Is this bothering anyone else.

[SAllen2556]

As a small business owner, I was taught that you compete in one of three ways: price, quality, or service.

Some sellers offer crappy scans, poor or no descriptions, and/or poor delivery so their cards go for lower prices. They get their listings up fast and may spend less time and money shipping but because of that they make less per card. Fine.

Other sellers take the time to offer detailed descriptions, great scans, and overall excellent service. They charge more because their service is worth more.

I think quality is where things get murky in the sportscard business. A psa 5 is a psa 5 (mostly) so there just isn't much leeway in what a seller can expect to get. I think this is where some sellers frustrate their potential buyers and overestimate the value of their service.

A seller, however, can compete on ebay with quality with raw cards by accurately and consistently grading their own cards. Don't we all hate the sellers who call their cards NM only to zoom in see four rounded corners as opposed to the sellers who accurately grade their cards? If I was to sell raw cards on ebay I would intentionally, at least at first, undergrade my listings just to establish my business. I often wonder why more sellers don't take that approach.

[iwantitiwinit]

Guys I think I should clarify what I am curious about besides me personally finding it a nuisance that items are listed over and over (again it is everyone's right to list a card as many times as they like). From a practical and cost standpoint isn't it expensive to list a card several times a month with a buy it now? Would think that cost would cut into margins pretty severely.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by SAllen2556

As a small business owner, I was taught that you compete in one of three ways: price, quality, or service.

...

I was in outside, straight commission IT sales for over 20 yrs until 2 yrs ago. Your first statement above immediately made me laugh. I always ALWAYS competed on at least price. I had some of the same customers for that whole 20 years as I (think) I gave them good service.

My old adage (that I stole from somewhere) when talking about price was...

OK Mr. Customer, you can only ever, in life, get 2 out of 3 of these, so pick 2

Service, Price, Quality

And to the sales folks on the board, think about that a few minutes and it's usually true.



And back to Mike Denero for a minute. I think his prices are only a bit high and I also think he has a very good eye for nice cards. Most of his cards are nice for the grade. He used to be on the board and was a very friendly guy,.

.

[t206trader]

Originally Posted by Leon

I was in outside, straight commission IT sales for over 20 yrs until 2 yrs ago. Your first statement above immediately made me laugh. I always ALWAYS competed on at least price. I had some of the same customers for that whole 20 years as I (think) I gave them good service.

My old adage (that I stole from somewhere) when talking about price was...

OK Mr. Customer, you can only ever, in life, get 2 out of 3 of these, so pick 2..

Service, Price, Quality

And to the sales folks on the board, think about that a few minutes and it's usually true.



And back to Mike Denero for a minute. I think his prices are only a bit high and I also think he has a very good eye for nice cards. Most of his cards are nice for the grade. He used to be on the board and was a very friendly guy,.

.

You're absolutely right. Having just finished a customer service and sales class last semester this mantra was taught to us in both. Hardly anyone can provide a customer with everything they would like. Set up your business in a way where customers leave happy and they will look over your weaknesses and focus on your strengths.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by t206trader

You're absolutely right. Having just finished a customer service and sales class last semester this mantra was taught to us in both. Hardly anyone can provide a customer with everything they would like. Set up your business in a way where customers leave happy and they will look over your weaknesses and focus on your strengths.

I accidentally edited my quote in your post, sorry about that. Although I did go back and edit my response to be a little more clear. (they are the same now). It didn't change anything...

Price, Quality, Service....pick 2