$OLD pet peeve

[MVSNYC]

Originally Posted by PhillipAbbott79

As a buyer for a card, that may potentially sell it at some point in the future, the last thing I want is someone using the sale price of the exact card I am selling(the price I paid for it) to be used as a negotiation tactic when trying to buy the card from me.

Removing the price I paid for a card is great. Gauging prices can be done in lots of other ways.

+1

To me, it's all about privacy. Once the transaction is complete, it's between buyer & seller. Wasn't a public auction, so the deal is considered private.

[quinnsryche]

Originally Posted by MVSNYC

+1

To me, it's all about privacy. Once the transaction is complete, it's between buyer & seller. Wasn't a public auction, so the deal is considered private.

Thank God a reasonable response! I've said this a million times and no one wants to listen. Everyone just wants free information so they can price their items accordingly. Do your homework (like the rest of us) and price your items based on your research.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by MVSNYC

+1

To me, it's all about privacy. Once the transaction is complete, it's between buyer & seller. Wasn't a public auction, so the deal is considered private.

But the listing was posted on a public forum. The original listing and asking price should remain just that. Public information. The deal that was made from that listing is obviously private.

This is about how I remember the discussion going last time. A few on both ends who don't really get the opposite point of view. And just as many in the middle who don't really care either way.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Don't be selfish and delete the prices. Keep em intact for the good of the community. Who cares if someone down the road sees what you paid for the card. Doesn't mean you have to let that figure into the negotiation when it's time to sell. And for those who just plain don't think it's their job to help educate their fellow hobbyists, well that's just selfish and not in the spirit of net54 BST

[PhillipAbbott79]

I believe that a person may be wiling to make one offer, that completely differs from another offer that they make, if they know what the buyer has paid for an item.

In a thin market it greatly affects the price.

Think about a card that may be really hard to get. Lets say that only 5 exist. The last time one sold was the exact card you are looking to buy. There are rumors and rumblings you hear through conversations with others, that the card may be worth 30k. You look up and find that the buyer bought it for 15k about 4 years ago. Long enough that you had some trouble finding the price but were able to find it.

Since the price is so subjective, because it doesn't sell often, do you offer him 20k knowing he paid 15k as to allow him to make a nice profit (enticing price just large enough to loosen the card out of his collection) and still leave room for you, having that inside knowledge that the card may now be worth 30k, hoping that he may not have kept up on it or know what you know?

Knowing the exact previous sale price of a card is a MAJOR advantage to the buyer in a negotiation. I have never asked anyone to take down the price, but I definitely am not going to advocate for someone to leave my buy prices up. Ever.

[pokerplyr80]

Most of the cards I own and offer up for sale were purchased from ebay or an auction. Anyone is free to do a little research to find out what I paid. Why should this site be so different? Transactions here are part public, in the listing, and part private, in the discussion and final sale price. It seems reasonable to me that the public part remain public.

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

Originally Posted by PhillipAbbott79

I believe that a person may be wiling to make one offer, that completely differs from another offer that they make, if they know what the buyer has paid for an item.

In a thin market it greatly affects the price.

Think about a card that may be really hard to get. Lets say that only 5 exist. The last time one sold was the exact card you are looking to buy. There are rumors and rumblings you hear through conversations with others, that the card may be worth 30k. You look up and find that the buyer bought it for 15k about 4 years ago. Long enough that you had some trouble finding the price but were able to find it.

Since the price is so subjective, because it doesn't sell often, do you offer him 20k knowing he paid 15k as to allow him to make a nice profit (enticing price just large enough to loosen the card out of his collection) and still leave room for you, having that inside knowledge that the card may now be worth 30k, hoping that he may not have kept up on it or know what you know?

Knowing the exact previous sale price of a card is a MAJOR advantage to the buyer in a negotiation. I have never asked anyone to take down the price, but I definitely am not going to advocate for someone to leave my buy prices up. Ever.

I understand your point but find it laughable that the seller in your scenario above would be at a disadvantage. A deal will be made or not regardless of the buyer knowing the price paid (which btw they usually do to Jesse's point above). It's up to the seller to negotiate his price based on what he thinks he can maximize from the market with knowledge that most buyers are trying to get the best deal. If the cards worth $30k who gives an Eff that I paid $15k? Totally irrelevant to the negotiation. I could have received the card from a long lost uncle Joe for free, does that mean I'm more susceptible to selling it for less than its worth? Maybe. But that's the buyer's job to find out. Going back and erasing asking prices is silly

[PhillipAbbott79]

Originally Posted by ajjohnsonsoxfan

I understand your point but find it laughable that the seller in your scenario above would be at a disadvantage. A deal will be made or not regardless of the buyer knowing the price paid (which btw they usually do to Jesse's point above). It's up to the seller to negotiate his price based on what he thinks he can maximize from the market with knowledge that most buyers are trying to get the best deal. If the cards worth $30k who gives an Eff that I paid $15k? Totally irrelevant to the negotiation. I could have received the card from a long lost uncle Joe for free, does that mean I'm more susceptible to selling it for less than its worth? Maybe. But that's the buyer's job to find out. Going back and erasing asking prices is silly

It is not laughable and it is not irrelevant. You could have gotten it from a cousin, but that is not the scenario we are dealing with. The entire thread is about a "BUY Price". being cataloged with an image of the card meaning you paid money for it, and it is documented.

On big cards, yea, sometimes you don't want to sit on the card forever. Sometimes you "HAVE" to move the card and get your money back. "Moving" the card at your price becomes harder when say 80 to 90 percent of the people that want the card know what you paid for it. To think it isn't relevant is ridiculous. The entire concept of pricing is based on previous sales. Lack of previous sales allow for a truly free market on the card( meaning don't base your price based on what others paid for it, base it on what it is worth to you). Humans have this ridiculous need to draw assimilation to make sense of something. It is programmed right into our brains.

Multiple potential buyers seeing the sale price in a highly volatile and subjective makes selling it hard. My claim here is not really subjective and open to interpretation. IT DOES MAKE IT HARDER. I have done it, have you?

Do you sell cards or just buy them? How common are the ones you are selling. Mid century Topps PSA 3's and 4's are we talking rare, super hard to find niche market cards in top grade. Cards that basically only sell at auction? Cards that have a fear about what they may bring, hence your buyers may back out and wait for it to go to auction kind of cards?

Your entire premise of leaving the prices up are solely so you know how to price a card. When I am wanting to make a profit, I don't want you to use my pricing to price my card. This isn't a hard concept to understand.

[orly57]

1. VCP gets paid to do exactly what you guys are trying to avoid: (gasp) tell the world how much you paid for a card.
2. I personally love having card prices (particularly on ultra-rare stuff) cataloged and listed, both as a buyer and a seller. So many deals go on behind the scenes in private sales with rare cards that vcp is often left in the dust. I know of cards that sold publicly at 5k and later sold for over 30k privately a year later. If I wanted to buy OR sell another example of that card, I think it is vital to know what it sold for privately.
3. If the guy you are selling the card to says "but you only paid X for it," he is just as likely to quote you the vcp anyway, so who cares?

[ajjohnsonsoxfan]

I think everyone understands your point. And yes I buy and sell as a hobbyist but am not a dealer which sounds like you might be. My point is that the community good from the knowledge gained by all should trump your fear of your buyer knowing a historical price offered