PWCC and Probstein "best offer" listings questions
 

Anyone ever make offers with either of these guys?

What % of a offer off their listed price would you feel comfortable with?

Do they respond fairly quickly or take the full 2 days?

In the "notes" section, do you say why you are making that offer?


I've used the best offer on other sellers to various degrees of success, but just wonder how the big boys play.

well i have no direct knowledge but i doubt they care what you put in the 'notes' section..

I could be wrong, but in nearly every case they are auctioning consigned merchandise. Therefore, I would assume that they would need to put that offer in front of the consigneor. And with so many auctions, I doubt that they have the time for that. The consignor has already taken a risk by allowing it to open at 99 cents (cough - say what you want about hidden reserves). But they are banking on the eyeballs that these two dealers get to maximize the price over the fee. Let me know if I am wrong and I will start offering but I just don’t see it happening very often if at all.

I will sometimes explain why I am making that particular offer. It usually helps.

Something like, last 3 sales were $505, $515 and $525. So my offer is $550.

But yeah, I can't believe Probstein or PWCC cares. :o

I have made best offers to Probstein and received a response in 24 hours. I didn’t write anything in the notes except “thanks for considering”. He came back with a reasonable counter, which was something like 15% off the original BIN.


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I dont think they need you to 'educate' them.

Ditto this. I've BO'd to Probstein before, offering a tad higher than previous sale but below the ask (a scarcer-volume type item that had no public sale recorded in about 2 years, which is why I was somewhat impatient to wait for something to come around to live auction). They answered back in about a day (definitely not the same hour) b/c for sure they work plenty of volume, with a counter and we settled also about 15% under their Ask and if I recall about 15% above the prior recorded sale per VCP.

I also concur with both opposing replies regarding the comment section, that it doesn't hurt to give a reminder about sales, so they know you know your stuff, but also agree it isn't necessary, since from just these two samples we can begin forming a theory that they may set the Ask at a consistent premium to prior sales, and so can 'do the math' on any offer without troubling themselves to look it up again, no matter how much volume they handle. I surmise that is by design.

(no personal experience with PWCC BINs, and also can't recall seeing one, but maybe they don't commonly operate that way in my niche.)

I've had success with a couple of offers to Probstein. No comments just offered a price maybe 15-20 percent below his list.

In the past year or so Probstein has listed quite a few cards with BIN or BO with the BIN at 2 to 4 times VCP average. They have a couple cards that I want. One card that they had listed for a little over $900 OBO. The VCP and last sale was $335. I offered $400 and was turned down. They recently dropped the BIN to a little over $800
James

+ I agree with this. Did this at the national with several successful purchases; all over VCP, but just not the 3x that they wanted. Sellers that want to do business appreciate an educated buyer. Sellers that are looking for suckers don't.

How would a person with even a single brain cell in their head begin to make an offer on this one???...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-Topps-...nIn:rk:14:pf:0

I've submitted best offers to PWCC before, and they will come down some (I think the latest was like $10 on a $250 card) but not dramatically. So it wasn't worth haggling with them on a card that I felt was overpriced by at least $75 to start with. 707 up in PA is the same way. They'll budge a tiny bit, but if you start trying to go back and forth with them they will just decline the offer.

I do love the "Accepts Offers" feature however for some sellers that aren't nationally known dealers. It can be surprising how quickly someone wants to move something once the process starts. If memory serves I got a '67 high # Jim Bunning that started well over $100 down to like $60 in a matter of about an hour going back and forth with a seller.

Not sure what your issue is with this listing. Price might be a touch high, but definitely within negotiating range. Hell, it's practically half-price if you compare it to Dean's Cards PSA 8 lol.

EDIT: Offer isn't even an option, so now I REALLY don't know what you were trying to say.

Does Dean's actually sell anything at the listed prices on their site? Ridiculous would be putting it mildly. I've seen some mid-grade vintage stars listed on that site for 2, 3 times what I paid for my copy, and in many cases my copy is a PSA graded example that was bought for a reasonable BIN on eBay without any type of fight due to demand...

I can understand pricing "on the high side" if you are lazy to the extent you just dial up the most convenient website and pay a la carte menu rates, but Dean's blows even that notion out of the water.

Actually I was just researching some non-sport stuff and found a couple listings (not many) of his that weren't certifiably insane.

PWCC and Probstein "best offer" listings questions
 

1967 Topps high number 600, Brooks Robinson PSA 6: Dean’s cards list price after his “10% discount“… $409.

I bought the same card off eBay, graded SGC 5.5 and mine is centered better than his: $125.

This is not to say that Dean doesn’t have some material on his site reasonably priced, I don’t know… But the example above is just the kind of thing I always seem to notice.


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My "issue" with it (and it was sorta tongue in cheek) was their $20,000 (yes, 20 frickin' grand!!) asking price. They obviously changed the listing, and eliminated the "make an offer" option, since I posted that a week ago.

If the price is so absurd to begin with, I just pass it up. With most everyone getting free listings, I honestly think many use eBay just to display their cards. I have used vcp and recent prices in some offers and some of the responses have been interesting. Had one yesterday where the guy came back with a message that he doesnt use VCP and goes by SMR. He then pointed out how VCP lacked any information on so many of his rare cards and how SMR had prices for all. Honestly, I looked up some of his cards and was shocked at the SMR price. I always thought it was lower.....

offer
 

as a wise old man once said to me
"MAKE THEM AN OFFER THEY CANNOT REFUSE"
or maybe I heard it in a movie

I had my most successful BIN with Probstein!!!

He had a 1915 Cracker Jack #103 of Joe Jackson with a $15,000 or best offer, which I thought in itself was priced right at $15k but with the best offer option I thought I’d give it a go.

I offered $10,500k to begin with he responded with $12k in less than an hour. I responded with $10,750 immediately figuring if he didn’t except I could still get it at $12k.

To my great surprise he responded $11k “lowest price” - I couldn’t hit the accept offer quick enough. I was running around my office like I won the lottery or something.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...4befc6e6e5.jpg

um, wow, awesome purchase.