WTF goes through the mind of an eBay seller?

[Zwackery]

Well, it looks as if I'm dipping into rant mode, but hopefully I have not gone completely ass over tea kettle into that yawning abyss...

 

This year on eBay, I've watched several items go for months and months with unrealistically high BINs (and some with the laughable Best Offer option) and fetch nary a sale. Then, when another copy of the item is sold in an open auction, and a fair market value is set, these sellers are extremely recalcitrant to adjust prices (maybe because, with one copy sold, their copy is now even more rare?).

 

When I contact these sellers to legitimately purchase their items through eBay for values set in previous open auction bidding, I am either greeted with silence or occasionally gifted with an response that borders on the incoherent.

 

Just to be straight, I am not side-dealing outside of eBay and I am not purposefully low-balling anyone. When I see a CIB game go for $200 repeatedly and a seller has one parked at a $400 BIN for 6 months, and I offer the seller $200 for an item, why turn down the sale? (Especially in this economy.) I know that people can sell their goods for what they think they are worth, but what makes some sellers cling to unrealistic values?

 

This might be a pointless question, and Crom knows it has probably been raised before, and maybe I'm just turned off to Atari collecting at the moment, but it just has been rolling around in the ol' brainpan lately.

[Rex Dart]

WTF goes through the mind of an eBay seller?

 

"Dur hur hur I'm gonna be rich!" and not much else.

[+thegoldenband]

It's a combination of egotism and greed, really. There's also the idea that if they keep putting high prices out there, then eventually that'll become the norm -- a kind of speculation mixed with market manipulation, you could call it.

[player 0ne]

greeed. most people would rather have nothing then just enough. you see plenty of store fronts sit empty in towns that desperately need business. its because they want to rent them for too much money. they would rather loose money to taxes and let the place fall apart than accept less than they THINK its worth. even if the place sits vacant forever. even if they are hungry and poor. they would rather loose it to the tax man than rent it cheap..

 

my father in law has a house he rents out. he wants $1000 a month for it. my friend offered him $600 a month CASH , with several months up front. 2 years ago. my in law would not accept the deal. he said he wanted $1000/mo. well, that was two years ago. no one has rented the place since. now, from lack of maintainance pipes have frozen, grass and weeds have taken over. things that would be ok if someone was living there are now falling apart. my friend didnt care about having to fix and maintain small things. my F.I.L. hasnt been able to do all the work cause we live too far away.

 

so which would have been better. $600/mo for 2 years, or $0, plus the place is falling apart. I tried to point this out to him and he said "im not giving this place away for free. i want $1000/mo. its a nice house. If i cant get $1000/mo ide rather it just sit here."

 

so there you have it. we cant pay the mortgage on the house we live in. we are gonna get kicked out, lose all the mortgage payments weve made, and have to move back into the rental. which needs alot of work now from sitting vacant. probably gonna lose alot of belonging, as they wont all fit in rental house. also will lose shop, and acres of property. all because he didnt want to rent the house for $400 less a month than he was asking.

 

oh, btw, he has to make mortgage payments on the rental as well, and has been making them for the last 2 years.

 

soooo, greed.. stupidity??

 

i would rather give something away than let it goto waste. i am in the minority.

[boxpressed]

I imagine that it has a lot to do with the seller having only a fraction of the knowledge of values that a regular AA user has. Maybe the seller did a search of completed auctions and used the costliest one as the benchmark, not knowing that there's a world of difference between two apparently similar 2600 consoles and set of games. I try not to be too bothered by these sellers, although I must admit that it's annoying to see their listings week in and week out.

[kevincal]

As a long time ebay buyer and seller, I can understand buyer's frustration with not getting certain items for the price they want. HOWEVER, you have to understand a lot of people (including myself) use ebay as a primary source of income. Over the years I have learned how and where to find good deals and how to "maximize my profits".

 

The truth is, auctioning stuff is far too risky. Usually when you auction something you have to have the starting bid rather low, and it's a gamble on how many people will bid. I got a lucky a few times as a seller with people getting into bidding wars, but most of the time I was disappointed with how low stuff sold for.

 

It got the point that I decided I will only sell items with a buy it now price and best offer option. The trick to being a successful seller on ebay is you have to have a large inventory. You price things at the upper end of value to start with (why not?) and what I do is if something doesn't sell in 1 month, I lower the price. I usually have about 300 items for sale in my ebay store, and I would say each item takes a few weeks to a month on average to sell.

 

It works out perfectly for me, cus I am a 1 man operation, so I can only handle so many packages per day. I sell 2-3 items a day on average, some days 5-6, some days 0-1.

 

Now, I think a lot of ebay buyers that think all ebay sellers are scum, dont have enough experience. Most of em never have sold anything on ebay. It does take quite a bit of effort to sell on ebay and do it the right way. And of course as a buyer you are always looking for the best deal, but it's funny how a lot of buyers cant put themselves in the sellers shoes, as the seller is also looking for the best deal, sell stuff for as much as they can get. Why the heck not? lol.

