A little to common apparently

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Steelers79sbc

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I have to ask, why does it appear as though there are VERY few high end deals or value deals occurring here. Do they happen in private, so everyone is not sending a barrage of messages to those that are well off or able, or are they that far and few. I know it's one thing to save a few bucks on pricing and shipping but when a card sells for a set rate and there are plenty of sales to prove it, why do people still feel that it should sell way lower then the norm?

I don't mind at all cutting a deal for a collector but for those who are just looking to flip, maybe, you should lower your anticipated margins for resale or perhaps bust some of your own sealed boxes at these prices and see how fast you blowout cards and how long you hold on to them until you have no choice but to loose your shirt on a sale.

I can't count the amount of messages about pricing and non reply's once pricing is given (the least they could do out of pure courtesy, after all I took the time to reply to your inquiry)

Obviously I am missing something here in the viscous circle of the hobby they call hockey collecting. All that seems to be happening is people are just busting for the big hit to flip and discard the rest.

Don't get me wrong I love a good "deal" too, just like the rest, but be reasonable especially when there is proof coming out of the wazooo lol.

If we continue to low ball these cards that cost MORE and MORE (less quantity as well lets not forget) every release we are all hooped in the long run. Look at The Cup and NT, sure big hype upon release.... few cases sold, but now you can't even get half of your money back (if your lucky or you hit a pc card) of the cost of the box with the cards you get. How is this even remotely acceptable? We keep encouraging them to raise the prices because they keep selling like cray upon release then die off. :|:| :| It's a loose loose for everyone involved except the manufacturers and distributors!!!

This is not meant to demoralize,hurt,embarrass or single out ANYONE on here. all comments are welcome.
 
I find a lot of sellers are expecting to sell here, or on other boards at, or above ebay completed pricing. As someone who purchases nothing but autograph singles why would I want to pay more for something on a trade board, that I can buy cheaper elsewhere?

As for pricing inquiries, maybe if sellers posted prices in the first place, sales would be much better? Nothing makes me back click off a sales thread than no prices, and no scans. 99% of the time I don't even bother asking. As a buyer, why should I look up prices for the seller to make an offer? People are lazy, period. You want them to buy your stuff, make an effort to at least list a starting price. Not all will agree with what I just posted, but that is how I look at things. Your stuff, you set the price. If it's fair, I will buy it.

Another thing that burns my arse is taking the time to set up a sales thread, research going rates on your stuff, and setting the price a little lower, only to have someone ask what your lowest price is on that item without even an offer. Why would a seller want to lowball their own fair prices, without even an offer, or counter? It works both ways, there has to be a give, and a take on both ends to make a deal. I don't enjoy the negotiating part of the hobby that much, if not at all. If a card is priced properly, I'll buy it, if not I move on.

If you get a chance to deal with guys like Craig2, you'll see how it really should be done. I don't ever remember asking for a lower price on stuff I've bought from him. Didn't have to, his stuff was priced more than fair. So many guys like him here. malks9 is another I enjoy buying from.

Having said all that, I don't bust much wax anymore, as I know it's mostly a waste of money. If people want to do that, not my business, but I won't feel sorry for them, and overpay for their addiction on their pulls.
 
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fair enough, I don't price my stuff as I have been taught if you give the milk why do they need the cow, create some interest with what you have and then those who are interested will inquire. Nt saying this is the only way to do it but find it does create interest. Like you said too though if you put a price down then you go through the whole back and forth of why, how and why not. It's a tough spot to be in most of the time.
 
Steelers79sbc said:
fair enough, I don't price my stuff as I have been taught if you give the milk why do they need the cow, create some interest with what you have and then those who are interested will inquire. Nt saying this is the only way to do it but find it does create interest. Like you said too though if you put a price down then you go through the whole back and forth of why, how and why not. It's a tough spot to be in most of the time.
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The way I look at it as a seller, is I try to price them at ebay low pricing. Sometimes you can't do that for lack of info, so I take a guess at it, or I will just list it at what I paid for it, hoping to break even, which sometimes may end up being higher than actual current values, if it has been a while since you actually bought it.

