Overpriced cards

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by HerbK

Yes... thank you for that.

I think what the OP was referring to - and what I agree with, were cards that were being listed at 4x and 5x their value. If a $1000 card is listed for $5000, there is little chance that a mutual agreement can be made with that level of disparity. There's no "meeting in the middle" with a $4000 differential. No one is inferring that your mark-up should be "five cents".... that's silly. But if you think you're going to be successful with all your cards being marked up 500% ... guess what?

You are welcome.

I used 'five cents' as an example - go re-read it if you don't understand my point. I don't need to guess about the effects of 500% mark-ups, as I don't condone it and I don't think it's a successful business model. You'll need to build a more reasonable straw man if you want to have a discussion.

[asoriano]

Yikes, that McGraw is overpriced and overgraded!

[HerbK]

Originally Posted by Runscott

I used 'five cents' as an example - go re-read it if you don't understand my point. I don't need to guess about the effects of 500% mark-ups, as I don't condone it and I don't think it's a successful business model. You'll need to build a more reasonable straw man if you want to have a discussion.

I totally understand your point.... you're the one who stated concerns about your mark-up being "five cents", not me. If you think your profits should be somewhere in the area of say, 25% for example (which would be reasonable), then you should have stated that.

The discussion is a valid one .... There's no logic whatsoever in listing cards (or anything for that matter) on eBay with a 500% mark-up. I know there's always a fool to occasionally pull the trigger ... but those are few and far between.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by HerbK

I totally understand your point.... you're the one who stated concerns about your mark-up being "five cents", not me. If you think your profits should be somewhere in the area of say, 25% for example (which would be reasonable), then you should have stated that.

The discussion is a valid one .... There's no logic whatsoever in listing cards (or anything for that matter) on eBay with a 500% mark-up. I know there's always a fool to occasionally pull the trigger ... but those are few and far between.

You took my statement out of context, or I didn't explain it well. I said: "If I price all of my cards at a price that will earn me five cents profit - guess what? They won't sell for the asking price (or they rarely will)." My point being that EVEN if I only ask for a nickel profit, they still will rarely sell for the asking price.

Ebay has evolved to a point that some (if not most) buyers assume a mark-up above market value, that might not even exist. From my example, maybe it is only 5 cents, but the buyer is assuming it is much higher. Most simply aren't educated about values - this forum is certainly an exception.

Edited to add: I really don't want to get into my own selling strategy much, but I think that it is imperative for sellers to have a very good understanding of current market values for the items they are selling. If you don't know what your items are worth, and you only have a small number listed, your mark-up has to be higher than a high-volume dealer who is a smart buyer and understands market values. But everyone has a different business model. I remember being outbid a few years ago on a beautiful T205 set. I went as high as I possibly could, given my pricing strategy and overhead. But I later saw the set broken out on ebay by a huge dealer who had thousands of items listed. These cards were marked up much higher than I would have felt comfortable with, but the seller is a bright guy, so it must be working for him. Basically, if you have enough inventory and enough capital, you can do anything you want, but that's true of anything.

[whiteymet]

This guy has had this up for months!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-ORIG...item4ac6afff1a

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by whiteymet

This guy has had this up for months!


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-ORIG...item4ac6afff1a

This card has been on eBay for over 3 years. http://www.ebay.com/itm/no-F-SCRIBBL...item3cb94ea160

The description is a total BS lie. I own more than 6 of those exact same cards and is a $10 card shipped on a good day.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Some Dealers are just in love of the hobby.....when they cant deal a card and say 'ill just keep it' that really means they dont want to sell at market price....or even a price where someone will actually buy it....they can do whatever with their cards but a lot of dealers are really well off and just sell for fun and if they make money even better

when the housing market crashed it was funny to hear 'i cant sell my house' they would say that meaning noone wanted to pay the seller price...but obviosuly was we know the market price went very low so they really should of said 'i can't sell my house at my price'

same with cards...dealers can ask what they want ..and again that allows the non-dealers to move some cards at a decent profit because many of the apparently 'available' cards on ebay or not really available..so im all for cards being listed at 5x value..

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

Some Dealers are just in love of the hobby.....when they cant deal a card and say 'ill just keep it' that really means they dont want to sell at market price....or even a price where someone will actually buy it....they can do whatever with their cards but a lot of dealers are really well off and just sell for fun and if they make money even better

when the housing market crashed it was funny to hear 'i cant sell my house' they would say that meaning noone wanted to pay the seller price...but obviosuly was we know the market price went very low so they really should of said 'i can't sell my house at my price'

same with cards...dealers can ask what they want ..and again that allows the non-dealers to move some cards at a decent profit because many of the apparently 'available' cards on ebay or not really available..so im all for cards being listed at 5x value..

Is this all theory, or do you actually know wealthy dealers who put things up for sale that they don't actually want to sell? Does this theory only apply to areas where you assume the wealthy are simply flaunting their wealth, or does it apply to all supposed retail businesses (who are all really just wealthy 'collectors')? e.g: car dealers, mobile home sellers, basically all the businesses you walk by on main street?

I'm just curious. You've separated out "dealers" from "non-dealers", with "dealers" being people who don't actually have any interest in selling anything. The only ones who want to sell are "non-dealers"

[HerbK]

Originally Posted by Runscott

You took my statement out of context, or I didn't explain it well.

Ok - gotcha.