 

Now I realize a lot of sellers are clueless and price things way too high, and some sellers who use the best offer option dont use it correctly. For instance say a seller is asking 400 for something, and someone offers them 350 and they counter offer with 390. that is greedy and dumb. Me personally I am very fair with my best offer system. Basically I am constantly checking ebay current and completed listings to see the prices things are actually selling for.

 

And boy as much flack and sellers get, a lot of buyers are HORRIBLE. They treat a normal guy like me, like I am some big corporation who should cater to their every need. And then there are the lowballers. For example, I will ask $95 total for a jaguar system set with games in clean working tested condition etc, I get offers of like $40-50 total, thats with shipping included. happens ALL the time. and I make fair counter offers all the time but a lot of times never hear back. the point is, everyone buyers and sellers are looking for the best deal.

 

so you buyers looking for great deals, dont get your panties in a bunch when a seller refuses to give you a good or great deal. because in reality they are doing the same thing you are, looking for the best deal. Eventually the right buyer comes along and a deal is done where both buyer and seller are happy.

 

so give us ebay sellers a break we are buyers too.

 

And just remember, a lot of ebay sellers these days need the income for bills and food. to live. not so much greed as it is necessity to maximize profits. Its pretty much impossible to get rich off ebay. also remember that we are doing you the buyer a service by delivering your item to your mailbox. its SO easy to buy stuff, its A LOT harder to sell and ship stuff.

Edited October 27, 2011 by kevincal

[the.golden.ax]

I can't sell stuff at all on eBay. People DON'T even try to make offers anymore. When I try to buy, like Zwak, they act like buyers are a dime a dozen... and they THINK they will eventually get their asking price. The concept of moving product as quickly as possible is all gone. The buyers are not buying, and the sellers are not selling.

 

AX

[kevincal]

it has become harder and harder to sell on ebay lately cus of the horrible economy. A lot of sellers bought a lot of stuff over the months and years and expect to get a decent return or atleast break even, so many are reluctant to dip below a certain price for a certain item. If anyone is to blame its the government for screwing us all over!

 

Also of course ebay itself is the greedy monster with their killer fees and their butt buddy paypal having a monopoly on everything. a lot of sellers mindset is "im getting screwed over by ebay/paypal, so i have to get as much money as possible for the stuff I sell" and that means they expect to sell stuff and too high of prices.

 

But ya, times are frustrating these days, a lot of people are in trouble finincially, its tough out there for everyone, except the 1%ers millionaires and billionairs.

 

that makes me wonder, how many 1%ers are on Atari Age? I bet 2-3 at most.

Edited October 27, 2011 by kevincal

[VertigoProcess]

I just laugh at these sellers if they want to site o n product for years then that's their choice to make... when I move product if it doesn't go at a price after a week I lower it little by little until it moves... unless I paid to much for it then ill leave it high for awhile just so I don't lose money... I do think some of these people bought stuff in the wild without knowing market price until after they get home to list it and are to stubborn to accept the fact that they f ed up and just take the lose...

[everhart]

Some people are only willing to sell if they get top dollar. I learned a long time ago that you can not motivate an unmotivated seller.

[kevincal]

The other thing is, if you have an ebay store it is very cheap to list stuff over and over until it sells ( 5 cents to 20 cents a month per auction no matter how much money you are asking).

 

I can list something on ebay for BIN 10,000 and it would only cost me 20 cents a month heh.

[VertigoProcess]

The other thing is, if you have an ebay store it is very cheap to list stuff over and over until it sells ( 5 cents to 20 cents a month per auction no matter how much money you are asking).

 

I can list something on ebay for BIN 10,000 and it would only cost me 20 cents a month heh.

 

50 free listings a month now too... love that part... although I run out like after a week and a half...

[kevincal]

oh ya forgot about that.

[Dino]

I too have tried your tact a few times. Nowadays I don't even bother. I'd just try and be the highest bidder on one of the ones that is listed with a low starting price and NR. I'm convinced that socially inept people are the ones finding these rare and rarish items.

 

BTW, I think I know some of the sellers you are referring to

[AtariLeaf]

I hate how this insanity spills over into real life - be it thrift stores, game stores, yard sales, etc - everyone uses these absurd BIN's as justification for their prices.

[Austin]

BTW, I think I know some of the sellers you are referring to

 

Haha, yeah, one of them even posted in this thread.

Edited October 28, 2011 by Austin

[amiman99]

Some people think that if most BINs are high then that item MUST be worth that much and set the price the same. when I sale my stuff on Ebay, I do reaserch on pricing, sometimes I don't even bother selling seeing how low the item sells for.

Once I find motivated seller, which prices stuff at or below ebay market, I'll buy it from him.

I use Best Offer, usually I don't bite on counter offers, my offer is already fair.

 

@player 0ne

There is a house for sale for the past 2 years in my area, almost near my old house, looks like seller wont budge on price.

