"When I sold about 20 chips from my own collection a few months ago on ebay it was painful to see how low they went for but that's market value..."

Sellers often dump their unwanted chips on ebay because they have no other outlet available to them. Many times it is DEALERS who are bidding on ebay's better offerings ... which are then re-sold at higher RETAIL prices to customers. This applies not only to our chip collecting interests ... but of most all of ebay's hundreds of categories.

True; "market values" are determined by what someone is willing to pay ... but ebay isn't the only, or final place these items are sold (and then re-sold).

Having said that; I agree, ebay is a bargain hunters delight, but not necessarily a barometer of "market value". Some of the more valuable chips seldom or never appear on ebay and when they do appear, often brings close to, or more than, estimated catalog values.

It is (generally speaking) the more common material that frequently appears for sale on ebay... and perhaps THOSE are the items that are truly sold at "market value".

Just one man's opinion ...