Question for EBay sellers! Does this ever work???

[36GoudeyMan]

I don't post that much, but when I do, its usually about this topic. Card sellers are typically not true businessmen. They do not follow the rules of the road for retailers of goods or services. They do not need to turn inventory; they are not driven by market forces; this is not their sole source of income (usually).

We all have stories of seeing the same cards on eBay at BINs or opening bids that never ever EVER move. Suggest to ne of them that a another PSA 5 of X card sold for $250, and that their BIN price of $450 seemed high, and you get blowback of how much better their PSA 5 is than the one that sold, etc., etc. I can point to a series of sale of a key 1941 card, yet there it is in a BIN at hundreds of dollars (40%) higher than the last VCP reported sale. I offered essentially 10% more than the lat couple of sales, and was rebuffed.

Sellers who hold out for ridiculous prices are log-jamming the free flow of inventory in the marketplace, and skewing analyses of market prices.

Individual or small sellers are not immune. I needed a key common from a 1941 set, which Memory Lane had in PSA 7, at a ridiculous price. I made offers and figured out that their discount on BINs was bout 15%. Even at 15%, it was 20% higher than VCP reported sales range, top end. I wind up with the same card, in a PSA 8 holder, at an auction(not eBay), and even with the premium and handling an shipping, it was 12 of what Memory Lane's "discount" would have cost me.

I get the idea of holding out for your price when you don't need to sell the card for a real business purpose, like paying off a business line of credit, or turning your inventory to keep your customers interested, but immovable pricing that persists fro years is just ridiculous.

[drc]

At sale, when I want something to sell asap I'll have a lower price. Then if it isn't sold I raise it to the normal price.

In auction, unsold items can sometimes sell for more after they're relisted at the same or lower minimum bids. So some of the pricing goofiness is due to buyers.

When I was a kid there was a rich man in the neighborhood who had years before invented a complicated computer meteorological system used by private companies. When he invented it he offered it for sale for $2,000 (made up number) but there were to takers, so he had a marketing expert advise him. The marketing advisor said the problem was the sales price was too low. At $2,000, companies will assume it was no good. So the guy raised the sales price to $15,000 and they sold.

As long as I'm on the somewhat off topic invention story. Another neighbor became wealthy as he invented Warfarin, which some of you may have heard of. Until recently and for decades Warfarin was the best selling anticoagulant in the world, used in hospitals for heart attacks, heart valves, blood clots, etc. The funny thing is it's initial use was as a pesticide-- the substance would make the rats and mice bleed to death. It wasn't until later that it's noble human medicinal uses were discovered. But he made money both ways.

[pgellis]

This sounds like a stupid question, but is it the same seller each time?

I was bidding on a HOF T206 card a couple of weeks ago and thought it went for $50 - $100 too much, now this past week someone else has it on eBay with a BIN of an additional $100 added on.

The card sold for I believe $350 and now it is on BIN for $450.......2 different sellers. Obviously the buyer thinks he can make a quick $100 on his purchase.....but not so far.

[Runscott]

ebay has changed - sellers are still trying to figure out strategies that work (I know I still am). I have gotten notes from ebayers telling me I'm a fool, my prices are high, my cards are ugly, etc., etc. So I keep trying new strategies to maximize return (sales, lowering prices, raising prices, switching fixed-price auctions to straight and vice versa). Gouging customers is not a good long-term strategy. Buying high and selling low is equally ineffective.

ebay did this to all of us - some of the guys you are insulting are the 'good guys', but I'm sure they understand your frustration and are rolling with it. I have questioned it as well (and gotten beaten here for it), so I get it.

When one of you writes the book on ebay selling strategy that allows sellers to make a reasonable profit, and you guys to get the prices you demand, please attach a pdf to this thread. You'll also need to post a link to that magic place where the sellers can pick up inventory at prices that allow them to give you your cards for those prices.

The pez dispenser days are long-gone.

[BleedinBlue]

Originally Posted by Runscott

ebay has changed - sellers are still trying to figure out strategies that work (I know I still am). I have gotten notes from ebayers telling me I'm a fool, my prices are high, my cards are ugly, etc., etc. So I keep trying new strategies to maximize return (sales, lowering prices, raising prices, switching fixed-price auctions to straight and vice versa). Gouging customers is not a good long-term strategy. Buying high and selling low is equally ineffective.

ebay did this to all of us - some of the guys you are insulting are the 'good guys', but I'm sure they understand your frustration and are rolling with it. I have questioned it as well (and gotten beaten here for it), so I get it.

When one of you writes the book on ebay selling strategy that allows sellers to make a reasonable profit, and you guys to get the prices you demand, please attach a pdf to this thread. You'll also need to post a link to that magic place where the sellers can pick up inventory at prices that allow them to give you your cards for those prices.

