Buying from a BIN or waiting it out?

[1952boyntoncollector]

Its funny to see auctions where the bidder actually pays more for the same exact card with same eye appeal then a buy it now. that's still sitting there on ebay...sometimes after an auction like that you do see a buy it now snapped up from an underbidder though..

BINs I sort of look at most of them as 'make an offer'...I usually email them about a lower price though several of them are firm......even when given a 10% ebay coupon I struggle to find a BIN that's within 10% of market price if it were to sell on ebay though....but yes occasionally there are ok buys when the market goes up on a card....on Memory Lane's recent buy it now event..you will see that maybe 5% of the cards I actually bought but the ones bought typically are good deals.

You can also look at BIN as a convenience service..you are paying not to have to wait 4 months for PWCC to have the card......as long as you are willing to pay that service price then I guess who cares...you just wont be able to sell it back to close to what you paid but if its a hobby you are going to spend and lose money like all hobbies...

[sportscardpete]

^ agreed.

I think if some BIN cards went thru an auction process they would at least match, if not get more than their BIN listing price.

The issue is that it's probably common perception to think a card with a BIN is overpriced, yet some of these cards are listed at actually good prices.

[Beatles Guy]

I've found some great BIN prices amongst the overpriced. In fact, I got one recently from you Jimi on an Aparicio RC I especially like Best Offers.

I too hate being beat out at the last minute on auctions. I thought I had snagged a nice RC the other day and was outbid with two seconds left. Very frustrating.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Beatles Guy

I've found some great BIN prices amongst the overpriced. In fact, I got one recently from you Jimi on an Aparicio RC I especially like Best Offers.

I too hate being beat out at the last minute on auctions. I thought I had snagged a nice RC the other day and was outbid with two seconds left. Very frustrating.

it not frustrating when the same card with same eye appeal is listed on BIN and someone outbids you on ebay to a price HIGHER than the BIN..thats fun....

[Beatles Guy]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

it not frustrating when the same card with same eye appeal is listed on BIN and someone outbids you on ebay to a price HIGHER than the BIN..thats fun....

Well, there is always THAT exception to the rule. I love that scenario too.

[JustinD]

I always run searches as auction only by default because the BIN's were so overpriced. I admit this has gotten much better in the past two years or so and the prices have come down to earth.

I have been searching the BIN more often. Mostly my love for auction search is me just romantizing the days when ebay was an actual auction site and not Amazon. Sigh.

I will default to those that have a best offer option and send a reasonable offer based on recent sales. I absolutely hate when they auto deny my offer however and will often not make another as I do not lowball and that option is silly when people have it set for only a 5 dollar give and take on a 300 dollar card.

[GasHouseGang]

I've used BIN once in awhile for cards I really want. On one card I needed to complete a set, the owner slowly lowered the price over about two months time. When he finally lowered it to within $5 of what I was willing to pay, I bought it. You usually won't get any bargains, but it can work out if you are patient.

[dabigyankeeman]

I use BIN a tremendous amount of the time on Ebay. Being an advanced Yankee collector, its hard for me to find cards I still need and are affordable, and even if its over-priced, many times that high price is worth it to me (and isnt that the definition of the value of a card, what it is worth to you), and i jump on it right away before someone else gets it. This goes for other parts of my collection, the other NY teams and a few other misc things.

I will say if the price is insane then i wont buy it, or i will make an offer though.


Also i love BIN cards when i get the extra Ebay bucks offers. For instance i just got a 5-times Ebay bucks offer and got on Ebay and used it on a BIN that was around $200.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by sportscardpete

^ agreed.

I think if some BIN cards went thru an auction process they would at least match, if not get more than their BIN listing price.

The issue is that it's probably common perception to think a card with a BIN is overpriced, yet some of these cards are listed at actually good prices.

This phenomina seemed to start happening around 8-10 yrs ago when prices went through the roof and then came back down. Everyone always wants to steal a card in auction but it rarely happens. No one seems to want to pay a list type price because no one has bought it already .
If you see a BIN and you have done your homework, and still want it, it might not be a bad buy just because it's sitting there. I bought my T213-3 Red Cobb from Mike Wheat on ebay because it was there for years with no takers and I got tired of seeing it (and I always liked red Cobbys too). I paid around 1300 for it. Even then it was a good deal but no one bought it because it was a "has been seen already for a long time" BIN........

