Hi, Claude:
You know, this kind of reminds of a Brecht quote (I can't believe I'm quoting
Bertolt Brecht on Mopo, but anyway), from when he was living in Hollywood in
the 40s and had just got his driver's licence:
"I finally learned to drive a car, but really I should have learned to drive
two cars: mine and the one in front of me."
My point is you are allowing yourself to be frustrated over something you
cannot control: the behaviour of certain sellers on eBay. I'm not saying you
shouldn't feel free to make observations or complain - by all means, go ahead -
but to get worked up over it seems pointless. The market will either change
their behaviour or it won't. In the meantime the best way to deal with them is
to NOT deal with them.
Other than that, I have one suggestion to how to refine your eBay browsing so
you minimize your frustration: When you search by Highest Price First, click on
Auctions Only and you won't have to look at the ridiculous Buy-It-Nows that
forever clutter up the Store listings. Just a suggestion.
Best,
Dave
----- Original Message -----
From: Claude Litton
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 11:12 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] ebay poster prices
Dave
I wasn't referring to you because you don't list prices in the thousands.
Please let me explain a little further.
I look at posters 3 ways.
Ending today
Newly listed
Highest prices first
The Ending Today I search at 6:30 am
The Newly Listed I search at 10 to 11 pm
The highest first when I have time but normally at night
The last one is incredibly saturated with ridiculous prices and they never
come down. Alan Adler in California has high prices to start but I think his
way of selling is very astute. He lists a high price plus a buy it now. Each
week he lowers both. He has created a super market for himself with the need
for a person to buy it now high for fear he may get into a bidding war at a
slightly lower price.
I am not referring to A Todd Feiertag because he uses his not for sale
posters as a lead for his regular items. I am talking about sellers who list
all of their posters at very high prices and never reduce them. I only used
Three Sons as an example. I know he is a fairly new seller but it triggered my
email to mopo.
I suggest you go to US Originals and sort by highest price first. Then read
my comments again and please, by all means, reply.
Claude
In a message dated 6/28/2009 10:29:28 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
hah...@sympatico.ca writes:
Hi, Bruce:
Sorry, I actually wasn't responding to your post, which I only read after I
sent in my comments. I was addressing Claude's concerns directly. And I know
you weren't referring to me.
That said, I finally looked at the listing Claude gave as an example: the
Three Sons 1-sheet.
First: The seller is new to eBay as of January of this year. So he may soon
change his pricing practices once he gains some more experience (read: doesn't
sell anything).
Second: The item is a Buy-It-Now in his eBay Store, not an auction. Given
you only pay five to ten cents a month to list an item in your eBay Store, he
can afford to leave it there a long time before it sells, IF it sells.
Last: The poster is linenbacked, unlike the same 1-sheet that Claude
mentions was sold by Bruce for about $50. Not that that adds $550 to the price,
but linenbacking can set you back roughly $100, including shipping and
depending on whether or not any restoration was done.
OK, even after all that, I agree the price is out of line with what the
poster should bring, retail, on the open market. But if the seller feels he can
get that, let him try. If he doesn't get that, then the price will come down or
he won't be selling for much longer.
Dave
----- Original Message -----
From: Bruce Hershenson
To: Dave Rosen
Cc: MoPo-L@listserv.american.edu
Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 10:06 AM
Subject: Re: [MOPO] ebay poster prices
Dave
YOU clearly don't have ridiculous prices, and you are one of the sellers
whose items I look over regularly. But I was just on eBay and I DO see lots of
items that wouldn't auction for $15 with "Buy It Nows" of $100, and that IS
ridiculous.
I would think that Claude was surely not referring to you either.
As to consignment sellers selling items cheaply, that is why I try stick
to sellers who have thousands of items to sell, so that they can know that
their low sale prices are offset by the high prices.
I never said non-consignment sellers should sell items at cheap prices. I
was just saying that prices tens times retail seem to make little sense (and in
my earlier e-mail I said they were not what hurts eBay).
If there were 1,000 sellers just like you, eBay would be what it once was!
Bruce
On Sun, Jun 28, 2009 at 8:42 AM, Dave Rosen <hah...@sympatico.ca> wrote:
I'm not going to defend sellers who ask, as you say, "ridiculous"
prices. But I will say that comparing them to Bruce or Heritage may be a bit
apples-and-oranges.
The sellers you refer to (though I don't know specifically who you're
talking about) are retailers who purchase inventory, then offer it for sale.
Thus their return has to cover the cost of the item plus overhead before they
see one penny of profit. Bruce and Heritage are consignment sellers. They have
overhead, certainly, but do not have cash invested directly in the items they
sell.
Thus, when they auction stuff off starting at 99-cents or a dollar
(really $15 in Heritage's case) they are, in a sense, gambling with someone
else's money, the people who consign their posters to them. There's absolutely
nothing wrong with that, that's the nature of the business. That's just the way
consignment works. It means they can start their auctions lower and take the
risk that the lower starting price will attract more bidders.
It works most of the time, but occasionally items do slip under the
radar and sell at prices that are much lower than the average market price.
Bruce and Heritage can afford to take that chance, particularly because they
sell thousands of posters and are popular online "destinations" and have a
client base in the thousands. Most other sellers are much smaller and can't
affordto take that chance.
The other comment I have to make is, if the prices truly are
"ridiculous" then the items will not sell and the prices will come down. That's
market economics, I don't have to explain that to you. So your choice is to buy
somewhere else (if you can find what you want there) and/or wait till the price
comes down.
It's that simple.
Dave
----- Original Message -----
From: Claude Litton
To: MoPo-L@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU
Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 8:55 AM
Subject: [MOPO] ebay poster prices
I have been searching ebay almost daily since 1997. My areas of
search are US originals Pre-1940 through 1960. I collect mainly posters in the
upper price brackets. In the last few years the amount of listings by too many
sellers with ridiculous prices has proliferated to the point where the only
thing certain is that not only don't they sell but more and more are joining
the pack.
The prices are so high that you can't even make a serious offer
because it will be so low that they will either ignore you or send you a snide
retort. My reaction has been to totally ignore these sellers but it has become
a nuisance due to the number joining them. There are some on mopo who do this
but I am not referring to Todd who uses his million dollar posters to get
people to look at his other posters for sale. I am talking about those who
price all their posters at ridiculous prices.
I don't even look at ebay daily any longer but wait for Bruce and
Heritage to offer what I want. (This is a good opening for Bruce to comment.)
I am still trying to understand their motives. Just look at a one sheet of
"Three Sons", a poster sold by Bruce for $56 recently and priced at 10 times
that on ebay. Let's face reality - People who are going to spend $500 and up
on a piece of paper will know their item, will research it and will be careful
about their money. $20 is an impulse purchase. $500 is not. Can anyone
explain these ridiculous sellers' motives?
CJL
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