Why I Love eBay (Not)

[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..