Dave YOU clearly don't have ridiculous prices, and you are one of the sellers whose items I look over regularly. But I was just on eBay and I DO see lots of items that wouldn't auction for $15 with "Buy It Nows" of $100, and that IS ridiculous.
I would think that Claude was surely not referring to you either. As to consignment sellers selling items cheaply, that is why I try stick to sellers who have thousands of items to sell, so that they can know that their low sale prices are offset by the high prices. I never said non-consignment sellers should sell items at cheap prices. I was just saying that prices tens times retail seem to make little sense (and in my earlier e-mail I said they were not what hurts eBay). If there were 1,000 sellers just like you, eBay would be what it once was! Bruce On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 8:42 AM, Dave Rosen <[email protected]> wrote: > 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 <[email protected]> > *To:* [email protected] > *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* > ** > > ------------------------------ > Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy > recipes<http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000006>for the grill. > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ How to > UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: > [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF > MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ How to > UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: > [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF > MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [email protected] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
