Question On Ebay Sellers Pricing Structure.

I'm not saying anything needs to be done. Just pointing out the silliness of some ebay sellers.

As I said, the first seller had some very nice items, the second not so much.

The post started out asking about why some sellers price structure the way they do.I receiver some valid points.Doesn't mean I understand them.
Some sellers make sense, some don't.

As a previous poster said, some people seem to want to keep their items more then they wish to sell.
pat

Only the individual sellers can answer about their own pricing strategies and theories. I doubt their reasoning is silly to them.

The silliness is on ebay. If they let the sellers use Best Offer without a BIN as they should, people like you don't get your panties in a twist.

Rest assured, my "boxers" are not in a twist.
Since this has devolved beyond helpfulness, I will leave it at that.
pat

...or knickers in a knot.

Exactly.

This is a selling technique used successfully by thousands upon thousands of ebay sellers. Has been for years.

But it upset you enough to make a topic here to complain about good 100% feedback sellers.

I actually asked the seller about it and got not one but two long and reasonable replies from him. Oh and during this thread's duration I have purchased items from this seller. If he gives me the okay, I will post them, the replies. I have already posted the material elsewhere in the SCF .

bobby131313 -

I'm not upset - mad - twisted - or angry.

I asked about a strategy I did not understand.

I received several helpful answers - yours were not among them.
pat

I am the seller, or one of them being discussed so I thought I would chime in on my first post here. I run Aztec Collectables and sell under that name on ebay andHipstamp/HipPostcard. I am a second generation dealer and have been selling mostly postal history and postcards part time for the past 15 years.

Because I do this parttime I try to have unusual or eclectic material that sets me apart from competitors, of which there are many. I am listing around 500 items a week on average with start prices ranging from $15 to around $750. Everything that doesn't sell goes into my store as a BIN and I accept offers on everything. As a general rule I will accept offers within 20% of the list price, the longer I have had something in stock the more I will discount. My goal is to sell items within 3 years of listing them.

I try to be perfect but sometimes I make mistakes, I misclassify material, etc. Feel free to reach out if you have questions about accuracy or pricing. I claim expertise in some areas (Holocaust, Zeppelins, FFCs, etc.) but not everything and I venture into new areas and learn as I go. My customers and other dealers have been, and are, a huge source of knowledge and education for me.

I try to be transparent in my business practices. Other things are, the more you buy the more I can discount, for more expensive items I am happy to sell directly and pass the savings on to the customer.

My observation is buyers want the best material at the lowest price. If my prices are not fair material won't sell and I must be doing something right as I have been able to grow my modest postal history business into around 75,000 or so items listed for sale after starting with $500 to invest in 2008. And I owe it all my wonderful customers. And the non wonderful ones have taught me things too. :(

Also, I do not "collect offers" and have no idea what it means. I try to respond to all offers within 12 hours of receiving them. I can usually articulate the basis for my pricing. Most of what I rely on is what I have sold similar items for in the past. Someone list a bunch of DDR coves for 99 cents each and they sell for that, I think its meaningless. if I have sold similar covers for say $25 I am relying on my experience not others. My goal is to sell everything and not leave anything for my estate to deal with.

Paul Wright

No need, he replied himself as you can read in the post above.

[EDIT] When I posted this I only saw his post above. This morning I got his ebay messaging message telling me he was fine with me posting his messages to me. I will do that below as within those messages he mentions other aspects of ebay which gives sellers concern.

A huge round of applause for Paul for taking the time to explain things. Outstanding.

Aztec Collectables:
Sorry you had to be bothered, but thank you for taking the time.
I had a question on how/why dealers price some things the way they do. As things do on the internet, it seemed to get out of proportion to the intent.
I enjoy looking at the offers on your site. As I said previous, there are many nice items to be had (and unfortunately for me,out of my price range).
Anyway, thanks again and best to you,
pat

Here is the exchange between Paul and myself on ebay messaging during this thread:




First reply-




Second reply-




My reply to the messages-




His next reply-




And last reply-





See here: https://goscf.com/t/77495 as that thread was started with a cover I picked up from Paul at what I felt was a quite reasonable price.

I hope that addresses everyone's questions and concerns. If not, feel free to ask. I try to be as open and transparent as possible in my business practices. Not everyone may agree with them but if you understand them you can see the logic of where I am coming from. A lot of the issues that are raising concerns among buyers and sellers alike are ebay's business practices which continuously squeeze sellers more and more. But we seem to be as powerless to do anything about e bay as we are about comcast, Google, Facebook and the other tech behemoths.

Paul Wright