Posted By:
Paul MossI sell both coins and cards on the bay of e, and what is peculiar to card collectors is the fact that 90% of the bidders wait until the last 30 seconds before bidding out of some fear that they will be run up in price if they place a strong bid with a few days to go. In other areas, an item is often at 2/3rds. of its eventual closing price/value with days to go, yet cards are in a world of their own with many, many items increasing by a factor of 5 or 10 in those precious few remaining seconds.
So look upon the position of the average seller who really isn't attune to the game. He's seeing his card lot flounder, literally dying on the vine, no interest, a pathetic price level where he'd rather burn the card than sell at that level, and collector X comes along and pulls the rug from under everyone by offering what is 99% of the time, a low steal price, but looks mighty good to the frantic seller. Frankly, who can blame the poor guy? Those who are sitting with their snipes programmed in, stopwatches calibrated to the Naval Observatory, waiting patiently for the last three seconds have only themselves to blame for this situation. If the seller could actually see that his lot was doing OK with a few days left, he'd be inclined to let the lot run its course. God forbid anyone actually places a real bid, but what it truy amusing is when an item is at a reasonably decent level, no steal, but substantially under market, everyone is scared away on the theory that they'll be a land rush at the end, only to find that the lot closed at that lower sub-market level.
When I list vintage cards, I get bombarded with emails offering what is usually insulting offers as if I had just fallen off the hay wagon....and yes, some of them come from members on this very board. I'll be listing a large grouping of pre-WW1 "stuff" this Sunday night, and I know damned well that on Monday morning, my mailbox will be crammed with "generous" offers which will continue throughout the week. I try to be nice and explain that my partner wants the lot to continue to run until the end. I have no partner, but it sounds so much better than what I'd really like to tell these people. On the other hand, who can really blame them when the practice has become so rampant? Honestly, I have had emails saying thanks, and that they just wanted to make sure that they would have a chance at the cards and not have the rug pulled from under them.
This cheapness/snipe/poker game mentality has created a true monster in the card world, and truly, I don't think that anyone wins as a result.