Its not that these sellers don't want to save money, more so if they do the transaction
off of eBay, they might get tossed from eBay.

i understand that point jay, but a simple email off-grid away from "my ebay message" couldn't hurt. i see many examples on the bst linking to their ebays with smth along the line of pm me here and take 10% my ebay prices.

i don't base my business on selling on ebay so maybe i take the threat of banning more cavalierly.

This has become a 'venting' thread. If you go back and read my previous posts, you'll find the answers to both these questions (why they didn't accept your offer, and how they can avoid ebay fees legally). I'm sure many here won't believe me, but I've experienced it. That doesn't mean that you won't run into sellers who simply don't know how to conduct business. And, of course, you can throw everything out the window if you are even slightly rude to them.

Val,

On the link for the Rendition Rules, I listed on the prior post, on Page 2, Right Column it states:

For inventory, market value is defined by the tax code as “the price for which it would sell as a unit to a purchaser who would continue the business.”

It does also say that one can use "original cost", but I was told by a reliable source that when items are bought and modified in form, then the original cost method goes away since it's no longer in it's original condition. One can't take a piece of $3 wood, carve it in some ornate statue and say it's still a $3 piece of wood. Most dealers buy raw cards and have them professionally graded. It's arguably no longer an original item since it's no longer in its original form since grading is a "value added service" (see Collectors Universe Form 8-K) and therefore it will have to be accessed by it's market value. If you buy raw cards and resell the as raw, then the "original cost method" could be used.

Dan,
I understand your example of the $3 piece of wood carved into a statue.

However, IMHO, a raw bb card that is then entombed has NOT been "modified in form." I would be very surprised if Texas would not permit a taxpayer to report "original cost" as being the cost of the raw card plus the cost of grading it.
Val