Interesting article on eBay offer negotiations

[nwobhm]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

Big difference between listing it at $6750 with the anticipation of negotiating down to a fairish market price of $6000, and getting offers for less than half of that.

Or it’s not worth $6,000.

A card I wanted hit ebay yesterday. $70. It’s worth $30. Many sales to justify that price too. In fact the RC doesn’t sell as high as this particular 2nd year card. As expected, seller is ignoring my offer and it expires shortly. When it does I won’t ever make another offer. Had he responded with a counter and a simple note saying “sorry I can’t go that low” I may have offered $40 and then let it sit for a couple months before offering again.

[raulus]

Reading some of the comments here, I don’t think I appreciated just how much of a blood sport offers can be on eBay. I can certainly understand the challenges with unreasonable offers or astronomical asking prices. The solution seems pretty simple - move on.

But I guess I don’t understand why it has to devolve into such tragic calamity that the counterparty is now dead to you based on one interaction.

Now, if they had insulted you personally, called you names, accused you of listening to country music, or questioned your paternity and integrity, then by all means, get your dander up and block them.

Life is just way too short to get this agitated over something as quotidian as a failed eBay negotiation over piffle such as cardboard.

[ClementeFanOh]

This is a topic that has boggled my mind for years. In the first place, eBay built its empire on auctions, not flat sales. I have submitted offers for collectibles for one of two basic reasons. First is that the item has gone unsold month after month, which should tell the seller something about his item. The second is that the item is not realistically priced, and I’m trying to get it there. I have met both reasonable and unreasonable sellers this way. I deal with reasonable ones and jettison the others…Someone above mentioned negotiating a lower price and wondering why this happens with collectibles. That’s easy- nobody needs an extravagant collectible, nobody. Buyers also know that sellers often invest much less in an extravagant collectible than their selling price. As a buyer, there’s nothing wrong with testing the waters to see what a seller’s floor is- especially if the seller is cooperative and the floor actually matches the ongoing value of the item. Sellers who receive offers and don’t bother to acknowledge them are often hurting their own interest (with collectibles). After all, the potential buyer on the other side is at least intrigued enough to offer. For the truly unrealistic or rude seller, I usually default to daring them to take their item off eBay autopilot- month after month of not selling and keeping the same price despite this- and to actually auction the darn thing. The responses are often straight from The Chuckle Hut. Trent King

[Rich Klein]

a good hobby friend of mine does a daily webcast about hobby stuff. He has done over 1400 episodes now and his primary focus as a seller is through EBay.

He is mostly lower end material but does post some good cards at times.

One of things he always states is he knows he probably priced something too cheaply when an "OBO" is sent almost immediately after he posted an item.

That usually alerts him that something may be worth more than he posted it for,

And I've noticed the same thing over the years as a COMC seller (even long before I worked there)

If you get an offer the second you posted something, you just might want to see what the "Comps" are.

I've always wondered if something is too cheap, why not just buy it instead of negotiating downwards

Rich

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

a good hobby friend of mine does a daily webcast about hobby stuff. He has done over 1400 episodes now and his primary focus as a seller is through EBay.

He is mostly lower end material but does post some good cards at times.

One of things he always states is he knows he probably priced something too cheaply when an "OBO" is sent almost immediately after he posted an item.

That usually alerts him that something may be worth more than he posted it for,

And I've noticed the same thing over the years as a COMC seller (even long before I worked there)

If you get an offer the second you posted something, you just might want to see what the "Comps" are.

I've always wondered if something is too cheap, why not just buy it instead of negotiating downwards

Rich

Some people have a pathological desire to "win" every interaction.

You could post a vintage $500 bill for sale and some knucklehead would send a $400 offer.

[Rich Klein]

a good hobby friend of mine does a daily webcast about hobby stuff. He has done over 1400 episodes now and his primary focus as a seller is through EBay.

He is mostly lower end material but does post some good cards at times.

One of things he always states is he knows he probably priced something too cheaply when an "OBO" is sent almost immediately after he posted an item.

That usually alerts him that something may be worth more than he posted it for,

And I've noticed the same thing over the years as a COMC seller (even long before I worked there)

If you get an offer the second you posted something, you just might want to see what the "Comps" are.

I've always wondered if something is too cheap, why not just buy it instead of negotiating downwards

Rich

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

a good hobby friend of mine does a daily webcast about hobby stuff. He has done over 1400 episodes now and his primary focus as a seller is through EBay.

He is mostly lower end material but does post some good cards at times.

One of things he always states is he knows he probably priced something too cheaply when an "OBO" is sent almost immediately after he posted an item.

That usually alerts him that something may be worth more than he posted it for,

And I've noticed the same thing over the years as a COMC seller (even long before I worked there)

If you get an offer the second you posted something, you just might want to see what the "Comps" are.

I've always wondered if something is too cheap, why not just buy it instead of negotiating downwards

Rich

That definitely seems counter-intuitive. I agree with your last line about why wouldn't someone just buy it then if it's already too low, but I don't understand the thought that a quick OBO received means it's too low. Has he confirmed that by taking another look at comps for the item?

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by jayshum

That definitely seems counter-intuitive. I agree with your last line about why wouldn't someone just buy it then if it's already too low, but I don't understand the thought that a quick OBO received means it's too low. Has he confirmed that by taking another look at comps for the item?

Yes about 90 percent of the time

Here is today's webcast. I don't think he touched on the subject today but it does come up frequently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6quiwCERlk

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Yes about 90 percent of the time

Here is today's webcast. I don't think he touched on the subject today but it does come up frequently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6quiwCERlk

That really is strange. If I see something that I know is a good deal, I just buy it as fast as I can before someone else can. It wouldn't occur to me to offer even lower since I would expect it to sell while I was waiting for a response from the seller.