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View Full Version : Semi OT: Need Some eBay Advice



frikativ54
04-03-2008, 06:55 PM
Dear eBay Selling Pros,

I bought a Lance Berkman card for $317.17 last December. I've had it on eBay before a few times for BIN/BO and didn't want to part with it for under $300. I got offered as much as $275 for it but refused.

So I decided to put it on eBay and start it at $99 with no reserve. There are under two days left in the auction, and the card is at merely $116.50. There are 11 watchers, but I'd rather keep the card than sell it for anything less than $200.

If you were me, would you pull the auction? Would you wait it out? It's a nice card, but I need to pay another GUF member off for a big g/u purchase. Thanks for any help you can provide. Here is a link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/Triple-Threads-Lance-Berkman-All-Star-Logoman-Logo-1-1_W0QQitemZ140220046331QQihZ004QQcategoryZ149906QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
.

bubbrubb25
04-03-2008, 07:35 PM
Keep it!

earlywynnfan
04-03-2008, 07:43 PM
How would you feel if you had your eye on something, and just before the auction ended, it was pulled?? Personally, I hate when sellers do that. Broadway Rick if LEGENDARY for it, and I will not bid in his auctions because of it.

How do you know 2 snipers don't have $400 bids?

I say, if you don't want to sell it for the minimum bid, don't make that the minimum bid!

Ken

hiramman
04-03-2008, 08:46 PM
I agree with Ken 100%. Broadway Rick has done the same to me. You should have accepted the $275 offer.

AWA85
04-03-2008, 08:51 PM
I think you have to leave it and hope it gets shot up. It is just not the honest thing to do by taking it down. Plus with 11 watchers you never know what will happen in the end!

frikativ54
04-03-2008, 08:52 PM
I agree with Ken 100%. Broadway Rick has done the same to me. You should have accepted the $275 offer.

You guys definitely make good points. I don't want to lose my credibility with Berkman collectors, because I have some of his other cards that I probably want to sell.

Just imagine my position. I am 23 and am a junior at a small liberal arts college in Portland. I owe a GUF forum a good chunk of change, and I need to get a good amount of money for the card.

What would you do if you were in my position?

-frik

bigtruck260
04-03-2008, 09:06 PM
You guys definitely make good points. I don't want to lose my credibility with Berkman collectors, because I have some of his other cards that I probably want to sell.

Just imagine my position. I am 23 and am a junior at a small liberal arts college in Portland. I owe a GUF forum a good chunk of change, and I need to get a good amount of money for the card.

What would you do if you were in my position?

-frik

Sounds like you wanted to move it anyway, you will probably get a decent amount for it...many times I have been suprised at the last minute.

It is a lesson learned for a 23 year old at college. What if you were in a car dealership and the dealer told you a car was $1000 - you go home and have your heart set on it...you already have the crown air freshener picked out. You go back the next day and the dealer says "nope, boss says that the price is too low."

You would be ticked.

Dave

helmets
04-03-2008, 09:14 PM
You need to let it ride. What if everyone that put a no reserve auction up, pulled it if they did not get what they expected? There is a reason that there is an option to set a reserve. If you are so cheap that you did not want to pay the small fee for the reserve when you listed the card, then you have to be prepared for the ramifications should the item not bring what you want for it.

34swtns
04-04-2008, 06:14 AM
We've all found ourselves in this situation before. You put something up for bid and it looks like it's tanking for several days. Sometimes they do and sometimes they'll surprise you in the end.
As far as what's "fair" to potential bidders..........you own it, you determine what gets done with the item. If you want to yank it, then yank it. If somebody is so crushed because a mere card they were bidding on disappears from the market then they need to seek some mental help. That's not your problem. Most ebay users accept that sometimes items just go POOF! and they're gone. It happens. It's your card, you make the dicisions concerning it.
That being said, I think that with 11 watchers you will probably be very surprised at the last minute scramble of bidding. You could do very well on the card, and I think it's entirely worth the gamble.
My 2 centabos.

