In my best Foghorn Leghorn voice;
It's on fire boy, I I say, it's on fire.

The only thing I took offense to, was you saying that I wasn't being 'entirely truthful'. This wasn't thread about getting ripped off by a seller, or a 'he said/she said' type of situation. It was simply a thread about my puzzlement with the mentality of (some) sellers on e-Bay.

True, I could not remember the sellers name off hand, but how hard would it have been for me to simply go to e-Bay, and look him up? You brought up the point about it reflecting badly on the seller, not I, so if it is a moot point, why did you bother with it in the first place?

I've posted the entirety of my messages to him, and his response. I'll assume that you either missed that post, or that you believe that I am 'withholding' some tidbit of information that is pertinent to the discussion.

There really was nothing to 'counter' it was a thread asking to see if others had had similar experiences. If you haven't, why bother posting? If you wanted further information, why not simply ask for it?

I really didn't think that a private conversation, or the names of the parties involved, were that important to the topic. You choose to ignore any of what I'd asked for in my original post, and simply proceeded to attack my post(s). Inferring that I was 'withholding' something. I've asked at least 3 times now, and again you've simply chosen to ignore: what would I possibly stand to gain by doing so?

As frequent Ebay users (both buy & sell) we have also been on both ends of

the phenomenon you describe.

Some possible explanations (though we don't condone a zero response)and

always respond ourselves-

1) Seller doesnt understand your offer - language issue
2) Unacceptable/ insulting terms - ie. including shipping in the offer or making

it totally non-profitable to ship
3) Seller is selling for another person (3rd party handling of email)
4) Poor Buyer score/ track record - Buyers who have less than 10 face issues similar to on Realms.


Sellers can avoid some of these issues in their listings through simply using

the automatic reject (if value is below X $) or accept at minimum Y$




As for why a seller wouldn't sell below his asking price --- just because current

market value drops doesnt mean a seller needs to drop his price.

Longterm Stocks ride a wave, as do some product. Frequently having an item (even if overpriced to you) will be sold to others where there is less options (Many USA sellers- and Realms sellers too, don't/won't ship to International- this is a niche market that is readily exploitable and may meet the higher price point.

Add in factors like Ebay fees and paypal fees, etc... some sellers will just be

less likely to reduce rather than risk losing the item.

Communication on ebay has dropped tremendously (as has business traffic)

due to many reasons, not the least of which reason is a lack of

professionalism by all parties seeking to do business.

While you may seek to understand the thinking of the seller there are so

many variables- not the least of which include reasons we (as sane people) would comprehend.

Thank you. Rep to you. A well thought out response that addressed the 'issues' I was actually asking about in my OP. How refreshing.

Cheers.

torontcollectr basically laid out what I was trying to infer about the seller having a reason for declining your offer but in a much less aggressive way. I agree my post came on a bit strong. But I have been on the selling side of such offers and thought the seller may be getting a bad rap.

As for ignoring your question about what you have to gain. When people complain the one thing they usually want is sympathy, justification for their actions, and/or condemnation of the opposite party. That would be what you'd have to gain. Not saying that is it just trying to answer your question as to what you could possibly gain.

BTW is there a reason you haven't or won't post the figures involved and the listed prices?

The only reason is because there are few sellers currently with these figures for sale, and this one is the only one (as far as I recall) that has these particular figures as a BIN/OBO. My intention was never to single out a specific seller on e-Bay. I've posted my PM that I sent to the seller, and I've already told you that they were selling the figures in question for over 2x what they are currently selling (or what people are willing to pay anyway) for. I really don't see a need to get any more specific than that.

I respect that.

I was just curious as to what figures since that may have been a factor in the seller thinking they were worth more than what they are averaging on ebay.

I've noticed that the prices have fallen off so badly that there isn't auctions for many figures. In some cases the only ones available on E-Bay are the over-priced. So if someone holds out they could possibly get money from a newer player looking for a particular figure. For instance I just looked for Guy Gardner from JL and the minimum is $16.95 plus shipping and Alpha Batman from JL is $13.95. I've seen both of these go for far less. I sold all 5 Justice League 1 Million characters 4 of which are SRs for $25. If you look them up now there's no auctions just the high priced figures that seem to always be available. So maybe the guy is holding out for that rainy day where someone wants the figure he's offering and no one else is offering it. You said he's the only guy with the figures listed right now so that's probably his logic. Before I post listings I'll check to see the availability. I actually got multiple bids on the regular Heralds of Galactus about a year ago. I sold 3 sets for $50-64 plus shipping thanx to 2nd chance offers. Soon after E-Bay flooded with sets of Heralds again. I was floored. Only a couple monthes prior they were selling for less than $10 for the set.

