OT: PM with offers
 

I've seen a growing number of similar BST threads lately. Quite a few of them contain cards that pique my interest. However, they don't have asking prices. To paraphrase all these threads:

"I have the following item. Trying to (insert excuse) so I'm listing it here. PM me with offers."

If you're selling something, don't ask others to price your inventory for you. That's lazy.

If you're trying to connect with the highest bidder, grow a pair and put your item up for auction.

If you're trying to squeeze every last dime out of people every time you make a sale, go sell used cars for a living.

You know why cause they’re afraid of missing the boat..... they see these ridiculous sale numbers in certain Auction houses so they think shit I can sell mine for that...while in the back of their head they know it’s most likely some shady crap going on but they say oh well here let’s try net54 lest amount of risk with chance...most of the time they’re fooling themselves ....

The boat sailed in February. They've missed it. The market has been dipping since then.

:p

Exactly I like your style you know why because you speak the truth !

Jan-March Many Sales In Certain Auctions we’re We’re Fantasy

and to add a like to the end of that list of the original post:


If you don't want to make an offer when a seller asks for offers, then keep your powder dry and don't take them to task by telling them how to sell.

Literally millions of ebay listing have a super high price with "or best offer." I dont see this as different.

If you want a card make just make a fair offer. Personally I have had much more luck doing so here on net54 than on ebay.

Some people like to haggle (myself included) back and forth a bit.
Lots of us are not dealer. If you don't like that type of transaction just avoid them.

I'd rather see these listings than the ones with firm prices trying to set record prices. And I bet if you search BST you will find far more of the latter.




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I've seen this "phenomenon" around the hobby lately myself. Imagine going into a store to buy, say, a pair of jeans. You don't see a price tag. You ask the sales clerk, "Excuse me, what's the price on these jeans?" Their response: "What do you think they're worth? Make an offer."

I think it's an extreme form of fishing. It's one thing for a collector to be willing to sell a piece only if the price is anomalously high. It's another in my opinion to not even set a price. I think it is incumbent upon a seller to put a price tag on an item, no matter how high. Just one buyer's opinion and an owner is free to do whatever they like. I just find it coy and move along.

Other forums require a price.

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I love this place and the BST, If you post a card I want without an ask I'll just PM you and start a conversation. Same on the other side, I'll always post a price but would expect someone interested to PM me and talk about a deal. I know what I want to pay within reason, I also know where my line is that I would rather put it back in my collection. I've also done deals that had nothing to do with the original for sale item just from talking about collecting needs & wants. Its also nice to keep an eye out for cards that you know other members are looking for that you might come across in the outside world.

It's all good stuff and a lot of fun. Especially when you make new friendships & connections in this hobby.

And to quote a seller that is no longer here just so he is never forgotten.

"Thanks for the many inquires, still available..."

I think they hope someone posts


"I'll take it"



Oddly, Then they'll have sellers remorse

Does that mean you'll periodically bump this thread for the next several years with no resolution, or do you want me to?:D

I see some of you are okay with the "PM me" side. I'm curious how receptive you would be if that happened at a card show where the dealer didn't have prices showing on their card and asked you for an offer. It really is the same thing.

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Edited:

Sorry, I had the wrong former board member in mind.

I agree that I like to see prices and that most of the time it’s the way to go. However I collect a lot of very rare stuff that many times there is 0 or close to it in the way of comparable sales to point to and guesstimate price/value. For really rare stuff sometimes the seller genuinely has no idea how to price or guess value and want to see what people will offer.

I’m also of the opinion that less rules in general is better and I like the freedom and lack of overreach from Leon! It may be annoying to see a listing with no price but we can always ignore them. Also if a price were required and there were more rules in general it would likely decrease the amount of listings we get to see offered here as some sellers would just go elsewhere. I’d rather let the free market dictate things and see as many offerings here as possible.

Bugs the heck outta me!


I guess if you have to ask, you cant afford it

I think I have priced everything I have listed here, but if someone doesn't want to why should it bother me? I can always make an offer and either it leads to a successful negotiation or it doesn't.

I do think people will do better with a price, but it is up to them.

I just move on to the next listing. Same as at a show where I've learned that it is not worth the bother to ask for a price, wait for the dealer to look it up in a price guide and quote me a NM price on a VG/EX card; much more than what I was willing to pay.

But to each their own..

my 2 cents
 

I think some of that has been a function of how nuts the market has been. As a seller, before the craziness, I used to price all my cards and list them on Flickr. During the craziness, I removed the prices on some of the high demand graded cards - I would still quote a price to an interested buyer, but that price at times over the past few months sometimes had daily fluctuation. Almost all the time I post on the BST , I price the cards I am offering, occasionally in the case of some rarities I have offered "best offer above xx$$ by a certain day and time".

