Buy It Now Reality Check

[auggiedoggy]

Originally Posted by Yankeefan51

Recently I looked at the E Bay Buy It Now for early 20th century cards with a particular focus on high grade E93-E98s Ramly, Cracker Jack and few more unusual type cards. Whilst I was able to identify 14 cards of interest most had a Buy It Now price of between 3 and 4 x the most recent sale from the more distinguished auction houses. What is particularly striking that the five dealers who were offering these cards have listed them for at least 18 months.

Are they hoping for a miracle or a sucker? When I called a dealer to offer
a super rare e94 in PSA 8, he offered me half the price that they were selling a 7 (non HOF) for. Wonder why they waste their time, or better still who their customers are?

No wonder the hobby is so small compared to rare coins and impressionist art.

Bruce Dorskind
America's Toughest WantList
bdorskind@dorskindgroup.com

Welcome to my world. I do feel your pain! Some of the stuff I collect is only offered by a handful of sellers. They also have high BIN prices. One recently added "Best Offer" to his auctions. One of these sellers puts his stuff on sale (20% off) now and then and that is when I pounce. I gather that the items you are looking for aren't discounted from time to time?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Extremely high BINs and unwillingness to genuinely negotiate are quite common at the more pedestrian levels of the hobby as well. One can only assume that the business model is working for the sellers.

[ullmandds]

I can't imagine finding high grade E98's is much of a challenge these days?!?!

[Leon]

When I am buying for resale I try to offer about half of what I think I can get. By the time I negotiate and come back to reality, I end up making 10%-20%, which is fine. If I am buying for my collection, I will pay over market.....

[auggiedoggy]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

I can't imagine finding high grade E98's is much of a challenge these days?!?!

The Black Swamp Find raised the bar quite a bit as far as high-end E98s are concerned. I pity the collector that is trying to actually build a high-end set. There have been two BSF commons (graded PSA 8) on eBay for a year or so now with no takers. The buyer is asking around $2K (to start) per card. If your name is Donald Trump however ...

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1910-E98-Set-...item20d3e27312

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/PSA-9-MINT-OC...item3f25f1cc41

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1910-E98-Set-...item27d3b8f942