On another similar note,

I went and asked if the seller would combine shipping for me on two seperate BIN I wanted. The two items were exact copies of the same product, and it would be shipped media mail in the USA.

I was told he couldn't combine shipping for me, which is fine, but when I went back to look at the item again, the seller had raised the price on the items I inquired about.

How does that work?

Your example is a prime example of part of the transition on ebay. Previously auctions were inexpensive to list and results were promising-

Auctions are based on timing and price -- Period. We have had many items that get zero bidding one week and then get absurd bidding on a re-list. Auctions as a seller is a lottery, and they (presently) usually benefit the buyer .

however

Current market shows a Significant drop in buyers/bidders - items will have watchers linger over an item and never bid, or frequently items go for minimum starting bid. --> For any item starting at .01 to .99 list cost for auction (basic) is .15. add in a final value fee and a paypal fee.... Any item that sells for $1.00 is therefore a loss leader or just a plain loss! (unless of course they charge ridiculously for shipping)

Sellers who use a store listing pay .03 for 30 days (as compared to .15 for 7 days). Even with BIN/BO there is a significant greater opportunity to sell at a somewhat reasonable and profitable price.

Add the fact that some buyers never pay ( no negative feedback worries), nor even respond?!

As for pricing argument ( usally the barometer for every transaction) the saying :
"an item is only worth whatever someone else is willing to pay for it"

A seller can offer at whatever price he/she chooses - factors of availability, storage, business costs, advertising, labour, sentimentality, quality, rarity, condition are all subjective.

Just because a Guide Book says something is worth X dollars doesn't make it so, unless you are willing to pay for it. (I don't really want to use an insurance analogy about replacement cost).

Research is always beneficial (before listing or buying), however the random luck issue also comes into play... (How many people received something of much greater value than expected?, or how many listings get underbid due to wrong category or wrong spelling, or limited access?)

Actually, what I said was that he's the only one that has them listed for a BIN/OBO. There are more than a few other sellers with the same figure listed, but only for BIN The figures I am referring to are from a much older set, (pre-Icons) and were never (to my knowledge) a sought after or high priced/high demand figure.

I find it funny sometimes when I look at the BIN on e-Bay. Like watching a bunch of lemmings.

Seller #1: 'Hey, that guy has figure xxxx listed for BIN $19.99, I guess I had better list mine for BIN $19.99'

Seller #2: 'Hey, seller #1 and that other guy has figure xxx listed for BIN $19.99, I guess I had better list mine for BIN $19.99'

Seller #3: 'Hey, seller #1, seller #2 and that other guy has figure xxx listed for BIN $19.99, I guess I had better list mine for BIN $19.99'

And so on and so forth. Meanwhile, they sit and sit and sit forever and a day, and the same figure sells at auction for $8.00 over and over. Honestly, I understand there are fluctuations in the market, ebbs and flows, the 'demise' and then 'resurrection' of clix etc etc. But does anyone here know what the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over, and over, and over again, and expecting different results. Listing the same item over, and over, and over again and expecting different results......

Thanks to all that have contributed to this discussion in a positive and helpful manner.

Cheers.

Well, I can think of 2 reasons as to why a seller might do an outragous BIN price...

1) Greed. Pure and simple greed. They just want the most money the can get their hands on.

2) Some sellers know that there is always some fool out there with a lot of money burning a hole in his/her pocket. These fools will spend alot more than what the figure is worth to get it because they either just can't wait to get the figure, or that they have large amounts of cash to waste on things and it doesn't put a crimp in their wallets.

I hope that helps shed some light on the sellers could be reasoning for you.

It reminds me of when the PS3 first appeared. People were lining up to buy them at the pre-sales before they came out. Then those people were listing them on e-Bay, showing copies of the receipts to prove they were getting them first. I remember one that sold on e-Bay for $15,000 US !!!!! You know what they say 'A fool and his money......'

I was going to add that quote at the end but I figured it might be to "cliched". But what the heck do I know???

Yeah, I remember the whole PS3 craze when they came out. I have a buddy that actually drove 250 mile to a Toys R Us, waited in line for 3 days, and came home without a PS3. He did get to buy one and then sold it to someone else standing in line for something like a $500 profit. Not worth the trip or time if you ask me... :cross-eye

My partner at work went and waited in line over night (set up a tent and everything) bought 2 PS3 (one 60 GB and one 80 GB I believe at the time?) to try to resell, missed worked the next day (a loss of about $300.00) and in the end he kept the 80 GB one, and simply returned the 60 GB one

Yeah, that was worth it