An observation

Paul Andrews

I should post after a couple of hours of drinks in the sun (how I've waited for summer), but shit, there you go. Not wanting to sledge anyone here or this forum - you are all great people and I respect you all and value the close friendships I have made here. But is it just me or has this forum become the place where people pay through the nose for items?

I have recently purchased a number of items on ebay at much lower prices than people are asking for the same items here. In fact I have joked about buying from ebay and then brining the item here to double my money. Of course I wouldn't - I buy things to use, but on many items I've purchased (t-shirts including old rare ones, posters, vinyl, etc) I've often found far cheaper on the bay. Of course, I bid in a way to try and minimise the price I pay, but it appears the open market values a lot of the items traded here a lot less valuable than the prices asked here by well meaning members.

Is it just me or is this forum becoming a place where items are becoming over valued and we're all in fact contributing to the over valuation of certain items?

deserteddotse

I think you are a good observer after a few drink in the sun...

boyo79

I've got good deals on here and also on ebay. I bought alot of my 2000 boots pretty cheap on ebay, plus there is so other good bargains I've got. Sometimes it works out cheap and sometimes it doesn't

Paul Andrews

boyo79 wrote:

I've got good deals on here and also on ebay. I bought alot of my 2000 boots pretty cheap on ebay, plus there is so other good bargains I've got. Sometimes it works out cheap and sometimes it doesn't

Yes no question, and ultimately if you don't want to pay the price someone asks, then don't, quite simple really. I've received bargains on here too but it appears that a lot of items are listed for far more than anyone would pay in the open market and people are often congratulated for offering 'great prices' when the truth is, you can get said items far cheaper in the capitalist open market flipperville that is ebay - often using buy now rather than bidding software or last second bids.

Like I said, not sledging anyone, just an impassionate observation from my purchasing over the last couple of years.

Is this forum unnaturally driving up the price of items and facilitating flipping - even if it is unintended?

Is this forum facilitating the snapping up of items to then be used as trade bait or flipped - similar to scalping?

djklambake

The price on anything here or on eBay is a reflection of what the market will bear.

Holy grails are gonna go for a huge price tag... So will posters and other items us die hards want/"need"

This forum would dry up quickly if things weren't the way they currently are. The buyers keep the sellers in check for the most part, and the sellers are certainly well aware of what they are allowed to do here...

FrankBauer

I still think for the most part, the forums here give u a deal than eBay. But on the occasion that the price is higher here, it could also be a reflection of trust. With ebay, u never know what you are getting. Think the ratio of flippers to collectors are higher on eBay, so a print may be better taken care of by a fan here than on eBay.

Also recently I noticed a drop in market value in a lot of pj Merch (especially prints) so people selling here may be unaware of the new market value. What something is valued is only the price of what someone will pay. So its inevitable that a few new highs will be set here as well.

PillowPants

i think you're very right paul

although i think part of the reason is "no auctions allowed"

so people price things as high as possible and then figure they can negotiate their way down


although i also think people just aren't smart... the number of people who quote ebeans 6 month average baffles me... 83% of the time that number isn't 50% relevant

they should rename this forum Flipadelphia

AzWicker

Paul Andrews wrote:

I should post after a couple of hours of drinks in the sun (how I've waited for summer), but shit, there you go. Not wanting to sledge anyone here or this forum - you are all great people and I respect you all and value the close friendships I have made here. But is it just me or has this forum become the place where people pay through the nose for items?

but=forget everything I just said, this is what I really mean.

I'd agree on some prices, lol I have to pay $20 to get little postcards, but I realize people don't neccesarily want to part with their stuff so I have to overpay. Also, no one is twisting arms for anyone to have to pay. People don't have to be mad at their money and want to give to other people, we can also collect money instead of PJ gear, but that is not fun...

mookeywrench

Well what people more than likely do on here is go to Ebay's completed listings and see the following sold items:

150
166
210
149
180

Then amazingly they figure the market value of their item to be 210 rather than taking the average price of $170

They then hop on over here and say they will sell their item for $210 bucks or they will cut you a deal and sell it for $190