Nobleprofessor
Super Member
^^
Due respect, disagree. Sellers should be free to ask whatever they wish. It is a free market.
This said, more and more, I skip listing here and go directly to eBay. It is much easier to list, for one thing. Uploading photos here takes much, much longer than it does on eBay. I can typically list at least three things on eBay in the time it takes me to list one thing here, and time, as they say, is money. Once you learn the ins and outs of eBay, which takes awhile, you make significantly more money selling on eBay, even with fees factored in, than you do here. There are a lot more tire kickers here than on eBay--you end up answering a lot more questions from prospective buyers who never pull the trigger. Stuff tends to sell faster on eBay than it does here. I can't speak for other sellers, but when I list here it is because I like the clientele and I think the item in question has appeal to AAAC members.
It takes a lot of time and trouble, not to mention a few bucks, to rummage through thrift stores to find things. There is no reason, in my estimation, that sellers who go through this time and effort should give stuff away. You will always pay less here than you will on eBay, but that doesn't mean that I, or any other seller, should post, say, a mint BB OCBD for $12, leaving the seller less than $5 in "profit," when it will fetch twice that on eBay. Really, when you think about it, the prices here should be higher than on eBay. After all, most sellers start here before moving to eBay, so buyers here are getting first crack. For that, they should pay a premium. That they do not speaks volumes about the, for lack of better word, karma on this website. I say all of this as someone who isn't getting rich or anywhere close. No seller on this site is.
I agree in part and disagree in part. You are right, a seller on here or anywhere else can ask for whatever price they want. AND, if its too high the market will respond -- with silence.
I disagree that things that should be more expensive on here than on ebay. I have sold a number of things on here and I always try to sell them for LESS than I would on ebay for a few different reasons:
1. It's sort of an AAAC member discount
2. If there is something on here I want to buy, I hope it will also be priced than less than ebay
3. Practically speaking, selling on here means saving fees pay pal and ebay. AND not dealing with the hassels of ebay.
I also acknowledge that there are lot of things I want to sell on ebay in order to make the most money. Therefore, I don't list them on here.
For me, this exchange is for those select items for which there is MORE interest here than on ebay. For example, a Norman Hilton suit does not attract much attention on ebay. There are so people who would recognize the name or know it is top quality. In addition, someone buying on here has a completely different impression of something like a Norman Hilton suit.
I will tell you something I wish we were all doing more and that is trading items. I have traded with several members on here and I think everyone has been happy with the trades! I have traded for items I wanted for myself and also traded for items someone else wanted and I sold the items I got on trade.