If stuff doesn't sell, then either there is no interest in that stuff, or it's too high. It's up to the seller to adjust, or in my case I will just keep it, rather than lose a whole bunch on it.

One of the biggest issues for me is a seller from the US who is higher than ebay pricing, plus then the shipping is $8 on a card. I understand what it costs to ship to Canada, but that doesn't mean I'm okay with it. I saw a Dylan Larkin YG for sale on a board yesterday for $30 US, plus $8US shipping. Not that exciting at that price. I can remember not so long ago when the tables were turned, and I use to feel bad for US buyers having to pay way more shipping than we did here. I use to drop my prices a couple, or few bucks to offset things for them, but I've rarely seen that now from any US sellers. I just avoid sales from them now, unless I can buy multiple items to make it worthwhile. I just can't justify paying $18US to add a $10 auto to my collection. :eek:

As for lack of highend deals you mentioned in your first post, I don't know why? If I had to speculate, going by my own personal situation, I would have to say there are not a lot of people that can actually afford to buy cards from a $500 pack of cards. I know I can't right now, so I just don't bother with it. That is another reason (of many), that I stopped going to The Expo twice a year. I was sick of almost every dealer trying to sell their highend Cup cards, and didn't have a lot of the stuff I collect in their showcase. Just brand new, shiny high end stuff. It doesn't help matters that most of them want top dollar for their stuff when we can buy it for 20-30% online, for example.

I'm almost always looking to add to my collection, but not at a price that I have to contribute paying for a rippers addiction, or for their table at the show. It also doesn't help that I have hardly no interest at all in the players of today. Sure I collect a few guys, but my money goes to HOF players, who have actually accomplished something in the NHL. Sure Domi, Mcdavid, Eichel, Larkin etc may be very good young players, but to pay top dollar for them now, when they have done zero in the league doesn't appeal to me at all. To each their own, as we say.
 
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Couldn't agree more on the shipping. I had a seller tell me his shipping is $6 (for a $1.80 package) because he has employees to pay and they waste their time going to the post office to deliver them lol. I still bought the card because it was the only one I had seen in a long time and wasn't going to miss out on it till next time. Never buying from him again.
 
Problem is people over value average players they sell and under value the high end stuff they want to buy. I see it here, I see it on other forums, and a lot of the times on eBay. Too many guys think they are hustlers. Let them feel that way and they sit on the same cards on eBay or in sell buckets for YEARS. I've seen some of my cards sell low and almost immediately try to be re sold for quadruple what I sold it at. It's laughable anymore.

Avoid the hassle and don't bother wasting time on the hustlers.

As for shipping I know I can send at least 4 cards to Canada and the postage is always $7.10 for first class. I usually charge $8 to cover my bubble mailer.

Edit: totally agree with the no prices listed. Instant turn off from post.
 
Leafsfan1967 said:
As for pricing inquiries, maybe if sellers posted prices in the first place, sales would be much better? Nothing makes me back click off a sales thread than no prices, and no scans. 99% of the time I don't even bother asking. As a buyer, why should I look up prices for the seller to make an offer? People are lazy, period. You want them to buy your stuff, make an effort to at least list a starting price.
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This. Nothing drives potential customers away more than no prices listed. Can you imagine going into a store and finding no prices on the merchandise? Good luck with that sale. They're your cards.....list your price. As a potential buyer no prices means I have to email the seller asking what they are asking, then as was pointed out, if Im being polite I have to send another email thanking you for getting back to me. Save us both some time and just list prices.......

Besides laziness, I think some of these folks hope Elvis is going to show up and offer them $500 for a $5 card. :crazy: :|
 
Great thread. A lot of fair points and comments from the perspective of both buyers and sellers. As a seller right now, it does take a long time pricing cards out based on sale value and it does irk me sometimes to get a few "what is your best on XYZ". I dont mind responding to these but without an offer on the table it is just poor form. As for pricing above ebay, I am all for it when dealing with rare cards that may have been plentiful a while ago but are now scarce / nicer patch quality / auto quality / and over all rarity. After all, these cards will rightly command a premium. Not to mention cards of players who originally sold for less but then took a jump when the player heated up. It bugs me when people say "well this card sold for $30 last month" and expect to pay that much when in reality it now goes for $60. If there is a range, then a reasonable medium should be struck.
 
