This is because items of this nature require close inspection to ascertain authenticity and condition-something that cannot be done over the internet by prospective buyers. This should include the genre of movie poster collecting. There is no guarantee that the items up for bid are as they are described. There is some protection for beleaguered bidders. There are online services such as i-Escrow Inc., which don't charge the buyer's credit card until the customer registers the item as satisfactory.
Most sites offer features that attempt to certify sellers and insure purchases.
If the seller opts to be listed as a fair dealer, or to guarantee an item, the auction sites listed above charge fees and commissions on their sales. One thing that surprised all the experts of the WS Journal was the premiums that people were willing to pay over prices in the real world. Unfortunately, the ones that really profited was the seller and the auction house-not the buyer. While on-line auctions make purchasing collectible items very easy, with seeming bargains to be had, collectors shouldn't wade too deep into the auction pool and bid on a collectible without understanding the genre of the collectible itself. With accurate real world knowledge of a genre and its market that comes with being a collector, bidders can avoid the pitfalls of bidding on overpriced items or outright fakes, or resist the temptation to even bid on an item in the first place.