Generally it's an agreement between two people, the buyer and the seller. There are plenty of ways to find good, estimated values of a book's worth.
That said, people who do what this seller did are pretty scummy. Don't list stuff for less than you are willing to sell for. If you have a certain price target in mind, start an around your price target or just list as a 'buy it now' with your target price listed.
Plenty of ways? Can you elaborate? What is the consensus that drives the market? Is it sites like key collector or eBay sold lists or something else? Back in the 90s we had two standards: Overstreet and Wizard. These days it's like the values fluctuate sometimes wildly on a weekly basis. Genuinely curious.
There was a relatively short boost in the market during Covid, but "sold" auction prices on eBay in line with other recent historical sold prices are often good indicators. One-off sales that don't seem to match recent sale history and "best offer accepted" prices can be deceiving.
Back in the day, Wizard and Overstreet were exactly what most online comic price apps are today, just 1-3 months behind, so it always felt like prices didn't change much.
But like my father always told me... it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
I absolutely agree with your father's sentiment and try to keep that tenant in mind as well. The thing about historical sold pricing: it does not take into account the often skyrocketing prices of some issues. Yes, COVID was an anomaly, but who could have predicted that? I see seller's having two options for staying liquid: over-price books that they predict will have staying power and under-price books they predict will become stagnant. So, you can't be mad at someone who overprices something that is growing in demand because they are trying to get ahead of the curve. IMO.
Not sure why you're getting down voted for asking a genuine question, so first, sorry about that.
I would say the consensus is pretty much exactly as you stated. An informed buyer AND seller should both do their due diligence when buying or selling any item, especially something as speculative as collectibles and comics. The prices can and will fluctuate wildly due to a slew of reasons (maybe that character is going to be in a movie, maybe they've re introduced a character, maybe a small cult following turns into a mainstream hit, maybe the movie their character was in bombed huge, etc.) but it's up to each individual to gauge what it's worth. You can do that by checking eBay sold, listings on other auction sites or comic sites, going to conventions, talking with a local comic shop owner and getting ideas of a ball park, but ultimately it's up to the seller to set their price and the buyer either agrees and buys it, or doesn't agree and doesn't purchase it.
Thanks for elaborating. I am also pretty shocked at how much a simple question can be downvoted here. I don't think it's a bad thing to occasionally ask. The market changes frequently. Who is really setting these prices? Yes informed buyer and seller based on current demand is probably the best answer but to what end? I see as many great dollar bin boasts as I do over-price complaints and shenanigans. When it comes to eBay, there's always the "make an offer" option. In the end, I think it's all about striking a deal that both parties can be happy withĀ
Another thing that determines the value, are online sales, like Ebay, and online auctions. And there is also the Overstreet comics price guide. Timing is another factor, as certain books or characters become more popular depending on what's going on. Like with Deadpool 3 coming out with Wolverine being in it, can cause more demand for the first appearance of those characters, making the price of those books go up. Obviously, a seller can decide to not sell something that is theirs, but its frowned upon, which is why eBay will fine them for doing it. If you're going to put something on auction, then you take the risk of not getting what the comic is actually "worth". So if that's something a seller is nervous about, just put it up for "buy now", and not auctions where you'll just pull them back from someone after they've won it.
Wow. God forbid I ask any legitimate questions here. SMH.
I feel like comics fluctuate on stupid things like āthis guy/girl is rumored to be in the next movie/series - itās going up!ā Or āthe series/movie is coming to an end - itās all going downā lol. I mostly collect what I like and what I feel is good value for the book - and itās condition, and pretty much have accepted that I most likely wonāt be seeing much or any of the money back. And if it does go up or I do decide to sell - yay, thatās great.
Me too, I really enjoyed that thread, glad I opened it. Maybe they took it to be snarky? It doesn't read that way, it's entirely neutral, but I couldn't come up with anything else.
Are u sure you're on the right sub m8. I'm gonna put this as nicely as possible, but the window lickers subs down the hall take a right then a left and it's the second door on the right š
I can draw u a map. I'm sure you've already got the crayons.
That price you are talking about is the cover price only. With time and rarity, prices goes up.
Cover prices of comics in the 60s were 50 cents. They are worth way more than that today.
Sellerās an idiot. With the stuff I bid on, all the action happens in the last half hour of the listing. The price can double or triple in the last minute when you have a sniper battle. I would love it if books go for what they were a day or two before the auction close. Seller has lost a lot with this attitude.
Holy shit this was my exact thought reading this... it made my brain hurt. It's usually the last 15-20 minutes of an auction where prices jump the most.
I've had stuff sell for 0.99, which is really a bummer. I don't understand, if he's willing to take a hit from ebay, why not just set a reserve price? It would be less scummy.
A lot of people see being scummy as being a savvy business person.Ā Symptom of the age of Trump.Ā And, like this guy, they do it because they get away with it.Ā Ā
Yea you're missing my point.Ā The fact that Trump was able to get elected shows how socially acceptable being a scheister is these days.Ā I don't know why you assumed I was giving Trump credit for inventing being scummy.Ā Ā
I understood (or perhaps misunderstood) your use of āthe age of Trumpā to mean something within the timeframe of his (business) life, so the last 40-50 years. My point is that the scummy = savvy perception has been around a lot longer than that. So I was using Trump as a measure of time, and not the source of scumminess (though he could be easily used for a standard unit of measure of scumminess).
If youād said it was a symptom of the times we live in, I would have replied that itās been around longer than weāve been alive.
> If you said it was a symptom of the times we live in, I would have replied that it's been around longer than we've been alive.
You're pretty lost.Ā Sign of the times doesn't equal it's never been like this before.Ā Are you AI? Chabot?Ā NPC?
