The real beauty of the rocket auction sites (over Ebay) is that all the profits actually go to the seller...
In theory, true. If a seller could get the same price anywhere else.
But, a seller is more likely for their item to go for a much higher price on eBay, due to the greater exposure and wider audience. Especially since all the truly rocketry oriented auction sites are fractured. I am not sure if all rocket auction sites could be combined, if it would still make up the difference.
So, the greater selling price is likely to be way more than the fees for eBay.
Reminded me of a “hobby auction” site, or maybe even Model Plane auction site I saw in the late 1990’s. Oh, it was a GREAT place to get the few things they had. If you were a BUYER that is. Since the traffic was so slow, so few potential buyers running across what was there, that there was very little bidding competition going on. What really makes things sell well is the bidding, among some highly interested bidders. On eBay that often happens. On other sites like the one I described, it was not happening, the sellers were not making nearly as much as they would have if they had sold on eBay instead. Because so few highly interested bidders went there, or at least usually no more than ONE highly interested bidder, and it takes at least two highly interested bidders to make good $. Now, it is possible for a big bidding war to happen on a less known site, but a lot more likely to happen on eBay.
It has been a few years since I auctioned some things off. When I did, I used eBay for some collector’s kits. Now, there was one thing I did auction on a rocket site, and not eBay. That was a rocket altimeter, on Rocketry Online. I figured the Altimeter was one thing that might be more visible to interested buyers, there, than the kits on eBay.
BTW - I take note that right now there is barely any auction activity on ROL. Just 5 items total, only 1 rocket, most categories empty. Way way less items there than there were a few years ago. So if I had an altimeter to auction today, I would not use ROL, their auction site is almost dead. And for that matter, RP’s auction site is nowhere nearly as active as ROL’s used to be, either. I think a lot of people who used to do auctions on rocket sites may have figured out what I described earlier, about greater exposure and more heated bidding on eBay, despite the fees.
- George Gassaway