why do sellers change asking price to sold after a sale?
 

this has probably been answered before, and maybe it's a dumb question, but why do sellers change the sale price to sold on their items once the deal is done?

as a research nerd, i always like to have as much info as possible. so that sale price would be helpful.

thanks in advance for your responses :)

We have discussed this countless times, and I will never understand it, IMO it's obnoxious.

is there a benefit to doing that as a seller? aside from just not wanting others to know what the sale price was?

What's the usual rationale we hear, protecting privacy or something?

When I sell a card for the asking price, I always happily display this information, to help promote the idea that people should stop trying to get a discount from my listed prices.

When I sell at a discount to asking, I usually do not display that information because I don't want people to get the idea that they can get a discount from my asking prices.

It's as simple as that.

About as well said as can be. Irritating to not leave the asking price, not necessarily the sell price. And makes no logical sense to me.

I have always been tempted to do so to hide the fact that I may have sold something too cheaply.

Brian - the bashful seller that still hasn't changed a sold price to 'Sold' or just a $ sign

Right, if I took something off I wouldn't go out of my way to advertise it either, but neither would I eliminate all pricing information and substitute $SOLD.

It’s generally understood that in markets like this the transaction information is property of the buyer and therefore up to him to disclose terms.

Because they can (for whatever reasons they choose).

1) the listed price is often not what it actually sold at. Often it traded. Often I took the OBO option.

2) the sales data for 99% of cards sold here on the BST is easily found by clicking eBay’s sold results to get a much larger data set. Unique stuff isn’t sold here all that often. I just don’t see any meaningful purpose.

3) because some people don’t really read and will continue to send emails even after I’ve said it’s sold or traded or gone, but if “$SOLD” is written over the price they can’t miss it because that’s the part people read.

Agreed. Leave the asking price shown and indicate "No longer available".

I think most sellers dont actually know why they do it. They just follow what theyve seen and it becomes a chain reaction for most sellers to follow suit.

i think i've sold maybe 3 cards since joining the site, and this is why i did it. lack of knowledge, lack of experience, etc.

There is a dollar starting bid auction section. Get over there and sell something.:D

A related question: why do sellers bump their threads only to comment "SOLD" when you can simply edit the original post? :confused:

That is the one that makes me go WTF and makes no sense to do.

:D

the lack of a clue how to post pictures really hurts my chances

Whenever you want to learn email me and I will walk you through it.:)

I'm glad you finally said WTF :D

I've done it a few times, and other times haven't. If it's a knocked down price, you may get a bunch of emails like "Had I known you were going down to $425 on that card. . . . " Those are annoying too.

My attitude is a negotiation is a private matter unless both sides want to disclose it.

I'm also sure many people on the board have done transactions before where the details of which weren't publiclly disclosed. Don't see how this is offensive to anyone. Private negotiations remain private until the parties decide otherwise.

BTW, why would you have that much interest in the sale price of a card you had no interest buying in the first place?

But I imagine who marked $SOLD be upset if a buyer then posted the price?

No, as seller I wouldn't care if buyer disclosed it. Not at all.

The offer price, and any reductions made on the forum, were already "disclosed." This has nothing to do with keeping a private sale private. Nobody else on the board even knows who bought the damn card. The question is, having already posted the price, why go out of your way to delete it?

Agree!!

Not in the slightest. They can post screencaps of our email conversations about it if they want. I don’t get why anyone would care in the slightest; how many cards are sold on the BST for which there is no pricing information available and people who didn’t buy it really have an interest in knowing? A handful?

+1

Then why are you deleting it?

I just assume that it's people not wanting the IRS to see what transactions they should now be taxed on.

I will chime in here as this is something I do.. here is my rationale:

At first, I had no idea how to sell a card, so I just did it because everyone else does.

now I continue for the following reasons.
1) it makes it clear the card is sold. I have left prices up (and note sold in the message) and continue to get messages on cards.

2) It protects the buyer from others knowing who bought it. If someone sends a "PM sent" message and the card is sold shortly thereafter, it can be known who bought the card and at what price.

3) Sometimes I may take a lower price and do not want that to be the base case assumption for other cards in the listing

There are definitely ways to accomplish all of these and also leave the sale price, but I just find this easier and preferable for me. I am not sure why this would annoy anyone.

I am annoyed by the unwritten rule that no one can comment on on a seller's cards/prices. IMO there is a nefarious/dishonest intent behind this, but I abide by it.

I covered this topic just a bit in my 'Collectorisms' thread... :)

25. The War of the Discloses
The eternal, ongoing debate of whether or not the price of a card sold in the B/S/T section should be kept in the thread for posterity’s sake, or removed by the seller.

