ebay sellers and inflated prices

[He-Manis007]

Yeah, the market is just plain weird on eBay. My company no longer bothers with most average collectibles. We would have to get them at a HUGE discount... we're talking pennies on the dollar to even stand a hope in hell of making even retail amount of profit.

[Dice]

At one time I would have told you never buy a new golf club. You can always find the same club, brand new on Ebay for a sizable discount. These days however it's not so true (I'm assuming because of rising ebay fee's). I'm finding myself doing less and less purchasing of any goods on Ebay these days.

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

Benny is, as usual, absolutely correct. The consumers set the market. The best way to express displeasure is simply not to buy at inflated prices. With unsold inventory sitting around, sellers will eventually get the message and be more realistic in their pricing.

I just laugh at those inflated prices and move on.

[krosfyah]

Benny is, as usual, absolutely correct. The consumers set the market. The best way to express displeasure is simply not to buy at inflated prices. With unsold inventory sitting around, sellers will eventually get the message and be more realistic in their pricing.

hasn'
t happened yet with stactions or hot toys I think a lot of ebay sellers aren't like proper retailers, they don't think logically, they think "it's listed at this price so i must list mine there too!!" not realizing it's only SOLD at a fraction of that price.

[Megalodon]

You know what I hate Pre-sellers that mark it up 100% or more......

[diosoth]

Part of the trouble is Chinese sellers... they can afford to sell things for $2 and free shipping since, factoring in the exchange rate and how they pay almost nothing in postage costs(one sender sent me a registered full tracking airmail package for $3... the same thing from US to another country would be about $20 postage), they make a profit even at those prices. They can also afford to give refunds on broken or counterfeit stuff.

No one wants to buy the same from you for money plus first class domestic postage if they can get it overseas for a fraction. Cheap novelty goods, cheap electronics, and all that have no US seller market anymore.

[Dr Kain]

I've never seen a leech sell for $299, hell the last leech i saw sell was listed at $75 and that took a while to sell. but at least now there is a precedent set. $75 is a price people are willing to pay, not everyone but it's a price that's fair. I've seen hot toys batman begins go for $400 after a bidding war, but NEVER $800

But I don't know that because I can only go on based what is listed there on ebay at that exact moment.

[krosfyah]

But I don't know that because I can only go on based what is listed there on ebay at that exact moment.

I understand. I'm mainly talking about the auctions I've been watching because it's a constant thing.

[Phil.Pastel]

Benny is, as usual, absolutely correct. The consumers set the market. The best way to express displeasure is simply not to buy at inflated prices. With unsold inventory sitting around, sellers will eventually get the message and be more realistic in their pricing.

Doesn't really work that way with collectibles. There are people who pay what some of us consider to be shocking prices. Deluxe Slithe sells at $80 and once was bid up to $130+. I have little interest in getting him if I have to pay more than $30 and some people would not even be willing to pay that much for him.

You have a weird mix on Ebay of people who pay a lot and people who are trying to get stuff for nothing Would be a better place if there were more moderates and fewer radicals.

[Benedict Judas Hel]

hasn't happened yet with stactions or hot toys I think a lot of ebay sellers aren't like proper retailers, they don't think logically, they think "it's listed at this price so i must list mine there too!!" not realizing it's only SOLD at a fraction of that price.

Doesn't really work that way with collectibles. There are people who pay what some of us consider to be shocking prices. Deluxe Slithe sells at $80 and once was bid up to $130+. I have little interest in getting him if I have to pay more than $30 and some people would not even be willing to pay that much for him.

It just takes a little bit of patience. When I am looking for comic books, there are plenty of seller that have comics at insane Buy It Now Prices and I pass. It may take a while but I always find them later at prices I am willing to pay, the old fashion auction style where the buyer determines the price. I mean, after all, Ebay is a buyer's market.

[Phil.Pastel]

It just takes a little bit of patience. When I am looking for comic books, there are plenty of seller that have comics at insane Buy It Now Prices and I pass. It may take a while but I always find them later at prices I am willing to pay, the old fashion auction style where the buyer determines the price. I mean, after all, Ebay is a buyer's market.

I look for BIN auctions at moderate prices (somewhere in between the bidding frenzy and the scalper's price). If I cannot find one, I move on to buy something else. I normally don't return to that item for a long time. There are a million items to get, and I don't have time to search for them all every few weeks.

[Heeeere's Olesker!]

See that's the problem for me, Phil -- i.e., most know I'm not a collector and, hence, have no understanding of how it works. (In hindsight I probably should have kept my nose out of this thread since collecting isn't an area of expertise for me. I do like to learn, hence the reason I'm here. But it might have been more prudent for me to have kept my opinion to myself. )

I get what you're saying, though. Years ago, Kim wanted a replacement platter for a set of Villeroy & Boch china we have. As it was discontinued, she sought it out on eBay and got into a bidding war with another person who apparently needed it as a replacement piece as well. She ended up paying more than twice what the used piece would have cost when it was new.

