Both sell things. They suit different purchases, and pretending otherwise would waste your time.
Where an ordinary listing is better
When you know exactly what you want and only care about price. A specific model, a specific size, new in a box. Search it, sort by price, buy the cheapest from a decent seller. Nothing live can beat that.
When the thing is uniform. If every unit is identical, there is nothing to inspect and nothing to ask.
When you want it now, at a fixed price, without waiting for an auction. Metzee has fixed-price items too, which is the same idea. Buy now, explained
Where live is better
When condition varies. A photograph flattens grade, wear, sheen and fit. A seller turning an item over on camera, on request, is a different quality of information. How to judge an item through a camera
When the thing is one of a kind. Second-hand, handmade, collectible, estate stock — no two identical, so no price list to consult.
When nobody knows what it is worth. That is what an auction is for: the price is found rather than set. How do I know the price is fair?
When you want to ask. A listing cannot answer a question about the base, the hallmark or the smell.
What is the same
Your money is held until the item reaches you, on both an auction and a fixed-price purchase here.
The seller is an independent store, not Metzee. Does Metzee own what is being sold?
Returns. Damaged, faulty, wrong or not as described comes back for 7 days whatever the store's policy says.
The honest trade
An auction can cost more than a listing. A room with two determined people in it goes past a sensible price, and the format is designed to let it. The defence is deciding your ceiling before the item comes up — not the format protecting you from yourself. How to not get carried away
An auction can also cost much less, on a quiet night with the right item.
It takes an hour. A listing takes two minutes.
The useful rule
Uniform and known → a listing. Particular and uncertain → live.
Most people end up using both, for different things, which is the sensible answer rather than a diplomatic one.
More: auction versus fixed price, what is Metzee, how a live auction show works.