stores are filled with things with ripped seams, holes, stains, etc. I realize they are just trying to maximize their profits but I mean c'mon! Customers for years are now insulted by the crap they put out. I try really hard to shop locally but they don't exactly make it easy.

Garage sales are hit and miss (usually miss), but every once in awhile you find a gem that for some reason the ebay sellers didn't hit up. Estate sales and auctions, within the city, are a nightmare. I have been pushed over and elbowed by eager beavers who don't believe in the fact that maybe some people want to buy this stuff for their own use and not just to "flip" for profit. Auctions outside of the city are still pretty good, although once in awhile you have a seller swoop in and pick up everything before your very eyes. [huh]

 

[Vintage Betty]

Not so much antique shops, but a lot of the vintage clothing stores here put all their best stuff online and their stores are filled with things with ripped seams, holes, stains, etc. I realize they are just trying to maximize their profits but I mean c'mon! Customers for years are now insulted by the crap they put out. I try really hard to shop locally but they don't exactly make it easy.

Garage sales are hit and miss (usually miss), but every once in awhile you find a gem that for some reason the ebay sellers didn't hit up. Estate sales and auctions, within the city, are a nightmare. I have been pushed over and elbowed by eager beavers who don't believe in the fact that maybe some people want to buy this stuff for their own use and not just to "flip" for profit. Auctions outside of the city are still pretty good, although once in awhile you have a seller swoop in and pick up everything before your very eyes. [huh]

Exactly. That's precisely how I feel, which is why I usually don't shop locally anymore.

And people are stunned if you want to do something with your "treasures" instead of ebay - like giving free things away in the Classifieds.

 

[Solid Citizen]

Ebay THEN/Ebay NOW

Would love to know whether Ebay has experienced a drop
off due to the economy 2008 vs. past yearS???

Solid Citizen

 

[Vintage Betty]

Would love to know whether Ebay has experienced a drop
off due to the economy 2008 vs. past yearS???

Solid Citizen

If you search for it, KittyT posted some information regarding the strike earlier this year and the results. I don't know what the current stats are, but I will tell you that ebay has sent me more mail to sell/buy in the last 6 months than the last couple years combined.

Vintage Betty