Overpriced cards

[1952boyntoncollector]

Understood about BINs

but i am not against Dealers charging a lot. If you look at my posts i am quite happy because it allows non-dealors who are just hobbyist to get more for their cards than if the dealer prices were more competitive.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

Understood about BINs

but i am not against Dealers charging a lot. If you look at my posts i am quite happy because it allows non-dealors who are just hobbyist to get more for their cards than if the dealer prices were more competitive.

That's a good point. The only problem is that I really believe the high-volume fixed-price dealers get more for their cards because of volume. Basically, the chances are better that someone is looking for on of the cards up for sale - they don't have to sell ALL of them. A hobbyist, on the other hand, has far fewer cards up for sale at any one time, so the odds of finding someone who is looking for one of their specific cards, and willing to pay higher prices, are much lower.

The volume thing is critical. I have a volume number and a 'price above cost' percentage that I always try to stay at - if I keep the two going, sales roll in at a rate that I need. If I had a lower volume number I would have to turn my inventory over quicker, which would be more difficult because I would be missing the views generated by higher volumes. And to turn inventory over quicker, I would have to accept lower prices...meaning less profit. The ebay formula rewards high volume and fixed-prices. It drives out the low-volume guys any way you look at it.

[glynparson]

Only an indicator of the market for those that saw the auction. This idea that every auction ends for market price is laughable. I guess the brown old mill that sold in auction for around 20 or so is now only worth $20. The result of an auction would only be true market if the entire market for the card was engaged in the auction for it. Every auction even REA has some lots go for less then full value.

[1952boyntoncollector]

right i not saying, 1 auction on ebay for a week is market price...but if you look at say 7 auction results over a 7 week period...factor in the highs and the lows and you can average out a market price

the fact that you can say that the auction prices are not market price as a whole is laughable as ebay is a true market....its the dealers who are asking for an amount over market are the same ones that say REA and ebay auction prices on average are not market price....

in fact you can argue that if theres is only 1 or 2 bidders over a certain amount of money that market price is lower than what the card sold for because the winning bidder may no longer be a competeting bidder...if you see 5 or so bids over a certain amount than you know that certain amount in which the 5 or so unique bidders bid above is a safe baseline market....

thats why buy it now prices are terrible indicators of market price......

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by glynparson

Only an indicator of the market for those that saw the auction. This idea that every auction ends for market price is laughable. I guess the brown old mill that sold in auction for around 20 or so is now only worth $20. The result of an auction would only be true market if the entire market for the card was engaged in the auction for it. Every auction even REA has some lots go for less then full value.

how can you say an REA lot that caters to the group that buys the cards and understands the nuances of card collecting sells some lots 'for less than full value'

thats like the people who say 'couldnt sell my house' they mean to say 'couldnt sell my house at market value'

i not sure what 'full value' is when you cant sell it a huge auction house with months of people viewing it....

the other issue with cards is we all know there are inherit problems with value down the line....gold is likely to keep its value 30 years from now more than cards..... so cards is the one thing that i wouldnt use the analogy like works of art to say 'everything sells eventually'...sells yes..but sells at prices that go over market value as determined by multiple auctions...we shall see

[1952boyntoncollector]

Why is it if auctions houses and ebay are far lower than market price are the majority of major profit from card dealers are from direct buy purchases from individuals....why arent the majority of the profit made from cards from purchases made on ebay and REA and resold at a an easy market value profit if ebay and rea are so routinely below market..should be real easy to make easy profit there?

maybe i am wrong and most profit is made on buying on ebay on bad auctions prices and circumstances (the 3 day auction versus 7 day auction for example)

but i think when buying in person and in bulk you will get a better deal on then you would on ebay/rea auctions...so my point being that ebay/rea are still in that 'retail' price world even during auctions that have been argued in this thread as to be much lower than the real value. Thus, they got to be close to market price because in most cases you cant just turn around and make a profit like you can in direct buys from individuals off ebay and auction house land...

but again i am not a dealer so perhaps ebay is a big source of resell income because auction prices are routinely so low ..and way below market

[Luke]

I don't mean to be rude, but you really need to use some punctuation if you want people to understand what you're saying. That first paragraph/stream of consciousness is very tough to follow. I'm pretty sure I still disagree, but it's hard to tell for sure.

The reason that most profit comes from private wholesale deals rather than ebay is pretty straight-forward. The big dealers use their reputations and connections to make large private purchases at a fraction of retail. There is some profit to be made from finding items that sell for cheap at an ebay auction. However, wading through ebay auctions probably isn't worth the time of the largest volume sellers.

[glynparson]

world if you honestly think every person in the market for a card sees it every time it is up for sale. It does not happen. I have many times bought cards from major auctions and sold them before i even received them. This idea that every collector in the country is aware of or remembers to bid in every auction is just unrealistic. As for your house argument not every house is maximized for profit either. That is why some people can buy and flip houses even without remodeling sometimes, just better or proper marketing (FSBO sales almost always lower than brokered sales). No market realizes maximum value every time an item is auctioned. It is just simple common sense. So you are telling me a brown old mill is only a $20 or so card because that was the auction result? Please, come on you can not truly believe this. I agree a card that sells every week in auction for relatively the same amount can be claimed to be market, but not things that not everyone sees or knows is listed. Many Topps test issues for example sell fairly reasonable when auctioned on ebay but sell for a lot more when sold straight retail because many people don't constantly search for them. The comics and pin ups from 1973 are just two major examples of this. I know PSA 8 Maris rookies also used to always sell fairly quickly for around 20-30% more than Ebay results (have not watched recently so don't know current trend on this card). Nothing that man controls is absolute or perfect in this world , and we control auction results. An example from another field I recently bought a JSA certified Andy Kauffman autograph for $40 from an auction advertised on this website, last ebay sale was 10-12x that so is the market really only $40 now because this item slipped through the cracks?