Prewarsports - enough already!

[Shoeless Moe]

Lower your prices or something......I see your same stuff over and over and over and over and over again on Ebay.

I know you are nice guy and all and that's what makes this so difficult, but c'mon man.

Or does anyone know how to permanantly excludes a sellers items from searches, I have to re-exclude him with every search, time consuming.

Again sorry, cuz I know u are a cool dude and all, but c'mon reduce some of that inventory already!

[docpatlv]

This could apply to most of the ebay sellers with BIN's.

[Duluth Eskimo]

I guess I'm the only one who doesn't care what other people sell their stuff for. You expect Rhys to come on here and defend himself for something like this? I think it's you that needs to " c'mon man". Instead of sending him a personal message with your thoughts, you put him on blast on a forum where he does nothing but helps people. That is a jackass move. From someone who contributes or at least participates on this board I would have expected a little more class from you.

[HRBAKER]

His to sell or not sell for whatever price he wants. Ebay is full of this, why single him out bc he's a forum member?

[Shoeless Moe]

1st I have no class, second, I'm just a lil' annoyed with the same things over and over again. Yes he can do it, but I don't have to like it.

And yes, c'mon here and defend yourself. Lower the damn prices and move inventory. I'm sick of scrolling thru pages of his stuff, the same stuff for years. If it doesn't sell after a month or 6, then its time to lower the price.

Contributing has nothing to do with this. That's like the neighbor on the news who says, he always seemed so nice.

[docpatlv]

Jason,

I was in agreement with you. I thought the OP's complaint could be directed at any number of eBay sellers, so wasn't sure why he was singling Rhys out. People can charge whatever they want for any items they want to sell. As I told another collector a while back, as time goes by, I realize there is no item that I can't live without. Sure there are items I want, but if I can't find them at the prices I'm willing to pay, they ain't gettin' bought

[Shoeless Moe]

The reason is....he's the number one seller (volume) on vintage baseball on Ebay, not talking cards, talking memorabilia.

And yes he can charge whatever he wants, and I'm sure my complaint will do nothing, but still its annoying......u all are saying he is just one of many, well thanks for confirming my point, HE is one of many that do this.

[Duluth Eskimo]

If he's the number one seller by volume his prices must not be too high. That post doesn't help prove your point.

[docpatlv]

Paul,

Don't sweat the small stuff.

Mike

[Runscott]

Rhys has some great stuff, and there are more than a few items that are reasonably priced - I've come close to pulling the trigger on the football action photo and the Cuban team cabinet. With cabinet photos it sometimes takes a while for the right buyer to come along, but if Rhys wasn't selling stuff using this strategy, I'm sure he'd change his strategy.

In my opinion, all it would take is larger scans for some of this stuff to start moving.

[HRBAKER]

Maybe he doesn't give a crap if he sells it or not. He's under no obligation to price it anyway but how he wants to. This is a hobby. Maybe he's looking for a fish, maybe several, you're not one, we get it. There are a lot of museums on ebay. On the other hand if he's the number one volume dealer (according to you), he's not raising everyone's hackles.

[Shoeless Moe]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

Maybe he doesn't give a crap if he sells it or not. He's under no obligation to price it anyway but how he wants to. This is a hobby. Maybe he's looking for a fish, maybe several, you're not one, we get it. There are a lot of museums on ebay. On the other hand if he's the number one volume dealer (according to you), he's not raising everyone's hackles.

What are hackles?

Volume...yes.....sales....who knows.....I'm sure he does fine, not the point, the point is he a search clog. I have to exclude him automatically from my searches because of his high prices. And becuz I don't care to look at items I've been looking at for years. He has 4,000 items up, and has 6,000 feedback in 13 years, it means most likely I'll have to look at most of those items for the next 10 plus years.

[HRBAKER]

BC you asked:

raise your hackles
to annoy someone Jim could raise her hackles quickly, but she enjoyed being with him anyway.

[Duluth Eskimo]

Originally Posted by HRBAKER

BC you asked:

raise your hackles
to annoy someone Jim could raise her hackles quickly, but she enjoyed being with him anyway.

That's funny

[thecatspajamas]

So just exclude him from your searches and move on. Do you have any idea how much crap we ALL have to sift through, on both the high and low end, when searching on eBay? If he's the main one clogging up your searches, count yourself lucky that you only have to exclude ONE seller from your searches.

Or better yet, if you're searching for the same stuff over and over, exclude him, save the search, and then run that saved search instead of setting up a new one every time and griping about it.

