dealer's mentality

[momen55]

if i was a dealer and had alot of overhead, i would price it accordingly so i can move it, not price it so high that most people can't buy it or don't want to. what is the purpose behind that?
they can price any way they want, but what benefit does it have to not sell anything because it is overly priced? is it done just to boast and say "look at me and what i have, and you can't have it"? or just waiting for the sap they can take advantage of?
it costs money to list a multitude of items and if you don't sell anything for being greedy, that is just wasting money and is dipping into profits. i doubt most items dealers have they bought at market value to where they have to sell high, especially of common players or somewhat stars. i don't think they buy for $500 and sell for $525 and just make a $25 profit?
reason i make this comment is that i have been trying to buy some items from someone for sometime now, and although i have made offers, they just won't sell. i have even asked to trade better items and nothing. they would rather have the item for months then sell. my point, sell stuff so everyone can afford it and in the long run you will make some profit and then some.
thoughts?

[camarokids]

Agreed.

Maybe after they have had the item for a long time, they may decide to lower the price???

What is the item?

[CampWest]

I agree, that moving inventory is generally advantageous to keeping capital locked up for a really long time... though I think an issue is availability of replacement inventory and replacement cost of inventory.

We're not dealing with a box of cereal, where another identical item is on its way to the shelves or an endless supply of Coca Cola or a standard car. A memorabilia dealer may only be able to bring in one Ted Williams gamer every two years or so. In the case of limited inventory items, it is more crucial to maximizing profit margins.

In the baseball card shop, we always had to consider the cost of replacement inventory, especially on hot product. Say our original case price on SP Authentic Football was a cost of $96 per box. We could sell it for $115 and turn 2 cases in a week. Thats $912 of profit. However it was a hot product and replacement cost was $122/box with a one case limit, that case we could sell in 2 weeks at $140/box for a profit of $432.

Thats a total profit of $1344 and it took 3 weeks to accomplish. Okay, not bad.

But this is a hot product and replacement inventory is gonna be tough. Maybe its better to sell the first two cases at $130/box and it takes 2 weeks to clear the inventory, now we've made $1632 in just two weeks. So from the seller's point of view, due to high demand and limited replacement inventory, it was a better decision to maximize profits than to move more units.

Personally, I'll generally take $1632 in two weeks, over $1344 in three weeks.

If the product was cold, you could reverse it and dump the product at a small gain or even a loss to get a better margin product in the door and not keep your money tied up in a dog.

Nonetheless, some dealers just refuse to negotiate on low demand items, where they wouldnt be replacing the inventory anyhow. And thats something I do not understand... You almost always move the slow inventory to get in something you can churn at higher margins.

[momen55]

bats dave.
i can see that campwest. but i have been trying to buy some items for months from the same seller and they won't budge. i look through their stuff one a week and nothing moves, yet the prices don't come down.
i would love to have the items, but to pay $600 for something worth $100 would be insane. i can't see how a dealer can stay in business doing that. i guess i will have to wait for something else to surface.

[kudu]

Are the bats you want to buy hard to find and/or one of a kind bats?

[legaleagle92481]

Some people purposefully post items high as not to sell them. Ebay is a brag site for alot of people. Ive seen stuff that is priced so high it is like what the heck. Others post it high with the idea ok I like this item but its not an item I won't part with at the right price and then they post it at such right price knowing that it probably won't sell but if it does they will get a premium for an item they don't really want to sell. Then you get the weekend dealers. Or the flippers they buy stuff at what they feel is a good price and try to resell it often on the same medium. The downside is they often get stuck because if the item was worth drastically more than they paid for it why did they get it so cheap in the first place? Big dealers will normally heavily discount stuff they can't move. Look at JO when a player gets cut or traded they drop the price like a stone to sell the item and avoid having it sit there. But as a big dealer they can afford to do that because they have other sales to offset that. The small weekend dealer cant do that.

[Fnazxc0114]

Pretty much what eagle said. If you add up the price of the two pair of hamilton cleats i have they would be half of what the guy on ebay is listing them for. Also if you look at all his other auctions he is always talking about the Hamilton stuff he has. He will continue to have all that stuff unless he drops about 60 percent on the bats and about 75 percent on the cleats. If i were selling id be all about the turnover. In with the new and out with the old.

[Neal]

I am not sure whom you are referring to, but there are many collectors out there who are "dealers" as well .... most of us all are to some degree. We all have bats/jerseys/cards/etc that we would never move, unless the price is absurd. Call it showing off or what you will, but I think many are simply putting items up for sale that will take a whole bunch of cheddar in order for them to part with that item.

But I do agree overall - there are many items out there with puzzling prices attached to them, and it gets frustrating.

[momen55]

Are the bats you want to buy hard to find and/or one of a kind bats?

no. they are common player bats. i have been looking at their site for some time and nothing has moved, unless they have double of everything.

eagle; i agree to some extent. but the point of being a dealer is to move stuff not hoard it. i sell cars and wether i like them or not is not the point. i have to move cars to make money. otherwise, i will have a lot full because i like them and want top dollar and now i don't have any cash flow because i am hoarding or holding out. i buy, repair and sell lawn cutting equiptment. i price it accordingly to move it. if not, i will have a shop full of steal and no money.

neal; i agree with you as well. i have stuff i have no desire of getting rid of. but i don't list them to get attention. if it's not for sale, it's not for sale. but if it is, price it so someone can buy it.

