MTG | Can you still buy on ebay with confidence in this day and age? 

Please let me know in the comments what your experiences with buying cards on ebay are!? 😁👊🏻

I've had no issues, but the stuff I'm buying is so high-end or esoteric these days that finding what I'm looking for is actually the biggest challenge, eBay or otherwise. Case in point -- artist proofs. I've been trying to hunt one down for years and I've never seen it show up. I've found eBay is far better, in general, about assessing condition correctly, than say tcgplayer, plus essentially mandatory photos help.

That's the guy Phil from Hawaii -- he was in some of Dan Chang's videos years ago, and has a wild collection. He listed another BAS 8 that has another 6 days on it.

Ebay is one of the few places I do buy to be honest excepting some older sealed boxes. I don't have any social media presence, so facebook groups, discords, etc., are not in my purchase space. I usually just decide what I am willing to pay ahead of time and wait until the very last moment on an auction. 2 seconds or less. I try to avoid getting the other bidders into an emotional back and forth by not giving them time to do it. Also avoids a shill bidder pumping me up. Sometimes it works (I got a pretty minty Alpha Lich for $640), and other times it does not. I collect what I want more than what I think will make me money later. So, the price I am willing to pay is really my personal price. How badly do I want that 7th Foil Bird of Paradise? Well, I want it enough to over pay for that one. I have a true love of 7th foils. But, a Beta Dark Ritual is not getting me to over bid. Ebay has been exceptionally good with their authenticity guarantees for me honestly. I have had a few cards not make it through due to not matching pictures, etc. I am happy with it overall.

I bid once on anything. Either I win, or the other bidder paid more than what i was willing to pay (sometimes it sucks, but its ok). Lately to get decent prices, (on Ebay), you find a collection dump where the shipping is 5+ per, but they offer a discount if you win multiple auctions. (Just did it last week, his S&H was 5.95 per item, but because i won 15 auctions it was like 8 total, plus i scored 15 nm/mt+ (definitely gradeable), Legends cards (11 are RL), $650 tcg value for about the same price that a MH3 collector booster box is priced atm. (Highlighted by a possibly gem mint Hellfire, wish me luck).

I always start by determining market price. From there I'll set my price based on how badly I want it. Sometimes I set my highest bid to a price a significant percentage below market because I'll take it if I can get it cheap and it will actually work out. Sometimes someone else just wants it more. And sometimes things just go crazy like in your example, but you won't find me involved in any of that beyond watching in amusement.

Hey my friend, sorry you missed out on the AP archaeologist. Hope you can get the 2nd one! :) For me when bidding on ebay, I always set myself a limit of what I'd pay for a card and then try to stick to it. I'm a sniper, so 3 sec before end of auction I bid my maximum bid and that's it. Also doesn't give me the option to reconsider my price, which is good, cause then I might go overboard :DD Say, do you have some UV protective foil on your case for the Anson APs you're displaying so they don't get sunbleached over time? This is always someting I'm worried about, when cards are in the open looking towards the window... Good luck on your future hunt!

I’ve never had any issues with EBay but I’m not getting any steals. Every now and then I find a steal but the shipping fees most of the times get the card back-up to the regular price.

Bought several MTG cards on Ebay. Got most for a 20-30% less than Cardmarket prices. And one for 50%. But not a ton of inventory there.