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Is "fishing" unethical?
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Started by Darkowl,

32 posts in this topic

AKA Rick

AKA Rick

Posted
Posted

Ethics, Legality and Strategy are all separate issues.

 

Ethically, usually insinuates the potential to offend others or violate codes of morality.

 

Legality, is black and white, is it legal. Not fair or unfair. Not right or wrong by opinion. Does it violate contracts, agreements or terms and conditions?

 

Strategy, that's subjective, which is where this question belongs. Is it smart and wise or is it foolish and stupid? Is it effective or a waste of time? Historical precedent of personal experience usually helps dictate those decisions. There's nothing wrong with putting a high buy it now, but most see the buy it now option as something close enough to the opening bid price and fair market value to inspire an impulse buy from a customer who is afraid someone else may beat them to it or the item may go into a bidding war and they risk losing it or paying more for it. Part of strategy is brand management as a seller, so if you have a high buy it now, and most of your auctions end way below that, either with no bids or around the starting bid, but far below the buy it now price, then you'll get a reputation as a seller whose merchandise may not be priced properly.

 

I'd say use the Buy it Now or Best Offer for non-auction listings, then for auctions, put your buy it now at the price you'd be happy getting, not the price you wish and dream for, but something reasonable where if the auction ended at that price you'd be very satisfied.

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Doohickamabob

Doohickamabob

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Posted
Just wondering what most of you guys think about people who sell books on e-bay with incredibly high BIN prices. Do you see anything wrong with this?

I can see why people would do it if they have the highest-graded copy of something. The BIN price might reflect the projected outcome of a bidding war between determined bidders.

 

The part that I have a problem with is if somebody uses the high BIN as a way to market the item for a negotiated off-eBay sale.

 

I've seen some curiously high prices on Amazon too, for things like out-of-print books, CDs, DVDs or other media. There will be a CD of some semi-obscure band for $200, even though it's easy enough to find a used copy of the same CD elsewhere for $15. Not sure why people do that. I wonder if it's being done to drive up price averages or some other form of manipulation.

 

(Another thing on Amazon that I hate: It will tell you when the price of an item has dropped a percentage from a previous price, but it never tells you when the price has gone up from a previous price.)

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Mio

Mio

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Posted

More annoying than anything else, having to surf through unreasonably priced books. But on that note, many people price bins slightly above FMV to offset fees, which happened a bit less when fees were lower. 10% eBay + 4% PayPal is stiff.

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darkstar

darkstar

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Posted

I've listed books on eBay at exceptionally high prices. Because of the store I have no reason not to as the listing doesn't cost me anything. These books are usually personal collection books that are technically not for sale. However, everything has a price. So I'll list books that I am not inclined to sell but if I am made an offer I can't refuse, well then...

 

 

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loadstone

loadstone

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I think people who actually "sell" books for high BIN either probably didn't list it high enough especially if best offer was used or it was a fake/shilled sale.

 

As for those who "list" books for sale at ridiculously high BIN, I don't have a problem with it. Makes it easy to undercut them especially when theirs is the only listing for a book in that grade that I also happen to have.

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rjpb

rjpb

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Posted

Not unethical, but potentially not the smartest business strategy. I will look at other listings or sometimes reach out to sellers with slightly high list prices, even if they don't list a best offer option. You can't blame a seller for wanting to get top end of FMV, and with scarce stuff, what others are willing to pay can sometimes be surprising, but many times there is room to negotiate or the seller may have other books at more attractive prices.

 

However when I start seeing not particularly hard books to find at three times FMV and higher, I am not going to waste time looking at that sellers other listings.

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