Ebay Offers Aren't All Bad
 

So I was checking ebay out as I do so often, a few days ago. I saw a "card" I wanted. The guy had $400 on it. I knew that was way too much for that card. I offered $125 and told him I knew the series and that is a fair price. He accepted. Huge asking prices don't always mean a huge sales price. It never hurts to make an offer.
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Agreed Leon. I have landed some really nice stuff just by talking and offering prices to people. Once in a while you talk to people who are reasonable about things. LOL. Nice grab.

Had the same experience with a scarce non-sports set on ebay, seller admitted he did not know the value and had a really high buy it now. I sent him a link to the same issue in set form that traded last year and an offer just over that ending price, he thanked me for the info and accepted my offer.

Yes only thing they can say is no

VCP is very close to rolling out a new feature that will greatly help you in making offers. So when ready I hope Leon will let me post the announcement here first for all of you to use.

We are really excited about this one and feel it will be a great new tool in our arsenal.

Well, if you offer anyone 30% on their stuff, then 99.99% of the time it ain't gonna' work! But yeah, nice story ...

Lucky me, I was the 1 in 1000.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/354867532365

1 item
$125.00
Shipping
$3.00
Tax*
$10.56
Order total
$138.56

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I don’t understand why sellers willing to take fair market prices list their product 2-3x its value. I offer occasionally and purchase,but I feel like it drives many if not most buyers away.
$.02

I sell stuff on eBay as a reseller and to me, I don’t follow the concept of going by comps and eBay sold values. These are collectibles and what someone else paid for something yesterday and what someone else was willing to accept for it yesterday really has no bearing on me today, in my mind.

With any collectible item, the buyer and seller at that moment for that particular item have to determine what the value is. Hopefully they can come to an agreement on a number. There are many factors that come in to play for sellers to determine what they’re willing to accept.

For example, I recently picked up a set of four glasses that I paid a total of $4 for. I listed them for $24.95, and I received three offers; $12, $18 and $20. That’s quite a variance for a $24.95 ask. Knowing what my out-of-pocket costs were I obviously took the $20 offer and was happy for that. I got 5X my cost and turned down a 3X offer.

I feel like you can’t compare what someone else did yesterday to your item today and what your investment may be or how you feel about it. Sometimes I get over market value for things, and sometimes I sell them for less than market value because of what I have invested in it or what I feel comfortable letting it go for.

I used to be one of those people that asked the “what’s it worth?” comment on stuff until I realized that the buyer and seller determined value for that exact item at that exact moment. What someone else paid for it yesterday or sold it for yesterday has zero relevance to me.

It's the old "Rick from Pawn Stars" concept:

"I'll just throw it on ebay at some ridiculously high price, it will sit there for months, and maybe someone will overpay for it."

Some of these sellers post stuff on ebay with zero intention of selling it. I call them the "Instagram Sellers." They use ebay like Pinterest or IG to just show off their stuff. It can get annoying indeed.

If it’s an item that comes to market often, and is abundantly available, then what it sells for yesterday is a pretty good indication of what it should sell for today. If I’m doing the buying, it’s certainly going to be an important consideration for me. If you prefer to charge more, then bully for you. I’ll just go to the seller next door who will let it go for the going price.

Now if you have something rare and unusual, then absolutely. There is no real market price in most of those situations, and the seller and buyer will get to determine that market price together.

NO WAY this happens on this site ... RIGHT??:)

Precisely. This is what it all comes down to. Got an 89 Upper Deck Griffey PSA 10 you're trying to sell? Or an 86 Fleer Michael Jordan PSA 8? We don't really have to guess what the next one will sell for. Just look up what the other 30 copies that sold earlier this week did.

But if you have something unique or extremely difficult to find then you have leverage to negotiate with and you can often give the middle finger to "comps". I have a dead centered 52 Topps Jackie Robinson PSA 4 and people are constantly trying to buy it and telling me that it's "only worth ~$15k" or so. Then they point to these trash copies in the same grade with 80/20 centering, diagonal cuts, print defects, creases, etc. I just laugh and tell them they should go buy those cards then. Good luck finding another dead centered mid grade 52 Topps Jackie. There might be one more out there somewhere. Maybe. If so, you better cross your fingers that it surfaces before the year 2035 because you're not getting mine lol.