From the buy-side, I understand the frustration and dislike of the practice, but as mentioned in a previous post - if I don't like it, I just move on.

That's okay. At some restaurants the price is "Market Rate." But that should be an exception to the rule for a truly hot card.

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You make a good point Erick,
If we are talking about fairly common cards like 50's Topps for example I would expect an asking price to be published, if your talking about a super rare T206 back for example I would expect a more subtle transaction to take place where it may be a few conversations before a deal is struck.

LOL. For some reason an image of Hans Peter Wagner came to mind......

I'm sure there must've been many inquiries in the 20 or so years that portrait was listed. I think it was bumped more times than Honus had hits.

That thread has just over 25,000 views, and Wagner had 3,420 career hits. That’s over a 7:1 ratio of views to hits. At around the 5:1 Mark is where I would’ve said consign the thing, but to each his own.

I wanted to say that about a dozen times as well. But thought I had previously heard some forum rule against posting negative statements in peoples' BST listings. So decided to just grin, bear it and say nothing.

Maybe we'll see old Honus in a real auction some day! ;)

Whoa... I'm having a deja vu moment here. I am with you, I typically bypass tables (and BST posts) without a price. I have a huge wantlist so there is always something else to spend my money on.

There are almost no rules in the BST areas, however, we don't want members making any comments in those threads unless they are nice in nature. The fewer rules the better. Caveat Emptor and always PM me or another moderator with anything that looks suspicious or out of line.

One of my fave BST pickups several years ago..

https://luckeycards.com/ruth2.jpg

I am afraid the card bubble has burst a little bit. I wonder is some sellers realize that.

This is almost as irritating as the people who run buy ads followed by PM your best price. If you are initiating a buy or sell ad, you need to have a price and not wasting my time.

I understand the rules, but I also don't think its unreasonable to put an asking price on a card your selling. When a person asks to make an offer, I always feel
like they are looking for the highest offer, and that's fine. I just don't know if this person is playing games, for all I know, I made the only offer, but keep telling me someone else went higher than me. I'm not saying that this happens, but I have NO way of knowing. I just don't bother with these posts and its not just here its lots of places. Just my 2 cents.

Some sellers will ask for offers and claim they don't know the value of the item but when you make an offer that might be on the low side, they suddenly know exactly what the item is worth and can quote past sales prices.

If you are not a haggler
 

How To Sell on BST Without Wasting Your Time

Price your item too low (by at least 50% is recommended)

Wait 2 minutes

If you don’t have five “I’ll take it”s, your price is too high.

Ha, was going to post same thing. It's just a game as others have mentioned. Basically saying "It's probably worth $1200, but it you want to offer me $3000, who am I to say no."

I know eBay has the same process in place to make an offer, but I don't waste any more time on any such listings on BST. Never go anywhere. If you want to sell something name your price.

very true....

I don't see it ?
 

..Maybe for pre-war only ? ...I was watching two '57 Brooks Robinson low end fillers' auctions , a PSA 2 and a PSA 3.5 and they both wound up way over $400......it's getting curiouser and curiouser out there.....I wonder if that $1400 from Dee Cee has something to do with the temporary insanity.....you can't go near any '50's HOF players right now......I'm even thinking of putting together a few dozen '50's Topps PSA 6's , 7's , and 8's to be consigned to that feller out in Oregon to be in on and part of the feeding frenzy , ....even commons in a PSA holder are just going up like rockets........it cannot possibly last , can it ?.......OMG the Dow just hit 35.....sheesh...

..

I honestly don't care what sellers do...but as 99% a buyer here, if there is no price, it's not for sale, from my point of view. I know the values of the cards I'm interested in and the last thing I want to do is offend someone who is looking for more than fair value...which to me saying "make me an offer" is the goal.


I have noticed our BST...of which I LOVE and am a regular buyer...has more and more offered items well above Ebay...when I first joined here there were many more "good deals". No fees, no taxes. Anyway, I have only had one deal here that went "south" (condition no where near described) and I just let it go as it wasn't that big of a deal...everything else has been outstanding. The fact Leon doesn't charge us an annual fee or something to partake is quite generous of him!

By burst a bit I am seeing things leveling out for sure...there was a period where post war anyway pricing was different daily...but last month or so there has been consistency from what I have seen...a new consistency...but nothing I'm looking at has gone backwards any...

That's what I have seeing as well in low grade prewar stuff.

The very high grade may be coming back to earth but I don't follow that stuff.

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Some items can't be easily priced so I see no problem accepting offers. If it bothers you, shop elsewhere.