3arod13
04-04-2008, 06:22 AM
I also hate when sellers pull things before auction ends. Why don't sellers just use:

* "Buy it Now" with a "Make and Offer" option; or

* Just a reserve price

Personally, I like the "buy it now" with make an offer option myself.\

I hate when I'm watching an auction for 10 days and then it's end 1 days short, because the price isn't where the seller wants it.

otismalibu
04-04-2008, 08:31 AM
I also hate when sellers pull things before auction ends. Why don't sellers just use:

* "Buy it Now" with a "Make and Offer" option;

When I need to get a certain price, this is what I like to use. Too iffy just letting it ride. I've had items sell with only a couple of Watchers and I've had no bids with double digit Watchers. Ya never know.

sammy
04-04-2008, 09:48 AM
Hey, here's some advice.

Don't be so cheap and try to steal it at the end.

If interested in the item, then place at least one bid.

That might encourage the seller to leave it on auction.

aeneas01
04-04-2008, 02:37 PM
Dear eBay Selling Pros,

I bought a Lance Berkman card for $317.17 last December. I've had it on eBay before a few times for BIN/BO and didn't want to part with it for under $300. I got offered as much as $275 for it but refused.

So I decided to put it on eBay and start it at $99 with no reserve. There are under two days left in the auction, and the card is at merely $116.50. There are 11 watchers, but I'd rather keep the card than sell it for anything less than $200.

If you were me, would you pull the auction? Would you wait it out? It's a nice card, but I need to pay another GUF member off for a big g/u purchase. Thanks for any help you can provide. Here is a link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/Triple-Threads-Lance-Berkman-All-Star-Logoman-Logo-1-1_W0QQitemZ140220046331QQihZ004QQcategoryZ149906QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
.


why not just let the auction ride and, if it doesn't fetch what you want, simply lie to the winning bidder - tell him it's no longer available, that the dog ate it or the like. imo this is the same thing as yanking it right before the auction ends - the only difference is that by yanking it early you can avoid negative feedback. in short, both scenarios equate to the same thing - screwing the bidder by ignoring the rules and spirit of auction.

of course many ebayers simply list an item and note that they reserve the right to end it early for whatever reason. most understand that this means the seller will yank the item if the price looks like it will come in too low or the seller accepts an offer - apparently ebay is o.k. with this nonsense given the amount of sellers that do this. not the best approach as far as attracting bidders is concerned but at least you are being upfront.

frikativ54
04-04-2008, 09:41 PM
why not just let the auction ride and, if it doesn't fetch what you want, simply lie to the winning bidder - tell him it's no longer available, that the dog ate it or the like. imo this is the same thing as yanking it right before the auction ends - the only difference is that by yanking it early you can avoid negative feedback. in short, both scenarios equate to the same thing - screwing the bidder by ignoring the rules and spirit of auction.

Thanks for your advice. As I was reading this, I was thinking "You can't be serious," and then when I read your comparison to yanking it at the end, I really agreed with you.

I won't be pulling the auction, and I am hoping to not get in-the-hole too badly. I am converting my collection to game-used items and simply want to move this card. It had so much significance when I first got it, but now it's just an MLB logo patch to me.

WadeInBmore
04-05-2008, 06:40 AM
hmmm...its up to $200 buckeroos with over 11 hours left. I think that you are gonna make out just fine. Wait til you see what those final 2 minutes do to the sale price of that card.

wade

corsairs22
04-05-2008, 11:54 AM
In addition to all that's been said, it seems to me that you gave the card its chance to sell at $325 and now it's time to find out what people will pay for the card in an open auction. Good luck with it.

AWA85
04-05-2008, 09:06 PM
Went for little over $200, are you ok with that price? Keep us updated!

frikativ54
04-05-2008, 10:49 PM
Went for little over $200, are you ok with that price? Keep us updated!

When the auction was first over, I felt bad about it. I kept trying to tell myself that it's just a baseball card, and that $200 is still $200 toward a game-used jersey I am buying. So - I guess I have mixed feelings. I am so glad I didn't give it away, though. It could have been a lot worse, as I would simply be unhappy only getting $125 for it.