On the other hand, perhaps that partially proves my point about the consumer setting the market. In this case it was a combination of supply and demand along with desire. If neither Kim nor the other bidder had wanted it, there wouldn't have been a market and it would have just sat there. But it's true that it is tough to stay away when you want something...whether it's a platter or a toy, so in that case I guess sellers sometimes have the upper hand.

Doesn't really work that way with collectibles. There are people who pay what some of us consider to be shocking prices. Deluxe Slithe sells at $80 and once was bid up to $130+. I have little interest in getting him if I have to pay more than $30 and some people would not even be willing to pay that much for him.

You have a weird mix on Ebay of people who pay a lot and people who are trying to get stuff for nothing Would be a better place if there were more moderates and fewer radicals.

[Phil.Pastel]

See that's the problem for me, Phil -- i.e., most know I'm not a collector and, hence, have no understanding of how it works. (In hindsight I probably should have kept my nose out of this thread since collecting isn't an area of expertise for me. I do like to learn, hence the reason I'm here. But it might have been more prudent for me to have kept my opinion to myself. )

I knew that, which is why I responded in kind. Not intended to make you look foolish, though. It's just that collectibles are quirky

I get what you're saying, though. Years ago, Kim wanted a replacement platter for a set of Villeroy & Boch china we have. As it was discontinued, she sought it out on eBay and got into a bidding war with another person who apparently needed it as a replacement piece as well. She ended up paying more than twice what the used piece would have cost when it was new.

I never get involved in bidding wars. It's a psychological phenomenon. There are a lot of sore losers in the world, and that leads them to pay a price they wouldn't be willing to pay if there wasn't a "war" going on

On the other hand, perhaps that partially proves my point about the consumer setting the market. In this case it was a combination of supply and demand along with desire. If neither Kim nor the other bidder had wanted it, there wouldn't have been a market and it would have just sat there. But it's true that it is tough to stay away when you want something...whether it's a platter or a toy, so in that case I guess sellers sometimes have the upper hand.

They don't always have the upper hand. There's a lot of different situations that can arise. If I see that MOTU stuff prices is getting out of hand, I just move to a different line where I might be able to get deals. The number of collectors is also finite. A huge influx of rare collectibles can leave a particular market overspent for a few weeks. Then one can swoop in and get great deals where they wouldn't normally be able to. I've even seen situations where buyers and myself seemed to "cooperate" somehow with each of us taking one item from a group and being satisfied with that and avoiding getting into a bidding war on all the items the seller had

[diosoth]

I have rules saying what I will pay for common retail items. I always thought $60 and up prices for Final Fantasy 7 were laughable since it had millions of copies available. Even with the game being on PSN and now Steam, used shops still try to sell that for a fortune.

I won't pay $100 for a Monster High doll. They retailed for 1/5 that price and now that Mattel is leaking out reissues I can't pay a high markup for a doll that might come back out within a month. we just saw that photo of Clawdeen indicating a reissue is planned. And frankly, I don't like Holt Hyde enough to pay more than retail for his doll.

[deltadod]

I canrelate I saw my #1 most wanted NON-Transformers itewm today on the "bay" this morning (I.E the Yelloow she-ra sword, If anyone's got one let me know.) listed at 75$! and a b.i.n at 150!! I could see if it was M.I.B but this isd just the sword and shield(with "light play wear" no less)

[Bonehead]

Ok, I know people can charge whatever they want, I haven't any problem with that, my problem well a peeve really is sellers who see an item listed at a price and then price their item at the same high price, but none of the items at that price MOVE! Is it ignorance? do sellers believe that a listed price on ebay (with NO activity) is the actual value of the item? Or are they waiting for buyers to get desperate enough to pay the price? I watch a lot of these auctions (a lot of times to remind me of future wants) and they NEVER sell. a few examples, Leech stactions listed at $299, Hot Toys Batman Begins listed at $799 and so forth.

While I agree with what you are saying, it's really just up to seller to sell their item for what they want. Do I think it's ludicrous? Of course but I just pass over them and don't buy from those sellers.

I don't mind paying for an item if that's the current market value but there will always be sellers charging stupid prices.

A lot of them seem to just use the "Buy-It-Now" feature for pricing and don't even set them up as traditional auctions anymore. Some may set it for both, but with the starting auction price only being slightly lower than the "Buy-It-Now" price, making it pointless to even bother with the auction if you are going to buy the item.

Sellers do that cause it costs less on ebay fees. Auction listings almost always cost less than BIN listings.

Prices are higher on ebay because of the high ebay, shipping, and Paypal fees.

The problem with doing the traditional auctions are the people that will snipe bid incredible amounts to troll and never pay or even respond to the sellers. It takes 37 days for ebay to credit your fees and crap. Why would I want to auction the item when I can list the BIN for people having to buy immediately? Or if they make an offer, chances are, they legitimately want to buy the item.

Agreed. Auction listings on ebay nowadays are just stupid and out of control. The fact that sellers can't leave negative feedback any more has made ebay full of nothing but non-paying bidders. There's no recourse any more for not paying on an auction. Ebay's punishments against non-paying bidders is a joke. Ebay needs to start leaving automatic Negative Feedback marks against non-paying bidders in their feedback but they won't. This is why I only list BIN listings with Immediate Payment nowadays.