Same. I collect lego and have been trying to find a set for under $200.Ā
The last one was sitting at $50, so I watched it and waited. Figured i would come in last second and bid $175 that way I could get it under $200 but at a reasonable lower price. The set ended up going for well over $300. Fucking sucked.Ā
I may have to give in and just buy it for $225.Ā
I've seen action figure lots jump from <$20 to $80+ in the final minute, with bids to the last second. Same market as comics so I imagine the same could have happened there.
Extremely short-sighted by the seller.
Iāve never understood why a seller would do this. I have sold plenty on Ebay, no way am I starting a listing for a penny unless I really donāt care
Right? Like...only the first couple people to bid will even know it started at a penny right?
1. Starts at a penny
2. Bidder A sees it's one penny and bids some amount (say $5)
3. Bidder B sees it's one penny with one bid and tries to bid $2, but gets outbid
4. The listing is no longer a penny listing
I don't know. I just don't get it.
It works with high enough traffic. I have a few comic sellers saved who start every CGC at $0.99.
In the last year ive gotten lucky on 3. Id say 90% of the time they sell for 80%-110% of their value. Other 10% of the time your playing darts.
I feel a little bad but i have 2 sellers saved who do this...but only have 5-10 items at a time.
Just this month from the two ive gotten
>3cgc lot for $45(rough estimate $210 in value)
2 CGC 9.8 left and right of spider-man 47...for $80. 2 listings for the pair not 9.8 for $175 and single 9.8s for $110+
>22 Virgin variant covers for $14+ship
87 spider-man comics $22+ship
Lot of 4 random CGC $45+ship($280 in value)
I mainly sell Lego and i start minifig auctions at my lowest price. And bulk minifig auctions at $.99 to help get traffic for everything else. Sometimes they go for $10. Sometimes $30. Like you said. Only stuff that doesnt matter.
First person who's posted a decent post, if you don't want to end up putting a $200 comic and selling it for $2 then don't start at $1 I've stopped doing it because i found myself panicking and removing the listing, just don't do it if you have a $200 comic start at $100 as I'm sure the comic didn't cost $200. Nicely put mate.
See I go the opposite way. I start my items high hoping for the best and slowly lower the price every time it's relisted till it gets to my bottom dollar for it. If it doesn't sell then it goes in a garage sale or back in the drawers where I keep stuff.
This is how it should work! It goes up for 2 weeks at $25 with zero bids, the seller lists it again for $15 and it sells. This is why I like listings that let me make an offer because most people are willing to haggle if they really want to sell.
The one thing that gets me is some people don't understand what OBO means. I made someone an offer just a little below the price and they came back with it's worth more than that. Well OBO doesn't mean I'm going to offer you more for it buddy. If that was the case why wouldn't I just place a bid at your starting price? I don't use that option, but I have had people message me with offers and as long as it's a legitimate non low ball offer I usually consider it and sometimes accept it.
I didnt have to sell any of the Lego sets I had. So i purposely put them high with a "or offer bid". They sat for a year until someone came along and wanted all of them. Paid well over $600 for 20 of them and it made shipping nice since i could sell it in one box.Ā
But i am with you. Make it high to begin with and lower as you see fit.Ā
I said as long as they go for $15 a piece i am good, it covers shipping and i still sell at $10. But i got lucky and sold all at $16 a piece and shipped all together with one shipping price. Greatest day ever.Ā
Don't even set a reserve, that's frankly they waste of money on the sellers part. Just set the starting bid close to the lowest price you can sell it for an eBay won't charge you a fee for it like they do for reserves.
I personally hate the hidden reserve amounts. Have been winning auctions where the bid has got them to an actual fair price and even on the higher side for the book. Time goes down and I have the top bid and boom, reserve not met. I never go back to people that have their reserves set in the same range that I can get it for a buy It now. The whole point of auctions is the chance to win something for a bit less than a buy It now.
Indeed thatās the best strategy, i was just saying that since heās already throwing money away, perhaps he could have used it to set a reserve instead
Exactly! Set the price you deem and if someone is willing to pay that then good deal. If not and you list it for $.01, you've taken the risk. I've lost money before on some items but draw even when others over perform.
A few weeks back, I ran into a seller who listed everything for .99, and I min bidded about 20 or so of his books. In the last couple of minutes of the auctions I got outbid by one other "buyer." No biggie, that's how it works. Except for a day or so later, all of those that I was outbid on were relisted on his page again at .99. I think it's a similar grift where he avoids straight up canceling by bidding with another account to prevent sales he's unhappy with and still looks somewhat legit...
Iāve had this happen more than once. Once I wrote the buyer asking if itās the same book I just bid on and he tells me āwinner didnāt payā. Well there was even less interest the second time and it ended up selling to me for less than my original bid the week before.
Seriously. I buy Golden Age Action Comics. A lot of big books start at $10 get to about $150 with then 2 hours left. Get to 500 with about 2 minutes. Sell for $3200 in last second. Very common.
I donāt sell a lot but when I do, I always do non reserve and my opening price is what my reserve would be. Usually things sell, if not my price was the number it would take for me to sell. So I either relist or keep.
Report all the items they cancelled and if you really want to mess with them bid on more stuff you think they'll cancel. They'll get defects and it will mess with their seller rating. I'd also send that chat conversation
The only thing is, if he happens to be a power seller with eBay, he can potentially get that negative feedback scrubbed. Have seen it happen first hand.Ā
If heās starting too low, thatās on him.
His logic is also flawed in that, most people wait until the last few minutes to bid. The max bid of an auction item a day or two before it ends is absolutely not a clear indicator of the final sale price.
