I'm not going to defend sellers who ask, as you say, "ridiculous" prices. But I
will say that comparing them to Bruce or Heritage may be a bit
apples-and-oranges.
The sellers you refer to (though I don't know specifically who you're talking
about) are retailers who purchase inventory, then offer it for sale. Thus their
return has to cover the cost of the item plus overhead before they see one
penny of profit. Bruce and Heritage are consignment sellers. They have
overhead, certainly, but do not have cash invested directly in the items they
sell.
Thus, when they auction stuff off starting at 99-cents or a dollar (really $15
in Heritage's case) they are, in a sense, gambling with someone else's money,
the people who consign their posters to them. There's absolutely nothing wrong
with that, that's the nature of the business. That's just the way consignment
works. It means they can start their auctions lower and take the risk that the
lower starting price will attract more bidders.
It works most of the time, but occasionally items do slip under the radar and
sell at prices that are much lower than the average market price. Bruce and
Heritage can afford to take that chance, particularly because they sell
thousands of posters and are popular online "destinations" and have a client
base in the thousands. Most other sellers are much smaller and can't affordto
take that chance.
The other comment I have to make is, if the prices truly are "ridiculous" then
the items will not sell and the prices will come down. That's market economics,
I don't have to explain that to you. So your choice is to buy somewhere else
(if you can find what you want there) and/or wait till the price comes down.
It's that simple.
Dave
----- Original Message -----
From: Claude Litton
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 8:55 AM
Subject: [MOPO] ebay poster prices
I have been searching ebay almost daily since 1997. My areas of search are
US originals Pre-1940 through 1960. I collect mainly posters in the upper
price brackets. In the last few years the amount of listings by too many
sellers with ridiculous prices has proliferated to the point where the only
thing certain is that not only don't they sell but more and more are joining
the pack.
The prices are so high that you can't even make a serious offer because it
will be so low that they will either ignore you or send you a snide retort. My
reaction has been to totally ignore these sellers but it has become a nuisance
due to the number joining them. There are some on mopo who do this but I am
not referring to Todd who uses his million dollar posters to get people to look
at his other posters for sale. I am talking about those who price all their
posters at ridiculous prices.
I don't even look at ebay daily any longer but wait for Bruce and Heritage to
offer what I want. (This is a good opening for Bruce to comment.) I am still
trying to understand their motives. Just look at a one sheet of "Three Sons",
a poster sold by Bruce for $56 recently and priced at 10 times that on ebay.
Let's face reality - People who are going to spend $500 and up on a piece of
paper will know their item, will research it and will be careful about their
money. $20 is an impulse purchase. $500 is not. Can anyone explain these
ridiculous sellers' motives?
CJL
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