Ebay Offers Aren't All Bad

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by icurnmedic

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.