Sports cards are one of eBay’s most popular categories, helping build the online auctioneer into a global force. A look at a recent one month period of activity on eBay courtesy of Terapeak reveals which sellers are the most prolific in terms of listings, which dealers sell the most and which actually sell what they list. Sports Collectors Daily examined total listin
gs, total sales, number of items sold and the percentage of listings that actually ended with a sale.
Collectors of vintage cards will likely recognize some of the seller IDs. It’s clear that many do the vast majority of their business on eBay. They are often the sellers whose listings collectors who buy large quantities of cards often bookmark.
Massachusetts-based 4 Sharp Corners was a runaway winner in terms of total listings in Category 213 (cards). Established in 2003, the company specializes in graded cards. 4 Sharp Corners listed 16,587 lots during the 30-day period.
Currently, it has over 43,000 active listings in all on eBay. All those listings do result in large volume sales. During the period, 4 Sharp Corners sold $123,304 worth of cards with an average sale of $22.91. Over a 90-day period dating back to September, 4sharpcorners sold a staggering 27,584 lots.
4 Sharp Corners isn’t alone in terms of high volume listings, however. Sellers charlieshustle, kityoungcards, thatsportscardguy and rjhobby all listed more than 11,000 lots of cards between late November and late December.
Seller probstein123 had an impressive 98.57% sell through rate during the period and generated more than $162,000 worth of sales on more than 2400 cards sold. His average sale was also strong at more than $65 per card.
The secret to selling successfully on eBay would seem to involve three primary factors: starting auctions at a low price, offering high quality pictures and providing buyer-friendly shipping terms. Virtually every seller that ranked among the best in the categories we examined met all three criteria.
Anyone can list cards for sale, of course, but do they sell? If you are Greg Morris Cards the answer is yes. The company sold more than 10,000 cards during the 30-day period. Starting its auctions at 99 cents and typically breaking up complete vintage card sets, Morris sold better than 96% of the cards listed at an average price of $5.55 per card.
Other sellers who sold more than 4,000 cards during the 30-day period included:
- tntnorthnj
- newenglandsportscards
- mantlerulz
- klinger83
- battersbox
Just Collect, which is considered the largest consignment seller on eBay, and offers memorabilia as well as cards, fared well in card-related auctions during the fall, selling more than 6,400 lots from late September through late December.
Pre War Card Collector, which offers its regular monthly auctions via eBay, led the way in total sales during the recent 30-day stretch. It’s 1,645-lot auction resulted in a 99.5% sell through rate with an average sale of more than $237. The company typically handles many of the hobby’s most valuable cards.
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