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Don Heiden is a 30-year veteran of online reselling going back to the days of Yahoo Auctions. He runs The Auction Professor YouTube channel posting videos and content about various reselling platforms and topics, and he is a member of the eBay, Amazon, Hip, and other affiliate programs where he may earn a commission when linking to products on those sites. He can also be found on most social networks under the same name, including Instagram. He is also a published professional artist which includes works produced for The Walt Disney Company. He holds an Associate Degree in Database Design, Construction, and Network Administration. He also holds a Bachelor Degree and Master Degree of Research & Communications from The University of Toledo.
Delcampe isn’t just for post stamps, they handle ALL collectibles and have more items in almost every category than eBay.
As for the big auction sites, beware of hidden costs. I consigned a VERY rare European rock & roll poster to one of the 2 companies listed in the original post, in London, for their annual pop music catalog auction. Poster was appraised by them at $4,000 to $7,000. I had previously turned down $2,500 by a well known poster reseller. Poster sold for 1,200 GB Pounds. By the time the auction company deducted their MANY fees, I was left with a little over $600. THE AUCTION COMPANY MADE MORE THAN I DID!
Except toys. Searched “Marvel Legends” and not a single listing. Searched “TransFormers”and found less than 20. Compared to, oh I don’t know, a quarter million between the both of them on eBay. What does “delcampe” translate to in English? “Nothing to see here, move along?”
Indeed, eBay should not be the only choice for selling, but ebay’s development over the years represents missed opportunities. “If only” competitor sites had started up in the beginning, but that didn’t happen and eBay became the big gorilla, with thousands of potential bidders visiting the site. At this point, there is no way for David to compete with Goliath. A few have tried but the pebbles bounced off and the would-be Davids have pretty much fizzled – eBay is now a household word.
It is a tough pill to swallow but one must list where the buying traffic is. One of the worst things is that sadly, with no competition, eBay is pretty much free to treat sellers any way it wants. Don’t like the rules? in many collecting areas, there is little choice about where else to go.
Regarding Delcampe, indeed you nailed a huge problem but I want to take it a bit further – over time, individual sites have developed reputations for collecting areas; and a public perception that seems to stick, no matter if a site attempts to broaden its categories. This creates an uphill battle for anyone trying to sell there but in a less popular category – the buying public just doesn’t know about it. Who knew Amazon sells real antiques and collectibles? (not I), “Delcampe is that postcard place,” “Poshmark is the clothing place,” “Ruby Lane is that jewelry place” but “you can find anything on eBay.”
Yes, I can list on another site, but picking the best one is perilous. In my collecting/selling area, too many sites offer “some” listings (hundreds vs. eBay’s thousands) but it is clear that sellers are not versed in the area because there are so many fakes, repos, and mistakes in descriptions – or, authentic items may be FAR overpriced by unknowledgeable sellers – all of which discourages shoppers from returning.
Rather like the old adage, “If you don’t want to catch fleas, don’t lie down with the dogs,” I do not want to list in sites like that, because my store would get the same bad reputation among collectors who ARE knowledgeable, who don’t shop at those sites because there are too many fakes, repos and ignorant sellers. My goal is to find a website that will attract buyers who seek out stores operated by long-time sellers who guarantee accuracy and authenticity.
Now, with search engines turning to “pay to play” demands from sites that host stores, it is beyond discouraging to begin to wonder if your host site of many years is focusing on other areas and sacrificing yours, when buying inclusion on Google and others (despite charging you the same fees as everyone else). Having my listings show up in search engine results is t-h-e top reason I subscribe to a web store instead of running my own site.
And don’t even get me started on Facebook, a whole different planet than internet shopping venues, where small groups spring up like mushrooms and there is no way to hit them all with posts selling your items.
I have been on eBay for 23 years and although I have HUGE misgivings about the site today I have felt it was essentially the only real game in town. But after selling on Facebook Marketplace I finally feel I have a viable alternative as I have had a lot of success lately.
HipStamp would be a better choice for United States stamps and covers. Delcampe has a better international audience. HipStamp is light years ahead of eBay in stamp catalog search. I tried searching for United States #500 in the Scott Catalog. HipStamp efficiently returned a list with less than half irrelevant results. eBay returned a much larger list, mostly irrelevant. Search on Delcampe returned mostly irrelevant results, finding only six, of which five were misidentified. Some HipStamp and eBay results were also misidentified. Some of the misidentified stamps were on both sites. Because of poorly designed category trees, it is not possible to effectively narrow some stamp searches by time-period on eBay. Still, eBay attracts more views.
Hast eCommerceBytes published any search quality comparisons? While many sellers complain about eBay search, it seems more specific than Amazon. Niche collectible sites that excel in efficiently finding what buyers want, help sellers automate listing unique items, and automate fulfillment could grow at the expense of eBay.