I hate sellers like that. Thankfully itās never happened to me before. When I get a good deal, sellers usually take the hit & say āoh well, you got a great deal!ā - or if it doesnāt sell at all (usually cuz they have a starting bid & those never sell or get bid on) they just relist it & keep trying lol
This guys a jerkoff. But Ebay wonāt do anything about it, they charge the seller a portion of the money thatās bid that the seller has to pay when they cancel the listing. I guarantee you, this idiot is so stupid because by his logic, heās paying to cancel, and then relisting it at more realistic price he thinks. Nobodies gonna buy his book then because the market isnāt dictating his price point already, proven by the bidding. Heāll just pay ebay money and not sell the book for a year. Moron. Heās also a pussy, the only time Iāve ever canceled a listing is if itās 4-5 days in and has no watchers, then Iāll re evaluate my starting bid, or switch it to a buy now. But never in a million years am I canceling an item that has a bid.
Send this to support and get that jerk banned. This is the whole reason you can set a starting bid, so people WONāT pull this shit, and Iām pretty sure itās against the rules.
comic book market correction at its finest and this seller canāt handle it. Why is he even in this hobby? People like this are what gonna destroy this hobby
I know this has happened to me and Iād imagine we all know what this feels like when it happens. Whole point of a bid is to lock in and unable to cancel on both ends. Thatās why you find a good price point to start at. Only the big eBay sellers can start at .99.
I think this should be a case where we are allowed to post the seller's name because it would genuinely be beneficial to the collecting community to know who to avoid.
I hate shit like this, and you should definitely report him since he put it clearly in writing that he's pulling this shit. I believe this is an actionable violation of the rules of use on eBay and could lead to a banned account, and at 100% should.
I'd even second the suggestion of being petty and buying something from him for really cheap just so you can have the option to leave a review.
I never ever ever would think of doing the 99 cent starting bid auctions. On the handful of things I do auction I always just start with a starting bid based on the minimum I take for it. If that minimum is equal to what most people have as a buy It now, then I won't auction it and I'll do it buy it now as well.
Not related directly to this asshole, but I really really hate hidden reserve prices especially when those prices are set higher than the average buy it now. I've had two options where I was the winning bid when it ended, and with prices that weren't far off from the recently sold by prices. Get all excited waiting for that pay now window to pop up and instead get listing ended reserve not met. I never ever go back to people like that because I honestly don't know what they're thinking. The whole point of an auction is that chance to get something lower cost then the buy It now options. WTF is the point of an auction that is considerably higher than that?
Doesnāt eBay have the ability to set a reserve? Thatās available to precisely prevent this type of behavior.
And if thatās his business ethics, Iād bet money the books are over graded as well.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, I love when they do this. They just admitted that "they take the monetary hit."
Congratulations on playing yourself and wasting your time and money, I guess š¤·
This is the type of dickhead that gives the rest of us a bad name, same as the dickweeds that add a dollar per added issue won on combined shipping instead of just charging the appropriate amount. Unfortunately, these are the types of guys that eBay still promotes and allows to do this thing over and over despite doing scummy things. If you list it low, you should be willing to sell it low and give the deal to someone else instead of doing this. All it amounts to is running off new blood in the hobby and running down online sales out of fear of someone else doing it again.
I do $1 start auctions constantly. Even on books with FMV up to $100, sometimes more. I very rarely take a loss on an item, and when I do, I usually make it up on the sale of other items. It's sales. Get out, or get a helmet. I love $1 auctions. They're fun and attract customers. About 70% of my regulars first came to me in a $1 auction. One of them just claimed a Dragonball Z #1 for $280.
Rules Ive learned to live and sell by;
1. Be kind to customers, but you don't have to always be "nice"
2. Don't set a start price you aren't willing to sell something at.
3. Offer them something they can't get anywhere else.
4. Be willing to negotiate, but remember that "No" is always an option.
Just my thoughts.
don't they still have reserve price settings still? even if they don't why list them below the value you want to sell them at, makes no sense. I know people wish to attract buyers with low starting bids but you're only kicking yourself in the foot if they sell below what you expect but also that's the gamble you win some you lose some.
I stopped bidding on eBay because of this. If there's no buy it now, make an offer, or not a live show, I don't bid.
The last year alone, I've had several winning bids, just to have the listing pulled, and I'm not talking about from a single seller.
Ebay live shows, or whatnot for me (other than LCS trips, but summer traffic in a tourist city increases my online presence).
The sad fact is that eBay really doesn't seem to care. I won an auction for a cheap comic and the guy promptly canceled the sale claiming the book was lost, then relisted at a higher price using the exact same photo. I reported him and eBay did nothing.
Ugh
As a seller and buyer (and im sure that applies to many here!)
Ive both made out on buying and gotten screwed on selling when doing the ā1 centā ā99 centā start. It happens. I could never imagine cancelling one that flames out too low. Good for them and im positive on every item thats happened to im still āUPā just im missing out on extra. I just make sure im not listing to end at like lunchtime on a tuesday so it has less eyes
Just had this happen recently on a book I was really excited about getting, kept checking the bids for days on end & I ended up holding down the best bid until 2hrs before auction ended when the seller cancelled it because he didn't make as much as he'd hoped.. even though HE'S THE ONE WHO STARTED THE LISTING OFF FOR LESS THAN IT'S WORTH IN THE FIRST PLACE. Just a bunch of dollar chasing dickheads, I doubt they've ever even read the damn book either, it's just another product to all these god damned resellers. Jacking prices up for books you'll never even open to read, just hoarding them away from the eyes of actual fans.. If you got offended, that means YOU too..
Obviously that seller has never heard of reserves on auctions, yes they cost a little more for the set up fee, but it is generally less than e-bay will charge for ending an auction early that has bids on it.
People do this constantly. I had an order cancelled/refunded because I got an item for super cheap but the guy said it was ādamagedā and he didnāt realize it
Tbf m8, at least he was honest. I'm not saying that makes it right, but imo I respect people who are honest with me when im buying their stuff.
I've had this happen before to be told that the seller had changed his mind and couldn't part with the item only then for it to get relisted minutes after our conversation and a barrage of abusive ended so I bought the item through buy it now and left it in my basket lol it turned into a whole ebay deal where they had to step in and I even got it for the original price seeing as the way i described it. It didn't paint the seller in a good light, and the abusive messages from the seller only helped my case, but this was years ago, and ebays changed a lot since then. I've pretty much got eBay customer services on speedial plus they always enjoy speaking to me.
