Crazy prices on Ebay

[zak001]

I have one (relatively hard-to-find item) listed that I keep bumping the price on to stay ahead of the demand curve, half-hoping that it never sells, because just having it listed draws a lot of traffic. Since I've only got the one, when it sells, I lose that draw.

[Diabolos80]

There's definitely a reason, however, I don't think all of those reasons would be that our non-vocal members are money grubbing brick sharks, either.

just wanted to see if I could rile some of them from their silence.

[Grolim]

I have one (relatively hard-to-find item) listed that I keep bumping the price on to stay ahead of the demand curve, half-hoping that it never sells, because just having it listed draws a lot of traffic. Since I've only got the one, when it sells, I lose that draw.

 

That's a neat strategy.  Kind of like advertising for the rest of your items to get viewing traffic, I like it.

[JoshTX]

Its funny listening to everyone here talk about it, because those with an indifferent attitude obviously don't need the money anytime soon...that's the beauty of it, you can afford to hold longer so it doesn't matter that your ridiculously priced items take 6 months or more to sell.

 

We then see the difference between that and the fly-by-night investors who are unloading B-Wings at 125 or 150 a pop because they need the money back now and can't afford to hold like that. That's what it really comes down to, right? If you don't need the money anytime soon, why list on the cheaper side? Might as well hold, am I on the right track here?

[LowestFormOfWit]

Its funny listening to everyone here talk about it, because those with an indifferent attitude obviously don't need the money anytime soon...that's the beauty of it, you can afford to hold longer so it doesn't matter that your ridiculously priced items take 6 months or more to sell.

 

We then see the difference between that and the fly-by-night investors who are unloading B-Wings at 125 or 150 a pop because they need the money back now and can't afford to hold like that. That's what it really comes down to, right? If you don't need the money anytime soon, why list on the cheaper side? Might as well hold, am I on the right track here?

Well, it's not so black and white. I can list a lot of what I have cheaply and make good profit. As much as if I held onto it for later? No, likely not, but my profits would be comparable to most people sitting on sets because I sourced my stuff more cheaply.

The question is what can I do with that profit I made from a set that I quick flipped while you are still sitting on it?

I can get a lot of sets on clearance regularly. If I quick flip them, not only do I still make a good profit (because my entry point is lower than most), but I can either reinvest that profit into more sets, or have it on hand if real life goes south.

It depends on how much capital you have to play with I guess, or how low you can get your entry point on sets.

There's a lot of factors to consider aside from just how much a set is listed for in relatuon to its EOL. Everybody's ROI will mainly depend on their initial price point.

[JoshTX]

The question is what can I do with that profit I made from a set that I quick flipped while you are still sitting on it?

 

Good point here. I remember when we had that discussion about this and used the Death Star as a (poor investment) example, those who locked up a $400 dollar Death Star 4 or 5 years ago haven't been able to do anything with that money while others who instead purchased other sets may have already profited and re-invested multiple times over. I'm not trying to bash those who bought a Death Star and have sat on it for a long time, but I think most of them probably agree that they wish they had that capital free and instead bought it much closer to EOL. Of course as you stated, for people with a ton of capital it probably doesn't matter nearly as much.

[stephen_rockefeller]

I think it evens out.......while someone was waiting for their horribly overpriced set to sell, I sold 10 of them, and maybe I sold 10 and the overpriced set hasn't moved, so which seems like the better strategy? I guess I pretty much boils down to each his/her own.

[LowestFormOfWit]

Which is why I use multiple strategies. I think it's as important to vary your selling techniques as it is to vary your brickfolio.

It may be cliche, but putting all your bricks in one basket is indeed risky. With a diverse portfolio sold using diverse strategies, it should be easy to ride out individual failures of sets or strategies and keep a more steady profit, so long as the set choices and entry points aren't imbecilic.

[JoshTX]

Which is why I use multiple strategies. I think it's as important to vary your selling techniques as it is to vary your brickfolio.

It may be cliche, but putting all your bricks in one basket is indeed risky. With a diverse portfolio sold using diverse strategies, it should be easy to ride out individual failures of sets or strategies and keep a more steady profit, so long as the set choices and entry points aren't imbecilic.

