Stupid Buyers, Stupid Sellers?

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Posted By: warshawlaw

1. You don't know what motivates a seller. Sometimes a seller who knows better intentionally sets a low price based on time into the item and money into the item; he is trying for a quick flip and doesn't really care what it is "worth". Once, about 15 years ago, I watched a collection pass from Allan Rosen through the hands of several successive dealers at a big show over three days. AR paid $5500 for the collection (I watched him buy it--very entertaining, BTW, good theater) and by the end of the weekend it was broken between four dealers whose combined wholesale purchases amounted to over $7000. Obviously, the retail was considerably higher. I asked Rosen at the end why he had paid $5500 for the collection and not busted it up, since it was obviously worth more (this was the day before everyone auctioned off every damned thing). His response: I sold the lot for $6,000 and made 10% in an hour.

2. Value is relative to time. A guy who paid a dime for a card at a junk sale and sells it for $50 may not care to take the time to research the item, have it graded, etc.

3. There is a huge difference between trying to steal from someone (which is what a deceptive seller is doing) and making a bad deal for yourself. We on this board appropriately become incensed when a dealer tries to rip off the public; there simply is not the same degree of moral outrage over a seller who sets too low a price and hurts only himself.

4. Valuing cards is like valuing stock--the items are worth what the market says they are worth. Every transaction is based on the buyer's determination that the item is worth more than the sales price--how many cards do you purchase at less than your maximum bid? To suggest that a dealer should be told that he needs to up his price is akin to telling a buyer that he needs to pay his max bid.

5. When we were kids and used to trade cards, we all remember trying to get a better card for less. Hell, I once traded a Willie Mays for a Thurman Munson, which is a stupid trade in any era, but I did not blame my friend for ripping me off, I blamed myself for not knowing enough to get more (I knew Yankees and Mets, and did not care about Giants). The same mentality comes into play in the current financially turbocharged atmosphere. We are still a bunch of kids trading cards.