this ever happened to you with a vintage auction item?

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Posted By: dennis

we all know certain sellers have a reputation and their items sell for more than if we sell them. anyway here's my item. about 2 years ago i sold off my baseball stadium post cards on ebay. i had an ex+/nm yankee stadium postcard unmarked and undated it was from early in the stadiums existance. in my discription i guessed 1923.anyway mine sold for $15 or so dollars. a couple of months later henry yee sold the exact same postcard that had correspondance on the back and was postmarked 1923 in about vg- for about 20x what mine went for. did this ever happened to you?

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Posted By: Scott Elkins

almost nothing will surprise you (except when a seller lists several cards you are looking for on eBay - that's always a good surprise). One of the sruprises I love on eBay is when you have a Buy It Now - someone bids instead of using it, and your item sells for more than the Buy It Now. Then, on the other hand when you items isn't on eBay 10 minutes before someone Buys It Now - makes you think you asked too little for the item.

I think in your case, it was the difference in your description and the other seller's - he was able to list a specific date. Always remember if you are rather new to eBay or the area of what you are listing, before listing an item do a search in ALL catagories for similar items that have sold - look at the three or so that sold for the most and almost copy their heading word for word (almost not exactly). Also, list the in the same category or categories they did. You item should at least come close to what that seller received, unless there were just two people fighting for something they both wanted - one won theirs in that auction and now the other party doesn't have the high bidding competition.

Also, always list something close to what you have in it. And, if you make a profit no matter how small or large then you did well! If all of us started comparing our sales to others (like Mastronet) for particular items, we would all be sad. Bottom line - if you are happy with the price you received compared to what you paid for the item - you did well!

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Posted By: Yurg...

I sold a Colgan's Cobb to an unsavory dealer (all the savory ones were out of town) for about $150, and he sold it for $1,200. Guess it was a pretty nice Cobb...

But this is a collectpotr selling to a dealer (DON'T!), not one collector comparing his sale of an item with another dealer's sale of the same item.

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Posted By: hankron

My theory is that if I sell something for a profit and the buyer (especially a normal collector) sells it for another profit, that's a good thing. We should both be happy. I never saw how it was desirable to sell something for an over inflated price so that the collector loses big money down the road. Tough way to get repeat business.

Along the lines of Scott, I once had one of my little booklets for sale on eBay with a BIN of like $9 and, a shock to me as much as anyone else, the thing was eventually won for like $40. I told the winner that I couldn't sell it to him for $40 (trust me, it wasn't worth $40), and would only accept the BIN plus shipping. At first he thought I was trying to pull a fast one, until it sunk in that I was lowering the price.

While I like $$ and a good sale as much as everyone else, I suspect I am not in the minority when I say that I feel guilty if an item of mine sells for way too much.

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Posted By: hankron

I once sold a collection of news service photos to a collector. It was a nice collection with Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Walter Johnson, Buck Weaver, etc. He later told me he framed them and put them on the wall of his den. About two years later his wife had a baby, and the photos had to go as the den was now a baby room. He put the entire collection in one lot on eBay with the BIN being the exact price I sold it to him for. Looking over the photos for the first time in the two years, I thought "Hey, that's a pretty good price" and bought them all back for my sell price.

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Posted By: hankron

I get a kick when you sell a celebrity signed bank check for more than the original amount of the check (Obviously the current value is in the signature not the $ amount it was written out for).

I told my sister that I am such a marketing genius that I sold a $10 check for $40.

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Posted By: Trae R.

I enjoyed reading your posts Hank.

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Posted By: dan mckee

please seach prior posts on Henry yee here on this board.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I sold a PSA 7 Paul krause (football) rookie card that was returned to me because (so the buyer claimed) the mailman had broken the holder in transit. The envelope had a tire track on it. I relisted the card, which had sustained a crease across its middle, and got more for it than the original buyer paid.

Like much in life, it is all about timing.