So you're trying to tell me that my entire savings account purchase of 50 Anakins podracers wasn't a good idea? Blasphemy! ?

[Anakinisvader]

Here is my strategy:  You give me money, I give you LEGO's.

[LowestFormOfWit]

So you're trying to tell me that my entire savings account purchase of 50 Anakins podracers wasn't a good idea? Blasphemy!

No. What I'm telling you is that no one man should own that many Sebulbas.

[Diabolos80]

Here is my strategy:  You give me money, I give you LEGO's.

Dammit I knew I was doing something wrong.

[Quacs]

So you're trying to tell me that my entire savings account purchase of 50 Anakins podracers wasn't a good idea? Blasphemy!

I LOLed at this...

No. What I'm telling you is that no one man should own that many Sebulbas.

And this. Nicely done gentlemen.

[TheOrcKing]

I don't call them HIGH prices, I call them COMPETITIVE prices.  It makes them sound, well, competitive.

You love the heck out of that smiley don't you?

Things are only worth what the buyer is willing to pay.

That is exactly what I keep saying every single time a conversation like this gets brought up. 

 

You know, people that list items at insanely high prices is a situation rather similiar to Toys R Us and their tactics. Okay, their retails may not be as high as an eBay auction on a typical day but when you get right down to it, Toys R Us has ridiculous markups yet always find suckers, er, 'customers' willing to pay the price of admission. It appears foolish to me and a lot of us here because we have something called 'common sense'. Or perhaps it is because we don't have that kind of money to spend like water. Take your pick.

 

While I may not fully understand why some people list certain items for so high of a price, I can think of one good thing to come out of it.

Their high priced item makes your lower listed one look better.

[akohns]

The unfortunate part of any business, is that, generally, it becomes easier to make money the less ethical you are about it.

Not to say everyone who lists high is acting without ethics, but in general, some people are willing to compromise thier morals for the extra buck.

Other's will take the loss to preserve their principles.

Like anything else, it's a balancing act.

 

Something else I just thought of, many people with extra money find value in buying from more "reputable" places. Like shopping at TRU than Walmart. So many people wouldn't get caught dead in a Walmart because they are uppity. Same goes for Ebay. People frequently will spend more to buy form a person who has better feedback. We can't really put a accurate value on discontinued sets when there are factors like that that we each value differently.

[stephen_rockefeller]

You called it uppity, I call it avoiding ghetto lowlife classless people. Same thing I guess.

[Anakinisvader]

You love the heck out of that smiley don't you?

 

 W  ****  a  t S  m  I  l  e  y  ?

[Diabolos80]

In my experience, shopping at ToysRus is a much less stressful experience than shopping at walmart. Until it comes time to check out If Lego wasn't a luxury and/or investment for my family, I would pay their higher prices. Anyway, I split the difference and shop at Target.

[Diabolos80]

 W  ****  a  t S  m  I  l  e  y  ?

LOL how long did it take you to create that post? Cuz it was worth it.

[Anakinisvader]

LOL how long did it take you to create that post? Cuz it was worth it.

Only   a   few   seconds  .    

[stephen_rockefeller]

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about the sellers who price their items a few bucks over SM prices as most of us do, I'm talking about the sellers listing their Diagon Alleys for 800.00.........newsflash, you are doing it wrong!!

[LowestFormOfWit]

simplyvintagecollectables and brickenvy are always the ones that come up when I see prices far and above where the normal market is at.

[Darth_Raichu]

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about the sellers who price their items a few bucks over SM prices as most of us do, I'm talking about the sellers listing their Diagon Alleys for 800.00.........newsflash, you are doing it wrong!!

Until somebody is WILLING to pay $800 for it...

Lets look at it this way, people were selling 10179 for $1000 in christmas 2010. There were people selling it for $1500 then which was a ridiculous amount considering RRP was $500. In xmas 2011, which of those $1500 sellers were wrong when the set was selling for $2000 ?

[Diabolos80]

Brickenvy. lol. If he can sell a 10179 for 12 grand, more power to him. I wonder if he's lurking around here somwhere...

[stephen_rockefeller]

simplyvintagecollectables and brickenvy are always the ones that come up when I see prices far and above where the normal market is at.

Brick envy is weird though because they also have some very competitive prices......I like many members have bought from him and they offer great customer service.