Posted By:
Aaron MichielE-Bay are consistently lower than in the catalog auctions (Mastro, Lelands, Grey Flannel, countless other smaller auctions, etc.).
One experience that I'll go into more detail about in the "one that got away" thread, was about a year and a half ago there was an authentic "Keep The Dodgers In Brooklyn" pin on E-Bay. (Reproductions abound of this particular pin issued in 1957--to not much success!) After a seven day auction, it sold for about $600. A year later, a better conditioned example (but not that significantly) sold for close to $1,500 on Inside The Park's auction.
Another example was a pristine unused 1920's Ban Johnson Reach OAL baseball w/o the box I bought in a Mastro auction for just under $800. A few months later a similar conditioned example WITH a solid conditioned box sold on E-Bay for about $750 (had my Ban Johnson baseball had the box, it would have sold for closer to $1,200 - $1,500 on Mastro).
Recently an original (not a printers proof) Lou Gehrig Memorial Game FULL ticket from 1941 in NM condition sold on E-Bay for under $1,100. A similar PROOF ticket sold about two years ago on Mastro for over $2,500. (The original Gehrig on E-Bay would have sold for close to $3,000 on Mastro--at least.)
I could go on with countless other examples (including cards), but the crux is, if you find a high-level item that would warrant selling in a catalog auction, you almost definitely will get a much better deal on E-Bay.
Another note would be don't count on extremely rare items to appear repeatedly, so if you see something appear there, bid appropriately knowing it might not pop up again and you're paying much less than you would were you buying a similar item in a catalog auction. (Though there are always exceptions to the rule.)