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Let's talk about out-of-touch pricing and forum ettiquette.
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397 posts in this topic

3 minutes ago, Dr. Love said:

For clarification, "predatory pricing" isn't the term to use to describe what you mean.  Predatory pricing is the illegal act of setting prices low in an attempt to eliminate the competition. Predatory pricing violates antitrust law, as it makes markets more vulnerable to a monopoly.

This has been discussed a few times in this thread, though I don't blame you for not reading the whole thing.  I admitted, pages ago, that predatory wasn't the right word.  As to what is optimal in the market, well, reasonable minds can disagree.

Edited by Poekaymon
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6 minutes ago, Poekaymon said:

This has been discussed a few times in this thread, though I don't blame you for not reading the whole thing.  I admitted, pages ago, that predatory wasn't the right word.  As to what is optimal in the market, well, reasonable minds can disagree.

Yeh I saw it.  I wanted to point it out again because it seems counter intuitive that the bigger threat to the marketplace is from egregious low pricing than ridiculously high pricing.  If you can grasp why the word predatory is paired to low, then you can release all indignation and embrace out of bounds sales threads as the wonderful thing they are!

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The problem is that if the rule were changed it wouldn't just be there for in-good-faith comments about pricing, it would allow for not in good faith comments as well. And while most of us on here are at minimum civil and know how to behave, there are some outliers.

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10 minutes ago, Dr. Love said:

Yeh I saw it.  I wanted to point it out again because it seems counter intuitive that the bigger threat to the marketplace is from egregious low pricing than ridiculously high pricing.  If you can grasp why the word predatory is paired to low, then you can release all indignation and embrace out of bounds sales threads as the wonderful thing they are!

I don't even disagree with you--I never championed making a rule against out-of-bounds sales threads.  (I did note that it seems odd that some things are allowed (such as posting a common $100 book for $1,000--or $1,000,000) but others are not (posting that same book with no price), but that was more an indictment of the rule against no-price threads, and I recognize that it becomes just too hard to police, so c'est la vie.)  The closest I have come to endorsing any suggestion was one that wasn't even made by me, it was someone who on page 2 or 3 said people should be able to post whatever prices they want and also people should be allowed to discuss it.  Either way, consider the out-of-bounds sales threads embraced!

Edited by Poekaymon
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15 minutes ago, miraclemet said:

The problem is that if the rule were changed it wouldn't just be there for in-good-faith comments about pricing, it would allow for not in good faith comments as well. And while most of us on here are at minimum civil and know how to behave, there are some outliers.

Fair enough.  Though if most of the board is civil and reasonable as you say (and I happen to agree), then it seems like it wouldn't be too tough to deal with the outliers, in the way that political and religious boards deal with clear trolling.  It really only becomes an issue if you have hordes of trolls ready to descend, and if that were the case, then I'm not sure the rules are stopping them anyway, but I can't say for sure.

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17 minutes ago, miraclemet said:

The problem is that if the rule were changed it wouldn't just be there for in-good-faith comments about pricing, it would allow for not in good faith comments as well. And while most of us on here are at minimum civil and know how to behave, there are some outliers.

I've listed stuff for sale, sold it at the list price, and had third parties PM me after the fact to tell me my price was too high(!). I've also had people PM me after the fact to tell me I sold something too low. Ultimately I does my research, I sets my prices, and the free market moves of its own volition. 

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Just now, Ryan. said:

I've listed stuff for sale, sold it at the list price, and had third parties PM me after the fact to tell me my price was too high(!). I've also had people PM me after the fact to tell me I sold something too low. Ultimately I does my research, I sets my prices, and the free market moves of its own volition. 

Criticizing a sale after the fact, and in PM no less, is quite beyond anything I was considering.  Hopefully it's fairly rare.

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2 minutes ago, Buzzetta said:

But, I really shake my head at threadcrapping over the price of an item.  You don't like it, move on, or get out of the hobby.

Strong words.  For my part, I hope that people who disagree with me still stay in the hobby--we need everyone we can get.

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39 minutes ago, miraclemet said:

The problem is that if the rule were changed it wouldn't just be there for in-good-faith comments about pricing, it would allow for not in good faith comments as well. And while most of us on here are at minimum civil and know how to behave, there are some outliers.

Yeah, those outliers usually have 12,170 posts. 

Just joking :bigsmile:

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1 minute ago, Poekaymon said:

Strong words.  For my part, I hope that people who disagree with me still stay in the hobby--we need everyone we can get.

When that happens a market correction occurs as sellers scramble to lower their prices to sell things off to whoever remains. 

 

As far as strong words. (shrug)  I stand by them. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Buzzetta said:

There is no such thing as FMV when it comes to collectables.  Price it the way you want.  If I think it is worth spending money on, I will buy it... if not, oh well.

At that point the seller has to decide how badly he wants money.  If he really wants money he will lower it.  If not, oh well. 

But sometimes people are looking for steals and fire sales on the boards and sometimes you might stumble into one.  Chances are though that while you are tire kicking and trying to get $20 off to make sure you get what you consider FMV, someone else might swoop in and not mind paying the $20 extra.  I did this last October. 

I went through Rip's thread and saw he was offering an ASM 31 for $150 that was pending some private negotiation.  What were they negotiating over? $25?    I took it for $150 while it was 'pending'.  Someone felt that the book was not worth $150.  I did.   

FMV is relative.  Offer books at whatever you want to offer them at.  If no one buys it then consider lowering your price if you really want money.  If not, then keep the book.   But, I really shake my head at threadcrapping over the price of an item.  You don't like it, move on, or get out of the hobby.  You are not entitled to anything either as a seller or buyer. 

The only threadcrapping that is more than acceptable has been when someone says that it is signed by Ditko and people say, "hold on".  If something is advertised as being the only one on census, yet there are 32 others then say something.  If someone says that there is no color touch but that can clearly be seen from the images then say something.  Then you have a responsibility to say something even if the guy says he is going to law school and is going to sue you for libel and slander.  (Shout out to @lizards2 for taking that kid to school... that was fun.)

 

 

 

 

That Canadian jhole, @porcupine48 pushed me in front of the train on that one...., :whistle:

it was nice to have you as back up, with the screen captures, since the lawyer doofus deleted the incriminating evidence.

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4 hours ago, blazingbob said:

You seem to feel that 20% over the last sale is too high?  Is 10%?  5% over last sale or does the last GPA command the price the seller must list at?

Nothing can trend up,  must stay the same or as I've said before it goes the toilet bowl swirl down in pricing since 10% off means the next one should sell for 10% less then the one before it.

I don't have GPA, but the original auction that brought this all about had a list price 200% higher than the most recent eBay sale.  I do acknowledge that other sales could have occurred that I don't have visibility into.  I also acknowledge that the market is continually shifting and that prices do fluctuate.  Lastly, there was only one comparable book available for sale.  The seller could use this as justification claiming "rarity" was a factor in the list price.

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