Sellers opinions: should a buyer have an idea of the price?

[slym2none]

I always love the "classic," never moving low-baller. I had a book worth $150 on eBay, BIN/Best Offer starting at $175. I would have taken less than that, obviously, and I got an offer for $20. I didn't even counter-offer, just refused. He then sends me his second offer - $25. I knew what was going to happen, his next offer was going to be $30. I refused, again no counter-offer, and sure enough - within 10 minutes, he sent his last offer in - $30.

 

:doh:

 

At least I only got offers, and no notes telling me I am over-priced or that he really wants it for his personal collection, etc...

 

 

 

-slym

[thehumantorch]

Karl, you can't take offers from buyers personal. Some guys are just darn cheap and constantly lowball until they find someone willing or desperate enough to take the offer.

 

Ultimately the value of the item is established when the seller and buyer agree on a price.

 

Anyone can sell an item at a rock bottom price, but you want to sell it at as high a price as possible and at a price that you're happy with. Be patient and sell to someone who values the book as high as you do.

[jimbo_707]

I always love the "classic," never moving low-baller. I had a book worth $150 on eBay, BIN/Best Offer starting at $175. I would have taken less than that, obviously, and I got an offer for $20. I didn't even counter-offer, just refused. He then sends me his second offer - $25. I knew what was going to happen, his next offer was going to be $30. I refused, again no counter-offer, and sure enough - within 10 minutes, he sent his last offer in - $30.

 

:doh:

 

At least I only got offers, and no notes telling me I am over-priced or that he really wants it for his personal collection, etc...

 

 

 

-slym

I would probably never bother to offer someone 12% of his or her asking price--I'd just figure we were too far apart to do business--but I've certainly seen books on eBay listed at 8 (or more) times what I would estimate them to be worth.

 

Sometimes a high asking price may be strategic. I recently saw quite a few Canadian Whites on eBay listed for several times what I would have been willing to pay. The seller (unless he's insane) can't possibly think they're worth what he's asking. I figure he's trying to influence how people see Canadian Whites. (It's a known phenomenon in marketing that people are influenced by an asking price. If you price something very high, people will overestimate the value of that item relative to what a typical selling price might be; if you price something very low, they'll underestimate its value.)

[rjpb]

If I/We were mind readers the retail business from the dealer side would be much more lucrative than it really is.

 

What something is worth varies from person to person.

 

A dealer has his buy value.

 

A flipper has his number.

 

The Upgrader has his number.

 

The run collector may have his budget number to contend with.

 

The die hard OSPG guy may go with the "I pay 80% of OSPG" or I'm moving on. You know this buyer. There OSPG is battered, folded and has so many spine splits from being open that you wonder if they can read the numbers. Sometimes has post it notes on the most referenced pages. Makes the face when they see an Over guide price on a book they want. Shaking head or stare is made your way.

 

A collector looking for his birthday book may have another.

 

The GPA 12 month moving average guy has his number.

 

The GPA last sale guy has his.

 

The 10% less than GPA last sale guy has his.

 

There is the guy with Champagne tastes and a beer wallet. He dreams that you will take $100 for a $200 book because that is all he has in his wallet. You can generally identify them when they say "If I win the lotto I'm going to buy that book".

 

The 50% off guy regardless of condition doesn't care what the value is.

 

The "I know you need the money buyer" knows exactly what it is worth but every dollar he chews you down is a $1 more he makes. They are looking for the "What makes you cry uncle" price.

 

Easy question to answer if you can figure out which person you are talking to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well said sir!

 

 

In addition an individual buyer may be several of these types depending on the book and circumstance, and not all books have the sales history in specific grade to narrow down FMV all that tightly.

 

[BarryAllen]

No! Dealers should hold all the information and Buyers should always pay what they are asking, or more!!!!

[white_rushin]

Some people look at the GPA 30-day average (or however many days). In my opinion, that would (right now) greatly overestimate the value of the most books, because there's been an extremely strong seller's market that's persisted through 2013 and 2014. I don't expect those prices to hold up over the next couple of years, so if I'm trying to predict future value, I'd say that many books are "worth" much less than the current GPA average, which is past value, albeit recent past.

