blazingbob

LOL, never thought of a de-stocking fee. Would never do it but $$$$$$$

The problem with auctions with reserves is that bidders don't like them. Every bidder wants to feel that their bid can win the book. With a reserve what is the point of bidding if your bid won't win it. Some customers were setting high reserves in order to get a "free appraisal" of what somebody would pay for the book at the auctions expense. And if a auction house is working to sell the book it is not a zero sum game to them. Auction houses don't make money on no reserve auctions if the item doesn't sell. They all want to know how much money they are possibly going to make before the auction starts.

Unfortunately this is the time of the year when I get those "full price $2500-$3000" purchases from new customers that want the item shipped to their "child" at a different address. Please be careful when you get orders like this. Unfortunately this "win" turns out to be a stolen card or as this thread as shown a theft ring in operation.

Well I am back doing the Heroes show. But to the Ebay pricing model a comic book is a comic book. Doesn't matter if the seller is in NY like me with a higher cost of doing business versus Virginia or Florida. The FMV Ebay buyer model is that for them to buy it from you have to be the cheapest.

Soft ice cream and a sugar cone are not regional just like a comic book is a comic book. The cost of acquiring those ingredients or that comic book does not matter.

Yeah but what is the FMV of a ice cream cone (not waffle) 2 scoops (soft, not hard ice cream), no extras? Imagine a post where it was just Ice cream cone, 2 scoops. That is what I see in a lot of these posts.

I have never referred to a customer as a "bottom feeding mole" so if that is what you consider them that is all you. If I confront a poster to be more clear and you feel that is me using a sledge hammer then so be it. It would be the same type of communication if they were standing right in front of me. Every person is entitled to their definition of FMV but if I don't have that information it makes the buyer/seller relationship very difficult unless the buyer speaks up. Which in some cases seems to be very uncomfortable for some buyers. Them just wanting it priced "fair" leaves a lot to interpretation. Ebay fair? GPA Fair? OSPG % of guide fair? This particular convention fair? The i live in Wisconsin but I'm at a NY show so I want it Wisconsin fair?

So I should have the book priced at $800 and no discount. Doesn't exactly endear myself to the customer base that wants a discount. Yes, my job isn't easy.

When it comes to CGC books 9 times out of 10 the customer will check GPA. When it comes to raw books they generally already have a price in mind on what they want to pay for it. I generally don't have a lot of customers look at a raw book and check out the price on ebay. If we are far apart on price and they won't make an offer I ask what they are willing to spend. Then I will go to my database and see what cost I have into the book, if I can do it I will, if I can't I won't. Same when I am processing bids on my website. I am not sure how I can help customers who are uncomfortable making offers. I cannot guess where their "price they will pay expectation" comes from unless they tell me.

If I am checking prices on my phone that is usually for CGC graded books. Unless a customer is communicating with me in most cases I wouldn't know what they are looking at unless they told me. And since I don't like pushy salesman either when I am shopping doesn't asking a customer if they are checking Ebay or somewhere else put them on the defensive?

Then feel free to put me on ignore.

Everyone is checking con prices to Ebay prices? I never check ebay prices when I buying raw books at shows. I never see my competitors checking ebay for raw purchases. Exactly how long would that take if I'm trying to buy a bunch of books? I check my database and OSPG and the condition of the book when I buy it. I also know what I can sell it for. As far as the can I be higher and not have key books to be successful how do you think many dealers started? Do you think I magically fell into my inventory. It is years and years of hard work. If I didn't have the ability to buy and turn over my inventory year after year do you think I would still be in business? This business is not entirely built on price. You can be the cheapest but if nobody knows you then so what.

Sorry but you don't get a free pass on your business advice "If you are competing with every selling in a room it's a fair fight. If you are competing with every seller in the world you need to be cheap or just have the stuff with more demand then supply (ie key hot books)". If you are giving us advice you are not using that please state that because that is what you just said "Based on my opinion you quoted I don't think it's possible to be the most successful seller unless you can find dirt cheap keys and sell them for a little less then everyone else. I have no idea how to sell to the current Con goers. People appear to be becoming more and more fickle with how they spend money so I don't have a clue on getting them to spend money other then being pactient on E-Bay and letting the sales trickle in" I do sell to convention customers, I do sell to website shoppers. Yes there are Facebook groups and Instagram and if I had the time I would still be driving that customer base to the website which is what a lot of "companies" do. Consumers are not just throwing money around or doing repeat business with just anybody. There has to be some type of trust/relationship for that to happen.

So how is that business advice working out? Clearly you would be the most successful dealer since you clearly have the pulse of how to sell in this market.

I don't even know why I bother sometimes. So I should sell my 9.2 that in guide is worth $65 because I choose to grade it for $45 because there are 3 other copies that are "High grade 8.0, 8.5, 9.0" based on your definition? Naturally the spread could be wider on a more expensive book.

Clearly you don't know what FMV is

Sorry I'm still trying to wrap myself around the new "Ebay pricing model" for my inventory. Being ebay sellers are also "people" I would wonder how they come up with their "prices". Or is the first seller of that book in that grade the "expert"?

NM- is not a range, that is what the 9.2 alpha grade is.

For raw books I have a database of past sales going back to the 90's. I have been around buying and selling books since 1973. Overstreet price guide still works. I would never use Ebay as a raw book gauge to price my inventory. For CGC books there is GPA, my database, competitor websites.

For that pricing model to work they all have to be the same grade, not "high grade" which could mean 8.0 to 9.6.

Ebay is a selling channel, not a single entity where there are uniform prices on books across the boards. Who are the ebay sellers I should be pricing my inventory against?

FMV determined by who?

So both of you use a business model where you trust the raw grading from Ebay. Which from the many Ebay posts over the years I find is not always very accurate. So if your expecting me to look up raw books on ebay from sellers I don't know to price my books I'm not sure I'm the guy you would buy from. My experience from selling raw books on ebay was that it was a complete waste of time. All I did was pay for the sellers who couldn't grade because if I listed a book a NM-/9.2 raw on ebay I saw offers of VF. Regardless of the book. Besides I have a website with hosting costs of less then a penny versus ebay which nickels and dimes the seller to death.

I agree, why would you go to a con if you can buy 9.6/9.8 books for less then the cost of grading them. Which is the general theme of this thread, no? As dealers at shows I don't work off osmosis or Vulcan mind melds so how would we know what the "buyers expectation" is if they don't tell us? Yours is that online buying doesn't make it worth going to a show. And if you do go sellers better have something priced right that interests you.

No I'm trying to find out your "buyer expectation". I didn't say you expect to buy high grade at half guide. I was asking since you stated 30% over guide that maybe you were a buyer who is willing to pay guide or less depending on the discount. My point was that to sell the book at 80% of guide I (dealer) would be paying 50%. High grade collectors generally don't sell high grade books for half guide. 4x guide on a Iron man #99 is very aggressive.