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Should board members start an eBay secret code for our benefit?

Started by retrocomics,

57 posts in this topic

wombat

wombat

Posted
Posted
I'd like to offer two other perspectives here.

 

My "code" is my nic, the same here as on The Bay.

 

Secondly, I encountered a situation here that struck me raw. I purposely underpriced a group of crime and horror books, low grade but nevertheless salable merchandise, on this board as a sort of friendly gesture to fellow collectors.

So who snaps them up, but a flipper who immediately listed them on eBay at substantial markups, and who uses a different nic there, vs the one he uses here. Sort of a disincentive to offer a good deal here, wouldn't ya say?

 

Let it go man. You sold the book. It isn't yours anymore.

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thecopperagekids

thecopperagekids

Posted
Posted

 

 

Eff a 10% discount code. :sumo: Responding in bold, below:

 

If you only want to see it for only getting a discount that's cool. I see it more of a privilege and benefit of being a board member.

 

A "privilage and a benefit" that just happens to translate into a discount for the buyer. And really has nothing to do with the Boards since it's a different selling venue.

 

At the risk of being labeled an ingrate, perhaps it would help if I explained my thinking on the concept of the "Board Discount".

 

If I understand correctly, the prevailing line of reasoning for seller's offering a Board discount price on the books they sell here is because the selling is fee-free; it's a way for the seller to acknowledge that benefit.

 

However, this raises the questions:

 

1) Why is the buyer entitled to the entire 10% (assuming that's approx. what the seller is saving)?

 

No real reason here.

 

2) Usually, many buyers here aren't going to be satisfied with just 10% off the eBay price, they want more.

 

Assuming that my price is in line with FMV, those kinds of buyers can suck it.Really, I don't mind selling to a * couple* of dealers that I know out of my convention stock at a show, i'll usually deduct 20-30% off my sticker prices.But these are prices I give to guys I have working relationships with, who will spend a couple hundred on 5 books out of my priced as marked boxes, or whatever .Not just random flippers that come up to my booth.

 

 

3) If the seller passes on the entire 10% (or more) savings to the buyer, his net on the book is the same (or less) as selling it for the eBay price less fees. So what then is the "benefit" to the seller?

 

No benefit whatsoever, actually.

 

For the most part, a seller will get considerably more money for a given book on ebay, than a seller would on this board.

 

The reason is simple....there is about a million times* more traffic on eBay comic listings, than there is on any given seller's listings, on this board.

 

*Arbitrary figure but yeah.For the sake of this discussion a million times equals oodles and oodles more hits on eBay under a given book....................than wading through dozens of pages of threads to find the one book that you are looking for.Now, which manner of those 2 searches would yield the most hits?

 

If you guessed the second, you win a no-prize.

 

Really, I amazed-balls why boardies don't understand why this board does not yield comparatively good selling figures, opposed to eBay. (shrug)

 

4) What exactly did the buyer do to deserve the 10% discount other than sign up for Board membership for free?

 

Absolutely nothing.

 

In short, the argument that sellers should sell at a discount to acknowledge the benefits of selling on the Boards seems to treat the benefits of Board commerce as a one-way street.

 

But don't the buyer's enjoy benefits of buying here?

 

1) Most sellers list here first before other venues, so buyers here get first crack at books before anyone else.

2) Some sellers sell exclusively on the Boards, so buyers get access to books that no one else on eBay does.

3) While some sales threads here are highly competitive, there are far less members here than on eBay, so buyers enjoy less competition when books are put up for sale.

 

Aren't those benefits worth something? And all that benefit before you even start talking about a discounted price.

 

Those benefits are huge.That is why I buy on this board.That is also why I rarely sell on this board, on that same token.

 

So I see the benefit of commerce on the Boards as a two-way street.

 

And again, what exactly did members do to deserve that discount price? There are a few members here who did the heavy lifting in creating the Marketplace; I could see them reasonably making the argument that they "deserve" a Board discount - though I don't think any would.

 

But most here didn't have anything to do with making fee-free selling possible here; they simply signed up for free membership. So, to me, members expecting a discount as a "privilege" of being a member strikes me as a bit entitled.

 

 

But.....since the consensus of the community here is that sellers should show some acknowledgement of the fee-free selling environment - even if it's a nominal amount - I try and respect that as much as I can when I do list items here for sale.

 

 

Since that's my view of the "Board discount" selling here on the Boards, I don't see how a buyer can reasonably make the argument for an item that's for sale off the Boards.

 

If somebody want's to make an offer on an item - whether here or on eBay - I think there's more substantive ways to argue for the discount than simply saying "I'm a Board member".

 

 

EBay give you a percentage of fees or something?

 

No. I signed an electronic contract stating that I would pay eBay's fees for using their service so that's what I do. But that's me. You do you.

 

That comment, however, makes it clear to me that one of the underlying premises for this "member code" is the 'you shouldn't have to pay eBay's fees'- argument. And, frankly, that's been beat to death so I'll bow out now.

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Paul © ® ⚽️💙™

Paul © ® ⚽️💙™

Posted
Posted
I'm on board, but only on the condition that this guy gets a slot, too: http://m.ebay.com/itm/C1980S-OLD-THE-AVENGERS-COMIC-BY-MARVEL-COMICS-GROUP-RARE-/182258027227?nav=SEARCH

 

$350 for that pos, what's not to love? I'm in!

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