Sellers who price your books at multiples of GPA -- What's your endgame? 0

[trademarkcomics]

I've been accused of having my prices too high. But, a book is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. GPA is not the "bible" on how much something will sell for, it only tells you what it has sold for. And does not take into account mitigating factors like sold at auction, or "given away" at fixed price. That's why GPA is really only useful for popular books like ASM 300 or Hulk 181. Most of my items are rare error, insert or signed books so I do ask a premium for these and am(usually) patient to wait for the right buyer(not a "sucker"). Users have quoted GPA on some of my rare items, which I find pretty amusing. I just had someone tell me a page out of Detective Comics #27 is "worthless". SO you're saying you can afford the entire book, eh?

That said, sellers who place items on eBay just to show off their collection do annoy me. It's ostentatious just to place it at a ridiculous fixed price, but it's even worse to put best offer on it! Do they care how rude it is to put something out there that people would love to buy, only to auto decline their more than reasonable offers? I do not have limits on any of my books. You can offer one cent if you want(but don't please, ). 

[ADAMANTIUM]

On 5/17/2024 at 7:08 PM, trademarkcomics said:

I've been accused of having my prices too high. But, a book is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. GPA is not the "bible" on how much something will sell for, it only tells you what it has sold for. And does not take into account mitigating factors like sold at auction, or "given away" at fixed price. That's why GPA is really only useful for popular books like ASM 300 or Hulk 181. Most of my items are rare error, insert or signed books so I do ask a premium for these and am(usually) patient to wait for the right buyer(not a "sucker"). Users have quoted GPA on some of my rare items, which I find pretty amusing. I just had someone tell me a page out of Detective Comics #27 is "worthless". SO you're saying you can afford the entire book, eh?

That said, sellers who place items on eBay just to show off their collection do annoy me. It's ostentatious just to place it at a ridiculous fixed price, but it's even worse to put best offer on it! Do they care how rude it is to put something out there that people would love to buy, only to auto decline their more than reasonable offers? I do not have limits on any of my books. You can offer one cent if you want(but don't please, ). 

As someone who collects some of the same, I don't blame you! Higher prices on certain stuff is a drag, as I wouldn't send an offer, but that used to be what the seller took as info to "eventually" lower the price

Having been in some peoples positions it takes patience, but when they "never lower their price" it at first was like, "what kind of offers were they getting?"

Which turned into some just listing at a high price never to lower but as eye candy, similar to comic con, which is there prerogative, but again, can be a drag.

Admittedly during certain years, it felt like every single book was like that

Where you couldn't buy one to suffice and save for the other.

When you own them you want them all to be going up always or down not by much, just so many variations and variables between a million plus books

There is a collection for everyone, pick and choose while bobbing and weaving 😂  @trademarkcomics

Edited May 18 by ADAMANTIUM
Eventually

[ADAMANTIUM]

To each their own is what I mean, if they wanted to sell they could certainly lower it, it is much harder to Garner a higher price, and sometimes even if warranted, was imo

Edited May 18 by ADAMANTIUM

[Kevin76]

I'm more surprised that you don't think 30 copies in 9.8 isn't rare in grade.  that's 30 copies in 9.8 in the world and who's to say, all of them aren't still slabbed, people do crack out books and never return the label  

[LordRahl]

There is a difference between putting stuff up for a premium and what this seller is doing. I have books that if I were to ever sell, I'd only sell for 4-5x GPA. Partly because GPA only has 2-3 sales in grade ever, partly because my copies are ped copies and upgrade candidates and partly because best of luck in finding another one in the next 5 years. This seller likely isn't even looking for a sucker but has non sales related reasons for putting it up for that kind of price. Who knows what that is. Or I suppose he could just be a crackpot, it's not like we don't have our share of them in this hobby.

[LordRahl]

I actually had a lapse of judgement once and listed a book that I really had no intention of selling for something outrageous like 3x GPA or maybe more. Thought, no one will buy this at this price. I was wrong. If that same book had sold in 2021, it would have been an easy $100K, even today it might get that, but minimum $70K. Let's just say my immediate regret at selling that book has only intensified over the years.

[NoMan]

On 5/18/2024 at 5:39 PM, LordRahl said:

I actually had a lapse of judgement once and listed a book that I really had no intention of selling for something outrageous like 3x GPA or maybe more. Thought, no one will buy this at this price. I was wrong. If that same book had sold in 2021, it would have been an easy $100K, even today it might get that, but minimum $70K. Let's just say my immediate regret at selling that book has only intensified over the years.

what book?

[LordRahl]

On 5/18/2024 at 6:11 PM, NoMan said:

what book?

ToS 52 in 9.6

[Kevin76]

Guys who own stores are the worst, over graded and over priced. I also see a lot of dealers pricing their books based on GPA for raw books, if you want the graded price, then grade it. Then they get upset and blame the show itself as to why they didn't sell anything and make any money rather than their insane covid prices  

Edited May 19 by Kevin76

[valiantman]

On 5/16/2024 at 9:47 PM, Hepcat said:

The only way this would stop is if Ebay charged some sort of a listing fee that was a percentage of the BIN price.

No, because these sellers are souper-jeniussess, see, they'll list the book for $0.99 with $8,888.88 shipping.

[RockMyAmadeus]

On 5/18/2024 at 5:30 PM, LordRahl said:

best of luck in finding another one in the next 5 years.

