Deleting prices after an item has sold
 

I've seen this mentioned in a couple threads, and am curious to see what everyone thinks on the subject. It seems at least a few members list a card for sale on the b/s/t, sell it, and then delete the original asking price.

This seems odd to me, especially since it's a public forum. I don't think anyone would expect a seller to list what the card sold for. But why delete the record of the asking price?

right, always thought that was strange , some sellers say you can email them for the sale price but we both know years pass and people leave and don't answer email.. if see price reductions as well before the sale would be good to know that too

One reason is even if you write sold elsewhere in the listing, you still get offers on sold items if prices remain. I'm speaking from personal experience on both sides.

I usually put SOLD and strike through the price but leave it where it can still be seen. I never understood why everyone here deletes prices either. It would help out a lot when looking for comparables later.

Why is the record of the asking price relevant to you?

This is a good idea, I just don't know how to do it.

I suppose the asking price isn't relevant to me other than that it can help to see what others are trying to sell cards that I may own or be interested in purchasing.

The practice of deleting the price just seems strange to me, and like I said I was wondering what other members thought.

I have never done any price research on 54, I just use VCP. But I'm not sure why people would delete it.

I have tried to buy some cards on net54 and the seller quotes prices of why a card is priced so high, though I remember seeing the same card for sale for less a few months ago by asking price (so may of sold for even less) on net54 it would be nice to have the info but the asking price was deleted and couldn't reach the guy by email..

more info cant hurt ...all deals are supposed to be fair...

I use VCP for research as well, but when I see something listed on Net54 that I collect sometimes it's just because I'm curious to see what another member is asking for the card. Ebay and other auction houses don't delete the price when something sells and it seems strange to me that it's common on this site.

I think it's deleted out of respect to the purchaser. If he were to later flip or sell the item, he might not want it on the record (or want others to know how much he paid).

Not saying whether it's right or wrong... But I believe that's the primary reason for doing so.

+1 exactly why I do it. It isn't anyone's business what someone else pays for a card.

I agree

And it helps me to forget how much I came off my asking price haha

Maybe not, but it does not seem to me such an invasion of privacy to know what was asked for the card, it being left uncertain whether it sold for that price. And if someone is direct enough to simply post "I'll take it" at a listed price rather than pm or otherwise handle it more discreetly, then it seems to me they're not all that concerned about confidentiality.

I too like to know what was asked,especially with items I do not widely follow. I recognize it may not have actually sold at that price, but I can be pretty sure it did not sell for more.

I only delete the asking price if requested to do so by the buyer (which has never happened). I do not believe any implied courtesy, custom or presumption requires otherwise. My two cents.

really not a secret....people know how much you paid for your house...but you worry about what a card costs for 400 dollar.....theres is VCP and ebay out there.

people like to quote past prices...I just don't see how knowing what the asking price is such an invasion of privacy...it helps everyone.....

if people care about sales history when negotiating a card it would make sense......though some sellers like to quote sale history but it doesn't matter..

they can quote one auction from 2 months ago for 1000..but if I show them 4 more for 700 in the past month and they wont care...they still want 1000...so maybe all of it doesn't matter

Example
 

How anyone sells their cards is only their business.

Not a prewar or baseball item but another point to make is this: 1985 Topps FB racks got super hot last month for some reason. I had a box posted for sale that sat forever with no interest. When I sold the box, it was offline for double the price. I didn't mark the $xxx.xx to $old and got flooded with messages from an old post for something I no longer had.

True in many respects, but in using the b/s/t forum of this website I believe you consent to its terms of use. At this point those have not been defined as relates to this issue and perhaps they never will be, but to the extent the members wish to have their opinions known, here you have it.

I remove the sale price because when I started here on net54 I noticed that most of the the people did that. Why stop now...

I never understood this either. I always just note that an item is sold and that's it. It's hard to price some of this stuff, and if I just sold something for a concrete amount, why not give that info to people?

+1

This sums up my opinion better than I did.

right thats what the men said in the U.S. before women's suffrage...why give woman the right to vote? Why stop now? Never change...yeah that gets us far in life...... why stop letting umpires have the final say on plays and use instant replay? Yeah change NEVER happens...

I remove the price because I want people to know it's not available. If I just write sold and leave the price, someone will ignore wherever I put sold. It happened to me a bunch of times, so I started taking the price out. Hasn't happened since.

