Today the hobby of collectibles has become a big, booming industry. Most of the hobbyists buy or sell their collectibles in some way or another. There are different methods for buying or selling collectibles.

One of the oldest, and still a very popular method today, is through the auction. There are two types of auction. One is the traditional physical auction, and the other is the virtual auction (that is, auction on the internet). The popularity of virtual auctions is increasing day by day. In a virtual auction, the picture of the particular collectible is usually inserted along with the description to give people a feel for the collectible. Millions of dollars are exchanged in the buying and selling of collectibles in this type of shop. In internet auctions, the turnover figures for buying and selling different collectibles are astonishing. There are numerous websites like eBay, Yahoo etc. that have special sections and categories for buying and selling collectibles. Nowadays it is quite possible for anyone to buy or sell their collectibles with the click of mouse.

The popularity of collectibles has increased so much that nowadays the popular and established auction houses like Sotheby and Christie who usually hold auctions of estates, furniture and other big items are now holding auctions exclusively for collectibles. This is a very big help for the hobbyist who wants to sell or buy their collectibles, but is still weary of internet auctions for fear of scams. The biggest advantages of a physical auction over a virtual auction is that in the physical auction you can observe and examine the actual collectible, whereas in the virtual auction you cannot examine the actual collectible. Apart from this obvious difference, the actual auction gives a person a good idea of competition, which is helpful for getting the best price for a collectible.

Now, even small towns and cities have many malls and shops that deal with different types of collectibles. Every year there are many shows and exhibitions arranged which give buyer and seller the chance to meet each other face to face. This type of face to face meeting helps them to share information, including general news about collectibles and negotiating the best prices. The biggest indoor shows for different collectibles are held twice every year in the state of New Jersey. This biggest show in Atlanta attracts around one thousand or so sellers who have different collectibles to sell. The advantage of these types of shows is that usually it is possible to get appraisal of collectibles done free of charge. Most of the other services mainly focus on the collector. Apart from these big shows, there are numerous other small exhibitions and shows arranged to enable collectors to buy and seller to sell their particular collectibles.

There are also magazines solely devoted to buying and selling collectibles. These magazines not only help the hobbyist to buy or sell their collectible, but also provide good information for different collectibles. You can find subscriptions to magazines that are about collectibles in general, or about a particular popular collectible.

If you are a collector and you are having trouble finding good resources for buying and selling, then you should definitely take a look at some of the ones that I have mentioned.