hope this doesn't pizz anyone off.....

[Monstro]

i hope this doesn’t pizz anyone off.

 

is the Marketplace still a place where boardies try to give fellow boardies decent prices? or has it mainly become a place of business?

 

and again, i am not calling anyone out as i have had many great transactions with great sellers on these boards. in fact other then cons this is my only source for buying books.

 

i hate eBay

 

comments welcome

 

[Monstro]

could have posted this in the Marketplace discussion thread but figured i'd get more feedback here.

 

 

 

[Scrooge]

I always find great deals in the marketplace. Can't think of any one transaction that was sour on here. Got two packages yesterday from boardies and am pleased with the books I got. I like how people in the Marketplace are truthful when describing their books. There is no pretending (okay, scratch 'no' and replace it with 'less') about books condition. (thumbs u

[Monstro]

i absolutely agree with you in regards to feeling safe buying from the marketplace. which is why i no longer bother with eBay.

 

safe about grades, safe about packaging, safe that anyone here would probably do a refund if asked, etc.

 

[buttock]

I'm not clear on what you're asking. To me the two advantages of offering my books on the boards - to the buyer - are:

 

1) if it's random stuff, it's usually dirt cheap

 

2) If it's high demand stuff, they get first shot.

 

This benefits me both when I buy and sell. There's no way I would have got some of the books I got recently on Ebay.

 

Seems like most other people do the same. Are you seeing things differently?

 

[tilleycs]

Just curious, what comics/prices on the board have made you start wondering?

[kidcolt]

To be honest I have better luck in the want to buy section. I post what I am looking for and I always seem to get it for a much better price then ebay.

 

The for sale forum seems to be a place to move bulk common books or give the boardies first chance at the rare high grade items. Most times buying from a board member is safer for delivery and grading.

[Monstro]

um.....no i'm not really seeing anyhting different. i guess.

[innocuous]

I'm looking forward to deals buying and selling at the upcoming VCC. The only problem with the Marketplace is that what I want is usually gone by the time I log in.

[topofthetotem]

I would like to add that some of those charging near GPA or full guide are also some of the best graders you can find.

Guys like Nik,Flaming,October,Greggy and Quality come to mind.I have bought raw books from all these guys that have graded higher then the grades they stated.

[Mac Man]

This place has turned me off of eBay in SO many different ways:

 

1. Much better informed graders here. Only one time have I bought from someone where they overgraded on the books (and not more than a 1.0 difference which is within tolerance), but there were some sweet extras tossed in so how can you go wrong? Can't say the same for most of my eBay transactions though...

 

2. Shipping here is consistently better here by FAR! I'm always happy when someone from eBay remembers to place a comic between cardboard. However, here it is a given.

 

3. Prices I find here aren't any different from eBay. In the rare instance I pay a little more from a board member, I know that I'm guaranteed to have #'s 1 & 2 ensured.

[october]

There isn't a better place to buy and sell anywhere. That includes cons, dealer sites, eBay, everything.

 

Selling here has become just ridiculously simple. I don't even scan or have sales threads anymore. I sold $5000-7000 worth of high grade books in the last month, and I did it by sending PMs to only five or six people. It really doesn't get any easier than that, but I couldn't have done it without the great sense of community and general trust that flourishes here.

 

Maybe people list to give people deals, maybe it's a business. Either way, this place rules.

[Sal]

please note; the following is not directed at anyone in particular.

 

my opinion is that using eBay as a measuring stick for pricing is kind of silly. along with the opportunity for getting a book dirt cheap on eBay, you're also more likely to get hit for a usurious shipping charge, and shoddy packaging. not to mention that 99% of eBay sellers not only can't grade, but they revel in that fact. most of the time, you can't even make an educated decision about a book's grade on your own, as the scans/pics most people use are miniscule.

 

 

buying from the Marketplace is like buying from Nordstrom. sure, you might pay more than at the Salvation Army (eBay), but you can feel a lot better about the product you're getting. if quality is of no concern, and you feel like taking a risk, then off to eBay you should go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

all that being said, it seems as though the Marketplace is mostly a place for people to list books they don't really feel like listing anywhere else. real high dollar / high desirability books tend to go elsewhere. not bemoaning those facts, just making observations

[Mac Man]

please note; the following is not directed at anyone in particular.

 

my opinion is that using eBay as a measuring stick for pricing is kind of silly. along with the opportunity for getting a book dirt cheap on eBay, you're also more likely to get hit for a usurious shipping charge, and shoddy packaging. not to mention that 99% of eBay sellers not only can't grade, but they revel in that fact. most of the time, you can't even make an educated decision about a book's grade on your own, as the scans/pics most people use are miniscule.

 

buying from the Marketplace is like buying from Nordstrom. sure, you might pay more than at the Salvation Army (eBay), but you can feel a lot better about the product you're getting. if quality is of no concern, and you feel like taking a risk, then off to eBay you should go.

 

all that being said, it seems as though the Marketplace is mostly a place for people to list books they don't really feel like listing anywhere else. real high dollar / high desirability books tend to go elsewhere. not bemoaning those facts, just making observations

 

Couldn't agree more! If it looks too good to be true... well, you know! (thumbs u

[MutantKeys]

I would like to add that some of those charging near GPA or full guide are also some of the best graders you can find.

Guys like Nik,Flaming,October,Greggy and Quality come to mind.I have bought raw books from all these guys that have graded higher then the grades they stated.

[the blob]

if you don't think things are cheap enough... well, honestly, there's only SO much of a discount vs. what you can get for an item on ebay that people are willing to give here. that % will depend on the book, etc. in my brain I usually figure 10-30% less depending on the item and probably more than that for the cheap stuff I might bulk list here for a buck or less but won't bother trying to sell for less than $3 on ebay (not worth the fees otherwise)

 

and as already noted, while CGC slabs are one thing, it's hard to compare ebay sales to sales here unless maybe you're talking about some of the more trusted names on ebay (zilaf, etc.), who get a premium. does anyone really expect people here to sell their usually accurately graded stuff for what someone with a 14 feedback emptying a closet gets for badly described, badly photographed and badly shipped books?

 

also, i think subconsciously you might object to high grade prices being sought for raw high grade books here because on ebay, 9 out of 10 "NMs" are assumed to be Fines and are usually bid on accordingly, while a seller here with a NM book from the right title/era may actually want to get 80% or whatever of guide.

 

 

[Monstro]

let me just say i am in no way trying to compare eBay prices to our Marketplace prices.

[Pirate]

Everything is a deal on these boards. If you don't give it away it won't sell and people expect you to give things away.

[Pirate]

I would like to add that some of those charging near GPA or full guide are also some of the best graders you can find.

Guys like Nik,Flaming,October,Greggy and Quality come to mind.I have bought raw books from all these guys that have graded higher then the grades they stated.

 

I hear ya danny, i won the flippin grading contest and get no respect. Just because you undergrade doesn't mean you can grade.

[october]

Everything is a deal on these boards. If you don't give it away it won't sell and people expect you to give things away.

 

That's not true. If you have things people want, they will pay a premium, same as everywhere else. I charge close to GPA for high grade, raw silver on a weekly basis and they sell through almost immediately every time. If a seller has common junk that's priced high, it sits. If they have desirable books that are tightly graded, they fly out of the house. It's no mystery.