Originally Posted by Runscott

In my opinion, all it would take is larger scans for some of this stuff to start moving.

+1 on the larger scans. I would just like to see some of those early minor league photos closer up for reference purposes. But then, I think I've only ever bought 1 thing from Rhys, so I can hardly blame him for not catering to my looky-loo tendencies. (FWIW, I made him an offer offline for the one "gotta have it" photo that I did purchase, and he accepted. So maybe he's a little more reasonable than you think...)

[Leon]

I can't speaK for Rhys but will say I have bought somewhere around 100 items from him over the last couple of years, all off of ebay. He has worked with me on pricing on almost all of them. It's Paul's (hi Paul) right to voice his opinion too. Larger scans would help Rhys sell some more too.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Leon

I can't speaK for Rhys but will say I have bought somewhere around 100 items from him over the last couple of years, all off of ebay. He has worked with me on pricing on almost all of them. It's Paul's (hi Paul) right to voice his opinion too. Larger scans would help Rhys sell some more too.

There's the testimonial you've been waiting for, Rhys - you can move back away from your keyboard

My guess is that Rhys sees some additional sales as a result of Paul's thread.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by Leon

I can't speaK for Rhys but will say I have bought somewhere around 100 items from him over the last couple of years, all off of ebay. He has worked with me on pricing on almost all of them. It's Paul's (hi Paul) right to voice his opinion too. Larger scans would help Rhys sell some more too.

+1 I have also purchased quite a few great items from Rhys over the last few years. He is an extremely reasonable and ethical dealer that consistently offers high quality inventory.

If you see a piece that he he's selling that you want, make him a reasonable offer.

I've found him to be an absolute pleasure to deal with, FWIW

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Runscott

My guess is that Rhys sees some additional sales as a result of Paul's thread.

Well there you go then. Good for Rhys AND good for Paul (less standing inventory to weed through)

[rhettyeakley]

I have never really found his prices to be all that high, some may be listed a little high but he is also one of the most flexible sellers out there, he often goes lower on items than I think he should (and I tell him that).

All that being said I am biased (he is my brother after all) but he also offers lifetime guarantees on all signed items, etc. that is virtually unheard of in this hobby. Also as an fyi, he is on vacation with his family right now so I doubt he will be commenting on this thread unless he happens upon it on his phone.

-Rhett

[ethicsprof]

I,too, have bought a number of great items from Rhys---and Rhett as well--
and have nothing but good to say about my acquisitions and the customer care. I am happy that these
folks are willing to spend the time and efforts to make their top shelf wares
available to us. The brothers have certainly been most kind and generous in any negotiations
I have been involved with.
It is particularly delightful to have these with significant expertise selling some
of their items. I have found all negotiations to be reasonable and fair and informative.
all the best,
barry

[prewarsports]

Not going to spend any time on this, all I will say is I DO sell a lot, but will freely admit that if I hired an emplyee I could adjust old stuff a little better. I sell "old stuff" every day though and people make offers and if its been sitting long I always take less so while some may disagree with my business model, I am NOT a "blow it all out at all costs" seller and would rather not sell something than sell it for a fraction of its value. Every successful business model has some people who will disagree with what you do, in all walks of life. The fact that I am successful enough to have a whole thread dedicated to my business practices (without once questioning ethics) means I am doing something right.

As a side note, I have NO (ZERO) enemies in this hobby and I think if anyone has a problem with me, they just dont know me. I donate stuff everyday to museums and institutions and give stuff away for free to relatives and descendants and will always help anybody in this hobby at any time and never charge for it. Finding good homes for the items I have is very important to me as well.

Having said all that, I will make this blanket statement and hold firm to it.

I WILL GIVE A 15% DISCOUNT (OR MORE) TO ANY FORUM MEMBER AT ANY TIME ON ANY ITEM I HAVE ON EBAY!

Fact of the matter is, I could go to a nice car dealership at the end of any calendar year and write a check for mid-sized sedan and it would be LESS than my ebay/paypal fees every year, and those are not the insertion fees that are killing me. It costs a HUGE amount of money to sell things on ebay and as a seller you absolutely have to factor that into your costs or you are dead. I would MUCH RATHER sell something to a forum member at a 20% discount than sell it for full value on ebay and watch them take their cut.

If anyone ever has an issue with anything I have, or a question please e mail me.