I've never seen a leech sell for $299, hell the last leech i saw sell was listed at $75 and that took a while to sell. but at least now there is a precedent set. $75 is a price people are willing to pay, not everyone but it's a price that's fair. I've seen hot toys batman begins go for $400 after a bidding war, but NEVER $800

I've seen a Leech go as high as $150 but that was a few years ago before the MOTUC Leech was announced. Loose ones go for at least $50, so $75 to 90 seems average.


Hate to say this but I've seen that BB Batman go for MUCH more than $800. At one time it was fetching over $1,000. That wasn't just on ebay but on more than one 1/6 scale message board. I personally sold mine for $650 on an auction listing a few years ago. Luckily, it was before people started reporting problems with the figure.

I personally don't see why anyone would would even want that figure with all of the problems that the suit suffers from. I'm sure any sealed BB Batman is probably garbage from sitting in the box all of this time.

At $800, it's only roughly 4 times the retail price. That's not bad for a LE item. The Leech staction retails for more than 4 times it's retail price.

[krosfyah]

I never get involved in bidding wars. It's a psychological phenomenon. There are a lot of sore losers in the world, and that leads them to pay a price they wouldn't be willing to pay if there wasn't a "war" going on

This confounds me as well, esp when the exact same BIN items are listed and the bidding war goes over the BIN price.

[Megalodon]

This confounds me as well, esp when the exact same BIN items are listed and the bidding war goes over the BIN price.

Yea I wonder that?? It goes for MORE than the BIN??

Do you think the seller is shill bidding on their own stuff????

[Nekk-ra]

I just don't understand jacking up a figure's price through the roof and then having it sit there for months at a time. Ebay is supposed to be for SELLING things, yes?

Dr. Kain is correct when he says that there are people want who something for nothing; the flip side though is that there are people who want top dollar for anything they sell. I know shows like Antiques Roadshow, American Pickers, Toy Hunter, etc. and collector forums such as this get everyone in a tizzy, but something is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay you for it, period. And you don't get ANYTHING if you don't sell it (except Ebay fees ).

[diosoth]

I've always wondered about the fees.... people who leave their item listed for a year or more are probably losing so much in fees that is it even worth it? sellers have test shots of The Mask figures up, and have had them up for 6 years or more. No one's going to pay $1000 for a Pretorius prototype, not now, not ever. The released toys barely sell for anything. Customizers like to do amateur quality repaints and try to sell them for $500, and will leave them listed indefinitely. The only customizer I know of who sells his stuff for that much is a known shill bidder that buys his own stuff for net fame.

I have to think there is zero profit at relisting an item constantly... I know some items have a limited interest but if you've had it on eBay for 5 years and no one's biting then maybe your price is too high.

[Phil.Pastel]

Yea I wonder that?? It goes for MORE than the BIN??

Do you think the seller is shill bidding on their own stuff????

Nah, it's psychology at work. I have found that there is 98% of the times/always one person who cannot live the item. Therefore, no matter how much I bid, I end up losing. I have lost some auctions where I put up an unreasonable amount and didn't think there was even .1% probability of losing.

It's kind of like trying to drive faster to lose a tailgater. It doesn't work. They will just speed up right along with you until you're both going 200 miles per hour (because they don't want you to be faster and make them look slow). The right thing to do is to slam hard on the brakes for absolutely no reason whatsoever. That's what I do and they do not like it.

[Megalodon]

Nah, it's psychology at work. I have found that there is 98% of the times/always one person who cannot live the item. Therefore, no matter how much I bid, I end up losing. I have lost some auctions where I put up an unreasonable amount and didn't think there was even .1% probability of losing.

It's kind of like trying to drive faster to lose a tailgater. It doesn't work. They will just speed up right along with you until you're both going 200 miles per hour (because they don't want you to be faster and make them look slow). The right thing to do is to slam hard on the brakes for absolutely no reason whatsoever. That's what I do and they do not like it.

Or they retract the bid at the last second...... I've heard you can find out past the name (EX- re****) on E-Bay and actually see the bidder that would explain why the same person I think it bidding against me alot....

[diosoth]

The right thing to do is to slam hard on the brakes for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

That is an absolutely dangerous idea. If they're going fast enough you will end up with a wrecked car, or a casket.

The right thing to do with a tailgater is to slow down. Driving 40 MPH will bug them and they'll eventually pass you.

[Phil.Pastel]

That is an absolutely dangerous idea. If they're going fast enough you will end up with a wrecked car, or a casket.

The right thing to do with a tailgater is to slow down. Driving 40 MPH will bug them and they'll eventually pass you.

I got nothing to lose. I'm willing to risk it. If they are tailing you it's a dangerous situation regardless of what action you take. They can't pass you on single lane roads and I'm not comfortable with the fact that there is a bad driver behind me. I'm not worried about the guy in front of me, that's something I can control. The person behind me is the one that I am worried about.