Question for EBay sellers! Does this ever work???

novakjr · #1 03-23-2012, 09:48 AM

Just a few questions. Did the original listings have a BIN? And do the new(higher) listings have one?

If yes to both. I might suspect that the original listings are the prices the seller was kinda firm on, and rather than let it keep sitting, they're playing some mind games, by upping the ante with a higher price but with a BIN option, in hopes that someone will make an offer based on percentages of that high BIN. This will hopefully bring them somewhere near their original asking price, while allowing the buyer to think he's getting a better deal(based on the percentages).

Now, I'm not saying that this is a plan that will work, but theoretically it makes some sense..

The one thing I never understood was when a card is in a straight auction, and doesn't sell. Then the seller relists it as a straight BIN for nearly double the original starting bid.. But then again, I've missed a few auctions on cards that I wanted that didn't sell, only to see them get relisted and suddenly sell for ridiculously high prices.. Timing is everything, I guess.

Vegas-guy · #2 03-23-2012, 09:53 AM

David,

The ones I'm talking about are all BIN only! No auction and No best offer? Straight BIN at one price then re-listed with a straight BIN at a higher price?

Quote:

Originally Posted by novakjr

Just a few questions. Did the original listings have a BIN? And do the new(higher) listings have one?

If yes to both. I might suspect that the original listings are the prices the seller was kinda firm on, and rather than let it keep sitting, they're playing some mind games, by upping the ante with a higher price but with a BIN option, in hopes that someone will make an offer based on percentages of that high BIN. This will hopefully bring them somewhere near their original asking price, while allowing the buyer to think he's getting a better deal(based on the percentages).

Now, I'm not saying that this is a plan that will work, but theoretically it makes some sense..

The one thing I never understood was when a card is in a straight auction, and doesn't sell. Then the seller relists it as a straight BIN for nearly double the original starting bid.. But then again, I've missed a few auctions on cards that I wanted that didn't sell, only to see them get relisted and suddenly sell for ridiculously high prices.. Timing is everything, I guess.

BleedinBlue · #3 03-23-2012, 10:07 AM

Sounds like the 707sportscards model. Levi loves to hear you only need a couple of cards to finish a set because he has the cards you need and is more than willing to wait until somebody is ready to pay his extortionist prices.

BleedinBlue · #4 03-23-2012, 10:16 AM

I also love the clueless seller who lists their cards far above many other examples in similar grade. Right now there are several t206 tinker bat on cards listed on eBay with straight BIN prices. All cards are in sgc 40. BIN prices are $160, $145 and $225. They've been sitting there for months with no takers. This week a fourth card shows up with a BIN of $400. SGC Authentic with paper loss on back. Seriously? SGC also mislabelled it as the BAT OFF version. Maybe he hopes to make money on the labeling error. How much better than the other three can the card be that somebody would pull the trigger on that one? I also love to see Levi's PSA 1 sitting there at $155 and another PSA 1 at $150. All these are common backs.

36GoudeyMan · #5 03-23-2012, 10:44 AM

I don't post that much, but when I do, its usually about this topic. Card sellers are typically not true businessmen. They do not follow the rules of the road for retailers of goods or services. They do not need to turn inventory; they are not driven by market forces; this is not their sole source of income (usually).

We all have stories of seeing the same cards on eBay at BINs or opening bids that never ever EVER move. Suggest to ne of them that a another PSA 5 of X card sold for $250, and that their BIN price of $450 seemed high, and you get blowback of how much better their PSA 5 is than the one that sold, etc., etc. I can point to a series of sale of a key 1941 card, yet there it is in a BIN at hundreds of dollars (40%) higher than the last VCP reported sale. I offered essentially 10% more than the lat couple of sales, and was rebuffed.

Sellers who hold out for ridiculous prices are log-jamming the free flow of inventory in the marketplace, and skewing analyses of market prices.