Thats all I am going to say, and I recognize that you cant please everyone all the time, but I really do my best

Rhys

[horzverti]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

Not going to spend any time on this, all I will say is I DO sell a lot, but will freely admit that if I hired an emplyee I could adjust old stuff a little better. I sell "old stuff" every day though and people make offers and if its been sitting long I always take less so while some may disagree with my business model, I am NOT a "blow it all out at all costs" seller and would rather not sell something than sell it for a fraction of its value. Every successful business model has some people who will disagree with what you do, in all walks of life. The fact that I am successful enough to have a whole thread dedicated to my business practices (without once questioning ethics) means I am doing something right.

As a side note, I have NO (ZERO) enemies in this hobby and I think if anyone has a problem with me, they just dont know me. I donate stuff everyday to museums and institutions and give stuff away for free to relatives and descendants and will always help anybody in this hobby at any time and never charge for it. Finding good homes for the items I have is very important to me as well.

Having said all that, I will make this blanket statement and hold firm to it.

I WILL GIVE A 15% DISCOUNT (OR MORE) TO ANY FORUM MEMBER AT ANY TIME ON ANY ITEM I HAVE ON EBAY!

Fact of the matter is, I could go to a nice car dealership at the end of any calendar year and write a check for mid-sized sedan and it would be LESS than my ebay/paypal fees every year, and those are not the insertion fees that are killing me. It costs a HUGE amount of money to sell things on ebay and as a seller you absolutely have to factor that into your costs or you are dead. I would MUCH RATHER sell something to a forum member at a 20% discount than sell it for full value on ebay and watch them take their cut.

If anyone ever has an issue with anything I have, or a question please e mail me.


Thats all I am going to say, and I recognize that you cant please everyone all the time, but I really do my best

Rhys

You are correct Rhys, you can't please everyone...but I have been pleased with the photos that I have purchased from you. I am only one buyer, but it seems that you have A LOT of people in your corner. I look forward to checking out your area at the Chicago National later this summer...so don't sell everything between now and then!

Curt

[Shoeless Moe]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

Not going to spend any time on this, all I will say is I DO sell a lot, but will freely admit that if I hired an emplyee I could adjust old stuff a little better. I sell "old stuff" every day though and people make offers and if its been sitting long I always take less so while some may disagree with my business model, I am NOT a "blow it all out at all costs" seller and would rather not sell something than sell it for a fraction of its value. Every successful business model has some people who will disagree with what you do, in all walks of life. The fact that I am successful enough to have a whole thread dedicated to my business practices (without once questioning ethics) means I am doing something right.

As a side note, I have NO (ZERO) enemies in this hobby and I think if anyone has a problem with me, they just dont know me. I donate stuff everyday to museums and institutions and give stuff away for free to relatives and descendants and will always help anybody in this hobby at any time and never charge for it. Finding good homes for the items I have is very important to me as well.

Having said all that, I will make this blanket statement and hold firm to it.

I WILL GIVE A 15% DISCOUNT (OR MORE) TO ANY FORUM MEMBER AT ANY TIME ON ANY ITEM I HAVE ON EBAY!

Fact of the matter is, I could go to a nice car dealership at the end of any calendar year and write a check for mid-sized sedan and it would be LESS than my ebay/paypal fees every year, and those are not the insertion fees that are killing me. It costs a HUGE amount of money to sell things on ebay and as a seller you absolutely have to factor that into your costs or you are dead. I would MUCH RATHER sell something to a forum member at a 20% discount than sell it for full value on ebay and watch them take their cut.

If anyone ever has an issue with anything I have, or a question please e mail me.


Thats all I am going to say, and I recognize that you cant please everyone all the time, but I really do my best

Rhys

Ryys, I am the starter of this thread and could not argue with anything you have mentioned, well said indeed. Now do I get 25% discount for free advertising? jk.....take care!

[prewarsports]

I am a sucker for sob stories so just find something you want and spin me a sad tale about how it pictures your long lost grandfather and stuff like that and I would probably pay you to take it!

I probably would do 25% on most suff, I just dont want to say that and then be bound to it (I am a Lawyer as well so I cant go around making promises I cant keep in some instances). I am ALWAYS happy to discuss price on anything with anyone.

Rhys

[HRBAKER]

Rhys,

Well said, you have 2-3 photos I may be interested in.

Jeff

[Hankphenom]

Because I set up at shows with Kevin Keating, I have to listen to the "his prices are too high" complaint a lot. I think what I'm really hearing most of the time is "I wish I could afford something he has, but can't." We all wish prices were lower on the stuff we collect, but what's the use complaining about it? If the price is too high on something available elsewhere, just buy the other one. And if the price is too high on something not available elsewhere, how can you say it's too high? And, like Rhys, Kevin's inventory is too vast to go back and revise prices often. So he says, "Why don't they just make me an offer?"

