Question about Ebay "Buy It Now or Best Offer" etiquette

[GoSoxBoSox]

Originally Posted by Doug

I'm not a dealer trying to make a profit so if I want to sell a card I normally just list it with the BIN set at whatever I paid for it so I can break even and take the guesswork out of the process. Pretty much the only time I use the best offer option is when I know I overpaid for a card and I'm trying to see if someone is willing to give me at least something close to what I have in it.

That explains most of my listings well, Doug. Unfortunately, the market is wayyyy down.

[iggyman]

Originally Posted by GoSoxBoSox

That explains most of my listings well, Doug. Unfortunately, the market is wayyyy down.

A little part of the reason why the "market is way down" might just be because buy-it-now's, best offers, or the straight "For Sale" sign do not really work for collectibles. At least, not if you are trying to quickly move cards while maximizing positive cash flow. Nothing gets the juices flowing bids going like an old fashion auction (starting at .99 cents with highest bidder being declared "the intercontinental champion"). Too bad the current eBay management doesn't see that.

Lovely Day...

[GoSoxBoSox]

I think some are a little unfair at judging peoples seemingly high prices. You have no idea why some prices are so high so you shouldn't assume it's about profit. In many cases prices that are x3-4 market value on eBay is strictly because the market value has changed drastically in the last 2 years.

For example, in December of 2008 I won an 1887 N175 Ezra Sutton in PSA 2MK condition in an eBay auction (not a BIN purchase).

I listed it on eBay about 6 months ago at $950 with an autodecline for anything less than $900. When you figure that I have to pay eBay and paypal fee's I would lose money at $900 if it sold. No big deal though. The highest bid I got was $525. So I bet in that case people must have thought my price was ridiculous. Was it? This same story can be true for any card listed on eBat. Not just the rare cards.

Most of my BINs are the same story. Not all of them, but many of them. The market is way down so many prices on eBay that seem high reflect the same issue. Plus, you need to sell a card for ~15% more than you bought it for just to break even and VCP doesn't show that.

The shame of it all is that anyone in this position on a card may not ever recoup their investment.