eBay offer etiquette

[Exhibitman]

"3) Buyers> sellers all day long. One thing sellers tend to overlook ( to their
favor, of course) is that buyers set card values, NOT sellers."

I disagree. The phrase "seller's market" applies at certain times, like right now, where items in many categories are getting multiple offers and setting new price records. In that circumstance, the seller has the leverage, and proceeding on the premise that the buyer is always the superior party means you won't get the card. The same is true of a rare card: buyers do not set the value, sellers do. I am often approached to sell something I have that is an only known example, one of one, etc. My answer is to set a price and not haggle. if the buyer wants that price, fine, we have a deal. If not, they are free to go find it somewhere else. Which they cannot. 90% of the time I end up getting my price. 50% of the time I am depressed that I sold it, but that is another story altogether.

[hcv123]

Just about point 3 - "who is more important" or "sets the price" - This will vary from card to card dictated by the simple economic principles of supply and demand.

When Supply > demand - there is downward pressure on price and buyers are more in the drivers seat. When demand > supply there is upward pressure on price and sellers are more in the drivers seat. With regard to graded cards - it is grade/condition specific, not absolute quantity. So a graded 8 of a particular card could be in limited supply with upward price pressure, while the same card in a graded 5 could have greater supply and downward price pressure assuming demand for both is equal. You can sometimes see this visually in VCP.

A factor that hasn't been mentioned about taking transactions off Ebay is it puts both parties at greater risk. I support transactions on and off the platform (as mentioned can be better for both parties), but wouldn't do it with just any Ebay user.

I agree with Trent on point 1 - absolutely ridiculous for a seller to accept offers if they are unwilling to consider anything less than their BIN.

[ClementeFanOh]

Adam- Although I have most frequently bought/traded rather than sold cards, I have
no aversion to selling something when it a) has lost it's meaning in my collection or b)
has dramatically increased in value, thus paving my way to buy other things I want
more. So, I'm not averse to making money. I'm also very, very well aware that there
are many knowledgeable, kind and fair sellers- they get my business, and many use
this site

The reality is this, however. As much as I love cards, no one "needs" a card in the
way they "need" food, shelter, etc. Many sellers, on the other hand, "need" to sell.
Buyers control the purse strings, end of story. This doesn't mean that sellers are
somehow powerless- it merely means card values and sales, like any extravagant
collectible, start with the folks who want them (and who have the final say on whether
they will buy). Some sellers shy away from the reality of this statement, which doesn't
change it's ultimate accuracy. Many sellers are buyers themselves and understand the
reality. The ones who don't, eventually dig holes for themselves by employing pretzel
logic or "entitlement economics" while explaining their sales philosophy (you know, the
guy who buys a card for $1000 and insists he "has to get" $1500 to make it
worthwhile in a sale, or who expects a possible buyer to overpay for a certain card's
"potential", among many examples). I can smell that greed from a mile away, and
there is no clever oratory which will persuade me otherwise. Sadly, I am much more
likely to run into this type of seller on ebay, thus my preference to avoid it if possible.

Trent King

[Casey2296]

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[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by ClementeFanOh

As much as I love cards, no one "needs" a card in the way they "need" food, shelter, etc. Many sellers, on the other hand, "need" to sell. Buyers control the purse strings, end of story. This doesn't mean that sellers are somehow powerless- it merely means card values and sales, like any extravagant collectible, start with the folks who want them (and who have the final say on whether they will buy). Some sellers shy away from the reality of this statement, which doesn't change it's ultimate accuracy. Many sellers are buyers themselves and understand the reality. The ones who don't, eventually dig holes for themselves by employing pretzel logic or "entitlement economics" while explaining their sales philosophy (you know, the guy who buys a card for $1000 and insists he "has to get" $1500 to make it worthwhile in a sale, or who expects a possible buyer to overpay for a certain card's "potential", among many examples). I can smell that greed from a mile away, and there is no clever oratory which will persuade me otherwise. Sadly, I am much more likely to run into this type of seller on ebay, thus my preference to avoid it if possible.

Trent King

That's the first time I've ever been accused of being clever

I don't think we are saying truly different things. To be clear we are focusing on BIN behavior, not auctions. I think we can both agree auctions are the best way to allow a card to price via the market and that people who pester sellers to end active auctions are genuinely annoying and are doing a disservice to everyone. I just ignore those people entirely.

The core is seller "need" versus "want." Some sellers may need to sell to put bread on the table. Other sellers do not. Some seller do not actually want to sell at all. They list cards to avoid having to pay sales taxes on their purchase by classifying the item as inventory (run it once and then you have a record to prove it) or to appease a spouse who tells them they must try to sell (true story: a member here told me that is exactly what he does, which is why his asks are so high--he wants to keep his collection and his wife), so the cards are priced not to sell. I don't need to sell; thankfully, I have a day job that puts bread on the table. I want to sell sometimes to get rid of the weeds in my collection garden or because a card has gone up to a point where I think it makes sense to take a profit or because I was fortunate enough to obtain a collection and i want to turn it out. That last one is where auctions are useful. Post 'em up and let it rip.

i completely agree that no one needs a card, which is why I find it hard to understand a collector getting all bunged up over a seller asking too much for a card. Just move along, there is likely to be another one eventually, and the hunt will probably be more satisfying than the ending:

"After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true."



What I object to are the bottom-feeders on eBay, who I find far more annoying as the sellers who run card museums on eBay. I forgot to turn on the automatic reject on one of my Best Offer listings over the weekend. I was peppered with offers to buy the card at 10% of the asking price, which was itself set at about 90% of the most recent sales. One person even offered the same 10% offer multiple times. I have since activated the automatic rejection function.

I also have a bone to pick with self-righteous buyers who demand discounts on the equivalent of Babe Ruth and pitch a hissy fit when I say no. If I do not need to move the card, why should I ever discount Babe Ruth? I mean, it's Babe Ruth. He's as safe a long term bet as anything can be. I have never regretted not selling a Babe Ruth card. I have always regretted selling some of them. You want me to deal on Harold Baines, sure, I get that, and I usually start those as auctions with cheap openers but not on the Babe Ruths of the world.

[Brianruns10]

When I reach out to make offers on BINs, I will star off by saying something like, "That's a great card, and I hope you get for it what you are asking. But if after a while, you've not yet found a buy, I'd love to offer $XX.XX."

That way you're not implicitly insulting the seller by trying to low ball them, you're wishing them well, and offering an alternative, if they should consider revising their price. I've never had a negative reaction to this, and a few times I've made a deal.

[doug.goodman]

All's fair in love, war, and on ebay.

I make offers for amounts that I consider to be a fair price, with no regard for the asking price. If accepted, great. If countered, maybe. If rejected, no hard feelings. There is always going to be another one.

My offer acceptance is often set to a level that I might be willing to think about, often set to accept any amount, just because it's easy to ignore if I care to, and often I don't even have the offers turned on. It all varies from item to item, and sometimes I change them.

Many of my items might qualify as "museum pieces" since my prices are set on the high end, but in my defense, none of them have anything similar listed on ebay (or often any place on the interwebs).

I buy off ebay frequently.

I sell off ebay even more frequently.

Ebay doesn't care about me, so I spend minimal time caring about ebay.

Doug