[Fred]

How many people purchase high end cards on ebay?

If ebay created an auction format for high end cards similar to one of the big AHs, would you bid in that auction?

What if...

...ebay set up a monthly auction similar to the AHs. The auction would include initial bidding and then extended bidding. Extended bidding would only allow those that placed initial bids to enter the extended bidding. The catch is that lots would close independently after 15 minutes of no bidding.

Would something like that work?

The drawbacks would be if the sellers flaked out, but ebay could include a clause that if that were to occur, then that seller would be banned from selling on ebay in the future. Same would have to go to buyers. If the buyer flaked out, then that buyer is banned from future bidding.


I'm not a big ebay fan because it seems to be more of a dumping ground for sellers with high prices for which 95% of their inventory just sits there (kind of reminds me of the BST, these days) and gets in the way of "searches". Perhaps, that's why they have the filters. There do seem to be good sellers on ebay that actually use it as an auction format with a low starting bid. For example, Greg Morris cards.

The one difference between ebay and the AHs is that there would not be a buyers premium, but the seller would pay their fees.