Posted By:
barrysloateHi Leon- here's where we do disagree.
The people who look at your website are fairly sophisticated collectors. Some may be more so than others, but they have the general idea of the market. And if you want to price some of your material aggressively, then I do agree a buyer has the option to play or pass.
But when a rare book dealer prices a Spalding book at $2800, his target audience is the collector who has absolutely no idea what the book is worth, and is trusting the reputation and expertise of the seller. If 100 advanced baseball book collectors saw it at $2800, not a single one would pick up the phone to inquire about it. But for a wealthy collector who is clueless, that might sound like a reasonable price for a 100 year old book.
When your business model is based on taking advantage of people with a lot of money who don't have the time or interest to check and see what something typically sells for, I think there is a major ethical question.
Do you think if a share of stock XYZ trades for $20, Bill Gates would have no trouble paying $150 a share because after all, he has the money and he is a busy man?