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  1. #1
    Senior Member Yankwood's Avatar
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    Nov 2005
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    Not a criticism just a question...well, okay, maybe...

    Do "inflated" BIN prices or similarly valued reserve prices on Ebay actually stifle the sports collecting hobby?
    I ask this more of a discussion that a damnation of those on ebay who know the average "going" prices on items who list at 3 or more times the typical price. I know sometimes rarity of certain items or conditions could cause asking prices to go way up and that is accepted and understood.
    I want to word this carefully as this is not meant to chastize anyone for what they believe an item to be worth as it is their item and they are entitled to ask whatever they want for it. My only question is, though, does this kind of pricing actually turn away new hobbyists because of the false belief that that's how much these things are normally sold for and thus, out of their budgets.
    Because I have been in the hobby collecting bats for over 30 years, this is specifically what I am talking about.
    It is common to go on ebay at any time and see that someone who has been around the hobby for as long as I have and many times even longer listing items at what they know to be exorbitant prices. I always wonder to myself if this person, or these people, are looking for the so called "sucker" who is ignorant of the more typical prices and out to make the occasional killing or if they are trying to dictate the market through pricing methods. And of course, I know the old stock line of "An item is only worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it". The thing is, I see these bats listed month after month after month...etc., etc., etc.....
    Again, I want to make it clear that anyone who wants to sell something has the right, and in entitled to charge however much they want. My only question is, does this method of pricing chase away new potential hobbyists and buyers and therefore is this practice counterproductive to a good strong hobby? Now, go ahead and pick me apart.

  2. #2
    Senior Member yankees506's Avatar
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    Re: Not a criticism just a question...well, okay, maybe...

    Well for me no. If i see an item i want and i think its overpriced, i will normaly contact the sell and point out why it is overpriced. I.E. recent sales and other factors. Usually sellers are receptive and will make the adjustment. But other times the have the "take a hike" attitude but sure enough a month or so later ill get the "i still have the item if you are interested" email. Like you stated a person can ask whatever they want for an item, and if a person comes along and has to have it then they win. I like to contribute to our community by pricing items i sell well so that other collectors can enjoy it as much as i have. Im not a retailer and i dont pay retail on anything i buy. True collectors wouldnt ask for retail anyway. just my 2 cents

  3. #3
    Senior Member
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    Re: Not a criticism just a question...well, okay, maybe...

    it's not just Ebay, look at some of the sports memorabilia stores especially the ones with team partnerships. 650 for a jersey of a player not even all star potential who played only 15 games?

  4. #4

    Re: Not a criticism just a question...well, okay, maybe...

    My take, especially on eBay, is no buyer going in expects to have to pay list price for anything under the BIN format. Whether it's got a Best Offer option or not, most savvy buyers think they can somehow get most anything for less than list price one way or another. Seems to me just the way the world works these days.

    That said, I know recently I jacked up the price of a bat to account for most offers coming in below my starting price. I believed the bat to be worth about 750 to 1250 and know I put in 500 plus 2 bats trade to initially acquire it. So my list price ended up being 1800 with a Best offer option. Within 24 hours a buyer offered me 1150 and I accepted. If I started at 1150 I would doubt any offers much more than 700-800. I know a member on here did the same thing even more to his ebenfit with a Braves jersey recently. So for me, that's how the higher prices can be justified.

    Back to your original question.... sure, it probably does detract some to see some of the inflated prices on the more frequented sites like eBay, etc. But that's also why we have educational forums like this where more realistic values are hopefully realized. I feel like through this forum and simply talking with some others, I know within +/- 100 what I should be paying for legit Manny game used bat from a legit collector.

  5. #5
    Senior Member otismalibu's Avatar
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    Re: Not a criticism just a question...well, okay, maybe...

    My only question is, does this method of pricing chase away new potential hobbyists and buyers and therefore is this practice counterproductive to a good strong hobby?
    Can't comment on how it relates to new hobbyists, but it sure seems that pricing on eBay has been in fishing expedition mode recently.

  6. #6
    Senior Member
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    Re: Not a criticism just a question...well, okay, maybe...

    I definitly do this with items that could be considered "priceless". I have a 1971 NL allstar team singed ball with clemente PSA/DNA on ebay now for $3999 with best offer feature. First of all you never know when someone just really wants it and this isnt an item you can easily find another of. Its probably worth something like 1500 or so. Ive done this before and been happy with the results. Worst case senerio is I lose the $2 listing fee.
    For the record, I listed this last week with no offers and there are still none this week either.

  7. #7
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    Re: Not a criticism just a question...well, okay, maybe...

    My take is it defintely scares people off. Without a BIN option that is the price and yeah you can message the guy but often they will not come down much. Alot of people think they are going to make an easy buck in this hobby but it is not easy to do. I can tell you that as a private collector trying to sell most of his collection. It is hard to even get what you pay for an item. Alot of these high price guys are collectors who pay market value for stuff and try to flip it for a nice profit, the flaw in that logic being the market price is close to what they paid and noone is interested at the higher price. As someone who has bought over market before it stings when you cannot recoup near what you paid and you throw 100s away with your only choice to hold onto to the item praying its value goes up.

  8. #8
    Senior Member
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    Re: Not a criticism just a question...well, okay, maybe...

    I don't even look at items with a BIN anymore when I'm searching through a seller's items. I rarely make offers because the BINs seem to high to me.

    Ken
    earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

  9. #9
    Senior Member
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    Re: Not a criticism just a question...well, okay, maybe...

    When there's a BIN and a Best Offer, that's a giveaway the seller will take less than the BIN price, which is probably way high.

    Best strategy: Collect what you like, only pay what you want to.

 

 

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