Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;BooksB4Coins, post: 2907010, member: 36230&quot;]The greatest issues with eBay are, imo, a mix of unrealistic expectations and buyers not being honest with themselves regarding their true abilities.</p><p><br /></p><p>One doesn&#039;t attend a yard sale and demand high-end professional service and/or knowledge, yet many expect just this when buying from any nameless schmo on the bay although it is, for all sense and purposes, the world&#039;s largest yard sale. Just as most anyone can place a table on their front lawn, most anyone can open an eBay account and play dealer. This should be common sense and is why the second said issue is so important: being as one cannot rely on just any/all sellers to be truly professional or knowledgeable, this means the onus is on the buyer to truly KNOW about whatever they&#039;re bidding on or buying. Unfortunately, this is far from the norm, and far, far too many eBay buyers also assume it&#039;s where the almighty &quot;deals&quot; are, focusing more on price than anything else. This is why eBay also doubles as the greatest outlet for dreck ever known.</p><p><br /></p><p>Are there excellent and knowledgeable sellers on the bay? Absolutely, but how to identify them. Feedback? Nope... some of the biggest dreck peddlers here also happen to have stellar feedback. Rely on ridiculously long return and &quot;shaft the seller&quot; policies? Sure, lots do this (and is a big reason why many excellent small sellers have left) but it doesn&#039;t really do anything other than open up sellers to further abuse. Only buy slabbed? Aside from the comparatively (presently anyway) small chance of buying a fake slab, eBay is also an excellent outlet for &quot;hot potatoes&quot; (overgraded dogs or maxed out coins few knowledgeable will buy unless priced well under what the label suggests) so what&#039;s the answer? It&#039;s simple: being honest with oneself as to the extent of their abilities, and staying within them until or unless one can get to the point where they can make more educated decisions.</p><p><br /></p><p>That said, one of the beauties of this hobby is that no one, yourself included, has to deal with the mentioned somewhat-local shop, or to rely on eBay. There are plenty of fine dealers out there perfectly willing to work with serious collectors, in many cases regardless of their available funds. Who knows, depending on where you live, there may be a highly knowledgeable vest-pocket/private-type dealer out there willing to help you acquire whatever it is you want, and do so while screening out the crap. Sure, you&#039;re likely to pay on average more than the almighty bay, but in the long run you&#039;ll almost certainly end up ahead and be the better for it.</p><p><br /></p><p>The greater point is that very rarely in life do the best things simply fall into one&#039;s lap, so get out there and talk to people around you. Believe it or not, every day type places can sometimes yield unexpected results. In fact, two of the best and most profitable opportunities I&#039;ve ever had came from a sports card shop back in the late 80&#039;s, and a coffee shop about 15 years ago, so give it a try. Who knows; you may be surprised.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in