Pros And Cons ... Auction Vs Fixed Price

No right and wrong, and the approach will also vary according to the commodity. I've sold several hundred lots of cards this year, all by auction. Because the number of lots is relatively low compared with stamps, the problem of vast lists doesn't really arise. But results can be pretty wacky. I also want to get rid of stuff - I don't really want to sit around waiting for the BIN purchaser to pop up.

I don't really buy from ebay anymore, but I've largely found that BINs are the preserve of the professional or semi-professional dealer, and that the prices are relatively high.

What you describe likely works well for the US, where Scott is basically universal, or for smaller countries with a history that isn't complicated. For a collector of the German area such as myself, ebay's organization and search can be hindrances. For Germany they have one category "Germany and Colonies", with somewhere around 150,000 listings at any given time. This encompasses German States, Deutsches Reich, colonies, Danzig, Saar, Memel, DDR, WWII territories, local issues, allied and Soviet occupation zones, and BRD up to the present day - several dozen potential stamp issuing entities. On top of that sellers commonly list by Scott or Michel or sometimes both, and ebay's search results will also pull matches from other numbers in the description, like a catalog value. If you search for Germany Scott 23, for example, you're just as likely to find Danzig 23, Togo 23, Saar 23 and/or Michel# 23 for any or all of those areas plus more, or something with a CV of $23.

Searches can be tweaked to become more usable, but it's a pain when all I want to do is some leisurely browsing. I do save some highly-tweaked searches for harder-to-find items, but my day to day window shopping is done at certain sellers because I don't feel like having to type in the secret code just to look at items I might be interested in. I mention Germany because I'm familiar with it, but I've heard that many other areas (France, Russia, Italy) are similar.

There are two things ebay could do to fix this. They could improve the organization of the stamp category, sub-dividing many of the larger ones. Germany, for example, should have at least a dozen subdivisions. Each category would still have thousands of listings, but at least DDR CTO issues wouldn't clog up your search for classic Bavaria, for example. ebay should allow you to search by two specific criteria: Catalog publisher and catalog number. The first would be a drop down box where you could pick Scott, Michel, Gibbons, Yvert, etc. The second would be a box where you type in the catalog number. Sellers could either provide this information when they list or choose to leave it blank.

Edited to add that I've been shopping more on ebay Germany (thanks to the Google Translate browser plugin) where there are probably around 100 German stamp categories and Michel is universal. If you pick the right category, only the Michel# is necessary to find the stamp you're looking for with almost no "noise" in the search results whatsoever.

I agree with ARTFUL , ebay needs to correct and reorganize their listings . ebay needs to send out warnings for misplace listing for three months, a grace period and then after that start charging for their transfer .

TheArtfulHinger wrote: ".....they have one category, Germany & colonies......" For your special needs, you may be better off trying the APS Stamp Store. I doubt you'll find 150,000 listing in the Store. Or find a German area specific dealer or two from the ads in the American Philatelist or Linn's. While I don't buy on ebay, I have checked a few times during the past year for sellers of Portuguese colonial material. What I've found on ebay for this area is well less than impressive.

I joined the APS a couple months ago and so far have placed two stamp store orders. Prices are typically a little higher than on ebay, but not always, and usually not by much. I plan on buying there fairly often going forward.