If it wasn't bought then, why would a buyer want to Buy it Now?

[Potomac Yank]

Buy it Now, for the price the buyer's wouldn't buy it for then???

payBay can bully the sellers, tell them how to sell, and what form of payment is acceptable, but they can't bully the buyers.
If they're not careful, they might succeed in driving some of the buyers away.

Without the buyers you can visualize a long extended list of BIN Museum Curators pushing the same unacceptable price that the BUYERS turned down before.

payBay, has become "A Comedy of Errors" ..... with a death wish.

[ChiefBenderForever]

Unacceptable price is a nice way to put it. For many of the curators BIN really means Buy it Never.

[drc]

One of the essential problems with eBay's recent philosophy is you need quality sellers to have a quality auction/sales house and they been alienating many quality sellers.

[Minerscoin]

Hell If I could get the prices they want I would concentrate more on buying and selling Vintage Cards. Instead I lurk most of the time and buy what is priced right and sell to the locals in my little coin shop. I have to laugh at some of the prices on BST and these items rarely sell over and over again. Many good deals are on BST but some don't seem to get it. I won't name the overpriced sellers but it is obvious the sellers I am talking about. These curators can keep their stuff. Times are tough and money is tight so in order to sell these museum pieces you better be competitive pricing wise or you might as well set up a museum rather than try to sell your overpriced stuff to educated buyers such as ourselves. What good is a card graded 1 2 or 3 for that matter if it is priced at crazy prices.
That stuff was ungraded and in the bargin bin in the ole days.


"Living in the past"
Jethro Tull

[cozmokramer]

Often a seller will list a card a very overpriced card, EXPECTING it NOT to sell.

Many buyers will see the overpriced card and wonder, then click to see what else the seller is has for sale. Then the more reasonably priced cards get some attention.

Its just a selling tactic that many are using. They know that their overpriced Wagners (or any highly searched card) will show up in tons of searches, and then use that to get their other stuff visible.

[calvindog]

Yes, Eric, I've heard about that practice. Sometimes sellers try that on the BST as well.

[ullmandds]

While I agree with all of the posts thus far...ebay obviously makes money off the sellers pushing their overpriced cards w/outrageous BIN's no rational person will ever pay. Meanwhile ebay's stock price continues to rise...defying our rationale...maybe it's just that for us...in this hobby...ebays' practices seem absurd...but vintage BB cards are such a tiny % of their business...we don't really matter much to ebay.

[BCauley]

I just found a card that peaked my interest on ebay the other night. It was a card graded by SGC. Well, being that I hadn't looked at a whole lot from this set in awhile, I looked at the BV of the card in the assigned grade as well as ended auctions/BIN that I found on VCP (which I just signed up for and love it!).

Well, being that I believe the sale prices are more accurate than the BV (about $170 more than BV), I shot a best offer over as he had the option up. NOW, I did keep the price right around the other ended prices which was a lot less than he was offering. He was asking for just about $300 more than the other ended prices and as it turned out, he wouldn't go any more than $50 off of his original asking price.

I let it get to me a little bit as I believe people like this are helping to kill ebay. I shot him a message telling him that I wished him luck selling his cards at the outrageous prices he was asking. I got a response of "Someone always comes along and pays my price. I don't need to sell these cards and will keep them up there for 10 years if I want to."

Great mentality.

[Fred]

Quick story - I've got a few cards that I can sell but I don't really have to (or need to) sell them. One card in particular (a few years ago) was a highly sought after card but in really bad shape. I put a $1200 BIN on it. Nobody bought it. A couple of months later I put a $1400 BIN on it and received offers of $1200 for it (this was without the "give me your offer option"). The card didn't sell. A few months later I put a $1600 BIN on it, and you guessed it... I received a couple of offers for $1400. I didn't sell it. A few months later I put a BIN of $1800 on it. You guessed it again, I received a couple of offers for $1600. I didn't sell it. A couple of months later I received an email asking if the card was still available and if the card was available they'd pay the full amount of what I was asking for it in my last BIN. I figure if I wanted to sell it for less then I'd put a lower price on it. I guess if you say to put up your best offer then dropping the price 15-20% wouldn't be a bad offer. I've seen people drop their asking price 40% on some items on the BIN with a "make your best offer" option. There are some people that would get buyers remorse if they got the card for 40% off the BIN price (on the "make your best offer" option). You should pay what you feel comfortable paying for the card and be happy with the purchase (if it's in the condition noted in the item description).

[Potomac Yank]

I lived in NYC, the home of Madison Ave, and business 101 for sixty years.
Living in layed back Virginia for 18 years.
Some of you call the current BIN practice a strategy, in NYC it would be considered a game ... and like in all games, they will find some one that wants to sell it.

On the other hand, I see a bright side to this.
I see the never ending Museum Curator BIN list getting longer, and longer.
I see the strategy of the non Madison Ave unacceptable price continuing.
I see it being repeated, and repeated, and repeated.
They don't know it ..... BUT!
I also see the potential for some of the Museum Curator Flippers, actually become collectors ... and not by choice. :)

[Rich Klein]

On if the seller feels that he/she has any "skin" in the game so to speak. I know from my old dealing days; that if I got a desirable card in a "deal" and the rest of the deal paid for itself and I was left with that card (or 2); then I really didn't care if and when I sold said card.

Many of the dealers I knew in the 1970's and 80's lived by that mantra. If you could buy a deal for $200 in your store; take out the two Mantle cards; and still flip the deal for $200 then you were into those Mantles at no cost.

And once you had no cost into the Mantles; you did not care if and when you sold those cards.

Joe; believe it or not; not every one lives on the quick flip principle

Rich

[HRBAKER]

I think it is a mistaken premise to assume that many of the BIN prewar sellers actually care if they sell the cards. They are more like fishermen than retailers.

[Potomac Yank]

Gentlemen, during the 1980's, & '90's, I worked for an airline, which gave me the opportunity to meet dealers from all over the country, and see many cards.
Thus my approach of, If I don't get it from dealer A, I'll get it from dealer B, or C.

My job, gave me the opportunity to concentrate on the sublimation that helped me get my mind off my job. :D

Hello Rich,
Not only did I get to see the various business approach by dealers from all over the country, (in their own regional dialects) but it gave me the pleasure of meeting them, when The HOBBY was not known as The Market.

Hello Jeff,
After looking at that long list ... If they are more like fisherman ... they haven't eaten any Crappies lately. :)

[Potomac Yank]

We're not just referring to a scarce Wagner, Doyle or Joe Jackson.

We're talking about the Curator's common, and simi common cards.

AKA their strategy to their heirs will. :)

Who am I, to stand in the way of their strategy?

As to the small BIN handful that want to move inventory ... build it, and we will come.