[Cman429]

I hate GPA. I watch a lot of IG Live sales and there’s always some knucklehead with access to gocollect who thinks looking up last sales makes him a negotiating genius, I’d be the worst IG seller bc it would take every fiber of my being not to go off on a epic Chevy Chase Lampoon style rant on these people.

Prices guides are not sacred texts. There’s a lot of things that go into it. If I have a book you see once or twice a year and person B wants said book, well then it becomes how badly can they live without it? Also you never know things like what is someone’s profit margin, how badly do they need money now, etc etc

[NoMan]

On 5/18/2024 at 6:19 PM, LordRahl said:

ToS 52 in 9.6

I'm not the most knowledgable person in this hobby, but would a TOS 52 go for 100k?

[grendel013]

If there is a Make an Offer option, I assume the seller just wants to get more attention with the high asking price. I personally would list items in my PC amongst ones I really wanted to sell. My PC books get my I don't want to sell it price.

[Hepcat]

On 5/18/2024 at 9:48 PM, valiantman said:

No, because these sellers are souper-jeniussess, see, they'll list the book for $0.99 with $8,888.88 shipping.

Since sellers were doing precisely that to limit Ebay's percentage take of the action, Ebay closed that loophole by applying its fee to the gross price including shipping years ago.

 

[Hepcat]

On 5/18/2024 at 8:30 PM, LordRahl said:

Or I suppose he could just be a crackpot, it's not like we don't have our share of them in this hobby.

Occam's Razor has me leaning to that last explanation.

[LordRahl]

On 5/18/2024 at 7:09 PM, NoMan said:

I'm not the most knowledgable person in this hobby, but would a TOS 52 go for 100k?

Hard to say since one sells about every 5 years or so. The last one sold in I believe 2018 or '19 on CL for around $65K so at the height of pandemic prices, yeah easily $100K. If Ghost Riders first app is a quarter million and higher dollar book with 5 graded at 9.8, I don't see why Black Widows first app wouldn't be $100K with only 4 in 9.6 and none higher.

[LordRahl]

On 5/18/2024 at 6:35 PM, Kevin76 said:

Guys who own stores are the worst, over graded and over priced. I also see a lot of dealers pricing their books based on GPA for raw books, if you want the graded price, then grade it. Then they get upset and blame the show itself as to why they didn't sell anything and make any money rather than their insane covid prices  

I don't see why this in and of itself is a problem. I routinely pay GPA for raw books. As long as you trust the dealers grading, why not if it's a book you want. The problem is that a lot of dealers overgrade so they want GPA 9.4 price for their raw 8.5 or 9.0. In that case yeah I agree, grade it and if by the grace of God it actually gets a 9.4, then I'll pay it.

[Off Panel]

On 5/18/2024 at 12:18 PM, Kevin76 said:

I'm more surprised that you don't think 30 copies in 9.8 isn't rare in grade.  that's 30 copies in 9.8 in the world and who's to say, all of them aren't still slabbed, people do crack out books and never return the label  

I actually somewhat agree with you. 30 copies doesn't sound like a whole lot, does it?

Having said that, 30 copies seems downright plentiful when you compare it with many of the surrounding issues in 9.8

ASM 90 (10 copies in 9.8)
ASM 93 (9 copies in 9.8)
ASM 94 (19 copies in 9.8)
ASM 96 (20 copies in 9.8)
ASM 102 (18 copies in 9.8)
ASM 104 (11 copies in 9.8)
ASM 106 (15 copies in 9.8)

You get the picture.

Also,  I don't really see people cracking this book out. I would absolutely believe someone cracking out a 9.4 with hopes of CPRing to a 9.6. Or a 9.6 hoping to get a 9.8. But I don't think many people crack out 9.8s with the hope of pressing up to a 9.9 or 10.0. I feel like your chances would be greater of dropping down to at 9.6 in that scenario. 

An alternative argument that I would be more inclined to consider would be, "How do we know all those 9.8s have survived?" House fires still happen, and how many collections were lost in Hurricane Katrina?"

I don't like to think about that, but I actually think about it pretty often.

Edited May 19 by Off Panel
Word choice

[Kevin76]

On 5/19/2024 at 1:09 PM, Off Panel said:

I actually somewhat agree with you. 30 copies doesn't sound like a whole lot, does it?

Having said that, 30 copies seems downright plentiful when you compare it with many of the surrounding issues in 9.8

ASM 90 (10 copies in 9.8)
ASM 93 (9 copies in 9.8)
ASM 94 (19 copies in 9.8)
ASM 96 (20 copies in 9.8)
ASM 102 (18 copies in 9.8)
ASM 104 (11 copies in 9.8)
ASM 106 (15 copies in 9.8)

You get the picture.

Also,  I don't really see people cracking this book out. I would absolutely believe someone cracking out a 9.4 with hopes of CPRing to a 9.6. Or a 9.6 hoping to get a 9.8. But I don't think many people crack out 9.8s with the hope of pressing up to a 9.9 or 10.0. I feel like your chances would be greater of dropping down to at 9.6 in that scenario. 

An alternative argument that I would be more inclined to consider would be, "How do we know all those 9.8s have survived?" House fires still happen, and how many collections were lost in Hurricane Katrina?"

I don't like to think about that, but I actually think about it pretty often.

So you're only go by what "seems" scarce in comparison to others around it, 30 is 30, no matter how you compare it...7 Billion people in this world, I think more than 30 want that book in 9.8. In the sports card world, 30 is considered incredible rare, even 2000 is considered rare. 

Most people aren't cracking out 9.8's to get a 9.9/10, they are cracking out 9.8's cause they don't like slabs.