Where is the best place to sell a piece of sports memorabilia?

It’s a question faced by anyone who has ever found a nice sports relic. Let me break down where I would go to sell and I want to hear your thoughts too, so don’t be afraid to chime in the “comment” section.

Major Auction House: If you’re not in a big hurry for the cash, a major auction house is not a bad option. You’re probably going to want to make sure that the piece is valued at least at a few hundred bucks before calling an auction company to see your piece, however. You are going to usually reach a wide audience of memorabilia collectors and a majority of those collectors may have quite a bit of money.

You never know when you are going to get two eager bidders going at a particular item, and as a result, really could drive the price up.

A major disadvantage with auction houses is you have to usually wait a long time to get your money once your item has sold.

I personally have waited for more than a half a year for my money. Most of the time I am happy with the results, but that wait can be brutal. Also, when they tell you it will take 45 business days before they send payment, remember that is more than two months.

eBay:EBay is usually know recognized as a wholesale market and not a sellers’ market, however, eBay has a much wider audience than any auction house (in the millions actually) and the price to list an item and consignment fee is much cheaper than a seller’s premium that an auction house will charge you.

Also, on occasion, if you have a really killer item you may do better on eBay than in a major auction. I am not exactly sure why this is, but I saw a Super Bowl II ticket sell this year for nearly $20K and I doubt it would have sold that high in a major auction.

Also, probably the best thing about eBay is you will get your money very quickly. If you list an item as a three-day auction and accept Paypal, you could get your cash the night of day three. That’s a lot better than waiting the 45 business days.
 
Local Newspaper: For those who are still afraid of the cyber world and want to deal with someone on a face-to-face basis, a classified ad is still a decent option. The cost usually isn’t all that much and you can get paid in cash and usually pretty quickly. You won’t reach a huge audience, but this isn’t an auction and you name the price. Sometimes all it takes is one person to see a classified ad. That said, I am not into a lot of self promotion, but I have placed a number of classified in Sport Collectors Digest and have had success. You are reaching some of the world's biggest collectors and a lot of times these guys are not Internet guys... That is a major benefit that SCD has over some of its online competition.