Do cels sell on Ebay?

[Krafty]

I pressume that most cel collectors use the Japanese auctions and dealer sites [both western and Japanese sites] to purchase their artwork.
So when it comes to selling and Ebay is your first choice because it's easier and more convenient, do you find the collectors give as much attention to your listings and do you receive as much money as you'd expect from your cel sales?

I'm not planning to auction anything yet but wondered how Ebay auctions fare since I've not even looked for anime art on Ebay in over a year. It sprang to mind how a particular setup from one series might fetch $50 on Ebay compared to $300 equivalent on YJ. I've seen this kind of thing happen before so is it common with all anime series?

[logorzat]

In my experience I tend to get much less on Ebay then I would selling directly on Beta.

[EternityOfPain]

I actually have gotten more on eBay then I would selling on beta (a few cels I tried to cel on beta never got the right offers I was looking for).. As far as purchasing from ebay.. I have only bought 1 JK sketch on eBay.. That sketch was actually my first JK sketch over a year ago.. Not that I mind ebay but sadly nothing shows up... (JK wise)..

[Moop]

I've seen this kind of thing happen before so is it common with all anime series?

There's no question that eBay tends to fetch lower prices overall; people who use it are expecting to get good deals, so they're frequently painfully cheap. In other words, yes - a cel that you bought for 30,000 yen could easily go for only $50. BUT, if you have a rare or beautiful shot of a popular character from a popular series (or even a series with a small but rabid fan base), the bids might easily go higher than they went on YJ.

I sell there a lot less than I used to, since it's frequently more trouble than it's worth - so I can't honestly say that it's my first choice. However, the best advice I can offer is that if you're not absolutely certain that something is highly desirable (e.g., a great Uchiha repro or sketch ), then don't list it for $50 in the hopes that it will go to $300. List it for the minimum that you are willing to take, and then hope that someone will love it as much as you once did.

[Grico]

Ebay is terrible for cels in general. Alot of stuff gets no bids at all even at reasonable or even very cheap prices (5-10 bucks) Some higher level cels can get bidding wars going, but that usually brings cels into the 150-350 dollar range instead of the high end YJ 2K+ levels.

[otakusin]

Personally I have found eBay to be the equivalent of throwing away money. If I do sell anything I tend to break even with all the listed auction fees, so basically I just give away the items that do sell. Anymore unless it is a guaranteed sell I find it absolutely worthless to list. As Moop said most eBay buyers are deal seekers, sadly several think even good deals are to pricey.

[glorff]

95% of the listings are crap that no one wants, so they don't sell.

[Sugarflower]

Personally I have found eBay to be the equivalent of throwing away money.

That's so true. If I had the opportunity to sell on YJ I'm pretty positive I'd make a way better profit there than eBay. I've sold many cels recently for only 1/3rd or half of what I original paid for them. It can be heartbreaking especially during times you may be in much need for $$$.

Also, with the eBay and paypal fees draining you. You lose even more.

I wander what the fees on Yj are compared to eBays fees?

[RoboFlonne]

If you want to use Ebay. I would recommend an Ebay Store.

For cels and expensive items.

I know from experience.

[Ms. Poe]

E-bays hayday seems to be over...I remember the days of mountains of gold from E-bay sales...

I too wish I could sell on Y!J...O well...I'll try my sales page first through here and abroad, and anything left over will be trhown on E-bay...I actually plan on doing a huge one here quiet soon

[duotrouble]

Since I've sold a lot on ebay lately, I can say from experience that ebay does tend to sell at lower prices. As far as cels go, I think there's some crazy prestige thing about "I got this off YJ" rather than saying you got it off ebay, which is insane because anime cels came from Japan no matter whether your find was on ebay or YJ.

There's also a thing that people have about selling their cels. Those people who won't take less than what they paid obvisously don't want to sell their cels. When selling, list your cel for the absolute minumum you'd accept - just hope it goes higher. But if it doesn't, consider it like renting a movie or something. You enjoyed it for a while and any money back, especially when desperate for money, is a good thing.

[Keropi]

As far as cels go, I think there's some crazy prestige thing about "I got this off YJ" rather than saying you got it off ebay, which is insane because anime cels came from Japan no matter whether your find was on ebay or YJ.