Why would this bother anyone? When does a card ever sell for the asking price anyway?

I can say...Without a doubt, this is not true.

We can bitch about the bst threads, but I've had some sales and bought some cards. It works!

How? I've not seen this as too big an issue on BST, and I understand doing it on very rare items. But especially at shows, when I see 50/60s Topps cards all without prices, I just walk on to the next dealer. I know a lot of people who do the same. If you do this your losing potential customers. Doesn't make sense to me

I dont belive for one second n54 collectors aren't in tune with the market.


I've notice n54 buyers are notriously the cheapest, as many of my items sell for higher, even after fees, eventually on ebay!

It's not apples to apples. Memorabilia and cards are inherently different.

But I do agree with you that net54 Buyers tend to be let's say "thrifty".

That made me laugh….OBC too I would add in as Notoriously the cheapest.

I am the cheapest, hands down.

Another BST purchase... Personally I have seen some great cards and great deals there.


https://luckeycards.com/young2.jpg
.

Oh yes...If you're setting up tables at a show and you don't have items priced, then you're probably hurting yourself. I'm talking about one-off sales, which BST tends to be and which the OP was complaining about. I don't sell cards and what I do sell often doesn't have much, if any, sales history to go off of.

Net54 members are like PacMan Jones "Making it rain" in a strip joint compared to Facebook buyers, who are the "let me think about it and never get back to you" kings of the collecting jungle.

I'm a member of a few collecting groups on Facebook, but I don't see myself making a deal there. While the occasional BST deal goes bad here, at least the moderators are willing to step in. Facebook seems like the Wild West.

Gehrig/Ruth/Young?
 

This is labeled Gehrig/Ruth, but I think Cy Young is the older fellow in the middle.

In the pic below, Cy is sitting, far right.

Bubble has burst? Huh? What? When? The freaking cards that I want keep going up! :mad:

Putting a card (or anything else) up for sale without an asking price, just a note that you are taking offers, is really just seeing if anyone is a bigger fool than you are.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Not all have come back to Earth. There are always exceptions.

I think the item matters a lot. If I post a T206 common in a PSA 3 holder and ask for offers, that is kind of obnoxious since I can easily find the value.

However what if I was on the fence about selling this card (it's not actually for sale)? Pretty tough to put a price on it, and even if I was thinking of selling, I'd be conflicted about it. Someone would have to convince me.

I imagine that some of the time you see "make an offer" it's because the seller"

1. Doesn't know the value precisely
2. Doesn't want to leave $ on the table (and maybe they like the card and keeping it is very much on the table)
3. Doesn't want to annoy anyone by pulling a number out of the air and having people think it's too high.

When things are changing fairly quickly, I can see why someone might not put a price.

A few months ago a pack I considered selling was maybe 400 raw 600 graded.
Just checked, and now it's more line 700/4000...


With BST posts generally not time limited, I'm sure if I'd listed it at 400+ it would have sold a month later when that went from a high price to a low price.
Or, since I tend to not bump stuff, it would either be sitting unsold, or I'd end up selling it for very little when someone found the old listing.

Heck, I have shopped for even very stable stuff so seldom this past year that when I looked at the T206 prices they all seemed about double, even on lower grade cards.

Since when are there cut and dried rules for making a deal. Sometimes you have to be creative to get er done.

Build an anticipated discount into your asking price. Hagglers love to win in a negotiation.

Some one inquires about a card that you really don’t want to sell and asks for a price. Well, hell, everything is for sale in reality. “Make me an offer I cannot refuse.”

“What’s your best price?” from a buyer? Now this is a turn off. Sellers should avoid negotiating against themselves.

If you live in an “I’ll take it” world only, you should invest in an online marketing course.

So many other possibilities to consider.

Buy three, get the fourth free (and set the prices accordingly).

Etc etc etc

BST ,with few rules (thanks Leon), is a wonderful venue to experiment with creative marketing techniques. You will never appeal to all buyers, unless you give your merchandise away, and even then some buyers will demand free shipping.

Everyone is entitled to their preferences, but I guarantee this thread will not result in a consensus of opinion.

Bingo...We have a winner.

Hilarious...and (sadly) probably true.

Hahaha yes they will !! And then this….I only pay Goods and Services Well sir then you will have to few, buyer….I’ll pass.

I once got booted off a Facebook vintage basketball group, reason? I was told by the Admin you can’t have the buyers pay the fee….I said Wrong It’s my Card/My Rules….he went on to lecture about EBay fees sellers encounter ect, my reply this isn’t ebay it’s Facebook. Next step I’m booted, I just laughed.

THIS STATEMENT is something that we probably could come at least close to consensus on!

