Why I Love eBay (Not)

[bgold]

Have a Mets Jose Reyes gu signed item up, received a low-ball offer along with this note:

"Jose Reyes is running with his second chance in the league. This ball isn't worth much. Figured I'd make a small offer. I doubt it has a certificate validating it is real as well."

After explaining it has the mlb holo for game use and auto (something they undoubtedly knew) and explaining that their "game" or lack thereof was not very good (not putting up with garbage like that) he/she replied:

"I've been at both ends of the stick. As a collector, it is what it is. I made my offer. I have plenty of Reyes memorabilia".

I've been very lucky, have had the great honor and privilege of meeting and dealing with some of the nicest and warmest people, but this dreck can take itself out..

[ironmanfan]

Unfortunately, this kind of dialogue "comes with the territory" and as hard as it might be, just ignore it & keep the positive attitude.

[danesei@yahoo.com]

Did everyone notice that eBay tripled the final value fee cap, raising it from $250 to $750?

[yanks12025]

I messaged a guy offering a item similar to one he bought from me acouple months back. The guy Made a offer on the ball and another baseball I had for sale. I was busy at work and in less then a half hour this guy sent 13 messages telling me about his offer, one about telling me to counter, one about where was I.

I ended up not working out a deal. But the guy sent me a total of 25 messages in less then 7 hours. Even after I told him I'm gonna keep one of the baseballs(not the one I messaged him to tell him about) , he kept sending messages telling me to sell it to him today.

[ndevlin]

This is everywhere, including this site. I get tons of lowball offers all the time from ppl on here. One guy bought an item(paid for) and 5 minutes later mentioned he wanted insurance at which I told him I could get if he would like to pay for it. He demanded a refund(which I gave), saying how difficult I was to work with, etc. Basically he wanted me to pay for the insurance myself after the item was paid for. And yes, this was someone from this site. And yes he's on my DNSTL-- Do Not Sell To List.



Have a Mets Jose Reyes gu signed item up, received a low-ball offer along with this note:

"Jose Reyes is running with his second chance in the league. This ball isn't worth much. Figured I'd make a small offer. I doubt it has a certificate validating it is real as well."

After explaining it has the mlb holo for game use and auto (something they undoubtedly knew) and explaining that their "game" or lack thereof was not very good (not putting up with garbage like that) he/she replied:

"I've been at both ends of the stick. As a collector, it is what it is. I made my offer. I have plenty of Reyes memorabilia".

I've been very lucky, have had the great honor and privilege of meeting and dealing with some of the nicest and warmest people, but this dreck can take itself out..

[akrover]

I love it when people tell you what you have isn't worth much and no one will want it, and then make an offer. And then get mad when you don't accept it. I get that it is a 'strategy,' but imho it is a terrible one. I do not understand why people think insulting someone will get then what they want. Then, even if they come up to a point I originally would have sold to item at, I'll still usually say no. I'd rather not sell it then sell it to them after their shenanigans.

[recruiter]

Yeah, that happens.

There are a lot of reasons not to like Ebay, including the buyers who are poised to take advantage when the post office doesn't demand the signature you bought, etc. I've been ripped off more than once that way, and the post office and I are on a first-name basis.

My bid block list is extensive.

And the chronic lowballers are another one.

[sportsnbikes]

This is everywhere, including this site. I get tons of lowball offers all the time from ppl on here. One guy bought an item(paid for) and 5 minutes later mentioned he wanted insurance at which I told him I could get if he would like to pay for it. He demanded a refund(which I gave), saying how difficult I was to work with, etc. Basically he wanted me to pay for the insurance myself after the item was paid for. And yes, this was someone from this site. And yes he's on my DNSTL-- Do Not Sell To List.

LOL...same thing happened to me from a guy on this site. I refunded his money on principle alone!

[emann]

LOL...same thing happened to me from a guy on this site. I refunded his money on principle alone!

Same thing here . . . I've gotten frequent emails in responses to my posts on this site. I think there is a very small posting population and a very large lurker population—probably many of the same who frequent eBay.

[duggie85]

New poster here. Been collecting autographed baseball items last few years and been researching game used items. Really like this site, a lot of great info here!

With that said, I have never sold any of my memorabilia so I've never had to deal with buyers. As a buyer on eBay, I always look up the latest sold items with identical authentications/quality and make my offer based on the average. I hate when sellers respond with the usual "it's worth more than that!" then get aggravated with the reasonable response I give, "No it's not. The last 5 auctions on average sold for 1/2 of what you're asking."

[danesei@yahoo.com]

New poster here. Been collecting autographed baseball items last few years and been researching game used items. Really like this site, a lot of great info here!

With that said, I have never sold any of my memorabilia so I've never had to deal with buyers. As a buyer on eBay, I always look up the latest sold items with identical authentications/quality and make my offer based on the average. I hate when sellers respond with the usual "it's worth more than that!" then get aggravated with the reasonable response I give, "No it's not. The last 5 auctions on average sold for 1/2 of what you're asking."

As a buyer, I would love for sellers to be willing to sell at whatever the last auction went for on things I want. As a seller, I realize that's really convoluted thinking.

Here's the problem:

Latest auction result was 28 bids with a high bid of $100. As a buyer, you'd gladly buy the item for $100. That means, in theory, the market value is over $100, since at least two individuals would be willing to pay $100. Since you're glad to pay that price, it's likely that you value the item closer to $150.

The seller realizes this (or some approximation) and thinks of the last ending price as a price floor, whereby a buyer might see it as a price ceiling.

Also, if the last five auctions sold for an average of 50% of the asking price, that might mean one sold for 130% or 150% of the average. So, I don't mind (overly) when sellers ask for 200% of the average selling price with the best offer option. What I hate is when sellers post something that is clearly not what they claim for 1000% of the typical selling price for what the item actually is.

Case in point, someone was selling a replica Griffey signed bat (usually $50-$75) as a game used bat on eBay.

[bgold]

There are many issues to be had with ebay (besides for dealing with blithering idiots, that can take place anywhere as noted) the double dipping with paypal, the unfair negative feedback policy and constantly screwing the seller in disputes to name a few, but for many collectors ebay is a great tool and platform to connect with fellow collectors, view a wide array of prices for items outside of your local, and of course the ability to sell an item so you can upgrade etc

As a side note, It's very noble for a collector to never want to sell once they have acquired an item or to be proud of never re-selling an item, but if you ever wish to truly collect (not hoard like a maniac) which means upgrading items and trading with other collectors, it's something that is part of the hobby. Also, when upgrading or buying another item, it's always fun if your item has gone up in value. While collecting is fun and a great hobby, it's also an investment a very large investment in terms of time and money and it's nice to see a return when needed..