I guess the way I'm looking at eBay these days is that if I had wanted to get the artwork in the first place I would have tried to get them from YJ. I'm mainly browsing eBay these days just to see if anything fell through the cracks. Maybe there is something I want that wasn't in a YJ auction picture before. But thestuff I would be more likely to like would be the stuff the collector is more likely to want to keep.

I suppose the ideal situation would be if someone broke up a sketch set from YJ from a series that was too expensive for my taste. But then if it was THAT expensive I might just move onto another series and greatly lower my expectations on ever getting anything from it. Then my interest in getting stuff from it would drop.

So to summarize...there are just too many things working against me finding artwork I like on eBay. My tastes just aren't favorable towards it.

[klet]

Yeah, you tend to get less on Ebay than you originally spent on the artwork. Of course, there are very few people on Beta who seem to want my artwork, and I rarely sell for profit--usually, I'm upgrading or pruning my collection. If I can break even, I'm more than happy.

Though, every once in a while, you come across people who don't know YJ exists or don't bid there--I once had a cel go for 10x what I paid for it. Granted, I only paid $5, but still . . . that rarely happens, though. I usually lose money or break even. I have noticed in the last year or so that quality artwork rarely shows up, and people tend to bid less on my own auctions even though the stuff I'm auctioning is much higher quality than it was a couple of years ago. *shrug*

I tend to shop a bit on EBay because it's a good place to pick up what other collectors don't want anymore. Since I'm not really into sketches all that much (there's a few exceptions I make ) I tend to buy the cels other collectors are getting rid of to make room/money for newer shows.

[HotIce]

I tried selling here on Beta/RS/Animagna, but I can't sell stuff at 10-50% off what I paid, on my for sales page... so, my stuff is ending up on eBay, and stuff is selling for 75% or more off what I paid.... which basically just leaves me feeling like I collect crap, but since I'm in need of the money (not desperate) I do what I need to get whatever I can.

[EternityOfPain]

As far as cels go, I think there's some crazy prestige thing about "I got this off YJ" rather than saying you got it off ebay, which is insane because anime cels came from Japan no matter whether your find was on ebay or YJ.

I have noticed this trend as well, but honestly those who look down on eBay are simply jealous that some individuals are able to get steals on there verses bidding on mandy or YJ which are often well overpriced. Lets face it, if you have a choice of either your wish list popping up on eBay or YJ I am fairly sure the obvious choice would be ebay... Why? Because you know on ebay you don't have to pay fees.... and things tend to sell for less... Is this a problem? No, of course not, people in this case buying will be receiving a deal. I think what some individuals have to see is that its possible that you overpaid on YJ and to expect someone to overpay just because you did initially when you bought the cel is crazy.

Final note, For every individual who sells a cel on ebay and another person buys it there is also a person who gets a "great deal" sometimes its the seller making a profit (compared to how much he initially paid) but other times its the buyer who gets a good deal. And of course the rare instances that both are happy in that the seller gets the amount he wanted for the cel and the buyer thinks as the price as a steal..

Examples on previous concepts:

- Just cause you buy a cel for X dollars you can't always expect to get that amount, hell even half is not always possible.. Why? because when you initially bid you could have raised the price far higher then it normally goes for because you were in a bid war with another individual. So for example say you wanted an AMG sketch for 50,000 yen and someone else wanted it for 49,000 yen say the auction started at 20,000 yen. In this example you win the auction for 50,000 yen. However a year later you decide you want to sell it on eBay... This removes 1 crazy fan (yourself from bidding on your own auctions) and say the other individual who bid up to 49,000 yen doesn't collect anymore or doesn't see the auction. Then it would not be abnormal to see your auction not even go for 25,000 yen. Why? Because both individuals who initially bid on the auction are out of the picture. Another example is the crazy amounts I have paid for Juuni Kokki sketches.. I am 100% positive that regardless if i put them on YJ or ebay there will be very few if any who are willing to pay the crazy amounts I have on a few of my pieces. Everyone (well i shouldn't say everyone...) but individuals who specialize in a series, or for a particular series are willing to go the extra mile, then you can't expect someone to go to such lengths (aka CC debit...) to obtain the cel / sketch.