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Should sellers leave prices up on sold books?
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114 posts in this topic

8 minutes ago, seanfingh said:
21 hours ago, Ryan. said:

If I use myself as an example, most books sell via PM for much less than the posted asking price. 

That probably has more to do with the pricing itself, as opposed to being a bellwether for forum sales.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I buy and sell a lot of GA where pricing baselines are either: (i) minimal and unreliable; or (ii) non-existent. Therefore, the ask price is a starting point for discussions. However, when there is plenty of sales data I tend to price on the low end. There is a unique sales culture here that is hard to predict. Books that sell near-instantly on ebay, for example, sit untouched here at below-market prices. The opposite is also true where very high priced books move rapidly here but sit on dealer sites with nary a look. 

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8 minutes ago, Ryan. said:

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I buy and sell a lot of GA where pricing baselines are either: (i) minimal and unreliable; or (ii) non-existent. Therefore, the ask price is a starting point for discussions. However, when there is plenty of sales data I tend to price on the low end. There is a unique sales culture here that is hard to predict. Books that sell near-instantly on ebay, for example, sit untouched here at below-market prices. The opposite is also true where very high priced books move rapidly here but sit on dealer sites with nary a look. 

I agree that this place has its own quirky sales metrics. It's just a very broad and unfunny brush that you are painting with.

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2 minutes ago, seanfingh said:
7 minutes ago, Ryan. said:

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I buy and sell a lot of GA where pricing baselines are either: (i) minimal and unreliable; or (ii) non-existent. Therefore, the ask price is a starting point for discussions. However, when there is plenty of sales data I tend to price on the low end. There is a unique sales culture here that is hard to predict. Books that sell near-instantly on ebay, for example, sit untouched here at below-market prices. The opposite is also true where very high priced books move rapidly here but sit on dealer sites with nary a look. 

I agree that this place has its own quirky sales metrics. It's just a very broad and unfunny brush that you are painting with.

So you believe that most books here sell at their ask prices.

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1. When I sell I used strike thru on prices so they are still visible unless requested otherwise.

2. When I see a "Sold via PM" I assume it sold for less than the listed price (even though thats not always the case. Sometimes its about payment or shipping provisions).

3. I can understand the case for a buyer wanting his/her price of purchase to be hidden. I venture that sometimes in negotiations a future buyer might use the previous sale price against the current owner, ie "well you only paid $100 for it so will you take $150 (even though the market says its worth $250)" and people want to avoid having that used against them, BUT they also dont have time to buy via PM due to a fast sales thread...The same case can be used if someone got a deal on a book (due to an under priced book) and is looking to do a quick flip and doesnt want his deal purchase price used against him.

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34 minutes ago, Ryan. said:

So you believe that most books here sell at their ask prices.

It depends on the seller.  Mine do, because I state upfront that my list prices are firm, and try to provide the absolute lowest price I'd be willing to accept right at the start.  I don't sell GA with a small record of prior sales, though I sometimes sell ultra high grade Bronze for which recorded sales are scarce, too.

I like to see sales data from the Marketplace, and keep my own sales public, but wouldn't go so far as to suggest that showing sale prices become mandatory.

Edited by namisgr
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42 minutes ago, Ryan. said:

So you believe that most books here sell at their ask prices.

I don't have nearly enough information to make an educated analysis.  I don't believe you do either - as evidenced by your clear reliance on your own sales threads. Hence my comment about broad brush.

Please don't try to jam the contrapositive of your flawed analysis up my fundament. K thx.

 

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2 minutes ago, seanfingh said:

I don't have nearly enough information to make an educated analysis.  I don't believe you do either - as evidenced by your clear reliance on your own sales threads. Hence my comment about broad brush.

Please don't try to jam the contrapositive of your flawed analysis up my fundament. K thx.

 

I acknowledged my evidence was anecdotal. 

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29 minutes ago, seanfingh said:

I don't have nearly enough information to make an educated analysis.  I don't believe you do either - as evidenced by your clear reliance on your own sales threads. Hence my comment about broad brush.

Please don't try to jam the contrapositive of your flawed analysis up my fundament. K thx.

 

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I prefer seeing the prices stay. First of all, I use it to judge what I should be expecting to pay if I'm shopping (or what to charge when selling) and I want to see if I should smack myself for missing the thread;)

When I sell, I leave the prices up. Most times PM sales (for me) are requests for Time Payments. Rarely it's for a lower price (unless I posted a percent off).

When I buy by PM and I do that more than I post :takeit:, it's usually to ask a question or because I don't want one of my friends teasing me about shopping again;) 

I don't really understand why people erase them unless they don't want someone knowing how much they sold?  I often look back at my own sales threads to see what I sold stuff for.

However this is my preference, I don't think we need a rule. 

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14 hours ago, miraclemet said:

2. When I see a "Sold via PM" I assume it sold for less than the listed price (even though thats not always the case. Sometimes its about payment or shipping provisions).

I also have several buyers who wish to remain anonymous so the sale price remains the same as my listed price.

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I like to see the prices as a matter of gauging realistic numbers on books, both for selling and buying.  It's not a stretch to say that the buyers/sellers on these boards are more knowledgeable than the average bear and will generally not buy/sell at, say, the outlandish prices posted on feeBay.  Being more a casual buyer than making it my business, I don't think it merits (in my case) paying for GPA numbers, so I use items sold prices on feeBay and the prices paid here as a guide to my offers on the "buy it now" options or to make educated, non-insulting offers to boardies.  I only use the sold prices here that I can see, since I'm also in the camp that when something sells via PM it might have gone for a lower cost.

That said, sellers can run their postings any way they want as I realize it's already a time-consuming effort to picture/scan, post, accurately describe, pack, mail, etc. to check if PM or "take it now" prices are/are not available to readers.

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On ‎1‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 4:52 PM, mackenzie999 said:

Although I monitor the forums pretty regularly, I often see books I am interested in too late. To be honest, I am way more of a tourist than a buyer but I am always really curious what the asking prices are. I also understand, I think, the practice of editing out prices on a sales thread once a book has been sold; I guess it’s a form of privacy, although the price had obviously been public up until that time. This isn’t a complaint, I get that this is perhaps out of consideration for the buyer, I’m just curious how others feel about this.

Yes, prices should stay up. 

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