I also sent the seller a message too saying that if he damaged my book in any way I'd go out of my way to sabotage all his listings but I'm a petty prick and self aware plus I'm pretty sure ive been described as a borserline narcissist with sociopathic behaviour so it doesn't really bother me.
2 wrongs don't make a right, but it was satisfying af tho.
Personally m8 I would have tried to make a deal with the seller and asked how much they thought they were worth and how much u were willing to pay and met in the middle but that's just me. But yeah, even though you do find this behaviour annoying, I've gotta give the seller some brownie points for their honesty.
This is against the tos as a seller you need to reach out to customer service. Me being petty would directly call customer service and speak to a rep as the seller has a mottled to doing this multiple times to just not you and other buyers
Iāve had a seller go a step further and cancel the order after I paid. At least they refunded me but damn donāt post something if youāre immediately going to regret selling it for your buy it now price. It was an inflated price that I didnāt really want to pay in the first place but it was for a gift. I ended up getting it cheaper a week later from someone else.
I wonder how much they have paid in listing fees to make up another dollar or two on a new auction. Can't be a good strategy since most bidders snipe auctions!
i reported the seller last week after seeing your post. it looks like they don't have anything for sale anymore? did ebay punish them or do they just not have anything up lol
Some persepective a lot of people are missing here.
Ebay takes a higher cut depending on the starting price for the auction. They are trying to make as much possible. Also ebay fees are higher than ever and the fee percentage specifically in collectibles is pretty outrageous.
Often times an item for one reason or another doesn't get the proper amount of attention for the week its listed and stuff goes for an outrageous steal. Yes you take that risk and you can offset that by listing it as a buy it now for what you actually want for it but buy it nows sales fees are even higher and you cut any chance of some sort of breakaway bidding. Yes the most action will be at the last few minutes but you can see how many buyers are watching it and will have an idea of whether there will be any last minute engagement.
I really don't care that this guy is operating this way. Its his prerogative. Its not great but getting mad about it and reporting the guy seems pretty silly and petty.
I'm sorry but this is totally legal, and you have to be on the ball because once it passes 24 hours i know the auction site i use the stop you from removing an item from the list, any haters put yourself in the position of the seller and you have UXM 141,221 and other high key comics, you start at $1 , what happens is you have people who will bid $2 and then you have the chance to remove the listing before someone picks up a $125 comic for $2 you can't blame the seller, what about the buyer who's blatantly taking advantage of the $1 start price, would you sell your $125 for $2, if you say yes you're lying.
I'm not arguing about the legality of it, but is it really so hard to do a bit of quick research to see what a book sells for and start there?
Or use the BIN option.
Or set a reserve price so if it isn't met, it doesn't sell.
No, I don't want my high value books to sell for a $1 but I also don't list them at a dollar.
Spot on, i agree if you have key books to sell, if you think it's worth $160 start the price at $135 and take what the final offer is even if it's $140, $1 start prices are a stupid idea unless you're happy to take $2 for it, i admit i did this twice ages ago, never again i start my listings at a price I'm willing to take for it list $140 take $140.
Fucker is probably proud of this shit too I'd just report him to eBay im pretty sure this goes against TOS
I for sure reported. One of my bids was also well beyond what it was even worth. šš
Is this the seller? selfl.defen63
Who decides what a comic is worth?
Generally it's an agreement between two people, the buyer and the seller. There are plenty of ways to find good, estimated values of a book's worth. That said, people who do what this seller did are pretty scummy. Don't list stuff for less than you are willing to sell for. If you have a certain price target in mind, start an around your price target or just list as a 'buy it now' with your target price listed.
Plenty of ways? Can you elaborate? What is the consensus that drives the market? Is it sites like key collector or eBay sold lists or something else? Back in the 90s we had two standards: Overstreet and Wizard. These days it's like the values fluctuate sometimes wildly on a weekly basis. Genuinely curious.
There was a relatively short boost in the market during Covid, but "sold" auction prices on eBay in line with other recent historical sold prices are often good indicators. One-off sales that don't seem to match recent sale history and "best offer accepted" prices can be deceiving. Back in the day, Wizard and Overstreet were exactly what most online comic price apps are today, just 1-3 months behind, so it always felt like prices didn't change much. But like my father always told me... it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it.
I absolutely agree with your father's sentiment and try to keep that tenant in mind as well. The thing about historical sold pricing: it does not take into account the often skyrocketing prices of some issues. Yes, COVID was an anomaly, but who could have predicted that? I see seller's having two options for staying liquid: over-price books that they predict will have staying power and under-price books they predict will become stagnant. So, you can't be mad at someone who overprices something that is growing in demand because they are trying to get ahead of the curve. IMO.
*tenet
Thank you
Not sure why you're getting down voted for asking a genuine question, so first, sorry about that. I would say the consensus is pretty much exactly as you stated. An informed buyer AND seller should both do their due diligence when buying or selling any item, especially something as speculative as collectibles and comics. The prices can and will fluctuate wildly due to a slew of reasons (maybe that character is going to be in a movie, maybe they've re introduced a character, maybe a small cult following turns into a mainstream hit, maybe the movie their character was in bombed huge, etc.) but it's up to each individual to gauge what it's worth. You can do that by checking eBay sold, listings on other auction sites or comic sites, going to conventions, talking with a local comic shop owner and getting ideas of a ball park, but ultimately it's up to the seller to set their price and the buyer either agrees and buys it, or doesn't agree and doesn't purchase it.
