Persistent Ebayer wants to deal privately

[Prince Namor]

So...

 

I saw a book on eBay for $5k which I was interested in. I contacted the seller... "Hey, would you mind selling the book off eBay for $4600? This way it saves me money and you are making more money than selling on eBay and being hit with the seller fees."

 

I'll take saving $400 on a book than feeling guilty that I have wronged eBay. Integrity or no integrity, I SAVED $400... $400!!!

 

So would you feel this is okay to do to someone you know as well? Cheat them out of a 10% finders fee?

 

What makes it different?

 

Or how about if you see a book listed on eBay and subsequently see the seller at a Con and say "I'll buy the book for $cashlessthanebay"...

 

Do the sellers say: "no! I'm not part of a ME society and you must purchase the book from eBay as I will not violate ebay's rules! "

 

Seriously?

 

Is this scenario cheating a friend?

 

 

How many times does this have to be spelled out for you? You see a book at con it doesn't matter where else it's listed, you can make an offer on it.

It's not what's being discussed.

 

It hasn't been spelled out for me. Bob misread what I wrote and commented on a different scenario...

 

If you saw a book FIRST on eBay and you knew the dealer would be at a show you're at, if you approached the seller and said "hey, I saw you have X book on eBay for $300. Would you let it go for $270 cash right now?"...should the seller then stand by eBay's policies and ONLY sell the book via eBay?

 

Post #9219047 - Today at 05:11 PM

 

Or how about if you see a book listed on eBay and see the seller at a Con and say "I'll buy the book for $cashlessthanebay"...

 

Do the sellers say: "no! I'm not part of a ME society and you must purchase the book from eBay as I will not violate ebay's rules! "

 

Seriously?

 

Of course not.

 

If a customer sees a book on E-Bay, then the obligation of the seller is to E-Bay, the service he/she used to market the book. If, on the other hand, a customer sees a book through any other venue (Comiclink, convention, etc.) that is also currently on E-Bay, then the seller has no obligation to sell the book through E-Bay, since E-Bay didn't bring the customer to the comic.

 

This seems really obvious.

 

Which is along the same lines as a book that is sold in more than one place. Really, it's just obvious.

 

Bob gave two different scenarios!

 

Here:

 

DealerA lists bookX for $200 on eBay.

 

DealerA's friend/acquaintance goes to a Con and approaches DealerA and says "Hey DealerA, how have you been? Great thread in Comics General the other day. That Swick sure is a deviant, right? Say, I saw you bookX for $200 on eBay. Do you have it with you?"

 

DealerA: "No, I didn't bring it wih me"

 

DealerA's friend/acquaintance: "That's alright. Your scans are great. Would you take $180 cash for it?"

 

Are you telling me that the book is now available at two places at the same time?

 

So all I need to do is track down a seller at another location and I'm good to go?

 

Or should DealerA tell his friend/acquaintance "sorry man, you'll have to buy the book on eBay."

 

I'm not trying to be an , I just really don't see the difference and I'm trying to see it from another perspective. You keep saying it's like ripping off a friend. I'm trying to give you real world scenarios and see if that changes anything.

 

What is the difference from seeing a name you know on eBay, PMing them here and offering to buy the book?

 

 

[HarveySwick]

I'm so confused and can't see the difference.

 

If it's ok for a dealer to do it at a convention, why is everyone else treated differently? If I see a book listed on eBay, I message them and say "are you on the CGC Boards?"

 

If they say "yes" and give me their name, I'll discuss a price here.

 

It is the SAME thing?!

[Prince Namor]

In Googling Mr. A cartoons I saw this fake cover.... dang, I'd buy that all day long!

Either in person, or correctly through eBay - natch!

 

[kav]

I'm so confused and can't see the difference.

 

If it's ok for a dealer to do it at a convention, why is everyone else treated differently? If I see a book listed on eBay, I message them and say "are you on the CGC Boards?"

 

If they say "yes" and give me their name, I'll discuss a price here.

 

It is the SAME thing?!

No Harvey you are using ebay's messaging system to consecrate the sale

 

[MetalPSI]

Holy cow I was right. Everyone buy a lotto ticket

[HarveySwick]

[kav]

The best simple test is 'can ebay be notified?'

If you go to your buddy-there's no way to notify ebay.

If you can forward a message to ebay indicating a desire to deal outside ebay-you are in violation.

[HarveySwick]

So if you can't be caught and know the dealer, you're ok? It's not stealing.

 

But if you ask a seller if they're on the CGC Boards and discuss with them here, you're the devil?!

 

[kav]

So if you can't be caught and know the dealer, you're ok? It's not stealing.

 

But if you ask a seller if they're on the CGC Boards and discuss with them here, you're the devil?!

 

I don't think anyone's the devil in any of these scenarios and I myself would do it. I would accept that I broke the contract. And that what I did was unfair. But I would do it-it's a minor infraction like buying scalped tickets.

[Prince Namor]

[kav]

[kav]

Ebay can successfully argue this policy is for member's protection-many many folks have been screwed by dealing outside ebay.