 

Many eBay speculators (and some full-time dealers) are too optimistic about the value of their books. (I overheard one dealer say, "The party can't last forever," so some of them know a downturn is coming.) Years ago, a dealer complained to me that he was sitting on a million dollars worth of inventory but couldn't move it. I thought to myself, "Well, if you can't move it the way it's priced, maybe it isn't really worth a million dollars in this market." Many people, dealers and collectors, don't like to admit just how volatile most collectibles really are.

 

 

+1 That's quite the elephant in the room. Some smart buyers are either going to lowball or stop buying.

 

As a buyer now I've had to be more patient than ever on a lot of books.

 

When a seller asks what I'm looking for, I tend not to answer truthfully, or tell them I'm just browsing for a few reasons. The main one is it may lead into discussions over the book and price directly. If they point to the Batman #181 they have on the wall for $200. I will pass on it. If they ask what I was looking to spend, then they get pissed.

 

Some sellers may scoff at what I might be looking to spend on a book. It should be just as fair for a buyer to do the same. A seller has a huge advantage of knowing the price they have in the book.

[Artboy99]

appreciate the opinions all.

[blazingbob]

You have information, you just stomp your feet because not everyone shares it with GPA.

 

Why are you silent that GPA doesn't report CBCS sales?

[loadstone]

If I/We were mind readers the retail business from the dealer side would be much more lucrative than it really is.

 

What something is worth varies from person to person.

 

A dealer has his buy value.

 

A flipper has his number.

 

The Upgrader has his number.

 

The run collector may have his budget number to contend with.

 

The die hard OSPG guy may go with the "I pay 80% of OSPG" or I'm moving on. You know this buyer. Their OSPG is battered, folded and has so many spine splits from being open that you wonder if they can read the numbers. Sometimes has post it notes on the most referenced pages. Makes the face when they see an Over guide price on a book they want. Shaking head or stare is made your way.

 

A collector looking for his birthday book may have another.

 

The GPA 12 month moving average guy has his number.

 

The GPA last sale guy has his.

 

The 10% less than GPA last sale guy has his.

 

There is the guy with Champagne tastes and a beer wallet. He dreams that you will take $100 for a $200 book because that is all he has in his wallet. You can generally identify them when they say "If I win the lotto I'm going to buy that book".

 

The 50% off guy regardless of condition doesn't care what the value is.

 

The "I know you need the money buyer" knows exactly what it is worth but every dollar he chews you down is a $1 more he makes. They are looking for the "What makes you cry uncle" price.

 

Easy question to answer if you can figure out which person you are talking to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this post should be stickied somewhere as a reference. Fun to see what each of the buyer types might offer for say a $500 key book (overall market). This buyer list does infer that the buyer has an idea of what the book goes for at GPA/OSPG and not totally uninformed.

 

To all you sellers out there are there any of these buyers you will absolutely NEVER deal with?

[n2wdw]

Is it wrong for me as a seller to have some expectation that a buyer knows/ has some idea of the value of a book they are interested in buying? Just curious what others think. For example, use a book of some value, not dollar books.

 

I can understand if the book is somewhat rare and pricing is difficult to determine, but for a commonly found key book it is my opinion that if you are buying the book you should do some research, and have an idea of the price.

 

Everything you say makes sense

 

But when I make an offer it's what I'm wiling to pay, which may be and often is lower than fmv. People can and often do say no. But it's also a place to start negotiating

 

 

[BarryAllen]

You have information, you just stomp your feet because not everyone shares it with GPA.

 

Why are you silent that GPA doesn't report CBCS sales?

 

Ideally, they would report all slabbed sales (any company with a legitimate recorded sale) and provide the ability to index or search. :shrug:

 

But I have been told I am greedy on my data requests and desires.

 

 

[wombat]

I always love the "classic," never moving low-baller. I had a book worth $150 on eBay, BIN/Best Offer starting at $175. I would have taken less than that, obviously, and I got an offer for $20. I didn't even counter-offer, just refused. He then sends me his second offer - $25. I knew what was going to happen, his next offer was going to be $30. I refused, again no counter-offer, and sure enough - within 10 minutes, he sent his last offer in - $30.

 

:doh:

 

At least I only got offers, and no notes telling me I am over-priced or that he really wants it for his personal collection, etc...