519. Fool’s Sold
Adding a new post to your own thread (that everyone is now forced to read) to declare that the card has been sold, instead of simply editing the title to reflect this fact.

915. Cost Suppressant (refer to #25)
The deliberate removal of the asking price of a card in a thread after it has been sold.

See also: Sticker Stifler - a seller who chooses to edit out the price of his card to make it now read something to the effect of “$SOLD.”

See also: Dollarsense - the argument that leaving the sales price in for everyone to see is beneficial to the entire collecting community.

See also: Stetsman - someone who abides by the principal of leaving his asking price in and unchanged following a sale.

Darren, 915 is brilliant.

I always replace the price with SOLD as well as in the title, no particular reason other than that's my preference. If you're that interested and want to know what the card sold for PM me, I'll tell you, which I have done many times for members.

WTF +1 on bumping in the reply section instead of the title when the card is sold.

Ryan, what type of comments would you want to make on B/S/T listings?

I would say thank you...but the pessimistic implication would be that the other two just plain suck. :cool:

Hahaha. Not at all, just the one stood out. :)

I don't think the IRS has the resources to be looking for online sales and to try to connect them to someone without a social security number being available with the transaction, unless Leon is going to start sending in 1099s for any card that sells for over $600.

Perhaps in some cases, the seller doesn't want to disclose the sale price because there are those the saw the "offer to sale" price and will be able to gauge how much a seller will negotiate the next time something is offered for sale.

I'm not afraid to send an offer to a seller. Worst case is that they say no or there's further negotiation. What's poor form is when people just completely low ball the seller, or (and I know I'm going to get an earful about this next comment) is when someone has a really nice sale price and someone buys it to flip it quick to make a few bucks. In my opinion, if someone has a nice price on it, let it go to another board member that can appreciate the card and hold on to it because they truly want it as part of their collection - ok, bring it on, let's hear the reasoning about capitalism and "if one person didn't do it, then someone else would do it".

Because I don't know if the buyer is cool with me disclosing it. I assume the ball is in his court.

I have sold countless cards on here to see them reappear back on here for sale. One buyer on here has resold easily 90% of the cards he has bought from me on here. Sometimes they get relisted on here fairly quickly and sometimes he holds them before reselling them on here.

The 2 biggest cards I bought on this forum was resold to 2 different members and then later put back up for sale on here again. As members we pass around a lot of cards amongst ourselves.:D:D

I could have sworn this was a written rule somewhere…

Buy more cards
 

As I said years ago if you want to know more prices, buy more cards...Jerry

Agree that it is a super douchy move. If one has the price up to begin with, just leave it and write SOLD next to it. Nobody needs to know if they discounted 50% or not.

Yes- This

Im curious what the dishonest intent is here?

I hate when sellers do that. I sell, inevitably it sells for a different number than my list price, and I don’t go out of my way to revise the number. But I don’t delete the original list.

It was discussed here (the word "discussed" being used very loosely)...
https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...t=interference

I think "super douchy" is a bit strong here. Seller can do whatever he wants.

I realize that it is a totally different marketplace but long ago AH's would not show realized prices after their auctions closed. Now we get all sold card prices days following the close of the auction. Still amazed at some of the prices fetched for 2nd and 3rd tier vintage HOF'ers. It is hard to adjust to the new price structure.

I do it for this reason alone. I've never overthought it beyond that. If I sell something on craigslist I delete the ad. Does that frustrate people too? :)

I do think it's annoying that people bump BST threads for no reason other than "nice card, glws" but whatever. Not a big deal.

Or, wow just wow. :)
Or, wish I had the money.

Buyer is going to try and flip it

thanks for all the responses, interesting to hear different viewpoints.


i'm interested in most cards since my collection spans over 100 years. i also miss a ton of sales/auctions/etc since i'm generally busy with work/family/athletics/etc. so it's data that would interest me. but whatever people choose to do with their listings, they do. was just curious why people did that SOLD thing.

Because there is no rule against it here, sellers can do what they want and it doesn’t phase me. However, I’d be most interested in having the price info remain for non-card memorabilia. It’s cool to get an idea of the value of items that don’t come up for sale as regularly as cards.

People really do like to complain about stuff that doesn’t matter.

Exactly. I have had buyers message me to ask me to delete the sale price from my listing. Assume they are going to resell it here or elsewhere and don't want others to see what they bought it for.

Ooops. Wish I had read this thread first. I just did this without really thinking it through. LOL. Live and learn. ;)

No nefarious intent behind the rule against commenting in the BST areas. It's common courtesy. Comments can totally screw up a sale. However, benign or positive comments are welcomed. It's a "Net54" thing, I guess.

