Let me preface this by saying that I only acquire collector pieces for AC. If I were a serious Nevada collector, I would probably go insane and simply give up.

>>>I would think that it involves less time and I know that it involves less haggling to buy off of eBay than dealing with chip dealers.

Many websites simply offer the chips for sale (this is defintely true with respect to AC chips). No wait and no haggling. This is simply buying at full retail which I have found to be generally higher than the book value. Paying more than a known retail (not book) value is where I start to scratch my head.

>>>eBay is still a deal.

I don't disagree with this at all. If one is well informed, there are some great buys on ebay.

>>>by increasing the price paid for his chips, he is laying the foundation to increase the value of his entire collection

I disagree with this.

If a buyer is willing to pay more than anyone else is willing to pay... then we KNOW the intrinsic value of that item (at this time) is less than what he paid.

This doesn't mean he is wrong. He may be speculating that the values will go up dramatically in the near future as more and more folks are drawn to collecting or he may simply see a value beyond cost of having a complete collection.

Still... being a little green here... I have simply have to wonder....