 

 

 

-slym

 

What was the book?

 

[slym2none]

It was a graded, late-Bronze X-Men.

 

 

 

-slym

[wombat]

It was a graded, late-Bronze X-Men.

 

 

 

-slym

 

I'm in the clear.

[InvstmntComcSuply]

A seller has a huge advantage of knowing the price they have in the book.

 

For smart sellers, that number is almost irrelevant

[slym2none]

It was a graded, late-Bronze X-Men.

 

I'm in the clear.

 

::

 

 

 

-slym

[1Cool]

A seller has a huge advantage of knowing the price they have in the book.

 

For smart sellers, that number is almost irrelevant

 

A seller at a couple local Cons let me know the percent he paid compared to the asking price is on the back of every one of his books. I did very well at his booth since I always knew what his break even point was on a book.

[RCheli]

A seller has a huge advantage of knowing the price they have in the book.

 

For smart sellers, that number is almost irrelevant

 

A seller at a couple local Cons let me know the percent he paid compared to the asking price is on the back of every one of his books. I did very well at his booth since I always knew what his break even point was on a book.

 

What a dealer paid for a book and when they bought it are huge factors in how much they're willing to something for.

 

If I bought something for $200 a month ago, I'm not willing to sell it for $175 (or probably even $250). If I bought something for $200 three years ago and it still hasn't sold, I'm very likely to deal.

[dupont2005]

I'm not quite sure I get the question, but I think in general a seller should expect nothing out of any buyer, other than to pay money if they want to buy something, and ask questions if they want to know something.

 

After that, you're all adults. If some rich grandma hits the 'buy it now' on ebay for your 3x GPA price instead of making you an offer, fantastic. If her grandson makes you a lowball offer, politely decline.

 

For clarity, let's assume the book has a value of $250.00. I can go to GPA and show that this is the average value of the book as per data, I can go to Ebay completed sales and show that the book has sold for that value, finally even the comic book price guide is the same value. I have the book priced at $200.00.

My question comes from situations where I still get a lowball offer even though the book is very fairly priced and is a good deal.

They probably know the value just as well as you and are hoping you're desperate for money. I've had a magazine listed on eBay, I think I started at $350. I got a ton of watchers, a ton of questions, and a TON of lowball offers. So it didn't sell, I relisted at $250. Same thing. And people are saying "Let me take it off your hands for $60." That's not even close to asking price. If I wanted $60 it's what I'd have listed it for. I'll keep it if that's all I can get for it. But I've had offers higher than that too, that's just the most recent email I got about it. I decided not to sell it at all. Not on eBay at least. I'm afraid someone will hit the BIN and then try to pull something with Paypal chargebacks because they wanted the mag but didn't want to pay.

[Artboy99]

I'm not quite sure I get the question, but I think in general a seller should expect nothing out of any buyer, other than to pay money if they want to buy something, and ask questions if they want to know something.

 

After that, you're all adults. If some rich grandma hits the 'buy it now' on ebay for your 3x GPA price instead of making you an offer, fantastic. If her grandson makes you a lowball offer, politely decline.

 

For clarity, let's assume the book has a value of $250.00. I can go to GPA and show that this is the average value of the book as per data, I can go to Ebay completed sales and show that the book has sold for that value, finally even the comic book price guide is the same value. I have the book priced at $200.00.

My question comes from situations where I still get a lowball offer even though the book is very fairly priced and is a good deal.

They probably know the value just as well as you and are hoping you're desperate for money. I've had a magazine listed on eBay, I think I started at $350. I got a ton of watchers, a ton of questions, and a TON of lowball offers. So it didn't sell, I relisted at $250. Same thing. And people are saying "Let me take it off your hands for $60." That's not even close to asking price. If I wanted $60 it's what I'd have listed it for. I'll keep it if that's all I can get for it. But I've had offers higher than that too, that's just the most recent email I got about it. I decided not to sell it at all. Not on eBay at least. I'm afraid someone will hit the BIN and then try to pull something with Paypal chargebacks because they wanted the mag but didn't want to pay.

 

Lowball should be at least reasonable. $60 for a $350 priced book is outlandish.

 

Cool discussion all, thanks for the sharing.