[raulus]

Since I clearly can't help myself, a few more thoughts that came to mind:

I think there's a lot more randomness to the auction world than we like to admit sometimes. In my experience, it's not uncommon for virtually the same item to close within a few minutes or hours of each other, even on the same auction platform, and for the prices to vary by 10% or more.

Admittedly, all of the "buy the card, not the holder" people will suggest that there were differences in the card, even if the holders were the same. But at the same time, my interpretation is that it's just the natural variation and randomness that comes when you have humans involved in buying illiquid and inherently unique assets.

So the bottom line is that even if you do a lot of research, think you know which auction house will give you the best outcomes, and then execute on it, the results might still not turn out just the way you expect. But hopefully it turns out that the randomness results in a higher price for your item!