Yes, another eBay thread

[gonefishin]

I list on ebay what I want to sell the item for. No comps, no this, no that. Pretty simple, buy it if you want or not. It doesn't matter to me. If you want to tell me that you've looked it up and 1 sold 2 years ago, or 1 day ago, for 1/2 the price - ok you should have bought that one. I thank them for the message and move on.

The details of this particular buyer is beyond ridiculous. I'm going to block him/her from my account.

Luckily, I'm not running a business, living off the money, etc. I might have a different perspective if that was so.

Raulus, sell it for what you want. Sure, you might have to endure comments like those from mannequin1 but that's ok. It's your item. Funny how the thread went from the situation you described to "you price your items too high!"

Good luck with the item. R/S Jim Hoskins

[bmattioli]

Block and move on. That's EBay..

[mannequin1]

Originally Posted by gonefishin

I list on ebay what I want to sell the item for. No comps, no this, no that. Pretty simple, buy it if you want or not. It doesn't matter to me. If you want to tell me that you've looked it up and 1 sold 2 years ago, or 1 day ago, for 1/2 the price - ok you should have bought that one. I thank them for the message and move on.

The details of this particular buyer is beyond ridiculous. I'm going to block him/her from my account.

Luckily, I'm not running a business, living off the money, etc. I might have a different perspective if that was so.

Raulus, sell it for what you want. Sure, you might have to endure comments like those from mannequin1 but that's ok. It's your item. Funny how the thread went from the situation you described to "you price your items too high!"

Good luck with the item. R/S Jim Hoskins

I have a rare, likely 1 of a kind Willie Mays Sprite bottle cap with a tax logo in my collection that raulus needs that I was going offer for $1000. Now it's $5000. I can ask what I want. It's my item. If it doesn't sell I'm the only one who has one.

[Republicaninmass]

Originally Posted by mannequin1

I have a rare, likely 1 of a kind Willie Mays Sprite bottle cap with a tax logo in my collection that raulus needs that I was going offer for $1000. Now it's $5000. I can ask what I want. It's my item. If it doesn't sell I'm the only one who has one.

Sadly, there's only one guy who wants one. Ive been there before

[Pirate21]

Originally Posted by Republicaninmass

Sadly, there's only one guy who wants one. Ive been there before

Yep, only that one guy who collects that player.. specifically high end rarities and variations : )
Bad news for the collector if there is 2 or more guys who chase after and gotta collect em all of very high end and unusual variations of their favorite player..
great news for the seller he found the only 2 guys in the world and on the Internet who will overpay thru the nose to obtain the rarity of their favorite : )
I have quite often tried to put in a top all bid in the last seconds only to lose to the other collectors top all bid! Only 2 people in the whole world wanted that rare card or memorabilia and the lucky seller makes out like a bandit without a gun..2 completely insane bids and bidders..
I bid 975 only to lose to 1,000 top all bid..the third bidder stopped at only 75.00..at least we know we did not get fake schill bids : ) one of us will have to wait?? for another to appear..and hopefully now that the other dude has his,with any luck I can get mine a whole lot cheaper..

[raulus]

Originally Posted by mannequin1

I have a rare, likely 1 of a kind Willie Mays Sprite bottle cap with a tax logo in my collection that raulus needs that I was going offer for $1000. Now it's $5000. I can ask what I want. It's my item. If it doesn't sell I'm the only one who has one.

Cool cool. I wish you the best of luck with it!

If it would make you feel better, I can make you an offer for $2,500, but then back out after you accept.

And if there’s something that I’m selling on eBay that you really want, just let me know. I’m flexible on price for a lot of my stuff. Or we can work a trade. While I tend to ask for the moon, I can be more reasonable when I get decent offers.

[gonefishin]

I would really like to see a one-of-a-kind Willie Mays Sprite bottle cap. Could you post a picture of it please? There may be more people interested in it.

[ALR-bishop]

Every thread needs a Mays bottle cap

[raulus]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Every thread needs a Mays bottle cap

Here’s a similar example, albeit much more common, since it’s the coke flavor.

Edited to add: I also have one available in PSA 3, and another in PSA 2 for anyone who is interested. Asking price is less than $5k.

[SyrNy1960]

Originally Posted by raulus

Here’s a similar example, albeit much more common, since it’s the coke flavor.

Edited to add: I also have one available in PSA 3, and another in PSA 2 for anyone who is interested. Asking price is less than $5k.

That is a really nice and clean Mays. Great piece!

[ALBB]

Originally Posted by gonefishin

I would really like to see a one-of-a-kind Willie Mays Sprite bottle cap. Could you post a picture of it please? There may be more people interested in it.

Wow, hard to believe the Mays tax stamp 60s bottle cap...Only 1 ever seen ..EVER ??

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by raulus

While I tend to ask for the moon, I can be more reasonable when I get decent offers.

An easy (and profitable) way for Ebay to end those kind of shenanigans would be to charge a nominal listing fee that would be a certain % of a seller's asking price regardless of whether the item actually sold. That might very well put an end to sellers fishing for suckers.

