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Bruce and Ira,
I was hoping to hear from more people on the issue of "why is more better?"
but no one seems to care much, since there have only been two responses in the 3
days since I posed the question. I personally feel there is way too much
inventory being offered at one time -- by everyone (not just Bruce). But I also
feel that because it is Bruce who is consistently offering so many more
items per week than anyone else, week after week, that he is "setting the
standard" and other feels they have to put up as much as possible "just to have
a chance of competing".
I can't prove it, but if my memory serves, about 3 or 4 years ago Bruce was
regularly offering 400 to 700 items per week, not 700 to 1200. He was just as
successful then as he is now. In fact, when I browse through Bruce's database
and compare prices between then and now, I believe I see an overall price
DECREASE from then to now, even within Bruce's own matrix -- and that
trend has certainly been true for other dealers. Is there any dealer out there
who feels they are getting better pricing now than they were 4 or 5 years ago?
Yes, the economy has weakened some, but the single biggest change you can point
to is the huge increase in the number of posters being offered every week.
I thinks this is a vicious cycle that has lead to overall lower prices. As
I buyer I shouldn't complain -- except that as a long-time buyer I have seen
posters I gladly paid $50 to $200 for about five or ten years ago
continue to drop in price to the point where they can now regularly be had for
$15 to $75 today. That's the two-edged sword that those buyers who advocate
lower prices seem to be missing. Of course, if you just started buying recently,
then it has been all to your advantage -- unless the trend continues and your
great bargain $30 poster ends up being worth $3, five or ten years from
now.
Of course, I'm talking poster prices "overall" here -- everyone knows
that the very popular and extremely desirable and/or rare posters have continued
to climb. But in most cases I think even for most of them this huge inventory
has been a restraining factor on prices... maybe even a depressing factor in
some cases.
I wasn't accusing Bruce or any one individual of "ruining prices" when
I posed the question What I was looking for was to see if dealers were
even interested in considering the concept of detente in this huge volume war
that has been raging on eBay for so many years now. I guess
not.
But even as a current buyer who loves the low prices on the great items
that I have recently added to my collection, I find the sheer numbers
overwhelming and disturbing. I can't help thinking that a 50% reduction in the
weekly volume would still provide all the variety anyone needs and would lead to
more stable and perhaps gently rising prices. It would also conserve dealer's
inventory and mean they would have to work less. That would be such a bad
thing?
-- JR
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, September 27, 2004
13:30
Subject: Re: [MOPO] 920 inserts -- Why is
more better?
As a
consumer I can answer this question.
It
is about selection JR. I always check Bruce's auction every week
because I know it will feature a LARGE selection. While yes I have
my "Want List", I like most consumers like to shop or
browse. As I have said before, I know that when I buy from Bruce,
I get items as described, shipped quickly and packaged to withstand a nuclear
blast.
So
as a consumer with not a lot of time, if I just look at Bruce's auction
every week, I can satisfy my shopping needs with one stop.
It is almost like Costco. If you have read lately there are
stories about COSTCO and their success. They attribute it to the
20% of their items they call "FINDS". That is they carry it only
once. So as a consumer you go for the massive savings on many things and
also for these one off "FINDS". I think Bruce's auctions are like
that. I always place a few bids and if I happen to get something
at my low price it is like a "FIND". Then again, there are always those
items that are on my want list that I am happy to buy from Bruce because I
know it is legit, and I know it will come packaged well.
I
like that Bruce offers lots of items, I wish more was offered
each week.
Ira
Bruce,
OK, I'm gonna ask the question... no, it's not "Why do you want to
be President"? It is:
What's so desirable about auctioning off so many items at one time
every week? I mean what, exactly, is so beneficial about this? I know the
official line you give in your newsletter -- which is that is more
convenient to offer a large selection so people can buy more than one and
save a few bucks on combined shipping. But that would be still be true if
you were listing maybe 300 or 400 at a time as well.
You even admit in your newsletter that "I know it can be difficult
going through 8 zillion listings..." and so offer some tools which help --
but that doesn't answer the question:
Why is it so wonderful to put up so many items all at once every week?
Doesn't this contribute to the much-lamented attitude that so many claim
eBay has created -- which is that "Oh, there are just millions of posters
out there. If I don't bid up on this one, there will be another along next
week..."
Now, I know you get top-dollar for the stuff you auction, but is that
really because you offer so many at one time or because you've been around
forever and are an excellent marketer and have developed a large loyal
following who simply prefer to buy from you and so you generate more
competitive bidding than most other sellers can? If that's the real reason,
wouldn't it stand to reason that you would generate even higher prices if
your bidders weren't having to spread their money around on so many
different posters every week? If that happened, wouldn't you make the same
amount of money but have to work a little less hard and your sellers realize
even higher prices?
Just wondering.
-- JR
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, September 24, 2004
9:15
Subject: [MOPO] MoPo: FA: 920 inserts
on eBay end Tuesday!
920
inserts, all at 99 cents with NO reserves! Has anyone
ever
auctioned so many inserts at one time, with no reserve on any of
them? I
seriously doubt
it!
ALL these started at
just 99 cents with NO RESERVES on any of them! This
is a really
great chance for collectors to possibly get inserts (which take
up far
less space on your wall than one-sheets, and yet often solely
lose
"dead" space in the design, often giving them superior images
to
one-sheets) from good titles for super bargain prices, and how many
times
will that happen to you over your collecting
career?
I added these
920 inserts on Tuesday, September 21st (starting at around 7
PM CST) as
7 day items, which means they end Tuesday, September 28th,
starting at
the same time. Be sure to check them out sometime before they
end
(either by going to http://tinyurl.com/2cxv5 or by using
the link from
my HOME page, http://www.emovieposter.com or by
looking me up under my eBay
user ID, emovieposter.com). Good luck
on whatever you may bid
on!
Given there are so
many places you can purchase vintage movie memorabilia,
doesn't it make
sense to buy where there are no reserves, the items are
accurately
described, the bidding is run by a third party (eBay, not me,
and I
have no clue how much you are bidding) and when you win an item
or
items it is shipping promptly, incredibly well packed, and you are
only
billed a single $8 U.S. shipping charge (which includes a strong
tube and
insurance), no matter how many items you purchase in a
week?
I know it can be
extremely difficult to look over 920 inserts in just a
few days, but
remember you can use Bruce Hershenson eBay Auction Gallery
(which is
located at http://www.emovieposter.com/section_ebay/gallery.cfm
)
which has large thumbnails of all our eBay items, and links from each
item
to the actual eBay auction. Best of all, this gallery is
searchable! You
will really find this a great benefit if you want
to look at all of our
items this week! You can simply browse all
of our current items by viewing
the images in this gallery (48 to a
page) in our number order, or you can
use our search to only see
thumbnails of your specific search terms (in our
number order)!
NOTE THAT THIS GALLERY HAS A RECENT BID PRICE LISTED BY
EACH ITEM, AND
THE PRICES ARE UPDATED AT LEAST ONCE A
DAY!
Thanks!
Bruce
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