Make offer

[Senormac]

I am begining to think that it is common practice to jack the "Buy in Now" price waaaay up in order to shame people into being affraid to "lowball" with the "Make an Offer" option.

 

Example of this

 

This book lists for around $250 in 8.0 this book is only 7.5 I just think a persons offer is not lowball because of what the seller is asking but because it is FAR below any reasonable fair market value the book might have.

 

 

My opinion...... should go for around $200

 

[JiveTurkeyMoFo]

Shame? Who gives a crud? Most people know what they want to pay, and will do so accordingly when making an offer.

 

At least, that's how I approach it. In fact, the BIN being too high would tend to disuade me from even making an offer, just because the seller seems unrealistic based on his asking price.

 

 

[Senormac]

Yea....shame is probably not the right word.

[ComicConnoisseur]

I am begining to think that it is common practice to jack the "Buy in Now" price waaaay up in order to shame people into being affraid to "lowball" with the "Make an Offer" option.

 

Example of this

 

This book lists for around $250 in 8.0 this book is only 7.5 I just think a persons offer is not lowball because of what the seller is asking but because it is FAR below any reasonable fair market value the book might have.

 

 

My opinion...... should go for around $200

Does a nice book like this ever go up in value? example maybe you offer $200 for it and maybe in 5 years you can get $250, a big maybe. This is one of those books that is stuck in that zone that you can`t sell it low because it grades too high and can`t sell it high because it grades too low. A lot of comics seem to be like this now

[Senormac]

Good question since really, a collectable is only worth what someone will pay for it. I don't see Plastic Man becoming more popular as the years go by, but less and less and less. As the amount of comic book collectors slowly dwindles, the books those who are still around are interested is gonna become narrower and narrower also.

 

I watched a Police #27 in 9.0 go for only $350 in the last CLINK auction. In the guide its $800 or so. Less than half.......less than half. Couple that together with this market, unless you are a super mainline hero like Superman or Batman or Spiderman or have a Swastika on the cover ..... I can't see these kind of prices holding.

[walclark]

Shame? Who gives a crud? Most people know what they want to pay, and will do so accordingly when making an offer.

 

At least, that's how I approach it. In fact, the BIN being too high would tend to disuade me from even making an offer, just because the seller seems unrealistic based on his asking price.

 

 

(thumbs u When I see a BIN that is way above what I would offer, I just skip over the listing. If we're going to be that far apart to begin with, I figure there's no point in even making an offer.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I occasionally have BINs that are much higher than market....but that's usually 1 or 2 listings in a set of 100+, and I do that because I don't really want to sell that particular book, but I will if someone really wants it that badly. I usually set the BINs at about 20% higher than GPA average, or a bit more, if there's little history, or I feel the book is undervalued. If it sells, it sells, and if it doesn't, that's ok too.

 

But, I deal mostly in Bronze & Copper, so the dynamics are different.

 

I get ridiculous offers all the time, and I thank God for the auto-reject feature. People making $50 offers for $700 books is just as retarded as sellers listing items for 2.5 times GPA.

 

Someone from this board once went through all my auctions and made $1.74, $3.26, $1.13 offers on $100-$500 books. They probably thought they were being cute. The auto-reject feature is awesome.

 

If I see a book I want, I make an offer. If it's rejected, that's fine. Another copy will always come along at the price I want to pay.

 

(thumbs u

[Calamerica]

I occasionally have BINs that are much higher than market....but that's usually 1 or 2 listings in a set of 100+, and I do that because I don't really want to sell that particular book, but I will if someone really wants it that badly. I usually set the BINs at about 20% higher than GPA average, or a bit more, if there's little history, or I feel the book is undervalued. If it sells, it sells, and if it doesn't, that's ok too.

 

But, I deal mostly in Bronze & Copper, so the dynamics are different.

 

I get ridiculous offers all the time, and I thank God for the auto-reject feature. People making $50 offers for $700 books is just as retarded as sellers listing items for 2.5 times GPA.