[youmechooz]

Thanks to eBay I have been able to enjoy getting complete runs of Atlas war comics which would have taken decades if even at all possible without eBay. Now we have "spoon" posting on these boards who are justifying trying to undermine eBay and basically bite the hand that feeds, and actually have the audacity to defend their illegal behavior, This hobby, and these boards in particular, while very rewarding, are also, I am slowly learning,... filled with many. self important, me generation "spoon"

This sums it up.

fffppppppppppppppppppppppppppp

[Doohickamabob]

These arguments are terrible.

"These arguments are terrible" is so much better.

[youmechooz]

I put doing deals off of E-Bay in the same category as speeding 8 miles over the speed limit - I know it's not the "right" thing to do but in most cases I don't have a moral problem doing it. Just one of those grey items in life I guess.

 

I'd love to have everything sell on E-Bay at my asking price but sometimes a buyer will want 20% off and I can't go that low since E-Bay is taking 10% off the top. Drop the 10% fee and the 20% discount becomes doable.

 

It's stealing. There's a difference between stealing and going "8 miles over the speed limit."

 

As 'fro said, if you don't want to pay the fees, don't use the service.

 

I sell things to CGC board members through eBay on a regular basis. It sucks, but that's the way it goes.

who gives a mess.

it aint stealing Andrew and keep doing you boo boo.

 

 

[Jeffro.]

I put doing deals off of E-Bay in the same category as speeding 8 miles over the speed limit - I know it's not the "right" thing to do but in most cases I don't have a moral problem doing it. Just one of those grey items in life I guess.

 

I'd love to have everything sell on E-Bay at my asking price but sometimes a buyer will want 20% off and I can't go that low since E-Bay is taking 10% off the top. Drop the 10% fee and the 20% discount becomes doable.

 

It's stealing. There's a difference between stealing and going "8 miles over the speed limit."

 

As 'fro said, if you don't want to pay the fees, don't use the service.

 

I sell things to CGC board members through eBay on a regular basis. It sucks, but that's the way it goes.

who gives a mess.

it aint stealing Andrew and keep doing you boo boo.

 

[youmechooz]

I put doing deals off of E-Bay in the same category as speeding 8 miles over the speed limit - I know it's not the "right" thing to do but in most cases I don't have a moral problem doing it. Just one of those grey items in life I guess.

 

I'd love to have everything sell on E-Bay at my asking price but sometimes a buyer will want 20% off and I can't go that low since E-Bay is taking 10% off the top. Drop the 10% fee and the 20% discount becomes doable.

 

It's stealing. There's a difference between stealing and going "8 miles over the speed limit."

 

As 'fro said, if you don't want to pay the fees, don't use the service.

 

I sell things to CGC board members through eBay on a regular basis. It sucks, but that's the way it goes.

who gives a mess.

it aint stealing Andrew and keep doing you boo boo.

 

[Chip Cataldo]

As long as you don't use ebay's messaging system to constipate the sale you're good to go.

That's about right for this thread.

[Doohickamabob]

These arguments are terrible.

 

Not an argument just a question to you -

 

Lots of LCSs have Ebay stores as well. If I saw something on their Ebay store I wanted, the next time I stop in I could walk in and ask to see it in-hand.

 

At that point - am I an off-the-street face-to-face LCS customer of theirs or am I an Ebay customer still bound by Ebay policy agreements?

I meant the argument that if someone tried to save $400 out of $5,000, then they shouldn't be buying the book. That's a terrible argument and not relevant to the discussion.

(1) Your paraphrase is a misrepresentation of what I wrote. (2) If it's a "terrible argument" then the burden is on you to show why, rather than just labeling it "terrible." (3) How is it not relevant to the discussion when it directly addresses the example given?

 

So to clarify: I didn't say they shouldn't buy the book just because they want to save -- there's nothing wrong with haggling or doing a best offer within the boundaries of the selling scenario you're in. What I wrote was that if you're in a position where you're willing to step over a contractual/ethical boundary in order to save $400 on a deal, but you're unable to pay the additional $400 if that ethical boundary is maintained, then you need to question whether you really can afford the book to begin with. Which is a completely different thing than your paraphrase of my statement.

 

If you saw the book first on eBay and knew it was a local seller and you walked into the local shop and told him "I saw the book on eBay, can I take a look at it?", do you think his response would be "sure, but if you want to purchase it, you need to buy it off eBay because that's where you saw it first and I won't steal from eBay."

 

The situation with high-volume dealers and shop owners who double-sell in their own venues as well as eBay changes the nature of the ethical boundaries in some ways. Most notably there is already a situation in place where the buyer is aware of the seller's venue outside of eBay, so neither the buyer nor the seller need to use eBay's messaging system to change the nature of the transaction. The eBay policy states, "We don't allow our members to use eBay to contact each other to make offers to buy or sell items outside of eBay." So if you see your LCS selling a book on eBay and you then walk into the LCS and make a deal, that's pretty different from seeing a comic from a seller you've never heard of and then using eBay's own system to circumvent any situation beneficial to eBay.

 

There is another discussion to be had about whether it's right for dealers with their own selling venues to use eBay as a marketing venue by double-listing their items on both venues. That's more of a question between the seller and eBay and it would be worth looking into the eBay policies or message archives to see how they address that. My guess is that there is some sort of tacit agreement that the sellers not in any way advertise their lower prices elsewhere using their eBay listings or messages.

[wombat]

I think someone mentioned it earlier, but I would be interested to hear what those that have no issue with this think about someone asking for GPA data from someone else? Do you consider that wrong?