Posted By:
Al C.risafulliBarry:
That's precisely why I feel the way I do about knowing the seller.
There are a handful of people in the hobby who sell or auction cards that I would consider to be friends. In a case like that, I don't want to do anything that might impact their livelihood, or their ability to get a decent price for their card.
And I also won't collude with a group of people to agree on a price beforehand. I'll only do it with one guy.
For example, when I was aggressively buying '38 Goudeys in higher grades, I had a friend who had a set that was, overall, virtually identical to mine. But he had some cards in lower grades, and so did I. So, if I had a given card in 6, and he had it in 3, and a 7 came along, I would back off - but he still had to bid high enough to win the card from everyone else.
At the same time, if we both had the card in 5, and a 7 came along, the card was fair game. Sometimes, I won it. Other times, he won it. And sometimes, it was won by someone else. Ultimately, we were both very happy with our sets (although he has since moved onto a different set, and I still chase after the cards like a knucklehead).
-Al
EDITED twice for clarity, although I still don't know that I'm any more clear.