Delcampe Vs Ebay, Am I Missing Something?

I've been reading a lot of posts about people selling on ebay. Could someone explain why delcampe does not reach same popularity. I have bought stuff there before and the people there seem to be knowledgeable as well.

My question is why the heavy emphasis on ebay when a similar site (in terms of the auction and buy now online service) caters to antiquity hobbyists?

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The answer to your question is "traffic volume". This applies to both buyers & sellers. First, there are likely far more buyers visiting ebay in an hour than delcampe in a day. So it behooves most sellers to ply their wares on ebay. In a similar vein, since there is far more merchandise on ebay, collectors generally find it to be the better buying venue. Personally, the few times I visited delcampe, I never found the items for which I was looking. On the other hand, I located most of the same items on ebay.
ebay was there first. Several sites have since tried to imitate ebay, mostly with little success. Being first does matter.

Also a question of whether you're trying to teach the converted or a wider audience. I sell a lot of cigarette cards on ebay, and it's obvious that many are bought by people who have an interest in the particular subject, rather than in collecting per se, or an interest in collecting, but not an obsessive one. They'd never look at a "collectors' site".

Also from a seller's viewpoint, because of recent pricing changes at Delcampe, it's cheaper to sell on ebay for most people. Also volume - it's much easier to sell on ebay. I've tried Delcampe, but more or less have given up on it.

"On the other hand, I located most of the same items on ebay.........." Depends on what you're looking for. When I've "gone shopping" for my main specialty (Portuguese colonies), I have found ebay to be literally an empty desert. Have had somewhat better luck with the APS Stamp Store.

Earlier this year, found a set of 16 of the 1/2 cent from the P. Congo Ceres set, with all the rotating star positions, at Stamp Store. Try finding something like that on ebay.

Conversely, the APS store rarely has anything of significance in my collecting area and virtually no documents whatsoever.

It all depends on what and how you collect as to which venue is better...

"On the other hand, I located most of the same items on ebay."

Sometimes they are indeed the very same items, not just identical items, since some sellers list things concurrently on both ebay and Delcampe. I just saw some covers with fixed prices on Delcampe that are also on auction at ebay, and the opening bid on ebay is half the Delcampe price.

A few years ago I tried Delcampe. I listed 20 items using both fixed price and auction formats. My items received very few "views" and I only sold 1 item for an opening bid of 99c. This was an item that I regularly sold on ebay for $18-20. I suppose because I was a new seller I needed to "pay my dues" but what would be the point? My ebay sales are always solid and selling at a 95% adds up quick.

For anyone who collects France or French Colonies, delcampe is the best place to go.

Personally I find Delcampe easy to use and have not to date had any problems with sellers I purchase from. Considering the many scams I've read about concerning ebay deals gone bad, I find delcampe to be somewhat "safer" a marketplace.

agree totally. with my focus on Yugoslav stamps, I find much more diversity, as well as better pricing with the delCampe sellers from that region. the American and western European sellers on ebay tend to look at the inflated catalog values to price their material.
not that I don't use ebay (about 30% of my purchases), but as I get further into my collecting, and seek the more obscure materials, delCampe is the better venue for me.

There are a lot of very experience collectors who will hunt on ebay for hidden treasures that are listed by inexperience or sellers who don't know what they got . Where as on those other selling sites you got more experience sellers and professional sellers .

I tried Delcampe for over six months with a variety of material and prices. Got a few views but not one sale. I chalk it up to being a new unknown seller located in the US. I find that Delcampe caters more to European and worldwide buyers and I was maybe somewhat out of place there. Cost me $ 7.00 to find out. Slowly re-listing my items on different venues - will probably keep my account open but do some more research and tailor my listing to the demographics. My only true complaint is a seller in Germany on Delcampe who I purchased a large bulk lot of stockbooks from. For the size and weight of the contents he grossly overpacked my items in a weak box that was not up to the task of travelling the distance. And well you can guess what happenend. Instead of 11 stockbooks - I received just 3 and a note of apology from USPS that they received the package at NY in bad condition. I finally had to go to my credit card company to get my money back as paypal was of no help and the seller refused to even communicate with about the issue or even offer a simple apology. Live and learn.

For someone who collects Belgium I find Delcampe far better than ebay and the way it breaksdown by years / stamp type is far more detailed. I also think there is a lot less rubbish on Delcampe which just clogs up ebay (ie damaged low value stamps)

I found delcampe's searches difficult to use. Since many foreign sellers don't use Scott #'s (only catalog I own) it was hard to find things.

I've found Delcampe useful for Spain and Cuba as it seems to have more dealers in Europe vs. ebay. Yes, the search can take some time due to various catalogs that are used (Scott/SG/Edifil). However, everyone I've dealt with has been knowledgeable and professional. Note, though, that unlike ebay, invoicing and payments are managed individually by dealers. I always give it a look if I'm searching for something more obscure that I'm not finding elsewhere.

ebay is much busier and more vibrant that Delcampe. But for certain things it can be useful e.g. as previously mentioned Portugal and Colonies, and Spain and colonies. There is also much to be found for Italian areas, French areas, and Scandinavia. Shipping can be high. Agree with RK that most of the sellers seem to be from Europe. Some sellers only accept Skrill, which I would avoid.