I delete asking/sale price because it's my prerogative to do so. I've also been asked by buyers to delete the price, which is a non-issue because I delete them anyway.

Yeah. That makes sense. Comparing how some one choses to sell their items to being anti-women. Why stop there? Why not compare us to Germany? Or are we more like the people that just stood around and did nothing during the civil rights movement? No, wait... We are Tzarist and we are oppressing the people with our tactics.

I have sold cards here on the bst in the past at apparently prices that were too low. I did my research...thought about what I paid and what they were worth and set my prices.

Dealing with many members scolding me for selling too low caused me to start deleting my sold item prices. It's nobody's business what I choose to sell my cards for...so there!!!!

I can certainly understand both sides, however I wish the prices were not deleted and stayed visible.

People can do what they want...the point is we are making is its not bad to post the selling prices or against any privacy...its good for the hobby as whole.....at least better for the hobby then not posting them..transparency is never a bad thing..

again anyone can do what they want...but we are just making some suggestions....some posters didnt realize you could put a line through the sale price if its sold...they orignally were worried that buyers would still think the card was for sale if they didnt delete it...so that problem solved.....it just the asking price...,..i actually surprised that there is support..when i first brought it up all the posts were negative against the point.

For some variety: another example.

This happens on eBay quite frequently.

You sell item for $xx.xx. Person who is not purchaser sends you message that they will pay more for the item than the winner, if you cancel the transaction. That is some of the most horse**** behavior I have ever witnessed. It has happened to me and I know from reading that it has happened to some of yall. These tactics have been tried on me by members of many forums including this one. There is no malice or spite in the reason that I delete my prices. I do so for the buyers sake and mine.


Just another reason I delete the price on the BST here.

Easy to wait for card to be shipped then post asking price...so cant back out of the deal for more money..problem solved..

Maybe the difference is between collector and flipper.

A big thanks to all who leave the selling prices after the sale has been completed.

I have no problem if the buyer wants to post the price in the replies and broadcast what s/he paid.

That has happened exactly zero times.

Buyers dont care what a seller paid for a card....i never understood in a negotiation when a seller says how much they paid as a reason why they need more on a card...people pay what they feel it is worth....markets go up and down..

People can see cards on VCP as well...so buyers should assume that all cards bougth in private forum were sold for less than VCP average...otherwise the seller would use the old 'i would lose money on the card if dont get my price'.....

I've bought at least 50 items on the B/S/T and never once asked the seller to delete the sale price. I pay what I am comfortable paying and move on.

So I'm guessing that when you go to a show that you walk up to a dealer and ask them what they have sold and how much they got for it?

OT: but who am I kidding. I'm the fool for trying to argue with someone that thinks hitting for the cycle is no big deal. How far removed from the actual enjoyment of the sport and the history of the players do you have to be?

Also a part of me feels that you like to stir stuff up for no other reason than you can. I'm sorry if that feels like a personal attack.

Matthew Charlton

Sounds like another "Who should leave feedback first" debate (see other thread). I bet some buyers and sellers would prefer the sales price to not be public, and would say the sale is between the buyer and seller not a public service . In fact I'm certain many buyers would ask their buy price be kept between them and the seller, and complain if a seller posted the sales price, saying it's no one else's business what they pay. A lot of people consider it private information, or would prefer it be private, what they pay for things-- and a seller is normally going to defer to the customer on such matters.

In short, whatever method (leave it, post it, delete it), someone's going not going to like it. You can't please everyone. Some people like that you can look easily look up house prices easily on Zillow, while many home owners complain that any Tom, Dick or Harry can look up the value of their home.

One last thing. Actually a couple.

Why do you assume that all sales in a private forum are under VCP? Why is VCP the holy grail of "pricing"?

It seems to be a fairly easy system to manipulate.

EX: someone has been hoarding Gem mint 196x Topps Johnny Cupo'coffee. They then conspire to inflate the price of said card through false sales on EBay and AH's.
Doesn't VCP track these sales and this increase the price of the card? All of a sudden Mr. Cupo'coffee's card goes from $X to $X^2.

