Lost EBay or Lost Dogs?

Paul Andrews wrote:

OK, my 2 cents worth. I've only traded/bought/sold a handful of times here. I have bought a shit load of stuff on ebay. Both places have advantages and disadvantages. I've snapped up some items way cheaper on ebay that people ask here, but by the same measure, there are people who have listed items here (and sometimes had trouble selling) way cheaper than I've paid on ebay. It is a complex market and I think values shoot up and down daily depending on who and how many people are after an item and if you are patient you often strike it lucky. I've often considered building a dedicated trading/selling website to allow some kind of market that has the best of this forum and ebay - but have been consistently too busy the last couple of years to put time into a project like that. But I digress.

I am currently considering selling a number of rare limited items that I picked up in the PJ20 sales and from ebay over the years. The extravagance of having a few thousand dollars worth of unopened or pristine stuff sitting hidden away in a safe cupboard is becoming less cool for me. I bought all the items with the intention of using/framing/watching/listening etc to them. However, as some went through the roof with 'resale value' it seriously made me think, is this worth opening, marking - devaluing? I can only frame so many posters, I am starting to see my dream of a music room with a turntable and display cabinets of memorabilia probably is not going to happen. I can see that the other items I have that are cool to own, are just taking up space I need and their value could pay off my credit card.

Funny how it is an emotional and ethical minefield to sell these items - but also case of how much of a capitalist do I really want to be? I see what people are paying for these items on here and ebay. Am I comfortable to ask the current 'maximum value' of these items on the forum? No! Am I comfortable to let these items go for less than the price I could achieve? No! But, I (and all people) have real and valid uses for the money and never intended to be in a position of speculating or 'investing' but between having extra $$$ to spend on my family or pay off debt versus giving someone a sweet deal here, I'd be a fool to neglect my family. In this case an auction finds the true market value of what someone is prepared to pay without me having to put a pie in the sky price here and then either cop flack for making it too high, or be called as a great guy (but kicking myself) for letting it go cheap. However, there are plenty of people here desperate for particular items and will pay far more than ebay prices to secure a much wanted item. Is it right or wrong to take advantage of obsessive collectors who will pay a premium to secure their holly grail?

An example in point. My PJ20 Billboard. It was bought with the intention of being framed and mounted in my home office (I work from home). However, I went the other way and framed three other posters and the PJ20 will just not work in here and there is no way my wife will be happy with it anywhere else in the house. So, right now it is stilling, stored away in a dark safe place being wasted when there are loads of people here (and on ebay) searching for this poster. I now know deep down, I will never frame it, it is destined for a life of storage. My quandary is that it should go to someone who really wants it and would frame it and treasure it more than I am right now - and there are at least 3 or 4 people who have asked me to let them know if I ever decide to sell - but because I don't have to sell it, and deep down really don't want to, there is no way I'd let it go for anything less than the absolute maximum the market will pay - but I don't want to take advantage of friends. This is where ebay then is good because there is no relationship between buyer and seller and the price is what the market set. Forum rules prohibit me from listing it and saying.. 'make an offer' to see where the market lies for this items. I understand why and support the forum rules, but it just makes it difficult to settle on a fair price that makes everyone happy. Lets face it, the actual profit margin we all make on some items is incredible - but this is balanced off by the number of times I've probably paid through the nose for items on the after market myself.

I'd be quite happy to see 'silent auction' or 'sale by tender' here, where member lists the item and final bidding time and then the tenders/bids take place via PM. Seller selects winning tender, publishes the winner and price and sale closes.

When I put a list up of what I'm prepared to sell, the numbers attached to each item make me giddy and I end up deleting and not listing - this is my quandary.

Paul Andrews wrote:

At this stage of my life, using the MP3 music on my devices is the most likely medium I use to listen to music. Actually having the time to sit down with a record on a turntable (and also the ability to listen at that volume level without disturbing the rest of the house) is nearly impossible. And yes, I love vinyl, still remember the joys of opening a Kiss or AC/DC or Angels album in the 70 and 80s. Just got to face the facts, unless I win lotto, there is almost zero chance of these babies ever being played.

Paul Andrews wrote:

Yeah but if I were to win 40 million, I don't think repurchasing these albums would be a problem. In fact, I'd fly to wherever they were to pick them up personally. I'm a total travel whore, so that would just give me an excuse.

81 wrote:

i am of the opion that if you don't like the price of something, don't purchase it....either somebody else will, or the prices will fall.