Negotiating with Dealers

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Posted By: John S

When purchasing a card from a dealer what percentage of the time do you negotiate price? I am not talking about shows as I believe they are an entirely different animal. I am speaking about a dealer with a catalog or website with prices listed. Do you ever ask to decrease a listed price or do you consider this to be bad card buying etiquette?

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Posted By: David Vargha

There is nothing wrong with asking for a better price. The seller always has a right to say "no". Any seller who would be offended by you asking is just overly sensitive. However, if the card is priced fairly, I wouldn't want to develop a reputation of being the guy who always tries to grind for an additional $10 off.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: Charlie O'Neal

John,

Don't take this the wrong way as I am not trying to start anything.

Do you pay sticker price for a car? My point is everything is negotiable, some people raise their prices to try and catch a sucker that really doesn't now the value of the card or they are unaware of the actual value too. Offer a price that you think is fair and if the dealer can let go of the card at that price he will. If not he may come back with a counter offer.

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Posted By: John S

Hey Charlie,

No offense taken. As stated in my question I was seeking opinions. I am just interested to see how other board members approach this situation. I am sure that you as well as the rest of the board members have personal relationships with many of the dealers. I have been buying from some of the same guys for over twenty-five years. They know my voice, my face, and couple of them email me to get opinions on cards/collections that they are thinking about purchasing. These types of relationships make it more difficult to negotiate listed prices. Dealers have a tougher time today than ten years ago for a multitude of reasons with the internet being central to all. Most seem more reluctant to haggle.

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Posted By: Steve M.

see a dealer item that is non-negotiable. It certainly doesn't hurt to ask. For example there is a post for the sale of some SGC 40 T206, seven of which I am interested in. I will see what the seller can do for the bulk purchase. I will of course ask him to verify himself by emailing me a picture of himself holding the cards.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Occasionally I ask for a discount if I'm buying in bulk or the price is just too high in comparison to recent sales. I never ask for just a few bucks off for no good reason because it's just petty and I can't stand when people do it to me in my business.

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Posted By: andy becker

what david said is true, you certainly don't want to delvelop a reputation for shaving a dealer's profit to the bare minimum.

but to directly answer john's question (hi john), i would say....the purchasor and the seller of cards (or anything else) must have good knowledge of what he/she is selling or buying.

if you have good knowledge of the value of an item, then you can set what is a fair price as a seller. as a buyer you can accept a fair price without negotiation....or you can negotiate a fair price.

knowledge is power. those in the know will not always be able to agree on a deal, but if one party is clueless....then a fair deal is highly unlikely....almost impossible.

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Posted By: Al Crisafulli

I try and negotiate if it's an issue I'm familiar with and I know the price is too high.

Occasionally, though, I do the opposite. If a seller has a card I want - and I know they have others - and they offer it to me at a discount, I will insist on paying full price. I don't want the seller to think he has to give me a discount in order for me to buy, because next time he's got a better card, I want him to come to me with it, and not someone else.

-Al

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Posted By: Bob

Tim Newcomb is the best negotiator I have ever seen with regard to cards. The guy is incredible
Bob

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Posted By: Frank Evanov

A friendly "what can you do on this card"? usually results in a better price. I suspect that prices are made slightly high which leaves room for bargaining.

Frank