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by prewarsports

I am a sucker for sob stories so just find something you want and spin me a sad tale about how it pictures your long lost grandfather and stuff like that and I would probably pay you to take it!

...

Rhys

Rhys, I'm happy to say that I'm related to everyone in every photo you have for sale - for some you have to go back to Adam (please, forum Adam, don't slap me around for mentioning a figure from my religion), even if 'Adam' is just a metaphor for whatever state we were in when we moved from 'monkey' to 'pseudo-man'.

Scott <=== lots of relatives

[prewarsports]

I guess they're all yours, just need to see a full family tree!

Also, I only have about 10%-15% of my inventory on ebay so in order to save everyone lots of headaches on ebay in the future, pray I dont ever hire an employee or you guys can just clean me out at the National and then I can take the year off!

Rhys

[Runscott]

I am definitely bringing 'Rhys' money to the national this year.

[Ladder7]

Thankyou Paul for being a dick and getting us all a discount!

Incidentally, I've had a couple of great deals with Rhys over the years.

[UnVme7]

Originally Posted by Ladder7

Thankyou Paul for being a dick and getting us all a discount!

Incidentally, I've had a couple of great deals with Rhys over the years.

+1

He doesnt have to give a discount at all. If you dont like the prices, dont buy. Or at least message the seller to see if they would take a lower price instead of starting a thread.

It's all good though...

[Runscott]

Not to belittle anyone's expertise, but the group of collectors who really understand Rhys' pieces ........ no groans? .......... is very small compared to other sports collectors in this forum. I have my eye on a number of his items that I would be very disappointed if they sold, but I just can't drop the bucks at the moment, even though they are very fairly-priced compared to most other sports items on ebay. In fact, they are dirt-cheap compared to most BIN card sellers.

When I put my cabinets up for sale, probably in August, I'm sure they will be priced comparably to Rhys'.

[Shoeless Moe]

Originally Posted by Ladder7

Thankyou Paul for being a dick and getting us all a discount!

Incidentally, I've had a couple of great deals with Rhys over the years.

It's what I do.

[Shoeless Moe]

Originally Posted by UnVme7

+1

He doesnt have to give a discount at all. If you dont like the prices, dont buy. Or at least message the seller to see if they would take a lower price instead of starting a thread.

It's all good though...

I will start any thread I want, ya communist pinko! I stand by what I said, too many repeats and too much to sort thru week after week, I do however understand his reasons now. But I'm still not a fan of the buy it nows that are overpriced thus shown week after week year after year.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Shoeless Moe

I will start any thread I want, ya communist pinko! I stand by what I said, too many repeats and too much to sort thru week after week, I do however understand his reasons now. But I'm still not a fan of the buy it nows that are overpriced thus shown week after week year after year.

For many sellers it's the only way to get exposure for their items in a store or retail setting on the internet. So they have to keep on rotating those items on Ebay.

It's just like a brick and mortar or any other collectibles business. All items are not liquid and many times you are just waiting for the right collector to come along. You might not sell something until 10 years after you list it up, but if you don't keep it listed it will never sell.

I would encourage somebody like Rhys to expand his website into a functional shopping cart with pictures and descriptions, similar to what he does on Ebay. Since he carries fairly unique items, I don't think he would have trouble gaining traffic, he would save a ton of money on Ebay fees, would be able to park items as long as he wanted and he wouldn't have to continually re-list items in a revolving door policy and worry about the next policy change from Ebay that's going to have to make you revise thousands of listings every time they come up with another brilliant idea.

[prewarsports]

Sounds good, you want a job? I would LOVE to do all that, but I just dont have the time and since I work out of my house right now I dont have the space to bring someone else in. I will probably in all seriousness be looking to hire somebody soon, probably around September or October. Anyone live near Boise, Idaho?

As a side note, stay tuned, in the next month or two my business will be taking a sharp turn and I think you guys will be as excited as I am about it!

Rhys

[drc]

Hire Scott. He's in Seattle and a generalist.

I'd say hire me, but my rates are too high. Even the Devil balked at signing me to a contract.

The problem with hiring me is, while my knowledge is extraordinarily high, I'm incredibly annoying. At my fiftieth consecutive knock knock joke, even the the most sedate employer is ready to fire me.

That, of course, is just a joke. I don't know much.

[Runscott]

David, I don't even know how to do that. I have 350 cards, 100 cabinets, 100 postcards, etc, etc,etc - all that need to be put on my website, but I'd almost rather starve than go to the trouble of getting it done.