THIS is Iowa? (ebay sellers) • Collecting General

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THIS is Iowa? (ebay sellers)
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Thork N Hammer
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:56 pm

I love that line in the movie, Field of Dreams...

"Is this Heaven?"

"No. It's, Iowa."

So, I cruise eBay all the time. Like most of the members. And I am wondering if there is some disconnect between sellers, and their customers.

Sure sure, I understand, we would all like to make a little $$$ selling stuff we don't want on eBay. But, how greedy have we become, when we willingly set high prices for things we know to be inferior prints/copies, just because we know the market is shrinking, and folks will scramble to pay just about anything for even a piece of crap?!

What ever happened to an honest day's pay for an honest day's work?

Have I lived too long?
Or, is this really Iowa?

"Here's to swimmin with bowl-legged wimin"

Pipswich
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 6:35 pm

"just because we know the market is shrinking, and folks will scramble to pay just about anything for even a piece of crap?! "

All you really said is you either don't like inflation or you don't understand businesses earn profits by exploiting their knowledge of demand.

Ok.

Were you proposing a Socialist Succession Convention in Iowa?

just saying...

Pipswich Peddles (and trades) for his collection!
http://stores.ebay.com/Pipswich-Peddles

Thork N Hammer
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 8:33 pm

Pipswich wrote:"just because we know the market is shrinking, and folks will scramble to pay just about anything for even a piece of crap?! "

All you really said is you either don't like inflation or you don't understand businesses earn profits by exploiting their knowledge of demand.

Ok.

Were you proposing a Socialist Succession Convention in Iowa?

just saying...

Is that what I really said? or Just how you're reading it?
So all you really said is you either don't know me for the capitalist I am, or you don't understand the lesson from "The Lorax"
:lol:

Let's keep it light, okay? No more jabs.

"Here's to swimmin with bowl-legged wimin"

TheHistorian
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:47 am

No jab... but I'm not sure what you're saying.

Are you saying that you are seeing people price items higher than you'd expect? That's not new. The important question is if they're regularly selling at that price. Because if they are, then it's not, by definition, high.

Areas of interest/knowledge: Harn, WFRP, Ars Magica, anything BRP based such as CoC, Runequest, Pendragon and all their related games

FormCritic
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 2:26 am

I have to say that I don't really understand the lesson from The Lorax.

I thought all along that the narrator of the story...the pair of hands up in the treehouse...was the Lorax.

Turns out the Lorax speaks for the trees.

Of course, I was eight.

Wait - what was my point?

"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

Invincible Overlord
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:26 am

Thork N Hammer, Esquire wrote:I love that line in the movie, Field of Dreams...

"Is this Heaven?"

"No. It's, Iowa."

So, I cruise eBay all the time. Like most of the members. And I am wondering if there is some disconnect between sellers, and their customers.

Sure sure, I understand, we would all like to make a little $$$ selling stuff we don't want on eBay. But, how greedy have we become, when we willingly set high prices for things we know to be inferior prints/copies, just because we know the market is shrinking, and folks will scramble to pay just about anything for even a piece of crap?!

What ever happened to an honest day's pay for an honest day's work?

Have I lived too long?
Or, is this really Iowa?

It is not uncommon for someone to "not really want to sell something", but if they get X amount of dollars for it they would part with it.

We are all whores in that aspect... some just charge more than others... :wink:

RPGâ€™s, D&D in particular has had a major influence in my life. Itâ€™s bonded me together with life long friends...itâ€™s that bond in life not just as friends, but in our jokes, our mannerisms, and what we find funny. Invincible Overlord

sauromatian
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:32 am

FormCritic wrote:I have to say that I don't really understand the lesson from The Lorax.

Autism can have that effect, an inability to understand how one's own life connects to the rest of the world. Oops did I say autism? I meant conservative politics.

MetaSigma
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 9:55 am

sauromatian wrote:
Autism can have that effect, an inability to understand how one's own life connects to the rest of the world. Oops did I say autism? I meant conservative politics.

Is there a difference? :wink:

Invincible Overlord wrote:It is not uncommon for someone to "not really want to sell something", but if they get X amount of dollars for it they would part with it.

We are all whores in that aspect... some just charge more than others...

I've done this a few times with things I'm toying with selling but am not sure I'm ready to part with. I put a BiN on such an item 2- to 3x what I think it's worth; it's what Mike on American Pickers calls the "crazy price"

. Most of the time the thing goes unsold, but a couple of times I've had a bite and been happily surprised--having received a multiple of the "real" value, I can always buy another one later and still have made some money, if I get seller's remorse...

Ithaca Dragon
-==(UDIC)==-

TollHouseGolem
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 12:52 pm

Great line from a great movie, Thork.

I see this a lot in the miniatures side of things - people list stuff (like Ral Partha AD&D 11-series) for for crazy high BIN or starting prices all the time. The same minis on open auctions that start under $5 typically sell for a fraction of the crazy high prices.

I'm sure some sellers find people will pay their crazy high prices from time to time - enough to make it worth their while, I'm guessing. If they can get people to pay at those prices, more power to them, I say!

Me? I just skip the crazy high priced items and keep searching for the deals. But I know what you mean. I guess some sellers have taken Gordon Gekko to heart: "The point is ladies and gentlemen that greed, for lack of a better word, is good."

"We dwarves are natural sprinters. Very dangerous over short distances!"
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Also known as soccer_dad66 on eBay.

Pipswich
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Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2012 8:55 pm

Sorry for the jab.

I don't want to pay more than I have to either.

Many of us here both buy and occasionally sell at the "crazy price"

And, with nary a Lorax or socialist from Iowa in sight!
(both keep slipping the crosshairs!)

Pipswich Peddles (and trades) for his collection!
http://stores.ebay.com/Pipswich-Peddles

MetaSigma
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 8:45 am

IMO, the moral of the Lorax has more to do with accepting responsibility for economic and environmental externalities than it does with socialism. I.e., it's common sense and common decency, not politics. This is something that was not at all controversial among conservatives (or at least Republicans) a few decades ago. Nixon created the EPA, after all.

On the other hand, I don't get the OP. If you don't like the price, don't buy the item. There are plenty of sellers out there that, for whatever reason, try to sell at exorbitant prices. If you have patience, you can still find deals (e.g., I bought a Permanent Character Folder and Adventure Records in mint condition a few weeks back on eBay, for a $3.50 BiN!). Sure there's probably a trend as time goes on for the items we're interested in to go up in price, but that's just the nature of the beast (increasing rarity, esp. in condition).

Ithaca Dragon
-==(UDIC)==-

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