Individual or small sellers are not immune. I needed a key common from a 1941 set, which Memory Lane had in PSA 7, at a ridiculous price. I made offers and figured out that their discount on BINs was bout 15%. Even at 15%, it was 20% higher than VCP reported sales range, top end. I wind up with the same card, in a PSA 8 holder, at an auction(not eBay), and even with the premium and handling an shipping, it was 12 of what Memory Lane's "discount" would have cost me.

I get the idea of holding out for your price when you don't need to sell the card for a real business purpose, like paying off a business line of credit, or turning your inventory to keep your customers interested, but immovable pricing that persists fro years is just ridiculous.

drc · #6 03-23-2012, 12:19 PM

At sale, when I want something to sell asap I'll have a lower price. Then if it isn't sold I raise it to the normal price.

In auction, unsold items can sometimes sell for more after they're relisted at the same or lower minimum bids. So some of the pricing goofiness is due to buyers.

When I was a kid there was a rich man in the neighborhood who had years before invented a complicated computer meteorological system used by private companies. When he invented it he offered it for sale for $2,000 (made up number) but there were to takers, so he had a marketing expert advise him. The marketing advisor said the problem was the sales price was too low. At $2,000, companies will assume it was no good. So the guy raised the sales price to $15,000 and they sold.

As long as I'm on the somewhat off topic invention story. Another neighbor became wealthy as he invented Warfarin, which some of you may have heard of. Until recently and for decades Warfarin was the best selling anticoagulant in the world, used in hospitals for heart attacks, heart valves, blood clots, etc. The funny thing is it's initial use was as a pesticide-- the substance would make the rats and mice bleed to death. It wasn't until later that it's noble human medicinal uses were discovered. But he made money both ways.

pgellis · #7 03-23-2012, 12:32 PM

This sounds like a stupid question, but is it the same seller each time?

I was bidding on a HOF T206 card a couple of weeks ago and thought it went for $50 - $100 too much, now this past week someone else has it on eBay with a BIN of an additional $100 added on.

The card sold for I believe $350 and now it is on BIN for $450.......2 different sellers. Obviously the buyer thinks he can make a quick $100 on his purchase.....but not so far.

zljones · #8 03-23-2012, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 36GoudeyMan

I don't post that much, but when I do, its usually about this topic. Card sellers are typically not true businessmen. They do not follow the rules of the road for retailers of goods or services. They do not need to turn inventory; they are not driven by market forces; this is not their sole source of income (usually).

Sellers who hold out for ridiculous prices are log-jamming the free flow of inventory in the marketplace, and skewing analyses of market prices.

I get the idea of holding out for your price when you don't need to sell the card for a real business purpose, like paying off a business line of credit, or turning your inventory to keep your customers interested, but immovable pricing that persists fro years is just ridiculous.

Amen to that brother! And what DRC says pricing it a little high is ok. But way over the value is rediculous. Some sellers also do not price based upon rarity. A 10% markup for a easy to find card is absurd, but a 10% markup for a card from the 19th century is reasonable enough, maybe even 15% can be done. I think these seller do not follow the market in detail.

BleedinBlue · #9 03-23-2012, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BleedinBlue

I also love the clueless seller who lists their cards far above many other examples in similar grade. Right now there are several t206 tinker bat on cards listed on eBay with straight BIN prices. All cards are in sgc 40. BIN prices are $160, $145 and $225. They've been sitting there for months with no takers. This week a fourth card shows up with a BIN of $400. SGC Authentic with paper loss on back. Seriously? SGC also mislabelled it as the BAT OFF version. Maybe he hopes to make money on the labeling error. How much better than the other three can the card be that somebody would pull the trigger on that one? I also love to see Levi's PSA 1 sitting there at $155 and another PSA 1 at $150. All these are common backs.

Burbank sportscards just upped the ante by listing a GAI 2.5 Tinker Bat On for $488.60 and a GAI 4 for over $800.

Ridiculous

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