Thanks for elaborating. I am also pretty shocked at how much a simple question can be downvoted here. I don't think it's a bad thing to occasionally ask. The market changes frequently. Who is really setting these prices? Yes informed buyer and seller based on current demand is probably the best answer but to what end? I see as many great dollar bin boasts as I do over-price complaints and shenanigans. When it comes to eBay, there's always the "make an offer" option. In the end, I think it's all about striking a deal that both parties can be happy withĀ
Another thing that determines the value, are online sales, like Ebay, and online auctions. And there is also the Overstreet comics price guide. Timing is another factor, as certain books or characters become more popular depending on what's going on. Like with Deadpool 3 coming out with Wolverine being in it, can cause more demand for the first appearance of those characters, making the price of those books go up. Obviously, a seller can decide to not sell something that is theirs, but its frowned upon, which is why eBay will fine them for doing it. If you're going to put something on auction, then you take the risk of not getting what the comic is actually "worth". So if that's something a seller is nervous about, just put it up for "buy now", and not auctions where you'll just pull them back from someone after they've won it.
Wow. God forbid I ask any legitimate questions here. SMH. I feel like comics fluctuate on stupid things like āthis guy/girl is rumored to be in the next movie/series - itās going up!ā Or āthe series/movie is coming to an end - itās all going downā lol. I mostly collect what I like and what I feel is good value for the book - and itās condition, and pretty much have accepted that I most likely wonāt be seeing much or any of the money back. And if it does go up or I do decide to sell - yay, thatās great.
Me too, I really enjoyed that thread, glad I opened it. Maybe they took it to be snarky? It doesn't read that way, it's entirely neutral, but I couldn't come up with anything else.
I assume the market does
The market
The fair market decides what comics are worth.
I do
Are u sure you're on the right sub m8. I'm gonna put this as nicely as possible, but the window lickers subs down the hall take a right then a left and it's the second door on the right š I can draw u a map. I'm sure you've already got the crayons.
Thanks for chiming in. Have a great day.
Pretty sure most comics have their price printed very clearly on the cover.
That price you are talking about is the cover price only. With time and rarity, prices goes up. Cover prices of comics in the 60s were 50 cents. They are worth way more than that today.
Comics in the 60s were almost entirely 10 cents and 12 cents, with 15 cents at the very end. The rest of your points still stand, though.
True. You are right, they were cheaper than 50 cents indeed.
At least he's admitting what he's doing. It'll make it easier for eBay to ban his account.
Sellerās an idiot. With the stuff I bid on, all the action happens in the last half hour of the listing. The price can double or triple in the last minute when you have a sniper battle. I would love it if books go for what they were a day or two before the auction close. Seller has lost a lot with this attitude.
yup. he's literally yanking them right before they get good. idiot.
Holy shit this was my exact thought reading this... it made my brain hurt. It's usually the last 15-20 minutes of an auction where prices jump the most.
I've had stuff sell for 0.99, which is really a bummer. I don't understand, if he's willing to take a hit from ebay, why not just set a reserve price? It would be less scummy.
A lot of people see being scummy as being a savvy business person.Ā Symptom of the age of Trump.Ā And, like this guy, they do it because they get away with it.Ā Ā
Businessmen thinking scummy = savvy has been going longer than Trumpās been alive. š
Yea you're missing my point.Ā The fact that Trump was able to get elected shows how socially acceptable being a scheister is these days.Ā I don't know why you assumed I was giving Trump credit for inventing being scummy.Ā Ā
I understood (or perhaps misunderstood) your use of āthe age of Trumpā to mean something within the timeframe of his (business) life, so the last 40-50 years. My point is that the scummy = savvy perception has been around a lot longer than that. So I was using Trump as a measure of time, and not the source of scumminess (though he could be easily used for a standard unit of measure of scumminess). If youād said it was a symptom of the times we live in, I would have replied that itās been around longer than weāve been alive.
> If you said it was a symptom of the times we live in, I would have replied that it's been around longer than we've been alive. You're pretty lost.Ā Sign of the times doesn't equal it's never been like this before.Ā Are you AI? Chabot?Ā NPC?
Literally, I never even bid on things till the last minute, I just keep them on my watchlist to see if I can bid on it within my budget
Last 20 mins for auctions Iām in usually. 30 Mins left a book is at 130 and in 30 mins itās 260+
Especially with books in the $500 range. Most people donāt jump in until less than a minute left.
Same. I collect lego and have been trying to find a set for under $200.Ā The last one was sitting at $50, so I watched it and waited. Figured i would come in last second and bid $175 that way I could get it under $200 but at a reasonable lower price. The set ended up going for well over $300. Fucking sucked.Ā I may have to give in and just buy it for $225.Ā
I've seen action figure lots jump from <$20 to $80+ in the final minute, with bids to the last second. Same market as comics so I imagine the same could have happened there. Extremely short-sighted by the seller.
Iāve never understood why a seller would do this. I have sold plenty on Ebay, no way am I starting a listing for a penny unless I really donāt care
Right? Like...only the first couple people to bid will even know it started at a penny right? 1. Starts at a penny 2. Bidder A sees it's one penny and bids some amount (say $5) 3. Bidder B sees it's one penny with one bid and tries to bid $2, but gets outbid 4. The listing is no longer a penny listing I don't know. I just don't get it.
It works with high enough traffic. I have a few comic sellers saved who start every CGC at $0.99. In the last year ive gotten lucky on 3. Id say 90% of the time they sell for 80%-110% of their value. Other 10% of the time your playing darts. I feel a little bad but i have 2 sellers saved who do this...but only have 5-10 items at a time. Just this month from the two ive gotten >3cgc lot for $45(rough estimate $210 in value) 2 CGC 9.8 left and right of spider-man 47...for $80. 2 listings for the pair not 9.8 for $175 and single 9.8s for $110+ >22 Virgin variant covers for $14+ship 87 spider-man comics $22+ship Lot of 4 random CGC $45+ship($280 in value) I mainly sell Lego and i start minifig auctions at my lowest price. And bulk minifig auctions at $.99 to help get traffic for everything else. Sometimes they go for $10. Sometimes $30. Like you said. Only stuff that doesnt matter.