I will throw my 2 cents in on this one. I think there are alot of people that either low ball to get a good deal on here so they can flip, or are out of touch with the market. My example is the McDavid Exclusives that I pulled a few weeks ago. I posted it on here for a loose $3000. I was told that I was crazy and that $1500 was the most I would get for that card. I said screw it, and put it on ebay. I ended up taking at $2500 best offer from a guy in Edmonton. Since then, they are consistently closing for more than $3000. I was happy with $2500 so I don't really care about that, but just the fact that I had so many people on here saying it was worth way less, makes it hard to deal on here. I thought with such a high end card, that someone on here would be a McDavid collector, or know someone who was.
 
slaves13

my point exactly, I think there is WAY to much low balling going on here and makes it very difficult to enjoy the hobby. There is nothing wrong with trying to get a "deal" but trying to rob someone blind is another story.

I feel the easiest solution to this is to create high end section for those that see or are aware of the value instead of diminishing the value be it trade or sale or a mix of both.
 
There will always be lowballer in this hobby, I just thank them for their offer and move on. No point getting upset about it, I just choose not to deal with those people. If I put up a card for sale and I do not set a price that is on me and I should not be offended by any offers, if I put a price I have in mind that is realistic to completed sales or even just what I believe it is worth than I have the right to be offended.

You always have people looking to buy and flip so they have to get it at a reduced price to make that realistic for them. You will notice a lot of people have started to put in their sales threads that they are not looking to fire sale or blowout etc...

Anyway, it is part of the hobby, just smile and move on. :)
 
slave13 said:
I will throw my 2 cents in on this one. I think there are alot of people that either low ball to get a good deal on here so they can flip, or are out of touch with the market. My example is the McDavid Exclusives that I pulled a few weeks ago. I posted it on here for a loose $3000. I was told that I was crazy and that $1500 was the most I would get for that card. I said screw it, and put it on ebay. I ended up taking at $2500 best offer from a guy in Edmonton. Since then, they are consistently closing for more than $3000. I was happy with $2500 so I don't really care about that, but just the fact that I had so many people on here saying it was worth way less, makes it hard to deal on here. I thought with such a high end card, that someone on here would be a McDavid collector, or know someone who was.
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To be fair, you made that card available not long after expo, where many apparently heard/witnessed that at least one copy of the card sold in the neighborhood of $1500 CDN at the show. So it's not terribly surprising that even if someone on here was looking for that card they might balk at twice the reported price with a currency exchange to boot. Also we're talking about four figures for a piece of cardboard, that's not something most members on here do on a regular basis, if at all.

That said, congratulations on the great price on your card. There's lots of good venues to move a card you don't want. There's no real need to be limited to just one tool to do so :)
 
two sides of the coin. I had comments that I was charging too much for some cards and some BIN right away. I also seen people asking to buy case hit for 1.00 or 2.00 dollars. and this piss me off a bit. I know beckett princing is off on certain case but when you are offered a card at 25% of the pricing, I think it's more than a fair deal.
 
Iceman said:
To be fair, you made that card available not long after expo, where many apparently heard/witnessed that at least one copy of the card sold in the neighborhood of $1500 CDN at the show. So it's not terribly surprising that even if someone on here was looking for that card they might balk at twice the reported price with a currency exchange to boot. Also we're talking about four figures for a piece of cardboard, that's not something most members on here do on a regular basis, if at all.

That said, congratulations on the great price on your card. There's lots of good venues to move a card you don't want. There's no real need to be limited to just one tool to do so :)
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Rodney hit it on the head. At the time, the card was selling for exactly what was quoted to you, which was $1300-$1500 USD. And even now, I would disagree with your assessment that it routinely sells for more than $3000K, although $2500 CDN would seem to be the right price (if not on the high end). That being said, well done on the big sale.

