Hi all. Want to get your opinion on what’s the best eBay consignment seller for low value cards now that PWCC is no longer an option? Is Probstein still accepting consignments?
I’ve seen people mention not going through them before, but what’s the issue with them? I know I’ve heard shill bidding mentioned at times, but I’ve also bought from them before and gotten really good deals based on what other recent solds.
I always just sell myself rather than doing consignment, so wasn’t planning on going through them, but I am curious what makes them a definite avoid
Tca_gaming will only show the front of the card. No back pics or different angles. As a new graded collector, even I know there strong, normal, and wtf grades. I don’t understand why they don’t have more pictures.
I believe he could earn more of a premium for his consignees if he included a backside picture, and also didn’t take his picture with a phone and the flash on from 6 inches away
I am not saying he is doing it wrong. People are different and their methods of selling will vary. I am asking why would someone choose to provide a low quality picture for the product they are auctioning off. He must believe this method is best for his business operation. I am just not smart or experienced enough to fathom why.
Try making more than 85,000 scans from front and back of individual cards in return for (maybe) +/-5% extra profits(?) -time is money for these big guys and his rep is high enough to just sell the cards like this. TCA can probably earn more money if he invests this time on other stuff.
Ultimately, it’s his business and he should run it as he deems fit.
But, if you’re reading this, I’d strongly recommend a V600 scanner using lower DPI settings. Scans will have decent quality and efficiency-wise it’s probably similar to using a smartphone camera.
I don’t think time is the reason. How long does a scan take? I don’t have a scanner so I have no idea. 85k over 13 years is about 20 a day. Is that still too much time? Doesn’t he have hired help who can do that? 5% may not be much to tca but it could mean a lot to the consignor.
Scanning is slow. I use a V550 to list graded cards. Even when you get your settings set-up perfectly (upload location, crop settings etc) it’s still a relatively slow process (scanning → rendering → uploading). Phone photos are much quicker, the trade-off of course is the precision / detail / aesthetic you get from scanning. Whether the trade-off is worth it or not depends entirely on your personal circumstances.
Sure we can always improve what we do, but Rusty doesn’t need to alter his practices, and for his scale of operation it’s just simply not worth becoming less efficient. His reputation and pedigree alone warrants his commission and customer trust. If someone is genuinely interested in buying a card from him and is concerned about the rear of the card, Rusty would oblige with a rear photo if it was requested (as per his item descriptions).
zandgemporium recently began doing consignments and it seems like he intends to make that his focus going forward. I thought it’d be worth mentioning as I think we’ll start seeing him as a bigger player in the consignment scene soon.