 

Someone from this board once went through all my auctions and made $1.74, $3.26, $1.13 offers on $100-$500 books. They probably thought they were being cute. The auto-reject feature is awesome.

 

If I see a book I want, I make an offer. If it's rejected, that's fine. Another copy will always come along at the price I want to pay.

 

(thumbs u

 

Well said!

 

CAL the occasional seller

[Senormac]

I get ridiculous offers all the time, and I thank God for the auto-reject feature. People making $50 offers for $700 books is just as retarded as sellers listing items for 2.5 times GPA.

(thumbs u

 

Well, do you as a dealer ever change your mind on how valuable a book is ? What if $50 is the highest offer you get ? I suppose you would have to get only $50 repeatedly before the price starts coming down eh ?

[Tsimanga]

RMA is spot on....

 

This is my friend Harvey Doss selling this book. He's a very legit seller. As far as what he told me on pricing this book, it's the second highest graded copy and he doesn't really want to sell it, but he owes me a lot of money so he's doing what he can.

 

His opinion... the book is worth $225 but he won't sell it for less than $300.. maybe even $350

 

He has a couple other books listed high as they are the same thing. Doesnt really want to sell them but will if the price is right. But Harvey is very easy to deal with and negotiate with. IMO one of the best small fry sellers on Ebay.

[Comicdey]

I made an offer on a $900+ listed price book of $500 cause that's what is pay. I got an email a few weeks later and bought the book.

 

Offer what you think it's worth and forget about it.

[RockMyAmadeus]

I get ridiculous offers all the time, and I thank God for the auto-reject feature. People making $50 offers for $700 books is just as retarded as sellers listing items for 2.5 times GPA.

(thumbs u

 

Well, do you as a dealer ever change your mind on how valuable a book is ? What if $50 is the highest offer you get ? I suppose you would have to get only $50 repeatedly before the price starts coming down eh ?

 

Well, no, not when GPA for the book is $550, $623, $548, $650....

 

I don't understand the mentality behind it. It's not as if I'm selling something that consistently sells for $50, and I'm asking $700 for it. Do these people really think that that's a legitimate offer that will be accepted? Do these people think they can walk into a Ferrari dealership and offer $5,000 for a 2010 360 modena Spider, and it'll be accepted..? Maybe.

 

I've never made a serious offer that was outside of the realm of reason (although I can't say that I've never made a goofy offer on a goofy listing...but they're usually of the type that Paratrooper has fun with.)

 

If someone's asking $100 for something, and I know it's really only worth $35, I'll make that offer, and explain why I'm making it. It's almost never accepted (and infrequently countered), but at least I can have a clear conscience knowing that it was a FAIR offer, based on market research.

 

As far as changing my mind on how valuable a book is....that really doesn't enter my mind much. For me, it's what the book is worth to me. For example....I've been asking $3500-$5000 for a Maxx #3 Ashcan, Black....but it's one of only 50 made, and one of only 4 known. I am fully aware that the market doesn't support my asking price. I am fully aware that the market for this book is limited to *maybe* 10-25 people, worldwide (seriously.) I am fully aware that the REAL market price for this book, were it to be auctioned by, say, Comiclink or Heritage, or even eBay, would probably be about $1,000, tops (and that's considering the $510 sale of my #2 Black in 2008.)

 

But it's essentially irreplaceable. Were I to sell it, I am almost guaranteed to never, ever get another one. So, for me, the offer has to be what I would consider "willing to part with" money. And I don't have a lot of those kinds of items laying around.

 

On a book that is easily replaceable, like, say, X-Men #127 9.8, which I'd listed at $200 BIN previously, I accepted at $150...or a chunky 25% less than my asking price....because I knew that's really where the market was. Even then, I got a bit of a better price than usual.

 

So, because I keep a firm handle on market prices, I never have to adjust my asking price TOO much..never so much that I'm consistently getting offers of $50 for my $700 priced item. I'm way too anal to allow something like that.

