Anyone You Trade With Leave You Feeling Not So Fresh?

[B O'Brien]

I stopped going to shows back in the day because it was nothing but scum bags and hustlers in my area. I personally love the dealing here. I have had a couple odd offers over the last few years, but it has always been "thanks for the time and good luck finding it someplace else" and we were both on our way!

I will admit that I did beg DavidR to sell me a card, once a quarter for two years, but hopefully, other than that I have left folks feeling good about our deals. I hope I have made it up to David with a few cards to fill a couple of those troublesome holes though.

Hope all is well,
Bob

[David R]

Originally Posted by B O'Brien

I stopped going to shows back in the day because it was nothing but scum bags and hustlers in my area. I personally love the dealing here. I have had a couple odd offers over the last few years, but it has always been "thanks for the time and good luck finding it someplace else" and we were both on our way!

I will admit that I did beg DavidR to sell me a card, once a quarter for two years, but hopefully, other than that I have left folks feeling good about our deals. I hope I have made it up to David with a few cards to fill a couple of those troublesome holes though.

Hope all is well,
Bob

Bobby, I didn't mind your persistence at all. I always enjoy talking about rare-backed HOFers with you and have appreciated you helping me fill a few holes in my HOF back collection. And I do still have that Cycle Collins.

As for the original post, all my deals on the BST have been terrific.

Best,
David R

[DJR]

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[hangman62]

Im a long time collector and trader..had a run in with a guy recently over a trade proposal.
We were considering trading 30s DiamondStars high#s ( prety tough cards)
He insisted that because I got a good deal on ebay and picked one up cheap in the past..that I shouldnt grade and value the card per book for trade purposes..simply trade the card to him for what i payed. I tried to explain how it doesnt matter what a guy payed for a card..if your trading..you need a guide both sides agree to..No....... he wanted to trade based on "what we payed for cards" ?

[Exhibitman]

Hangman, you've touched upon the issue that set me off initially to write the opening post, the "you should sell it to me on the cheap because you didn't pay much for it" argument. In other words, I am supposed to give you my profit on a good deal. The variant on that cost question that I was thinking of is the unsolicited offer for a rare item I don't even have for sale that not only demands that I agree to sell it but also that I assign a monetary value to it rather than the offeror starting with a price or asking me what I will take. In other words, asking me to bid against myself rather than stepping up and making an offer for the item. I really hate that technique and I usually respond to it either with a flat-out rejection or with a demand that is 10x what I think it is "worth." Then, of course, they come back with all sorts of arguments for why the item isn't worth what I demanded and I usually end up telling them to go find it somewhere else for that price. It seems logical to me that anyone making an unsolicited request for a collector to sell an item that is rare and isn't for sale would understand that there should be an offer made that had better knock my socks off, or not even bother.

I watch Pawn Stars with my daughter and I try to use it to discuss negotiating techniques with her. One of the things I tell her is never to give your opponent information that can be used against you--like answering a cost basis question from an opponent or volunteering that the item cost a certain amount, or assigning a value to it. Whenever some rube tells Rick that he paid ten bucks for the item at a garage sale, you know he's going to get low-balled in the negotiation. The correct answer is "what I paid and what I value it at are irrelevant to the discussion of what it is worth to you on resale."

[Leon]

My standard answer when anyone asks what I paid for something is, $1. It doesn't matter what it is.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Leon

My standard answer when anyone asks what I paid for something is, $1. It doesn't matter what it is.

I like to throw around the phrase "it grows on trees in my backyard" quite a bit.

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I watch Pawn Stars with my daughter and I try to use it to discuss negotiating techniques with her. One of the things I tell her is never to give your opponent information that can be used against you--like answering a cost basis question from an opponent or volunteering that the item cost a certain amount, or assigning a value to it. Whenever some rube tells Rick that he paid ten bucks for the item at a garage sale, you know he's going to get low-balled in the negotiation. The correct answer is "what I paid and what I value it at are irrelevant to the discussion of what it is worth to you on resale."

The Pawn stars give their "opponent" information all the time by calling in "experts" and letting the expert tell them what it's worth right in front of the seller. I doubt they ever do this when the cameras aren't rolling.

[Exhibitman]

Yes but how reliable are they? I know that the times they've been offered entertainment stuff I am familiar with the appraisers were low. Plus, they rarely step up and pay anywhere close to the valuation anyway, so it is all funny money from their perspective since the seller will never see more than a fraction of it.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I watch Pawn Stars with my daughter and I try to use it to discuss negotiating techniques with her. One of the things I tell her is never to give your opponent information that can be used against you--like answering a cost basis question from an opponent or volunteering that the item cost a certain amount, or assigning a value to it. Whenever some rube tells Rick that he paid ten bucks for the item at a garage sale, you know he's going to get low-balled in the negotiation. The correct answer is "what I paid and what I value it at are irrelevant to the discussion of what it is worth to you on resale."

You hit the nail right on the head with that one, Adam! From a sheer business perspective, Rick really knows his stuff--if he makes 1,000 deals and saves $100 on each one, he figures he's ultimately made $100,000 thereon.

Best regards to the most knowledgeable Exhibits guy I know.

Larry