I have a feeling I am going to have a similar situation with my Hunter Pence bat. I need to sell it in order to pay for the aforementioned jersey, and I'm not sure I can get what I originally paid for it. It's a nice D-Bat, but I didn't have a pleasant experience with Hunter Pence, so I don't feel that badly about letting it go.

TNTtoys
04-06-2008, 12:14 PM
When the auction was first over, I felt bad about it. I kept trying to tell myself that it's just a baseball card, and that $200 is still $200 toward a game-used jersey I am buying. So - I guess I have mixed feelings. I am so glad I didn't give it away, though. It could have been a lot worse, as I would simply be unhappy only getting $125 for it.

I have a feeling I am going to have a similar situation with my Hunter Pence bat. I need to sell it in order to pay for the aforementioned jersey, and I'm not sure I can get what I originally paid for it. It's a nice D-Bat, but I didn't have a pleasant experience with Hunter Pence, so I don't feel that badly about letting it go.

My two cents for whatever they're worth. Protect your assets and don't be "penny wise/dollar foolish." If you have something worth $200-300, either start it higher or put a reserve on it. Worst thing that can happen is that it doesn't sell, and you eat $2-3 worth of fees. Certainly a lot better than selling it for $100 or more less than its value. Too many times sellers get hung up on saving a few cents with fees that they put their item at high risk and lose hundreds in the process.

commando
04-06-2008, 01:11 PM
I guess I should also chime in and note the huge difference between long-term values of newer cards versus game-used equipment. Take the most expensive insert cards produced in 2003 as an example. If you compared the values of 98% of these cards today versus five years ago, you'd see cards that have lost around half their value. Frankly, most card collectors are not concerned with inserts from five years ago. Even many hard-core collectors who collect one specific player have long given up on trying to collect all the different "1 of 1" cards that come out every year.

The bottom line is if you see this card show up on eBay three years from now, I can almost guarantee it will go for much less than you got this week. The equipment you bought will be much more stable if you paid a fair price. ;)

frikativ54
04-06-2008, 02:40 PM
I guess I should also chime in and note the huge difference between long-term values of newer cards versus game-used equipment. Take the most expensive insert cards produced in 2003 as an example. If you compared the values of 98% of these cards today versus five years ago, you'd see cards that have lost around half their value. Frankly, most card collectors are not concerned with inserts from five years ago. Even many hard-core collectors who collect one specific player have long given up on trying to collect all the different "1 of 1" cards that come out every year.

The bottom line is if you see this card show up on eBay three years from now, I can almost guarantee it will go for much less than you got this week. The equipment you bought will be much more stable if you paid a fair price. ;)

You make really good points. Although I wanted to hang on to the Berkman until he got hot, there is always the issue of cards going down in value. I thought: if I hold on to it much longer, the card's value would really be lowered. Plus, I am not so confident that Berkman will have a great year this year.

There are some cards that do hold value though. Like I anticipate the Craig Biggio 1989 Upper Deck rookie card graded Pristine BGS 10 card to maintain its value, as well as a BGS 9.5 Gem Mint Griffey/Bagwell/Thomas UD Ultimate auto I have. However, the trick is to know what sets hold their value and when to sell.

The thing about baseball cards is that I just don't understand why people keep pouring their money into them. People will spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on cards with small pieces of g/u jerseys in them. And furthermore, the companies flood the market so it becomes more of an addiction with collectors than a genuine hobby.

For me, it was like over a period of a month or so that I woke up to what the card companies were doing to collectors. People on the Beckett Message Boards called me a hypocrite for having patch cards in my signature but then inveighing against this quasi-scam. The thing that kept me away from g/u collecting for so long is that I didn't know of legit sources to get good stuff.

Once I was recommended to reliable dealers and found this forum, I felt more confident about selling my baseball card collection and getting more into g/u stuff. I remember this summer asking at Minute Maid Park for good places to get game-used memorabilia, and they told me they didn't know and to check out eBay - as if I hadn't already been doing that. I actually haven't acquired that much (some Bagwell batting gloves and a pair of cleats, a Hunter Pence bat, and a Bagwell g/u jersey within the next two months), but I am much happier with it than I am with my card collection.