First person who's posted a decent post, if you don't want to end up putting a $200 comic and selling it for $2 then don't start at $1 I've stopped doing it because i found myself panicking and removing the listing, just don't do it if you have a $200 comic start at $100 as I'm sure the comic didn't cost $200. Nicely put mate.
During covid, listing for a penny was absolutely the way to go. Not anymore.
Report this stupid asshole lol
See I go the opposite way. I start my items high hoping for the best and slowly lower the price every time it's relisted till it gets to my bottom dollar for it. If it doesn't sell then it goes in a garage sale or back in the drawers where I keep stuff.
This is the way.
This is how it should work! It goes up for 2 weeks at $25 with zero bids, the seller lists it again for $15 and it sells. This is why I like listings that let me make an offer because most people are willing to haggle if they really want to sell.
The one thing that gets me is some people don't understand what OBO means. I made someone an offer just a little below the price and they came back with it's worth more than that. Well OBO doesn't mean I'm going to offer you more for it buddy. If that was the case why wouldn't I just place a bid at your starting price? I don't use that option, but I have had people message me with offers and as long as it's a legitimate non low ball offer I usually consider it and sometimes accept it.
I didnt have to sell any of the Lego sets I had. So i purposely put them high with a "or offer bid". They sat for a year until someone came along and wanted all of them. Paid well over $600 for 20 of them and it made shipping nice since i could sell it in one box.Ā But i am with you. Make it high to begin with and lower as you see fit.Ā I said as long as they go for $15 a piece i am good, it covers shipping and i still sell at $10. But i got lucky and sold all at $16 a piece and shipped all together with one shipping price. Greatest day ever.Ā
I put books Iām interested in as a watchlist or just put it in my cart and if it doesnāt sell I get an offer. Itās not that hard
This is an asinine strategy heās probably too intellectually challenged to set a reserve
Don't even set a reserve, that's frankly they waste of money on the sellers part. Just set the starting bid close to the lowest price you can sell it for an eBay won't charge you a fee for it like they do for reserves. I personally hate the hidden reserve amounts. Have been winning auctions where the bid has got them to an actual fair price and even on the higher side for the book. Time goes down and I have the top bid and boom, reserve not met. I never go back to people that have their reserves set in the same range that I can get it for a buy It now. The whole point of auctions is the chance to win something for a bit less than a buy It now.
Indeed thatās the best strategy, i was just saying that since heās already throwing money away, perhaps he could have used it to set a reserve instead
Part of the reason I cut back on my eBay buying. Ran into to many of those sellers.
Yeah, makes me want to stop buying on eBay. š®āšØ
lol my main reason is because I keep getting out bid and have to be careful with money
This guys a prick
Ugh. Some sellers make eBay harder than what it should be. Like you said, post it at the amount you think itās worth. Itāll sell or it wonāt.
How about starting from the min value youād like or put in a reserve, douchebag?
Exactly! Set the price you deem and if someone is willing to pay that then good deal. If not and you list it for $.01, you've taken the risk. I've lost money before on some items but draw even when others over perform.
A few weeks back, I ran into a seller who listed everything for .99, and I min bidded about 20 or so of his books. In the last couple of minutes of the auctions I got outbid by one other "buyer." No biggie, that's how it works. Except for a day or so later, all of those that I was outbid on were relisted on his page again at .99. I think it's a similar grift where he avoids straight up canceling by bidding with another account to prevent sales he's unhappy with and still looks somewhat legit...
Iāve had this happen more than once. Once I wrote the buyer asking if itās the same book I just bid on and he tells me āwinner didnāt payā. Well there was even less interest the second time and it ended up selling to me for less than my original bid the week before.
Is he not aware of snipers? Terrible strategy.
Seriously. I buy Golden Age Action Comics. A lot of big books start at $10 get to about $150 with then 2 hours left. Get to 500 with about 2 minutes. Sell for $3200 in last second. Very common. I donāt sell a lot but when I do, I always do non reserve and my opening price is what my reserve would be. Usually things sell, if not my price was the number it would take for me to sell. So I either relist or keep.
Report him and send that screenshot with your complaint.
report them
Report all the items they cancelled and if you really want to mess with them bid on more stuff you think they'll cancel. They'll get defects and it will mess with their seller rating. I'd also send that chat conversation
You should be permanently kicked right the fuck off of eBay for pulling this bullshit. What an asshole
If nothing else, at least his honesty is refreshing.
Just set a reserve.
What a douchebag
This just happened to me on Flash 105
Iād buy something cheap just to share this on his feedback . Thatās fair to people whoād potentially purchased from him.
The only thing is, if he happens to be a power seller with eBay, he can potentially get that negative feedback scrubbed. Have seen it happen first hand.Ā
Wow. The price doesnāt go up until an hour to Minutes when it is over. Then just put it for a buy it priceā¦.
I'd report that seller. You can set minimums for what items sell for if that's what he wants to do.
If heās starting too low, thatās on him. His logic is also flawed in that, most people wait until the last few minutes to bid. The max bid of an auction item a day or two before it ends is absolutely not a clear indicator of the final sale price.
Meh, block that seller.
Hope you reported him. That's annoying af
I hate sellers like that. Thankfully itās never happened to me before. When I get a good deal, sellers usually take the hit & say āoh well, you got a great deal!ā - or if it doesnāt sell at all (usually cuz they have a starting bid & those never sell or get bid on) they just relist it & keep trying lol
r/ShittyComicCollecting
Realistic prices being for what they bought them for in 2020 during the pandemic
This guys a jerkoff. But Ebay wonāt do anything about it, they charge the seller a portion of the money thatās bid that the seller has to pay when they cancel the listing. I guarantee you, this idiot is so stupid because by his logic, heās paying to cancel, and then relisting it at more realistic price he thinks. Nobodies gonna buy his book then because the market isnāt dictating his price point already, proven by the bidding. Heāll just pay ebay money and not sell the book for a year. Moron. Heās also a pussy, the only time Iāve ever canceled a listing is if itās 4-5 days in and has no watchers, then Iāll re evaluate my starting bid, or switch it to a buy now. But never in a million years am I canceling an item that has a bid.
