Posted By:
E, DanielI mean, if it's insulting (and I get a little frustrated too, but only because my hopes of achieving the price I've set is getting dented by the lowball offer...maybe it really isn't worth the price I'm expecting..) to make low offers, shouldn't it be similarly insulting for sellers to list cards at twice their going rate?? Do I get to email those sellers and let them know that they are insulting mine and the hobby's intelligence with their preposterous price?
Happens all the time, but generally the opinion of such activity is 'more power to them, the card is worth what someone is willing to pay'.
The converse should also be true. If the card gets offers ridiculously lower than your price, either you paid too much yourself, the card market for that particular card has shifted and it doesn't warrant the same price (might be a real thin market for that card/condition), or you just have to be patient and wait for the collector of that particular card to come sniffing.
When trawling ebay for cards I have set my heart on I often end up at ebay stores who have scooped up some of the better/rarer cards at market price - and have them listed at about 1 1/2 to 2 times the price. If they sell they sell, if not they wait for the market to move up to that new price and then either sell or move the number up again to hopefully set an even better result for themselves.
Or, the listing suggests to make an offer. Which I do. I've purchased a couple really nice cards where my offer was hundreds of dollars less than than advertised, possibly 10-20% over the 'deal' most are looking to make on ebay, and at least 20-40% less than they've listed for.
And the seller was happy to move the card if it has been sitting too long in inventory - say for more than 6 months, and I was happy to pay over market for a card that might attract too much attention and activity in an open ebay auction. Though I still might have been accused of making a lowball offer.
Low ball offers? I'm just happy to see my card is getting attention and is one step closer to being sold so I can buy something else. Why complain about that?
Daniel
Edited for spelling