 

(thumbs u

[Scrooge]

This is my friend Harvey Doss selling this book.

 

His opinion... the book is worth $225 but he won't sell it for less than $300.. maybe even $350

 

I don't see that market clearing any time soon

[Speedy-D]

Shame? Who gives a crud? Most people know what they want to pay, and will do so accordingly when making an offer.

 

At least, that's how I approach it. In fact, the BIN being too high would tend to disuade me from even making an offer, just because the seller seems unrealistic based on his asking price.

 

 

(thumbs u When I see a BIN that is way above what I would offer, I just skip over the listing. If we're going to be that far apart to begin with, I figure there's no point in even making an offer.

Yep

[ComicConnoisseur]

This is my friend Harvey Doss selling this book.

 

His opinion... the book is worth $225 but he won't sell it for less than $300.. maybe even $350

 

I don't see that market clearing any time soon

From a historical perspective this book went up about $20 dollars in the last 12 years in the grade of fine., I used the Overstreet Price Guides 28 and the latest 40 as reference.It`s not like this is a Marvel silver age key and it will double in value in the next 5 to 10 years, the $200 dollar offer sounds reasonable for this type of book. (thumbs u

[Tsimanga]

 

It's good that you apply 'fine' guide prices on a scarce 'vf-" 1950 half black cover book with only 1 other copy graded and his being the second highest. Key or not, it's not an easy book to find in said grade.

 

He knows if he sells it, he probably won't be able to get another copy in same condition or better... and he collects Plastic man...

 

If someone wants his copy, but it's either out of the price they want to pay, or are too lazy to negotiate.. then they can go get one elsewhere and find a comparable copy.... good luck to em...))

 

After the slabbing fee.. would you accept $170 bucks for this book if you collected Plastic man? Doubt it.

[Scrooge]

Well, then don't say: This is worth $225 and I won't sell it for less than $300 to $350. All I am saying is that this book will not sell and he can keep it. It doesn't matter whatever else you state. The price / value is well below what he will take for it: this market is not going to clear. That's a fact that you cannot argue. I don't care how tough the book is to get and other BS you're saying in your post ...

[Tsimanga]

Well, then don't say: This is worth $225 and I won't sell it for less than $300 to $350. All I am saying is that this book will not sell and he can keep it. It doesn't matter whatever else you state. The price / value is well below what he will take for it: this market is not going to clear. That's a fact that you cannot argue. I don't care how tough the book is to get and other BS you're saying in your post ...

 

I can say what I want my man. I personally have plenty of books which I wouldn't sell for thier guide price or gpa price or whatever price you deem it to be worth... and If I had a store I might list them at high prices just to see what happens... I don't see what the problem is in that...

 

It's good to know you are a fortune teller of future markets whose wisdom cannot be argued... must be a valuable skill. I also don't know what BS you're referring to that I said... all I stated was some facts...

[Scrooge]

Then don't start by saying this book is worth $225 since you believe it's worth $300. All I am asking from you is self-consistency which would alleviate all inconsistency.

[Gatsby77]

I'm with Scrooge on this one. The market won't clear, and he's sinking x amount per month in his store listing fees (or whatever) plus storage costs for the book that's further eating into his profit margin.

 

Since November 2008 when the financial market crashed, and (largely) the comic market along with it, I've seen an explosion in unrealistic Buy-It-Nows on Ebay. People legitimately wanting to at least break even on books (particularly slabs) who don't want to recognize that the market at that price is long gone.

 

I'm at peace with this, and simply wait until those same books are available via ebay auction for far lower, but why you would continue to list something for months and years on end at 3-5x market value when the lowest "best-offer" option is still 1.5 market value is beyond me.

 

Of course--I've now seen this with repeat auctions as well. The guy who has the 3.0 or so raw Black Terror # 7 at auction on Ebay. This is at least the 4th (if not 5th) time in a row he's run the auction w/out it reaching his unrealistic reserve. At what point should he not just save the money by putting it as a Buy-It-Now with offer function? Now I just ignore the listing.