The pez dispenser days are long-gone.

The problem with this analysis for most of the cards I buy is they are not unique cards. They are a commodity and this is the situation that I am amused with. If a card is available from multiple sellers in the same grade and sells for roughly the same price either in an auction or a BIN format, what is the point in selling for double or triple any reported sales? The only thing I can think of is they are trolling for the uninformed buyer. They exist but are getting harder and harder to find.

[drc]

I don't know how reliable an indication are BINs when it includes a make-an-offer. A seller may just be waiting for a reasonable offer above $200, and feels whether than BIN is set $500 or $5,000 or $50,000 is neither here nor there. If it was up to him, perhaps he would have no BIN, just the make-an-offer button. The BIN price is something eBay forces him to do if he wants people to make offers.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by BleedinBlue

The problem with this analysis for most of the cards I buy is they are not unique cards. They are a commodity and this is the situation that I am amused with. If a card is available from multiple sellers in the same grade and sells for roughly the same price either in an auction or a BIN format, what is the point in selling for double or triple any reported sales? The only thing I can think of is they are trolling for the uninformed buyer. They exist but are getting harder and harder to find.

Brian, I wonder the same thing. My guess is that they either don't realize it, or they think the other example is priced way low and they are hoping it sells so that theirs might eventually. But I will stick with my thought that it's a bad business model to try to gouge one person one time - much better to make a fair profit and have returning customers. At a nickel per 30 days, it's not costly for a seller to attempt the former.

[zljones]

I think one of the problems is, is that sellers are buying high and selling high. I saw a SGC 20 Dimaggio go for about $675 which I thought was high enough in auction he is now trying to sell it for $899. It is crazy enough it sold for $675, so why buy that high and sell a lot higher?

In defense of Ebay, it is the ultimate garage sale, let's face it, we get more bids and more attention to our items then anywhere else we would sell things. If I sold my cards in my garage one day, they either would not sell or I would get super low ball offers and have to accept that, especially if I needed money within less than 30 days. Ebay is fast, convenient and you gain maximum exposure. The key is, is to not buy high then sell high, and also list items properly. For example if you want to sell a Leaf Satchel Paige card, list it as 1949,1948,Leaf,satchel,satchell Paige rookie. If you can fit all of that. Then you will attact those that can't spell his last name and also those that can't decide if it's 48 or 49 Leaf. This is one of my strategies whenever I sell items and my sales are usually higher than I forecast and go above book value or at book value. My items also appear in several search results instead of just one.
I am not too worried about ebay fees, if I was to sell an item I would take to approximate fees amount into consideration.
If someone has no choice but to buy high from someone else, well, I don't know what to say to that.

[David W]

Just do like I do and never search on BIN, but auctions only.

I don't even waste my time with BIN, I've never seen any card of any substance listed at a market price on a BIN.

BIN is apparently an online museum of baseball cards. Maybe they hope the cards get stolen so they can get insurance money based on the BIN price or something......

[Vegas-guy]

The cards I watching/talking about are always with the same seller(s) (not sold just re-listed) I know one of them is a member here so was hoping he/they might chime in??

Originally Posted by pgellis

This sounds like a stupid question, but is it the same seller each time?

I was bidding on a HOF T206 card a couple of weeks ago and thought it went for $50 - $100 too much, now this past week someone else has it on eBay with a BIN of an additional $100 added on.

The card sold for I believe $350 and now it is on BIN for $450.......2 different sellers. Obviously the buyer thinks he can make a quick $100 on his purchase.....but not so far.

[BleedinBlue]

The 4 cards T206 Tinker cards are from 3 different sellers. The $160 and $145 priced cards are from the same seller and reflect his perceived variance within the same grade. The $225 and $400 cards are from different sellers who think they have a better strategy.

[zljones]

Originally Posted by 36GoudeyMan

I don't post that much, but when I do, its usually about this topic. Card sellers are typically not true businessmen. They do not follow the rules of the road for retailers of goods or services. They do not need to turn inventory; they are not driven by market forces; this is not their sole source of income (usually).


Sellers who hold out for ridiculous prices are log-jamming the free flow of inventory in the marketplace, and skewing analyses of market prices.


I get the idea of holding out for your price when you don't need to sell the card for a real business purpose, like paying off a business line of credit, or turning your inventory to keep your customers interested, but immovable pricing that persists fro years is just ridiculous.

Amen to that brother! And what DRC says pricing it a little high is ok. But way over the value is rediculous. Some sellers also do not price based upon rarity. A 10% markup for a easy to find card is absurd, but a 10% markup for a card from the 19th century is reasonable enough, maybe even 15% can be done. I think these seller do not follow the market in detail.