One of the bigger Superfractor autos from 2011 Topps Chrome went up on eBay this week. Demarco Murray is one of the top rookies this year, and being a Cowboy and a former OU Sooner, he has a lot of collectors who would want the card. After seeing the price climb to ridiculous heights, possibly because of shill bidding or frivolous bids into the card, I have to wonder a few things about selling these cards in auction format.

There has been a lot of reference on my site and the message boards to the “sale” of the Sam Bradford auto Superfractor from 2010 Chrome. It was put up on a 10 day auction, and ended selling ABOVE 12K. Once the auction was completed, it became obvious that the sale was not real, and the winning bidder had no intention of paying. Similar circumstances surrounded the sale of the Stephen Strasburg Super and the Bryce Harper Super, all of which eventually were sold for huge prices. Although the Stras sale was eventually completed, the question remains, how can you sell a card without causing yourself more headaches in getting your money into your paypal account.

The Auction Sale Format

When it comes to cards like this, the general rule of thumb is to start at .99 cents and let it run over 7-10 days. It gives the greatest opportunity for bidding wars to start, and often they do with these chase cards out of popular products. I think this is ideal, but it is also very risky. You are not able to determine the final buyer of the card without a bidder pre-approval process that can deter some buyers as a whole, but there is no opportunity to vet out potential problems with shipping the valuable card through the mail. The benefit is that exposure will be prolonged, and the card will usually sell for a higher amount due how many people will have the chance to see the card.

Safeguards: Reserve (usually prevents people from bidding on an item because they think the reserve will be too high), Pre-approved bidders (see above), preventing bidders with unpaid item strikes (MUST HAVE), prevent low feedback bidding (MUST HAVE).

The Buy It Now/Best offer Format

I used BIN/BO for almost every sale because I am impatient and I don’t want to sell for less than the price I am comfortable with. It will not only prevent a lot of fraudulent bidding, but it will also let you figure out exactly what will happen to your card before you end the sale. The issue is that you may not get the same kind of bid war because other buyers are unable to see the offers that others have made. You will also have to deal with lowballers who think they are going to get one over on you. The great thing is, you can field as many offers as you want until the cows come home.

Safeguards: Minimum offer floor to prevent lowballs (MUST HAVE)

Message Board Sales

The main reason to sell off eBay is that you don’t have to deal with the ridiculous fees that eBay requires, only the ones that Paypal does. The issues with selling on a board is that there is very little exposure to places that aren’t familiar with boards, and there are not as many protections against scammers in the midst. The great thing is that you can target the specific collectors on the board who you know will want the card and negotiate directly, rather than waiting for the collector to come to you.

Safeguards: Message board feedback ratings are VERY important

Auction House Sales

I am pretty unfamiliar with the logistics of using an auction house, but I know that many of them can generate national news exposure if the item is big enough. There will be tons of security to prevent any issues with the transfer of the item to the buyer, but you will pay dearly for it with a lot of items. To abstain from the risk factors of the above ways, it may be worth the extra money just to avoid issue. The Joe Jackson cut auto out of Leaf Sports Icons was sold this way, and I definitely think it was a good idea.

Safeguards: Whatever is offered by the auction house

Don’t get me wrong, there will always be risk involved with selling on the net, and all of these risks should be considered if you are lucky enough to own a huge chase pull from a prominent product. I have never needed any of these services because I am not at all lucky in breaking wax, but there are a lot of people who are. I would post on the boards to see if there are insider tips that I have left out.