[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by GeorgeBailey2

I have read the story referenced several times and am confused by these statements.

The seller had listed the Ruth for $20k, and when messaged privately by Ziegler, said he wouldn't accept less than $12k.

I will not consider anything less than $12,000. We can discuss further if you are still interested. Thanks

Ziegler clearly wasn't going to offer anywhere close to the seller's asking price of $12k. He stated that the market was half of his $12k bottom line, so there was a massive gap between what the seller was willing to accept, and the buyer was willing to pay. There was no further reason for him to contact the seller. None. But he did, anyway.

No one will ever pay you $12k for a Ruth cut auto - you can get his auto on a baseball for way less than that and it's not like his autos are rare. Popular? Sure, but not rare. A search on eBay will find you 20 of them at any time. Thanks for finally writing me back, and enjoy the card. If you lower your price, I'd be interested, but not at almost double the market value.

Ziegler may be right; it's possible, likely, even, that nobody would ever offer him $12,000 for the card. But, the seller is clearly firm on his price, and is willing to wait and see what offers he gets. There are literally thousands of cards that sit on EBay, never selling, because the sellers are firm on their prices. This is nothing new. The two men weren't going to do business, so what was Ziegler hoping to accomplish with his continued correspondence? He's trying to badger the seller into acquiescing, into lowering his asking price.

The seller then responded.

Thanks. I have done my research, but I do appreciate your input.

At that point, there was no need for either side to message each other. Absolutely none. Ziegler should have let it go. But instead, he came back like a condescending ass.

Yeah, you must've looked at cards sold in 2005 when everyone had lots of money and no fear of losing their job.

You're right, Brad. I'm sure that, when researching sales of Babe Ruth cut auto baseball cards with authenticated game used memorabilia, he was looking at sales from nearly a decade earlier, in 2005.

Still, the buyer took the high road (though he really shouldn't have responded at all). He's still responding cordially.

The great thing about America is that I can choose to sell for what I want, and you can choose to buy for what you want. If you don’t agree with the price of my card, then you can go buy one of the auto balls or cards that you suggested I look at. I have already gotten two offers greater than $9k so I am not at worried about selling the card. I hope you find what you are looking for. Thanks

Whether or not he'd truly received offers of $9k is irrelevant. Everything else he said is true. He can put the ball up for whatever he wants, as the owner. And anybody else can offer what they want to buy it. Ziegler did. Only, when his offer was shot down, instead of taking it like an adult, he persisted further, calling the seller's research, and then, his logic, into question. Now, he's acting like a petulant child. How dare somebody not kowtow to him. He already has thirteen Ruth autos, and, by God, he's going to get this one, too, by wearing the seller down. It's ridiculous, and embarrassing.