When I was selling mine at the same time, we priced it at market value, but it did not go, we had some viewings, but no offers

I just looked around and decided that I don't want to maintain the house anymore (I don't have time), way too much hassle. I lowered the price by 15% plus other incentives, mine house sold, other still for sale till now.

It's a buyer market.

[amiman99]

I hate how this insanity spills over into real life - be it thrift stores, game stores, yard sales, etc - everyone uses these absurd BIN's as justification for their prices.

Goodwill uses Ebay for pricing.

I saw clerks in few Pawn Shops looking at Ebay and Amazon for pricing the games , I don't buy from them. I buy from those that post "All games are $10"

[VertigoProcess]

If im in a hurry to find a price (like if im standing in front of the item trying to decide if its worth buying) then I do buy it now price lowest first ... but if im sitting at home pricing things I do auctions time ending soonish and try to find one that's ending within a few hours... seems to be the best way...

[Atari_Bill]

BTW, I think I know some of the sellers you are referring to

 

Haha, yeah, one of them even posted in this thread.

 

Yeah, there are about 5 folks that are regular sellers on ebay that when I see their names, I simply move on. They will often have items that I have a lot of interest in, but why bother wasting my time looking at them when their pricing is what it is....and yes I believe at least one is a member here.

[pangasinan]

Why ? Because sometimes it pays off.

WITH EBAY now doing limited free listings,it doesn't matter if a item doesn't sell.It don't cost you anything to list,but if it sells then great.

What I don't understand is why people get their panties in a knot over high prices.I see sellers in Australia all the time (one in particular) who have high prices but I don't let it bother me,but some people just can't handle it.

Read again what Kevincal wrote,he has nailed it.

[Andre81]

Two sellers have listed a PC game I'd like to buy for $49.95 since over 1 year. One of them doesn't take offers (asked) and the other one send me a counteroffer of $42.95. The game isn't even worth the $25 I've offered him. I also wrote him 6 month ago and also now and all he does is sending a ridiculous counteroffer.

 

But some sellers are ok to deal with. Someone listed ST games for $15-$25 each. Bought 20 from him for $10 each. But unfortunately that's the exception. Usually you have guys like Gary who is selling ST games here in the marketplace. Poor attitude and ridiculous prices.

[Dino]

Why ? Because sometimes it pays off.

WITH EBAY now doing limited free listings,it doesn't matter if a item doesn't sell.It don't cost you anything to list,but if it sells then great.

What I don't understand is why people get their panties in a knot over high prices.I see sellers in Australia all the time (one in particular) who have high prices but I don't let it bother me,but some people just can't handle it.

Read again what Kevincal wrote,he has nailed it.

 

Actually, the gist of this thread was nothing to do with listing high, and I dont think he is disapproving of it. Zwackery's point was that if a seller has an item listed at way above market for a very long time, why won't the seller wake up and smell the roses and accept a reasonable offer. If it sells to a noob for a ridiculously high price, well then more power to the seller, but when the item sits there for years without moving and no noobs are biting, it doesn't make sense that the seller doesn't just accept a more reasonable offer and get it out of inventory.

[pangasinan]

Why ? Because sometimes it pays off.

WITH EBAY now doing limited free listings,it doesn't matter if a item doesn't sell.It don't cost you anything to list,but if it sells then great.

What I don't understand is why people get their panties in a knot over high prices.I see sellers in Australia all the time (one in particular) who have high prices but I don't let it bother me,but some people just can't handle it.

Read again what Kevincal wrote,he has nailed it.

 

Actually, the gist of this thread was nothing to do with listing high, and I dont think he is disapproving of it. Zwackery's point was that if a seller has an item listed at way above market for a very long time, why won't the seller wake up and smell the roses and accept a reasonable offer. If it sells to a noob for a ridiculously high price, well then more power to the seller, but when the item sits there for years without moving and no noobs are biting, it doesn't make sense that the seller doesn't just accept a more reasonable offer and get it out of inventory.

YEP I understood the gist of the thread,if you read my 1st 2 sentences you will see I have addressed his concern.

[Schizophretard]

I hate how this insanity spills over into real life - be it thrift stores, game stores, yard sales, etc - everyone uses these absurd BIN's as justification for their prices.

 

I went to a Half Price Books and found Atari games for cheap. As the guy was letting me look at them I explained that it was a bad idea to put the price tags over the labels because there are people that collect label variations or just want good looking carts and they will have to use hair dryers to get them off. I also explained how the same game could have different values based on the label variation. He was very nice and very interested. He asked where he can look these things up and I told him to start here.

 

On the way out I grabbed a map and then went to another Half Price Books. It was the opposite. The games were expensive and the pricing was backwards. For an example, the most expensive game was Pacman. I think it was $16. I explained that the games are too expensive and the prices don't make any sense. He explained that they researched the values online. I didn't even have to ask which site they used for their "research".