[jimivintage]

Originally Posted by Leon

This phenomina seemed to start happening around 8-10 yrs ago when prices went through the roof and then came back down. Everyone always wants to steal a card in auction but it rarely happens. No one seems to want to pay a list type price because no one has bought it already .
If you see a BIN and you have done your homework, and still want it, it might not be a bad buy just because it's sitting there. I bought my T213-3 Red Cobb from Mike Wheat on ebay because it was there for years with no takers and I got tired of seeing it (and I always liked red Cobbys too). I paid around 1300 for it. Even then it was a good deal but no one bought it because it was a "has been seen already for a long time" BIN........

Good points! And as I say it like Mike and Frank from Amercan Pickers, "Sometimes the time to buy it, is when you see it!"

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by Leon

This phenomina seemed to start happening around 8-10 yrs ago when prices went through the roof and then came back down. Everyone always wants to steal a card in auction but it rarely happens. No one seems to want to pay a list type price because no one has bought it already .
If you see a BIN and you have done your homework, and still want it, it might not be a bad buy just because it's sitting there. I bought my T213-3 Red Cobb from Mike Wheat on ebay because it was there for years with no takers and I got tired of seeing it (and I always liked red Cobbys too). I paid around 1300 for it. Even then it was a good deal but no one bought it because it was a "has been seen already for a long time" BIN........

Leon, I did something similar with my 1907 Wolverine News Ty Cobb portrait. I had a continuing ebay search for this card, and, except for the PSA 5 which sold in the PWCC auction for just under $11,000, none of the portrait versions had come up in several years except Tony Arnold's poor to fair example, which had gone unsold over and over again at (I believe) $2,250. It was actually a pretty nice card, with a crease across it which did not really detract that much from the eye appeal, and nice corners. Still, believing the card was overpriced, I contacted Tony and we worked out a deal.

Generally speaking, however, if I feel that the BIN is within reasonable striking distance of the fair value of the card, I'll pull the trigger then and there, and not have to worry about snipe software should the item go through auction. I lost a really nice 1939 R303A Ted Williams Mike Wheat had that way, with 6 or 7 seconds left in the auction. Nothing quite pisses you off as watching the closing moments of an auction for a card you really, really want as having it so sniped out from under you.

If, on the contrary, the card I'm interested in is one which I believe is significantly overpriced at the BIN level, I'll put it on my watch list to see if it is relisted (as it often is) as a more reasonable price. This, especially, if the card's condition presents any significant eye appeal problems.

Good post guys,

Larry

[Leon]

Yeap, sometimes the BIN's need to be evaluated as they can be good deals (most still aren't though).... If you buy a vintage Cobb right it's hard to go wrong .

Originally Posted by ls7plus

Leon, I did something similar with my 1907 Wolverine News Ty Cobb portrait. I had a continuing ebay search for this card, and, except for the PSA 5 which sold in the PWCC auction for just under $11,000, none of the portrait versions had come up in several years except Tony Arnold's poor to fair example, which had gone unsold over and over again at (I believe) $2,250. It was actually a pretty nice card, with a crease across it which did not really detract that much from the eye appeal, and nice corners. Still, believing the card was overpriced, I contacted Tony and we worked out a deal.

Generally speaking, however, if I feel that the BIN is within reasonable striking distance of the fair value of the card, I'll pull the trigger then and there, and not have to worry about snipe software should the item go through auction. I lost a really nice 1939 R303A Ted Williams Mike Wheat had that way, with 6 or 7 seconds left in the auction. Nothing quite pisses you off as watching the closing moments of an auction for a card you really, really want as having it so sniped out from under you.

If, on the contrary, the card I'm interested in is one which I believe is significantly overpriced at the BIN level, I'll put it on my watch list to see if it is relisted (as it often is) as a more reasonable price. This, especially, if the card's condition presents any significant eye appeal problems.

Good post guys,

Larry