[hammertime]

Originally Posted by gonefishin

If you want to tell me that you've looked it up and 1 sold 2 years ago, or 1 day ago, for 1/2 the price - ok you should have bought that one.

Haha that's actually my response when people message me saying "one just sold for X"..."aw man you should've bought it!"

[Carter08]

Seems logical that a potential buyer would reference recent sales.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by Carter08

Seems logical that a potential buyer would reference recent sales.

If there's one outlier that's much lower than ten other recent sales that they're just cherry picking, then as a seller I would probably not be convinced to lower my price. If the recent sale they are referencing is in line with others, then it makes more sense and maybe my price is too high.

[raulus]

If we want to talk about pricing, then let’s talk about pricing.

Since it was raised earlier in the thread, let’s use the Maz as an example.

See pic below for the piece in question.

Most (not all) of the stuff that I’m selling is rare. In some cases it’s just hard to find in any grade. In other cases, it’s rare for the grade. That makes pricing a lot more exciting, because often there are no comps.

In this case, this piece is rare for the grade. It’s a 1 of 1 at this grade. You can definitely find them ungraded, and probably at lower grades. This grade would be tough to pull from an ungraded copy. If it was easy to get from a raw piece, there would be more that are graded at this level.

So the big question then is how do you price it? As we all know, the tippy top of the grading scale usually commands a decent premium. I know that’s heresy to a lot of people around here that a PSA 10 that is 1 of 1 should sell for a big multiple of a PSA 9. But that’s often the way it shakes out.

It’s true that you can get a raw piece like this for relatively little. Maybe $20 or $50 at the most. Most of them will have condition issues, and are very unlikely to grade at PSA 8.

So how do you price it? In this case, there are no comps that really tell you what it should be. It’s whatever I can agree on when I find a motivated buyer who really wants it. It could sit for years (already has), and I’m fine with that. I’m asking $700, but I’m flexible if someone wants to make me an offer. But I’m not giving it away.

But anyone else who thinks they know what this should be worth is just guessing, or really wants to buy it, but also really really wants to pay less than I’m asking.

[ALR-bishop]

Perhaps it was a Mays bottle cap that gets uncovered in the beginning of Alien v Predator

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by raulus

If we want to talk about pricing, then let’s talk about pricing.

Since it was raised earlier in the thread, let’s use the Maz as an example.

See pic below for the piece in question.

Most (not all) of the stuff that I’m selling is rare. In some cases it’s just hard to find in any grade. In other cases, it’s rare for the grade. That makes pricing a lot more exciting, because often there are no comps.

In this case, this piece is rare for the grade. It’s a 1 of 1 at this grade. You can definitely find them ungraded, and probably at lower grades. This grade would be tough to pull from an ungraded copy. If it was easy to get from a raw piece, there would be more that are graded at this level.

So the big question then is how do you price it? As we all know, the tippy top of the grading scale usually commands a decent premium. I know that’s heresy to a lot of people around here that a PSA 10 that is 1 of 1 should sell for a big multiple of a PSA 9. But that’s often the way it shakes out.

It’s true that you can get a raw piece like this for relatively little. Maybe $20 or $50 at the most. Most of them will have condition issues, and are very unlikely to grade at PSA 8.

So how do you price it? In this case, there are no comps that really tell you what it should be. It’s whatever I can agree on when I find a motivated buyer who really wants it. It could sit for years (already has), and I’m fine with that. I’m asking $700, but I’m flexible if someone wants to make me an offer. But I’m not giving it away.

But anyone else who thinks they know what this should be worth is just guessing, or really wants to buy it, but also really really wants to pay less than I’m asking.

I have sold my share of insanely rare cards. I have learned over the years what the market will pay but for the most part I just put an insanely high price on them. For example I just bought a card that there are at the most 5-7 known copies in the hobby. The normal final corrected version sells for $1 and I will ask $1500 for the variation I have and take the first $1050-$1200 I am offered.

I don't know much about grading rarities but would guess from what I have seen they get an even more insane asking price. On the very few times I have had silly rare stuff graded I basically double my asking price.

One of the biggest things I have noticed with silly rare stuff is you need to know your audience and not be in a hurry to sell.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by bnorth

I have sold my share of insanely rare cards. I have learned over the years what the market will pay but for the most part I just put an insanely high price on them. For example I just bought a card that there are at the most 5-7 known copies in the hobby. The normal final corrected version sells for $1 and I will ask $1500 for the variation I have and take the first $1050-$1200 I am offered.

I don't know much about grading rarities but would guess from what I have seen they get an even more insane asking price. On the very few times I have had silly rare stuff graded I basically double my asking price.

One of the biggest things I have noticed with silly rare stuff is you need to know your audience and not be in a hurry to sell.

This. I prefer actual rarity to condition rarity every day of the week and twice on Saturdays because when I decide to offer one up, the price is the price and if you don't want to pay it