[legaleagle92481]

no. they are common player bats. i have been looking at their site for some time and nothing has moved, unless they have double of everything.

eagle; i agree to some extent. but the point of being a dealer is to move stuff not hoard it. i sell cars and wether i like them or not is not the point. i have to move cars to make money. otherwise, i will have a lot full because i like them and want top dollar and now i don't have any cash flow because i am hoarding or holding out. i buy, repair and sell lawn cutting equiptment. i price it accordingly to move it. if not, i will have a shop full of steal and no money.

neal; i agree with you as well. i have stuff i have no desire of getting rid of. but i don't list them to get attention. if it's not for sale, it's not for sale. but if it is, price it so someone can buy it.

What is your definition of a dealer? Alot of guys on Ebay are not "real" dealers. They are just doing it for extra cash. To me a dealer is a guy who does it full time and has access to wholesale pricing from major companies and the capital to buy collections etc and he pays like 50-60% of an item's worth and marks it up accordingly. The stuff he has is his inventory like cars are your inventory and he has to move stuff to support himself. The weekend guy has other means of support and may not have to move anything, the cash he makes might just go to pay for other hobby items. Like personally I sell alot. I am not a dealer by any means if I had to live off of the money I make off items I would be living in a cardboard box somewhere but I do use it to offset my hobby purchases so I don't have that much cash tied up in the hobby at once. The same way I wouldn't tie too much money up in one stock.

[momen55]

What is your definition of a dealer? Alot of guys on Ebay are not "real" dealers. They are just doing it for extra cash. To me a dealer is a guy who does it full time and has access to wholesale pricing from major companies and the capital to buy collections etc and he pays like 50-60% of an item's worth and marks it up accordingly. The stuff he has is his inventory like cars are your inventory and he has to move stuff to support himself. The weekend guy has other means of support and may not have to move anything, the cash he makes might just go to pay for other hobby items. Like personally I sell alot. I am not a dealer by any means if I had to live off of the money I make off items I would be living in a cardboard box somewhere but I do use it to offset my hobby purchases so I don't have that much cash tied up in the hobby at once. The same way I wouldn't tie too much money up in one stock.

someone that does this for a living. i have tried trades, 2 for 1 type with the seller and nothing. they are not worth dealing with as far as i am concerned. i would rather have something then nothing, but that is just me. i guess i keep looking.

[Mark17]

I've seen situations like that too, where bats that are basically common players on popular teams are listed in the $1,000 range and up. I just pretend the item is in a museum or private collection or otherwise unavailable to me, and wish him good luck.

Adding stuff to our collections isn't life and death. If someone has something I'd like, he isn't obligated to sell or trade with me at what I consider a fair price. I just move on, and I don't hold any animosity towards the seller at all. It's his stuff, he can price it however he wants. My option is to walk away, and I frequently do.

What I'm suggesting is, don't sweat it, forget it and find something else to add to your collection. There's plenty of great stuff out there, and plenty of good, reasonable collectors and dealers to work with.

[Mulligans]

Its nice to see that Mark has a "sane and educated" rationale for the predicament. Its really not that big a deal.....these Capitalistic situations happen every day in all walks of life. If you can't work out a deal with a seller don't dwell on it....just walk away from it.

There are many things that motivate a seller (and a buyer) to do what they do. I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out the other guys "plan". I do know, its not always about inventory levels and moving product. I wish more guys would just understand this and move on instead of always trying to beat up the other guy?

[godwulf]

I suspect that some Sellers just imagine that one very well-off fan - maybe one who doesn't know the market too well - seeing their item and snatching it up on a whim. Or if not necessarily well-off, maybe somebody who just got a new credit card that's burning a hole in their pocket, or has had too much to drink - whatever. They're just dangling it out there and paying listing fees in the same way that other people buy lottery tickets.

I get frustrated when I see the Team Shop at Chase Field wanting $125-$175 for a bat that, market-wise, isn't worth half that much. They say, "Well, it's for charity", to which I say, "You're not doing your charity any good, or giving them any money, now, 'cause nobody in their right mind is going to pay those prices." I can only imagine they're banking on some well-heeled season ticket holder wandering in after the game, having had a couple too many beers, and deciding to impress Junior by springing for a game-used bat. Hell, they wanted $125 for an ST bat of some guy who never made the team and is now a minor league coach; after a couple of years, it disappeared, and I can only imagine that Mike Bell bought it, himself. :rolleyes:

[momen55]

i've moved on. it is sad though. the dummy has had the bats for sale for months and nothing. oh well, i have found others alot cheaper. :)

[godwulf]

If you're patient, you will, in most cases, eventually get what you want at a reasonable price. The Chase Field Team Shop had a brown 2004 Brent Mayne Louisville Slugger that I really wanted, priced at $125, for several years, and would never come down on the price. A couple of times, I almost gave in and paid it, but I couldn't believe it was the only one floating around out there. Then last year, I picked up an almost identical bat at Fan Fest for 40 bucks, and this year I got a natural wood Mayne bat at Fan Fest for 20. If you collect a lot of common players, often it's just a matter of biding your time.