As for buying/selling/trading on here, it has become near impossible on all fronts lately. Not sure the reason why. It still happens, but it's not uncommon for me to receive little to no response to any thread I put up, even though many people are selling or trading items I am specifically looking for. I assume I can't sell because I am not interested in giving my stuff away to flippers who want to pay 25% of eBay value, which I guess is to be expected. Guys like Craig2, Malks9 and matty28 seem to have luck, and are very easy to deal with, but not sure how many tire kickers they get in comparison to actual sales, maybe it's really high?
 
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Steelers79sbc said:
slaves13

my point exactly, I think there is WAY to much low balling going on here and makes it very difficult to enjoy the hobby. There is nothing wrong with trying to get a "deal" but trying to rob someone blind is another story.

I feel the easiest solution to this is to create high end section for those that see or are aware of the value instead of diminishing the value be it trade or sale or a mix of both.
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A high end section sounds good but what's to stop someone from low ballin' you in that section as well. Just because a card is "worth" $100 doesn't mean it sells for $80 consistently. I think that's another problem. A card might book at $100 but constantly sells for $25 and guys think that they should be getting $70. I know some guys don't like to use ebay as a price guide but in my opinion ebay pretty much sets the pricing. A huge venue like the expo sold how many mcdavid young guns? 100? Ebay has sold how many? 1000? (Just using square numbers there)
 
A certain other card forum has a "high end section" and it's an absolute gong show. I don't think it's necessarily a good idea.
 
as with everything else forsberg21 if put the right rules in place it will define the outcome, make it known no small deals to be made or a bunch of low end cards for 1 high end etc etc. Make a $300 and up restriction and then I realize there may be the issue of people putting different values on cards as a factor as well but like everything else the kinks will have to be worked out thru trial and error.

If you build it they will come........
 
What I don't understand is why people get so offended by low ball offers when they give potential buyers absolutely no context on where to start…. Especially on very rare cards with no sales data.

If you own a card, don't list an asking price, and someone asks for a price, you should provide them with one. Buyers are not mind readers. Maybe you think a card should be worth $500, but someone else thinks its worth $200. If your asking price was $1000, a buyer might not even try to negotiate. But if your asking price was more in line with what they are looking to pay, then a healthy negotiation might take place to find a middle ground.

Think of it this way… when you log onto Ebay, the seller is required to provide an initial asking price right? The buyer doesn't have to just make up a number to offer without having some context as to where the seller is coming from.

Since Ebay has instilled the BIN/Best Offer option, I have seen more and more sellers apply this logic at shows as well. I ask how much for a specific card… they tell me to make an offer. My reply is that I would prefer not to make an offer. They push harder for me to make an offer. Typically I say no thanks, and that Its very hard for me to "buy and sell" their card(s) for them. If they continue to push for an offer I will tell them $20…. no matter if its a $40 type card or a gretzky shield auto.

The bottom line is that without a starting point from a seller, it is very hard for me as a buyer to take that potential transaction seriously. At the end of the day, its just a piece of cardboard. If the asking price is a number I am willing to pay, or there is common ground to be had, Great! If not, that is ok too. But an initial asking price on your own cards is the way to go in my opinion.
 
For me, it's awkward when the BIN price is so far above what it should be. I'll see a card listed for $200 BIN with a Best Offer option. Then I'll search the archives for similar sold listings, and find that cards with even better players and patches have sold in the $50 range. But I think to myself, if I offer the guy what I consider to be a "fair" amount of, say, $40, it's going to look like I'm completely low balling the guy if he's listing it at $200. I end up skipping those listings, and watch them stay on eBay for months and months.

M35Richter said:
Since Ebay has instilled the BIN/Best Offer option, I have seen more and more sellers apply this logic at shows as well. I ask how much for a specific card… they tell me to make an offer. My reply is that I would prefer not to make an offer. They push harder for me to make an offer. Typically I say no thanks, and that Its very hard for me to "buy and sell" their card(s) for them. If they continue to push for an offer I will tell them $20…. no matter if its a $40 type card or a gretzky shield auto.
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