PM them an offer they cant refuse

THIS!!!

I have a price in mind, but I want to see if anyone will offer more than what I'm looking for...

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You say this as if it's wrong? Should people not be trying to get as much as they can?

This post proves to me it’s all about the money not the cards for many people here and elsewhere. Nothing is wrong with that, just as nothing is wrong with being in it just for the love of the cards.

I think this applies to the Covid vaccine thread in the watercooler section as well.

It can be about the cards when you start to sell. We'll see if your viewpoint changes.

I guess it annoys me a bit when someone does this, but its their card and they can do what they want.

I have done this a couple time as well. I have done it when thinking about selling a card and feeling out some interest. If I were to sell my 1910 WW WaJo PC this is absolutely the way I would go, there are 4 of them and they are tucked away in collections and have little/no public sales, my only price point is what I paid for it a few years ago.

Micromanaging is exhausting in general and people do not like to be told what to do...

No price and I pass. No judgement here. It's just the way I buy. I'm not into haggling. You either want to sell it or not.

Not true at all. Things are not necessarily for sale, but almost anything can be bought.

Oh my...I never envisioned this thread would get the number of views and replies that it has.

When looking through the BST forums the other day, I ran into half a dozen or so items on my post-war "want list." Perhaps it was the repetition...see card, want card, look for price of card, find no price. By the time I made it to the 1980-present BST forum, I was already a bit annoyed.

None of these were scarce cards, nor were they tremendously valuable. Think fifth year cards of mid-tier HOFers in EX or so. Just something fun to look forward to in the mail this week. I probably should have just gone on eBay and purchased a 195X Joe Shlabotnik. It certainly would have caused fewer waves. But no. Like I said, I made my way to the 1980-present BST.

Upon arriving, I saw a few common but cool items from the junk wax era. I checked out one of those listings. Guess what? No price (how much?) - no payment details (I can use G&S, right?) - no shipping info (who is paying to ship it...and from where?) - nothing. Posts like this used to be the exception around here. Lately, they're becoming more commonplace. For whatever reason, that rubbed me the wrong way. Straw that broke the camel's back, I suppose.

Anyway, I figured posting a quick mini-rant would help me to blow off steam. Most likely, a couple people would read it and then the thread would quickly drop off the front page. Interestingly, though, quite a few of you have weighed in on this. From a sociological standpoint, this thread has been fascinating to follow. Yogi was right. You can observe a lot by just watching.

I realize not everyone shares my point of view, and that's okay. I rather enjoy the vast difference of opinions here. It would be a pretty boring place if group-think set in. But damn, Net54 is a great place. Let's try not to treat it like Facebook or eBay.

Reminds me of the movie "Indecent Proposal" with Robert Redford, Demi Moore and Woody Harrelson. Demi was Woody's "T206 Wagner", and he experienced some big time seller's remorse.

I chatted up someone on eBay who I had bought something from, because he mentioned he had a bunch of other cards from the early 70's that he would sell to me, because he had no interest in them. There was no price or anything mentioned, but it started a conversation between us. That's how I see it here. Some people get outraged that prices aren't posted, so just move on. Not exactly what I would call a 'real' problem. But for others, it very well may lead to a conversation between a seller and a potential buyer, so it's all good.

The reason I brought up the eBay thing is because he sent me a bunch of photos and the cards were in decent shape, with a few HOF'ers present here and there - Sutton, Santo, Marichal, Williams - but there was no list of numbers or anything, and he wanted me to make an offer. Since there wasn't too much to go on, I had a number in mind, but I deferred, because as a buyer I wanted to see where he was at. So I told him he really had to tell me what price seemed fair to him. After a couple of pleasant back and forths (off of eBay, so don't tell anyone) and a few more pics, he gave me a number...which was probably only half of what I would have been willing to pay, so I jumped at it. In the end (haven't gotten the cards yet), the 'priceless' chat led to a better deal for me, but also for him, because he was happy with his price. Again, this applies to listings here in the B/S/T. Sometimes the seller will do better for himself and other times the buyer will think he got a steal. That's life.

Postscript: after the box of cards arrives, if I find that I really got a huge bargain out of this, I will gladly (and unasked for) send the seller additional funds, because he's a nice guy. If it turns out to be worse than what I thought? Tough luck for me.

I couldn’t agree with this more. Always willing to listen talk cards and possibly trade or negotiate.

True for me because I don't ask about things that aren't for sale and priced as such. Reminds me of the people who come to my garage sales and try to buy everything that's not out for sale. If I wanted to sell it it would be out for sale and priced. :)

However, if they offered you $300 for your "not for sale" rake, I suspect you'd sell it. ;)