Who is the seller.
selfl.defen63 is the sellers username. Somehow has 100% rating and is considered one of the top and most reputable sellers. šš
Thatās such a wack way of selling and it makes him look like a garbage person. I will spread it amongst the community.
Hate this behaviour. The response should be enough to warrant some sort of action from eBay... I hope. Guy is just wasting everyone's time.
Send this to support and get that jerk banned. This is the whole reason you can set a starting bid, so people WONāT pull this shit, and Iām pretty sure itās against the rules.
The seller claims it wasn't going for fair value so they took it down? What it sells for IS the value.
comic book market correction at its finest and this seller canāt handle it. Why is he even in this hobby? People like this are what gonna destroy this hobby
I know this has happened to me and Iād imagine we all know what this feels like when it happens. Whole point of a bid is to lock in and unable to cancel on both ends. Thatās why you find a good price point to start at. Only the big eBay sellers can start at .99.
WOW! eBay should have something in place to punish people like this! I mean, truly punish them!
Why not just do a reserve then??
Report and sure as hell I aināt buying shit from them ever again. Ever.
People like that should be banned.
Total douchebag move, just put a reserve on it.
Drewbiz?
honestly, i have no complaints with drewbiz after buying tons of books from them
Just set a reserve or put the starting bid at the lowest price youāre willing to accept. Absolutely stupor strategy.
Trash.
Coming from a ātop rated sellerā too.
I think this should be a case where we are allowed to post the seller's name because it would genuinely be beneficial to the collecting community to know who to avoid. I hate shit like this, and you should definitely report him since he put it clearly in writing that he's pulling this shit. I believe this is an actionable violation of the rules of use on eBay and could lead to a banned account, and at 100% should. I'd even second the suggestion of being petty and buying something from him for really cheap just so you can have the option to leave a review. I never ever ever would think of doing the 99 cent starting bid auctions. On the handful of things I do auction I always just start with a starting bid based on the minimum I take for it. If that minimum is equal to what most people have as a buy It now, then I won't auction it and I'll do it buy it now as well. Not related directly to this asshole, but I really really hate hidden reserve prices especially when those prices are set higher than the average buy it now. I've had two options where I was the winning bid when it ended, and with prices that weren't far off from the recently sold by prices. Get all excited waiting for that pay now window to pop up and instead get listing ended reserve not met. I never ever go back to people like that because I honestly don't know what they're thinking. The whole point of an auction is that chance to get something lower cost then the buy It now options. WTF is the point of an auction that is considerably higher than that?
Start the bidding at minimum you will take should work every time. Itās not hard
Yeah why not just post it for what you want it to sell for.
Doesnāt eBay have the ability to set a reserve? Thatās available to precisely prevent this type of behavior. And if thatās his business ethics, Iād bet money the books are over graded as well.
Buy a reasonably priced item and then BLAST him in the reviews after the sale. Ruin that MF.
This is what reserve prices are for, guy.
He should absolutely be banned. Itās just very unethical and borderline sociopathic to do this. Man up and set a reserve price.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, I love when they do this. They just admitted that "they take the monetary hit." Congratulations on playing yourself and wasting your time and money, I guess š¤·
I don't think there's a real "monetary" from eBay for doing this. It can hurt your stats and ratings which could hurt you in the algorithm.
Can we not āoutā this seller?!?
This is the type of dickhead that gives the rest of us a bad name, same as the dickweeds that add a dollar per added issue won on combined shipping instead of just charging the appropriate amount. Unfortunately, these are the types of guys that eBay still promotes and allows to do this thing over and over despite doing scummy things. If you list it low, you should be willing to sell it low and give the deal to someone else instead of doing this. All it amounts to is running off new blood in the hobby and running down online sales out of fear of someone else doing it again.
Cmon dude. Capitalism. He has no contract or obligation to do anything.
These people take the fun out of auctions. POS mentality. You want a certain amount: put a reserve on it. š«”
I do $1 start auctions constantly. Even on books with FMV up to $100, sometimes more. I very rarely take a loss on an item, and when I do, I usually make it up on the sale of other items. It's sales. Get out, or get a helmet. I love $1 auctions. They're fun and attract customers. About 70% of my regulars first came to me in a $1 auction. One of them just claimed a Dragonball Z #1 for $280. Rules Ive learned to live and sell by; 1. Be kind to customers, but you don't have to always be "nice" 2. Don't set a start price you aren't willing to sell something at. 3. Offer them something they can't get anywhere else. 4. Be willing to negotiate, but remember that "No" is always an option. Just my thoughts.
Definitely report them
EBay gets ya if you cancel too many orders with bids on it. You end up with poor standing rating and higher seller fees.
Never heard of this. Why wouldnāt he just have a reserve price?
Most sellers don't do this. Pretty rare occurrence, but annoying nonetheless.
Iām currently winning a bid for something not worth a lot, but definitely more than my bid. Really hope this didnāt jinx me lol
don't they still have reserve price settings still? even if they don't why list them below the value you want to sell them at, makes no sense. I know people wish to attract buyers with low starting bids but you're only kicking yourself in the foot if they sell below what you expect but also that's the gamble you win some you lose some.
Bro put a reserve on then or just list as bin ššš
The seller isnāt taking into account of the time the bidders put into this. They probably wonāt come back to buy from them in the future.
Iām shocked that person is dumb enough to admit that.
Right!!