I list a lot of cards on ebay that I have no intention of selling. There are multiple good reasons to do it.

It’s a nice way to highlight what I have available for trade.

No, it’s a pretty good indication of what that exact item was valued by the buyer and seller who agreed on that price yesterday. What I value my item at and what a buyer may value it at could be completely different and shouldn’t be compared to what someone else valued an item at yesterday.

Let’s say that 5 of the same card, all graded 9’s sold for $10 to $20 last week. I have the same card, but it was a gift from my loving grandfather but now I’ve decided to sell it. While that card’s average sale may be $10 to $20 in 5 previous sales, it may take a higher offer for me to let go of the treasured card. Likewise, a buyer may look at my graded 9 and say to himself “wow, this 9 looks better than the other 5 graded 9’s and has nicer eye appeal, so I’m willing to pony up $35”.

Why should my card be compared to 5 others? Shouldn’t this buyer and seller determine value of this card on its own merits and not what someone else accepted for their card yesterday?

We hear time and time again from sellers at card shows who put a price on their card and potential buyers come up and start quoting comps to them. If I put a sticker on my card with a price, a potential buyer can look at it to decide if it’s too high or not for him or if he wants to make a counter offer because we are now discussing that exact card. That exact card should not be compared to what anyone else sold their card for previously.

It's also a good way to bring people in to your store to buy your reasonably priced cards when you dangle rare high end cards in the window so-to-speak. And it's a good way to start conversations and meet interesting collectors. And yes, sometimes you will even find buyers that will knowingly pay 5x "comps" or more for something that's very special and difficult to find.

Jim, I assume you buy cards to resell or for your personal collection. Do you ignore comps when buying as well?

Daryl,

I rarely buy cards to resell. My reselling activities mainly consist of antiques, other collectibles, or just about anything I find that I can make a buck on. Yesterday for example, I bought a coffee mug and a rechargeable drill that are going to be listed for sale soon. I’ll buy a coffee mug, a woman’s coat and a kitchen mixer if I think I can flip it for a profit.

I do buy cards, pinback buttons, pennants and other stuff for my sports memorabilia collection and yes, I ignore comps. I don’t care what someone else paid for something yesterday or last week. I look at the item that I’m thinking about buying and decide if the asking price is one that I’m comfortable with. Sometimes I make a counter offer and sometimes I fully accept what the seller is asking for it because I like it that much and don’t disagree with the number they’ve come up with. That could be based on any number of factors and comps could be higher or lower. I don’t worry about the comps, though. I judge the item I’m looking at buying at the moment and the price being asked and make my decision based on that. It’s really that simple.

Cool. Respect your opinion. I just disagree. At least as a buyer and an amateur economist, I disagree. You are always welcome to ask whatever you want for your pop pop’s card, but for common stuff that is widely available, buyers are going to just walk right on by and pick it up for the going price from another one of the dozens of current sellers. You’re absolutely right that if your piece is nicer than the comps, then the odds are good that it should sell for more. But in general, that proves my point. The buyer (and seller) are likely to start their mental calculus with the last dozen sales that occurred last week, and then adjust based on the superior qualities of your piece.

Obviously if I’m the buyer, the fact that it comes out of your pop pop’s collection means nothing to me, and certainly doesn’t entice me to spend more on it.

That’s the beauty of the system! We can buy or sell what we want, for the price we want….or not. Everyone has a different buying and selling strategy and I respect yours. I just look at things differently. No one‘s right or wrong.

Because as a seller, even if you list it at a fair price, buyers are ALWAYS going to try to throw out the lowest starting price in the negotiation that they can, regardless of if the asking price is fair or not. Very rarely have I seen someone just go "yeah that's a fair price I'll click Buy it Now".