Is it safe to sell expensive collections?

Question

I have a massive vintage collection I am considering selling soon. Thousands of Jurassic park cards ranging from the first ones made to currently released ones.

It’s worth tens of thousands for all of them.

But everyone is telling me it’s not safe to sell it on here. That any buyer can simply claim my item isn’t as described, swap out the highly rare items for fakes to keep them, get their money back, and return the rest and the fakes.

I’m told eBay will always side with the buyer in such a dispute… and that even if I have video proof showing all the cards, boxing them, and dropping them in the mail without video cuts wouldn’t matter.

So what kind of protection guarantee would I have as a seller that I won’t be a victim of such easy to do fraud? 🙁

comics-scifi-collectibles · Accepted Answer

@slamscape519 I see that you have had some successful sales already. Did everything go okay for you?

Try listing some single cards that will sell for at least $200 so that they qualify for the Authenticity Guarantee program.

With the Authenticity program you ship the card to be inspected before it is sent on to the buyer. If the buyer tries to return it for some reason then the card goes back to the Authenticity hub to make sure it is the same card as you shipped. This is great seller protection.

Also if you select No Returns on a trading card listings buyers have only 3 days from the date of delivery to file a not as described return request.

mr_lincoln · Answer

Hi @slamscape519

And thanks for the tag @comics-scifi-collectibles

First we have to exhaust your consideration of selling on eBay since our Mentor team is here to promote eBay and support questions about that venue. If it were me with a large collection like that I would start with the lower end moderate priced cards and either group them to have a starting bid price auction format of between $ 40 & $ 50 or if some individual cards are that valuable include them too. I would run them on 10 day auctions (that is the max) starting on a Wed or Thurs which means they will get two weekends of exposure and End on a Sat or Sun. You want the price to be such that if they sell on ONE bid you make your desired profit. Doing this means you would NOT use eBay's ESE (eBay Standard Envelope) but USPS Ground Advantage. More bids means more profit. For Non-store Sellers your Final Value Fees on the item, the paid shipping from the Buyer and any sales tax would be 13.6%.

I would also start with at least 20 listings, more if you want and Schedule them to End every 2-3 minutes. That allows collectors or interested parties to bid sequentially on listings they want. DO NOT have them all start and End at the exact same time.

Running listings like this on the auction format lets you see who is bedding, check their Feedback history and if anyone seems suspicious you can Cancel their bids and Block them. We can supply details on how to do that if you move forward with eBay.

You also want to Accept returns and NOT use eBay's default No return policy because it is not truly protection against dishonest Buyers. You also want to become familiar with eBay's Seller protections: Seller protections | eBay

If you pursue the approach above you will slowly build a following and can slowly work in some of the higher value cards or packs (do you have sealed packs?). You do NOT want to list everything at once.

Now, lets say you decide NOT to pursue selling on eBay. I have had a lot of success selling Consignments with local auction houses in my categories. Keep in mind those people want to make the most they can for all parties. Some will not list something unless they think they can get a minimum amount for it. One house I deal with the min threshold is $ 50. The one BIG advantage to going that route is the items sell and you get a check and there are NO returns. Consignment fees will vary from auction house to auction house, some charge a flat fee to Sellers and a Buyer's premium on the other side. Some charge the Seller a sliding scale so the higher the lot sale price the lower your fees are. You might benefit from actually taking some cards and going to talk to some of those folks before making any kind of commitment. While their fees may be higher than eBay's 13.6% the value is NO returns and whatever you get paid you keep.

If you are ready to move your collection then you need to pursue what you think may be the lowest risk in the long run. Selling through eBay may be higher risk, means more work for you but potentially yield the highest ROI. Selling through other platforms like FB Marketplace or auction houses costs less time, may not yeild higher value but eliminates the back end potential return scam.