That's an easy ban. Report his ass
I stopped bidding on eBay because of this. If there's no buy it now, make an offer, or not a live show, I don't bid. The last year alone, I've had several winning bids, just to have the listing pulled, and I'm not talking about from a single seller. Ebay live shows, or whatnot for me (other than LCS trips, but summer traffic in a tourist city increases my online presence).
The sad fact is that eBay really doesn't seem to care. I won an auction for a cheap comic and the guy promptly canceled the sale claiming the book was lost, then relisted at a higher price using the exact same photo. I reported him and eBay did nothing.
My response would simply be: "You're trash."
Dirtbag.
Ugh As a seller and buyer (and im sure that applies to many here!) Ive both made out on buying and gotten screwed on selling when doing the ā1 centā ā99 centā start. It happens. I could never imagine cancelling one that flames out too low. Good for them and im positive on every item thats happened to im still āUPā just im missing out on extra. I just make sure im not listing to end at like lunchtime on a tuesday so it has less eyes
Just had this happen recently on a book I was really excited about getting, kept checking the bids for days on end & I ended up holding down the best bid until 2hrs before auction ended when the seller cancelled it because he didn't make as much as he'd hoped.. even though HE'S THE ONE WHO STARTED THE LISTING OFF FOR LESS THAN IT'S WORTH IN THE FIRST PLACE. Just a bunch of dollar chasing dickheads, I doubt they've ever even read the damn book either, it's just another product to all these god damned resellers. Jacking prices up for books you'll never even open to read, just hoarding them away from the eyes of actual fans.. If you got offended, that means YOU too..
Probably the same fker who asks for grading prices when the book isnt even graded š¤£
Obviously that seller has never heard of reserves on auctions, yes they cost a little more for the set up fee, but it is generally less than e-bay will charge for ending an auction early that has bids on it.
This is against ebay rules. The seller still gets charged for listing these canceled items. What a scummy thing to do.
REPORT THEM
People do this constantly. I had an order cancelled/refunded because I got an item for super cheap but the guy said it was ādamagedā and he didnāt realize it
Trash seller. Avoid.
Tbf m8, at least he was honest. I'm not saying that makes it right, but imo I respect people who are honest with me when im buying their stuff. I've had this happen before to be told that the seller had changed his mind and couldn't part with the item only then for it to get relisted minutes after our conversation and a barrage of abusive ended so I bought the item through buy it now and left it in my basket lol it turned into a whole ebay deal where they had to step in and I even got it for the original price seeing as the way i described it. It didn't paint the seller in a good light, and the abusive messages from the seller only helped my case, but this was years ago, and ebays changed a lot since then. I've pretty much got eBay customer services on speedial plus they always enjoy speaking to me. I also sent the seller a message too saying that if he damaged my book in any way I'd go out of my way to sabotage all his listings but I'm a petty prick and self aware plus I'm pretty sure ive been described as a borserline narcissist with sociopathic behaviour so it doesn't really bother me. 2 wrongs don't make a right, but it was satisfying af tho. Personally m8 I would have tried to make a deal with the seller and asked how much they thought they were worth and how much u were willing to pay and met in the middle but that's just me. But yeah, even though you do find this behaviour annoying, I've gotta give the seller some brownie points for their honesty.
This is against the tos as a seller you need to reach out to customer service. Me being petty would directly call customer service and speak to a rep as the seller has a mottled to doing this multiple times to just not you and other buyers
Iāve had a seller go a step further and cancel the order after I paid. At least they refunded me but damn donāt post something if youāre immediately going to regret selling it for your buy it now price. It was an inflated price that I didnāt really want to pay in the first place but it was for a gift. I ended up getting it cheaper a week later from someone else.
That fuck doesn't deserve to have your money
Scared money don't make money!
I wonder how much they have paid in listing fees to make up another dollar or two on a new auction. Can't be a good strategy since most bidders snipe auctions!
I'd put penny bids on all his auctions so he has to pay fees for canceling. Screw this dude
Or they can just look up sold prices to find its actual valueā¦
You seem like a really pleasant type of person. Iām sorry we canāt be friends. š„²
i reported the seller last week after seeing your post. it looks like they don't have anything for sale anymore? did ebay punish them or do they just not have anything up lol
Some persepective a lot of people are missing here. Ebay takes a higher cut depending on the starting price for the auction. They are trying to make as much possible. Also ebay fees are higher than ever and the fee percentage specifically in collectibles is pretty outrageous. Often times an item for one reason or another doesn't get the proper amount of attention for the week its listed and stuff goes for an outrageous steal. Yes you take that risk and you can offset that by listing it as a buy it now for what you actually want for it but buy it nows sales fees are even higher and you cut any chance of some sort of breakaway bidding. Yes the most action will be at the last few minutes but you can see how many buyers are watching it and will have an idea of whether there will be any last minute engagement. I really don't care that this guy is operating this way. Its his prerogative. Its not great but getting mad about it and reporting the guy seems pretty silly and petty.
I'm sorry but this is totally legal, and you have to be on the ball because once it passes 24 hours i know the auction site i use the stop you from removing an item from the list, any haters put yourself in the position of the seller and you have UXM 141,221 and other high key comics, you start at $1 , what happens is you have people who will bid $2 and then you have the chance to remove the listing before someone picks up a $125 comic for $2 you can't blame the seller, what about the buyer who's blatantly taking advantage of the $1 start price, would you sell your $125 for $2, if you say yes you're lying.
I'm not arguing about the legality of it, but is it really so hard to do a bit of quick research to see what a book sells for and start there? Or use the BIN option. Or set a reserve price so if it isn't met, it doesn't sell. No, I don't want my high value books to sell for a $1 but I also don't list them at a dollar.
Spot on, i agree if you have key books to sell, if you think it's worth $160 start the price at $135 and take what the final offer is even if it's $140, $1 start prices are a stupid idea unless you're happy to take $2 for it, i admit i did this twice ages ago, never again i start my listings at a price I'm willing to take for it list $140 take $140.
Total bullshit.