We not asking for them to put the sales price...we are asking them to put their 'asking price' at the time the card was sold so its already public.....I already made the point about houses........its public about when you are making the most important purchase in your lifetime representing the biggest purchase...that's public..but buy a 200 dollar card...secret secret even just for the asking price...


to the OP, I don't ask what a dealer bought the cards for ever.....they seem to always offer up that information when they are asking more than VCP, ebay past sales etc...if they could point to net54 asking prices being higher than all of that, now that would be different!!!

in the end I don't care what the sellers bought the card for....but they seem to want to tell me that.(they may not say exact amount, they say 'I will already lose money on this card, 'I trying to break even")..I cant be the only one in that situation..

laxcat: I am presenting items for discussion...a lot of people seem to agree with me on issues..so its not like I am the only one....there may be people now that leave the asking price now...how is that a bad thing especially if another poster on this forum likes that....'if I can help just one poster'...

Regarding the VCP argument (just look prices in VCP). Remember, VCP only deals with graded cards. Most cards on B/S/T are raw.

I agree with you about raw cards...I don't follow the VCP as a bible either..


but I have seen sellers that quote a recent sale that's 40% higher than the past 4 cards at the bible..and you cant argue that sellers use VCP as a method of negotiation...


also buyers use VCP...when I sold the two PSA 4 Green cobbs the past few months (I think I left off the asking price as well)..I had buyers quote SMR...then they would say I was asking waaay more than VCP...when I tried to talk about past private sales..they would claim ignorance...even when one of the private sales was mine on this forum.........so yeah I don't go by VCP as end all be all...but the point on VCP is it does show some sale prices... VCP doesn't delete the price every card allegedly sold for is what im getting at...

Right I agree.. you can have your friend 'buy a card' from you as well...lots of ways to fake sale prices..


another way to fake inflate sale prices is to not be transparent....I can say I bought the card from a net54 member for $5000....but when you check the original listing the asking price was $4000......but if its deleted nobody would know...assuming the seller cant be reached by email or not respond..

if you are so worried about price manipulation than I think you would be in favor of transparency and seeing the asking prices...because how dare we even consider putting the sale price like ebay does on auctions...

As a longtime collector/seller, my habit was never to reveal what I paid for something and my preference for no one to know what I paid, and it's always been my assumption most many collectors have similar sentiments. If you asked me yesterday, I would have assumed many collectors would consider it poor manners or being a show off to leave sales prices posted forever on a public forum.

What information is gleaned from knowing a seller's asking price in a BST thread? That's akin to knowing an ebay seller's buy it now price when they allow for, and eventually accept a "best offer". Seems like meaningless information to me, unless it is somehow confirmed that a buyer paid that amount for the card (which would require disclosure by the buyer or seller after the fact) it doesn't help establish market value in any way, shape, or form.

no one would know what you paid...unlike every other Auction house on the planet.....they would know the 'asking price' though that was already made public......

am I missing something here? why all these arguments about what the card sold for versus asking price?

Cheese and crackers.

I still fail to see how it is any of your business what someone paid for something. Do you walk up to people that you meet and ask them how much they make? How much the car they drive cost?

I'm curious, in your $5000 to $4000 example, is the theoretical card one for a collection or to be resold? If it is for your collection and you want it then buy it. If it is to be flipped then I have this to ask.

Are you the only person that is allowed to make money off of a card they bought?

In response to your "helping one poster" comment: so am I.

more information is gleamed than knowing absolutely zero.......we would at least know the Max amount that could of been paid at that time...plus if its not a big deal than why delete it....might as well leave it up...sometimes there are price reductions as well...so having the lowest asking price still there would give some information....what the information means and what to do with it who knows....its just better than zero...


people can do what they want..i just don't see how is crazy on leaving the asking price more if people choose to do that...its not betraying any confidence..

did you read the posts? I never ask that the person paid for it....they tell me as a way to negotiate....it doesn't matter what you do with the card...

also we are talking about asking price..not what the card sold for (though ebay tells everyone)

it not important about why a card is bought...I don't care what a person does with the card......I also told you I don't care what sellers paid for the card...

..I like to pay market price..thats what I like to pay and that's the purpose of me buying cards.. ..I buy many cards from dealers on net54

.its good that you like to help posters..so do I...so we are both helping the world...congrats..


People who now say 'but why put what the card sold for? the buyers don't like that' 'do you ask dealers how much you pay for their cards before negotiating'

I think everyone will know my responses now...

Agreed. I truly dislike that people can see what I have purchased and paid for it on eBay.
Tacky is the word that comes to mind. I couldn't find the right word earlier.

So if I offer a card on BST for sale for $100 and someone offers me $80 which I agree to sell it for, how does it help the card collecting community to know that the card is sold $100? Wouldn't that in fact be misleading information, unless I came back and edited the price to what it actually sold for? My point is the asking price provides no relevant information unless it the actual realized price, and that information IMO is no one's business.

