canjond
12-03-2010, 12:28 PM
Back in September, I was browsing eBay and came across a beautiful example of a PSA graded card I had always wanted. The card was listed with a typical BIN price that was 50% more than its true value. After doing much research on pricing, I decided to make the seller what I thought was a very fair off-line offer. My offer price would have been the third highest "recorded" sale of the card since 2008, and almost 18% more than the VCP average price for the card.
After making the offer, I received a very "curt" email from the seller essentially asking me if I was misinformed on the true value of vintage baseball cards. Although I would have loved to respond inkind to this email, I decided to take my toys and go home, as it was the seller's right to ask whatever he wanted for his card.
Fast forward to yesterday, I receive an email from the seller telling me that after much thought (and probably at the expense of a few re-listing fees), he decided to offer me a holiday discount and would sell me the card for my offer price. Still feeling as though I didn't get my jab in when I wanted to back in September (and still mad about the email insult I received from the seller at that time), I politely emailed the seller back informing him that my previous offer was "my September offer," and I was no longer interested in paying that price for his card. Instead, I gave him "my December offer," which was a price that was almost $575 less than my September offer, and, if accepted, would now constitute the lowest recorded sale of the card on VCP. I will freely admit that this offer was what I would describe as an "FU offer." In other words, the offer was ridiculous.
In a very Jeter-esque manner, the seller responded that my offer was crazy and too low. I politely thanked him for his time and went on my way. To my great surprise, this morning I awoke to an email from the seller informing me that he really needed to move the card to free-up cash and he would accept my offer if I would be willing to kick in for insured shipping. While part of me wanted to email the seller back and tell him that that offer was my "yesterday offer" and today my offer is "$x," I also still wanted the card and realized I was getting an incredible deal.
Moral of the story, I finally won against the juggernaut that is overpriced eBay BINs.
After making the offer, I received a very "curt" email from the seller essentially asking me if I was misinformed on the true value of vintage baseball cards. Although I would have loved to respond inkind to this email, I decided to take my toys and go home, as it was the seller's right to ask whatever he wanted for his card.
Fast forward to yesterday, I receive an email from the seller telling me that after much thought (and probably at the expense of a few re-listing fees), he decided to offer me a holiday discount and would sell me the card for my offer price. Still feeling as though I didn't get my jab in when I wanted to back in September (and still mad about the email insult I received from the seller at that time), I politely emailed the seller back informing him that my previous offer was "my September offer," and I was no longer interested in paying that price for his card. Instead, I gave him "my December offer," which was a price that was almost $575 less than my September offer, and, if accepted, would now constitute the lowest recorded sale of the card on VCP. I will freely admit that this offer was what I would describe as an "FU offer." In other words, the offer was ridiculous.
In a very Jeter-esque manner, the seller responded that my offer was crazy and too low. I politely thanked him for his time and went on my way. To my great surprise, this morning I awoke to an email from the seller informing me that he really needed to move the card to free-up cash and he would accept my offer if I would be willing to kick in for insured shipping. While part of me wanted to email the seller back and tell him that that offer was my "yesterday offer" and today my offer is "$x," I also still wanted the card and realized I was getting an incredible deal.
Moral of the story, I finally won against the juggernaut that is overpriced eBay BINs.