Overpricing of AFA items, why?

I am on the lookout for AFA graded figures and I am willing to pay the going rate.
However many of the AFA graded items are way overpriced on ebay.
$400 for an AFA 90 Swordsman for example.
The easiest figure to find on mint card. Even if it cost $100 to buy carded and $30 to get graded its $270 overpriced. Of course you pay for the privelige of the carded figure being found and graded but $270?
Loose figures of Toth, Belloq (robe) and Swordsman graded 85 at $80.
Marion and Indy at over $200. A Mechanic at $250?
I have noticed that no one is bidding on them or buying them but my question is why do they all price them up so high instead of just auctioning them?
indiana1971@hotmail.co.uk

I've often wondered the same thing. My conclusion, based on absolutely no evidence whatsoever, is that the owners don't really want to part with the figures unless someone is going to make it extremely worth their while. Know what I mean?

I think part of it is because then you know what you are getting. Well that's the theory any way. You could buy 4-5 or more C-9s and not get one that's all that great, where as you should get an 85 and if you know what an 85 looks like then you know what you are getting.

I have a whole set, but I got them a few years ago as a set, otherwise I don't think I would be collecting the AFA stuff. I do agree that some people are over pricing some things. The Swordsman is way over priced, and if it was lower I would have gotten it. There's also the $800 ToD Indy that no one bought. I think it's mostly the stores that are doing the overpricing though.

Another explanation for the high pricing of AFA figures on eBay is a bit more complex than my earlier one, but also a bit more realistic. The value of most collectibles, whether they be comic books, action figures, or whatever, is generally set by the average amount that those collectibles pull in from auctions each year. A great deal of that information comes from on-line auction sales, with eBay being the obvious giant in that realm. If Indy action figures are routinely pulling in large sums on eBay, then the actual values will reflect these sales in annual collectibles catalogs. If you deal in collectibles, it would generally be in your best interest for these items to go for much higher-than-published prices when you sell them on eBay. Sell it for higher-than-value this year, and the value of the rest of your inventory goes up next year.

well,i am all for AFA grading...i dont have any carded stuff graded,but i am sending in my loose collection./....i think that it is cheaper however to buy a really nice card on Ebay,then grade it...however,you have to know exactly the grading scale,and what will get an 80+...anything under 80 is crap,and to resell it,you will lose ur money....the ****ty thing bout the acrylic cases that they seal them in is that this does not mean that ur bubble wont go yellow in time etc...

I think HovitosKing is right. It's the same with real estate. The going price for a home is determined in part by what other similar houses sold for recently.

The other part of it is that a lot of sellers were not fan-collectors. For them, it was also an ivestment. If you look at the history of other collectibles, you'll find they often go through boom and bust cycles. So if you're an investor collector, then you want to maximize your return, because you know that within a year or two, you might be stuck with inventory worth much less than you want. If you make a ton on one or two pieces a year, you can afford to hold on to the rest until the market bears a higher price.