Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Ebay as a source for value......Really?

After reading a post on here earlier, it got me to thinking! Does anyone really use Ebay as a source for value? I don't believe a thing i see on there! Shill bidding...... same item sold more then once..... looks like it sold on ebay but sold later somewhere else. Please! I think if you use ebay as a source for value, you going to be sorry later! JMO

Lowright,
where else do you go for a actual "sold" price?
outdated price guides?
local auctions?
high dollar national auctions?
swap meets?
shows?

All of those have limits as well.

I'm not disagreeing with you on the shenanigans that occur on ebay-same item different day, hundreds or thousands of dollars difference in selling price, shill bidding, etc...

But where else are you going to find similar items or that one oddball item where you got no clue what its worth?
Thats where a lot of people selling stuff get the value or ballpark value from or quote "it was selling on the internet for that"

Ebay is a good guide for common stuff and at least a ballpark for the more rare items.

ebay is the best value guide if you keep an open mind and search plenty, problems arise when someone will find where a $50. item sold once for $150. and think that is the going value.
Bet you 80-90% of ebay items sold are legit sales and Can be used as a true value as to what people are paying. Value Guides are Useless

I don't have all the answers!I was hoping someone else would! LOL... I just know Ebay would be my last stop. I had a globe offered to me that i know was fake and was then placed on ebay with bids of twice of the offered price. It looked like it sold but was later offered to me again for even less.

I think other smaller auctions would be a better source. I've seen to many things sell for ridiculous prices.(or look to sell)

KZ, You may be right if you, can find more then one or two of the same item and through out the top sells and average the rest.

that is correct, You have to compare multiple sales of the same item FROM different sellers to get a going value. That globe incident is a good example of what you have to be careful for and do research on

I would think most people value eBay as a price guide. How many times have you tried to negotiate a price at a swap meet to hear the seller tell you. I could get more on eBay??

First , TOOOOOOOO Damn many !

Second , you got people on E-Bay that have trust funds and ain't got a clue as to what they're buying , only it's something they can speculate on . they buy what ever driving a price for a given item just to spite a stranger .

Yep, go head , you use yer E- bay , but ya won't see me .

Ed Shaver

well said by nbkz7w8

As long as you use some logic and common sense, eBay completed auction prices can be part of your research.

Interesting how many items don't sell for high starting bids or buy-it-now prices. If there isn't another factor at play, the no-sale tells you it's not worth what they're asking.

Games are played with high reserves, high buy-it-nows and shill bids to attempt to get a high value set in the market. But you need more than one reference to set a value. In live auctions and online auctions we see things go for way over their real value sometimes too. People get excited, are competing with somebody to prove a point or money doesn't mean as much as time to them.

Good pictures, good description, good seller feedback and right placement on eBay will usually get what an item is worth if there is no funny business. Not every time, but usually.

I do not feel eBay is a place to find a value.. Pay what you think is fair. If you have been in this hobby long enough and educated yourself YOU should know what to pay and know what is fair. Some of these prices on eBay are off the wall but at the end of the day if these are legitimate transactions someone is willing to pay these prices.

The values on ebay work as an average I find. Remember that a collector in the east may pay more for a common item in the west. In Canada I am more willing to pay more money for an sign that I like than someone in Texas, as signs up here are fewer and competion can be high.

I think the trust fund comment goes for any auction. Same with swap meets, the whole purpose on going is to spend money. The big diffrence with e-bay is that thousands can watch you spend your money instead of just a couple of hundred.

I think Jim nailed it. Look at the sold prices, but take them with a grain of salt. Unless a bunch of the same item is sold it is hard to get an accurate average price figured out. Example: I bought a Texaco banner on ebay a couple of weeks back for $106. Same style (graphics were exactly same) and condition was same sold for $274 the week before on ebay. So, if I were to resell the banner, should I ask/expect to get $274? $106 or $190 (average of the two)???? Still have to use some judgment...

I am always looking at ebay and other ways to figure out a ballpark price for items I have.In september I printed off the live auctioneers auction of the Schmidt coca cola museum items so I would have some idea of value buying and selling my coca cola items.

No one place is going to be able to tell you what the next guy is willing to pay. Because ebay is by far the easiest way to look up "sold" items, I'm sure that all the doubters will still take the less than 1 minute it requires to look the stuff up before they look any place else. Personally I would trust ebay over Mecum, BJ, Victorian Casino or any other large auction house.

