Have you ever noticed the crazy listings on Ebay. For example I found a Luke Skywalker (1978) in HORRIBLE condition. The seller wanted a starting bid of $40 (US). $40? Is all that Yellowing actually Gold?
What a piece of Junk. I wouldn’t even pay point five past $8.99 for this. Now, to be fair, I have seen worse but for far less. This is the kind of thing you find in a rummage bin when every item is less than a dollar. Would I be tickled if I found this for less than a dollar? Of course! Just ask my wife about my happy dance when I find vintage figures, in any condition, from situations such as a junk pile or box of random nothingness. She’ll tell you, and may even have secret video on her phone to blackmail me with later. Hey, my inner child merges with my outer geek, and I gotta dance!
I digress…
This is a seller that does NOT do market research. They can’t take a moment to look up their item and see what others are selling their similar condition listings for. Are they lazy? Are they just ignorant of how to use Ebay? I have a few theories.
1. Ignorance: This one is simple. Being ignorant isn’t a negative. Ignorance only means that they just don’t know any better. Not understanding what you have to sell isn’t a crime, but it’s not the best practice for capitalizing on what it is, or isn’t worth. They see one listing for something that is sort-of like their item then they will run with that price point, regardless of condition. (Remember, anybody can ask any price for anything. Just because you see a price being asked, that doesn’t always mean your item is worth that price.)
Outcome: The item probably won’t sell.
2. Laziness: They can’t be bothered with researching market values of their toy or collectible. This type of seller chooses to be Ignorant, and that is a very negative thing.
Outcome: The item probably won’t sell.
3. Emotionally Attached: This seller either doesn’t really want to sell their item or they are on the fence about letting it go, so they place a higher value on it. It could also be that it is a figure, or whatnot, that they really wanted as a child and never had so it is more difficult to part with. Heck, I’ve been known to do that. Sometimes we must part with certain things because other things like rent and eating are more important, at the time, so I come up with a price that I am willing to part with my treasured piece and then I’ll post it. I’ve always placed a responsible price on my listings and I don’t get too crazy about it, therefore they actually do sell.
4. It’s (Insert Product Line Name Here): How many times have you come across something that is a total piece of shit or the company produced one billion more than they could sell, and the seller charges a high price because it is Star Wars? Honestly most of these items don’t even interest me, what does interest me are the people who think that just because a property is popular then everything with that property’s name on it is valuable. Annoying seller, wake up and learn about your item before you embarrass us both.
Outcome: The item won’t sell and the seller looks like fool.
5. It’s Old: I don’t know how many times I’ve run into to this type of seller. Just because something is “old” doesn’t automatically mean that it has value. This seller will use words like “Antique” or “Vintage“. Adding those words to anything raises the price in their delusional minds. There was this cat a few weeks ago at a local flea market, here in Southern Oregon, and he had to comic books from the 1970’s laying out. Now these have seen better days, and they weren’t in any type of protection, plus they had some other heavy item on them to keep them from blowing away. I asked “How much?“, he said “I dunno, make me an offer.” So I thought for a second and being fair I said $1. “No way! THOSE are real deal!“, he said. I told him they were only fit for collages and other crafts, then walked off. Oh, and speaking of the word “Vintage“… I don’t really consider anything under 20 years to be vintage. Something from 2006: not vintage, 1999: not vintage, 2011: NOT vintage.
Outcome: The item won’t sell and the seller looks like fool.
6. Waiting for the proverbial Sucker: I try not to read into other people’s motivations but… You’ve seen a ton of these shady darksiders, I am sure. They charge insane prices. Why? It could be due to any combination of the aforementioned theories but I think it is more like they are waiting for that “Sucker Born Every Minute”. I’ve viewed so many listings like this over the years that I have become numb to them. They elicit zero emotional response from me any more. I have only so many fucks to give in a day and they don’t merit any of them. Avoid these irresponsible sellers. Laugh at them and move on. One day we may even be able to block certain sellers from our treasure hunt searches on Ebay… one day.
Outcome: The item won’t sell to any of your target collectors so hope for that Grandma buying a ‘RARE” Jar Jar for her Granddaughter’s 5th birthday.
Now none of these even take into account Shipping and Handling charges. Don’t get me started on sellers who charge $20 for shipping something that is light enough to be shipped First Class (13 oz and under, at the high end charge of under $5 for an item that goes from coast to coast). Those sellers are trying to buck the system, rip collectors off and should be reported (which I do report them when I run across them).
Well that is all I have, unless you want to read my RANT on people who use the word “RARE” and don’t know what that word actually means. To me “Rare” is defined as – when I run search on Ebay or Etsy, I’ll find maybe one or two of the subject that I am looking for… NOT 10 pages of listings. If you have stuck with me and my horrible writing style this far then you know ALL about that. Then there are the Flea Market and Garage Sale sellers who, more often than not, say “Well, on THE EBAY it costs…“. I drift off that point and my parting jab is “Well, sell it on Ebay then.” This has almost become my default replacement for “Thanks” as I walk away. Perhaps I’ll get into detail about that another time.
I was thinking about making a YouTube video to share my thoughts with whomever would listen. I envisioned it in the vein of a RetroBlasting style video, full of great imagery and sardonic wit. Alas, I am not comfortable with making public videos since I am too self critical. That and I couldn’t match their production value by a long shot.
Thanks for reading (putting up with me) and may your toy & collectible hunting always be successful!
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