Nope...I think people know the difference between Asking price and what a price sold for....they could be the same..but could be not.......we would know the max paid for it was $100 though...card prices go up and down from that point on but we will know the asking price on that date ...

Of course they know the difference, but it doesn't change the fact that the asking price is irrelevant and potentially misleading after the fact. Please explain how knowing the seller's asking price helps the collecting community in any meaningful way if you don't know what the card actually sells for?

well in your example we know the card didn't sell for more than $100...that's gives more information than zero....if its not a big deal about the asking price...then why not leave it?

If I see a card listed for $300..and there are 4 price reductions to $200...and now $200 is the asking price...and it sold last week.....I know I wouldn't value that card at $300 when asking price was $200 after many reductions....how is that info bad for me to know...maybe sold for less than $200 as well..

I do know if the asking price is deleted..i don't think that helps the community..... if I am a new member and there is no past sales history ..and the guy that bought the $200 card says he needs $400 for it cause he just paid that last week on net54...do you think that's good for the community?

plus if you say 'of course they know the difference' between asking and sell price..than its not potentially misleading after the fact..because they KNOW the difference..

Because it's useless information and potentially extremely misleading!

price-shaming, it's what we do here petey! point finger and laugh at your lack of salesmanship for not 5x the asking price of what you want it to sell for then incrementally bumping it down 2.5% every day...

i do remember that one post where your card sold within 30sec and the board had a mini-meltdown about it :)

We know the semantic difference, but there's no way of knowing what the actual sale price is on a private sale unless buyer or seller make it public. So in my example one could assume the card sold for any amount up to $100, when in reality the card sold for 80% of the asking price. Therefor the asking price is useless and misleading, particularly to a newcomer.

damn straight Quan!!!

to me...as a vintage collector for 35 years or so...I don't like how pricing in the hobby...as well as knowledge...seems to have become something that can be looked up and a fairly decisive conclusion made quickly and easily.

i certainly realize that the grading companies...and the registries...and the VCP's of the world...the ebay's...the message boards...have all contributed to this framework.

i suppose it's just the evolution of a given area of knowledge/collecting when technology is thrown into the mix?

most of us seem to agree...that we pay what we are willing to pay for an item. A lot of the time I don't look up past pricing for a card...because if I want it...and am willing to pay the asking price...I will buy it...and be happy!

I'm apparently a barely middle aged dinosaur! P-rex...sorry ted!

This may be over simplifying things but...This is a board of collectors. There are many reasons a card sells for what it does. Pricing on the BST is not a straight forward eBay minus fees. I am less worried about the prices remaining visible than the actual transaction remaining in the post. I am looking for something? I like to see who sold one recently. That way I can reach out and ask "Do you have any more?" "Do you know who might?":)

I'd like to be able to see what items sell for, particularly for non-card memorabilia. I like getting a sense for what various memorabilia may be worth. However, sellers using BST here certainly have the right to do what they want on this issue and, after reading this thread, I have a better appreciation for why some sellers here opt to delete the price after a sale.

Absolutely...this makes perfect sense Mike. What doesn't make sense is pretending knowing an asking price provides anyone with any useful or relevant information. If I want to see asking prices I'll just look at buy it now listings on ebay. That's always good for a laugh or two.

Just rereading for giggles and I saw something that I missed. Do you ACTUALLY EMAIL PEOPLE AND ASK THEM WHAT THEY SOLD THEIR CARD FOR? What planet are you from?

Lol Matt!

Most of the time there is no evidence of who bought it. So the argument of protecting the buyer losses merit.

I'm on the side of leaving the asking price. In my opinion it's substantially more helpful than hurtful.

I've asked sellers what items sold for and I get a response 50% of the time.

Um, I have received multiple emails and pms from people--mostly hobby friends--who have asked me that very question. I have personally and with my own eyes seen them at various times right here on planet Earth.

asking prices usualy arent 50X more than what the card sells for.....if a guy has a card he wants $3000 for and there is no other price history out there...but i see a forum where someone is asking in the thousands. versus 100 bucks...i would gleam something from it....it can all be a scam.but so can VCP like OP said on this thread....its information...how good it is...who knows..but i not sure how its worse than knowing nothing....