A lot of great points expressed but it still seems like Ebay has zero to do with reality. Ebay knows fakes are being sold, shill bidding and so on. I guess where ever you look you need to use caution and some common sense.

As far as the Schmidt Coca-Cola auction, you may want to use it at the high end of you cost averaging because the proceeds went to charity. It made most of the prices go through the roof, plus the word Museum makes people stupid! LOL

To the Morons that tells someone They Could get more on ebay, I tell them IF they really thought so they'd have listed it, instead of trying to sell it at a Flea Mkt.

There are Many auctions every week held by different auction houses/on-line that its easy to find current prices on original items [Matthews, Proxy Bid, etc etc]. Value Guides are GREAT for stating sizes, single/double sided, painted/porcelain, etc.

I don't think this site should be used for "What the value?" So I have never asked that question. Recently I had the opportunity to purchase a petro item and needed the value, the four places I went for information were:
Ebay
Mathews auctions
Aumann auctions
Google

Jack Sim

While looking at sold items, also look at unsold items. Also you can quite often find a bidding frenzy on an item then search around and find an identical item not even being bid on. Ebay also runs hot and cold for almost anything except the pristine high dollar desireable items which almost always do "well"-which is also subjective.

I certainly believe there is shill bidding on ebay, but I think it's the exception vs. the rule.

More times than not..I think the prices of sold items on ebay somewhat reflects the cyclical nature of the hobby.

Ebay is about as close as you're gonna get as a single source, you really have to do you're homework and compare all sources such as online auctions, estate auctions, matthews, and yes flea markets then draw you're own conclusion. Be patient and do a little research. ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;Ron

yep its me !! I always used many different places for values. I would check, live auctioneers, proxibid, worth point, Matthews, ebay and here. Take them all, get an average and go for it.
Happy Turkey day.

ps.. If your a dog lover, you must watch this >>>

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/227689/?trk=vlogo

To use ebay properly, you must compile data over time, for the items of interest, in your area of the country. Then you will know the high, low, and average prices for said items. This is a local site I use for pins, for example:

http://www.bostonpinball.biz/ebay1111.htm

But again, this info can only be used properly when used in conjunction with other price guides, personal knowledge, etc.. Its just one tool in the box.

Ebay can be a good source but you need to look at multiple auctions to get a feel but that is not always possible. One also needs to look at the bid history of certain items to see why the item brought the price it did. Sometimes you will see multiple bidders up to a certain price and then only two bidders from there on out. Many times the realistic price is where all but the last two bidder quit. That could be shill bidding or a couple people just wanting the item. The realistic price to me is where everyone else quit bidding at.

Ebay is sometimes a funny thing though. I have had auctions in the past where I listed an item and no bids. Relisted the same item a couple weeks later with no changes and it brings crazy money. Go figure.

Anyway I use Ebay, Matthews and Aumann Auctionns websites, swap meets, auctions, this site and personal experience to help me determine values.

Just like any other source you look to as a guide for values, eBay has to be taken with a grain of salt and experience.

When someone asks me to value a sign, toy, or other antique, I use my past experience in retail, wholesale, and auction situations; along with research on sites like eBay, Liveauctioneers, Kovels, etc, etc.

When I look at eBay auction results, I look at not only the asking, selling, unsold price, but also the description and pictures utilized in the auction.

A studious person has to realize that prices fluctuate and that given the right circumstances an average price can be eclipsed if two deep pocketed gentlemen really want the particular item. Then that price becomes an anomaly. Statistically it is out of the norm and the value can be thrown out, unless further data like an uptick in the general market point to increasing prices.

I have sold several items online that local buyers are unwilling to pay good money for because they are either uninformed or uninterested. Personally, If I can find a local buyer willing to pay within 20% of the average eBay value, the item remains local. But if someone in Canada, Japan, Australia, or California wants to pay me 10x the local value because they are zealous collectors, they are getting the item.

I don't do much with Ebay;never have and don't plan to start.I prefer to work within the collectors circles with people who use phrases like,"hey,the mail goes both ways".

Whenyou get up into stuff that hasn't shown up on Ebay in years,or on Dan's auctions either for that matter,I think you had better have an idea of what you are willing to pay and have established a network of people you trust and go from there.And rember,on a lot of that seldom seen stuff we don't know either;we are guessing.But I'll take and informed guess after a discussion with someone I respect over anything else any day.

Oh,I don't sell enough stuff to matter and none of my good stuff.But I have been known to offer the good stuff in trade when I see something I want worse.