And btw, it is a written rule and has been one for at least 10 yrs, if not more. No one reads the rules under the RULES icon though.... smh

Cut and pasted from our rules section (always available)


Posts offering to buy, sell, or trade items should be made in the appropriate Buy/Sell/Trade index. This includes posts for items appearing in on-line auctions such as eBay, Grand Slam Bids and auction houses etc... Buy/Sell/Trade threads in the wrong categories, or forums, will be moved or deleted. There should be no interference by 3rd parties within the Buy/Sell/Trade areas. Third parties are those not involved in a transaction. This includes, but is not limited to, posting current or historical cost information, commenting negatively on the offer or item, or anything that interferes with the listing in a negative way. Only persons involved in the transaction should post in the thread, however benign or favorable comments are generally permitted by third parties. If you don't know the difference between them, then please don't post. One exception is to expose fraudulent activity. It may always be posted in any thread, anywhere on the board, but you better have your ducks in a row and your name by your post when you report these misdeeds. “Caveat Emptor- Buyer Beware” to all members. Each member uses the board at their own risk. Net54baseball does not monitor, and is not responsible for, transactions. Our sole recourse, in a punitive manner is suspension or banishment from the board. The Uniform Commercial Code of Law of the United States applies. We will work with authority’s when/if the need arises. Please request references from your trading partners when they are not well known or you don’t know them. Whenever someone resists giving a reference, upon request, please contact the moderator as that is, many times, a red flag.

Once any transaction is completed in the Buy/Sell/Trade areas, or over with, that transaction shouldn’t be deleted. Specific pricing, or confidential information may be removed but the other information should stay. Items should be consolidated in the BST area, into one thread, when appropriate. In other words don’t list more than a few similar items in single threads, in the same BST area, at once. IF you do this, they will most likely be deleted and asked to be posted again in a consolidated fashion. You should not bump a BST thread to the top very often (every 3-4 days at most) as it is discourteous to other posters.



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I always just assumed that was an occasional part of the reason also. Even if it does seem a tad paranoid to think that way, but a program to scrub the internet for random names attached transactional data would not be a hard flagging program to create if wanted.

In the couple times I have listed items, I always just edited to strikethrough text unless someone was to specifically ask me to remove- Like so: $2000 SOLD. Seems a logical use as it's an option right there in the message functions.

Seems like a good way way to go.

Sellers obviously have the right to do what they want. That said, I personally find the practice classless.

As stated I feel the same way, and even more so now that I see the primary motivation is to deprive members of information to facilitate buyers in flipping for higher prices. Ebay and AH prices are transparent, what's so special about here that we need this cloak and dagger secrecy?

Does ebay disclose what the purchase price was if an accepted offer below the listing price. I thought they no longer did.

I don't want someone asking me if the card is still for sale. You would think that if somebody read the first post, they'll skim to the last post, but they don't. I was getting people messaging me for cards that were long sold and referencing the sale price in the first post, but nothing about how I'd posted SOLD as the final post.

There are sites where you can see the best offer price.

Sounds like a horrible inconvenience. :cool:

The question was asked.

This ^^^^^^^ We sure are a sensative bunch here :rolleyes:

If they don't now, they might soon. They are supposed to be hiring 87,000 new IRS agents.

Erasing the original price is respectful to the purchaser who may want to resell it here or elsewhere. Leaving the initial asking price may be misleading "data" since many purchased items sell for less than asking. I always erase the asking price and feel it is the right thing to do.

As a country we have turned outrage into a form of high art.

Agreed, and even if the ebay best offer sales price isn't easily transparent, the initial asking price is shown, which is all I would be looking for here. Seller doesn't have to indicate whether or what discount was made, just use a strikethrough or a "no longer available" marker next to the initial asking price (this would cover deals where the card ended up being traded rather than sold). Amend the title bar to make that clear card is gone if worried about pesky questioners scrolling inattentively--takes no more time than amending your initial post.

I am often speaking from my own high horse but I think saying this act is “classless” is a new lever of high horseness that boggles my mind.

Also as I just learned by my misspelling edit….you can actually see what the original post was.

So changing a price to sold doesn’t actually hide anything if you’re a member of this forum.

you can see what other people's original post was before editing? i assumed that only you yourself can see that.

No, you can't. You are right and nofast is wrong. That's the whole point of being able to edit. The only way you could see what was there before is if someone quoted the original.

Hey, point of order. You quoted the wrong guy. NotFast is the one making the erroneous claim, HockeyHockey was just reacting and asking about said claim. :)


ETA: smiley face.

I thought that was clear but I will clarify.

Oh may bad. I guess it is specific to your own edit. I know on Facebook you can see whatever anyone changes.

Go to your local car dealer and tell him you want all the details of transactions with your neighbors. Would be a humorous discussion.