See I take out the prices because I've been asked too before by buyers and tend to do it by default now, maybe they are going to flip it, I don't know. But I also don't care if they do because I got what I deemed was a fair deal. I tell people to PM me and they do and I usually give them the price I sold it but also give them a range of what I've seen others sell. It really depends on the card, not all 1's are equal just like in any grade. So I think its up to the person to do what ever they want in their own BST.

noone said people cant do what they want with the card...just giving more options and many people here agree that putting the asking price is better than nothing and does zero harm to the buyer....

I have asked what a card sold for twice when I was actively looking for a card and just didn't get to a post in time.

I can see removing the asking price if a buyer requests it. I see no harm in leaving the information up. I have purchased a few cards from the b/s/t pages of Net54, and it never crossed my mind to make such a request. If I buy a card that was listed in a public forum, it's with the expectation that the asking price is already a public record. I may send a private offer via message and can understand why a buyer or seller might want to keep that offer and final price private.

I do sell a bit on BST.

When a card sells, I remove price and put in "sold."

Why ??? Simple, the card sold. Where I see and agree/disagree :rolleyes: with all the "discussion" here, it really never crossed my mind.

I just keep it simple (maybe like my mind :rolleyes::rolleyes:).

I'm not sure why some here expect private transactions to be public knowledge. I'm hoping that those who would like the prices to remain don't feel that the access to 'free' information is a right. The only people who this should matter to, and who should have a say in the information around the transaction, would be the seller and buyer of the item.

i mark my prices as sold so i don't keep getting 50% offers on the price i list. i don't really understand all this argument about "asking price" vs "selling price" in this thread. i'm probably doing it wrong but most of the time my initial listed price is the selling price, or very close to it.

i dont really see the value of leaving *asking* prices up. there is too much noise in that variable for it to be a real meaningful input in one's decision about purchasing a card in the future. one person's asking price can be wildly higher or lower relative to another - and it further varies by card type, condition, graded or not, and other card and transaction specific characteristics.

i think the asking price becomes valuable only when we know the sold price. that way we can gauge how initial prices differ from the *true* market value. by itself, the asking price provides little information.

In my opinion, a private transaction does not take place on a public forum.

Private transactions happen all the time in public places, but it doesn't make them any less of a 'private transaction'. Buying an item at Walmart is still a private transaction.

Walmart doesn't delete their asking price from public record. The asking price was posted publicly, for the card, and to me it seems strange to remove it after a sale.

The post was not meant to be confrontational. I had seen others mention the issue in other posts. I wanted to share my opinion, and see what others thought.

At least now I know why it's done, even if I don't agree with the reasoning.

Jesse,

My apologies. Didn't mean my reply to come across that way either. But it seems like there were some here who 'expect' to have access to that information.

And while I would prefer to see sale prices remain, it's not my business if the buyer/seller don't want it to be my business.

And FWIW, the few items I've sold I've used the <strike>strike out</strike> method and marked the item sold (since it's what I prefer to see from others). But I probably would have honored a request from the buyer to delete the price as well, if so asked.

Exactly!

There are also times when a seller has more cards than can fit in a post (18 scan limit). When I have a post going (like I do now:D) where I am using the same framework over and again to sell a larger amount of cards, I will mark it sold but eventually, when I add new scans, will delete the first group entirely to keep things simple. I mean, does anybody but the seller & buyer care what a P350 common T206 sold for? or even THAT it sold?:eek:

i dont think i would ever look up price history on that type of card....for a $1000 card i would look at many places though..

No apology needed. There seemed to be stronger opinions on the subject than I anticipated so I felt I should clarify the original intent of the thread.

I wasn't trying to argue with anyone, and I'm actually pretty excited right now because I finally got my 52 Mantle in the mail yesterday. :D

Wow...congrats on the Mantle! I'm looking forward to the day when one arrives at my doorstep :cool:

As far as the original topic goes...I tend to side with leaving the sale price up for future purposes and also it allows me to gain more knowledge about the card(s) up for sale. I do, however, understand if someone wants to delete it, but let's be real, most of the cards have a relatively known price point and it's no secret....so why be so hush hush about any of it? If anything, keeping the price hidden only harms future buyers/collectors because that allows sellers to create a new price that they could easily take advantage of buyers that don't have a lot of info on certain cards. Yes, that example can be a bit extreme, but it's true. In the present, we are allowed to do what we please as far as leaving and deleting prices go.

Good discussion and let's keep enjoying this wonderful site and hobby we all share!