I am experiencing a significant increase in simultaneous listings lately. Or maybe there hasn’t actually been an increase and I’m just encountering them more often. But I encounter cards listed on both eBay, Mercari, and posted for sale on Instagram. When I show interest in the card, they ask me if I’ll buy it on Instagram instead so they don’t have to pay fees. One person directed me to their Mercari listing instead, where I did end up purchasing it. It’s getting very frustrating. I’m not going to act like I haven’t done plenty of business off eBay to get a better deal over the years, but that used to be sort of an exception to make a lower offer more appealing to the seller. Now a lot more of my offers get rejected with a PM telling me to add them on Instagram. It’s driving me up the wall that there’s so many people treating their eBay listing like advertising for listings on other marketplaces.
Your person probably just lied because it sold for less than they wanted it to. But they probably think the excuse that it was double listed is compelling because lots of people are actually doing that now.
While I’m here I’ll ask about something else on my mind.
I buy 1st Edition Neo cards at the moment to build my sets. I do a lot of negotiating and repeat business and ask for a lot of pictures and info up front, so I end up having a conversation over almost all my transactions. I am accustomed to reaching out to the seller before I put in a formal offer to discuss the card.
I only have 5 Neo cards left and they’re mostly expensive chase cards with strong individual appeal, so many are listed with really high prices from sellers wanting to profit off of their own purchase or try to inflate the perceived value of the card itself. But I’ve also been getting the excuse lately that the card it listed so high because it “brings people to their page.”
I don’t get this. I only sell cards as part of the collecting process (cards come in, cards go out, the persistent Pokémon tide) so I have never had a formal storefront or anything like that. But I straight up do not understand the concept here.
Is the assumption from the seller that someone interested in that card will look at the listing and end up looking at the seller’s other listings instead and make a different purchase? But literally who does this? If I am buying a 1st Edition Shining Mewtwo and have put all the energy in to assessing the condition and print quality of dozens of listings for this specific card, why would I buy a different card at the end? Furthermore, if someone is trying to sell this card for 75% more than its recent sold prices, why would that motivate me to look at their other listings?
The first time someone told me this I didn’t think much of it. But people keep telling me this. I know someone who bought a bunch of League ephemera and put it together in one over-priced auction for the specific intention of “bringing people to their page.” Is this an algorithm thing? Is there some other explanation for this I don’t understand?
I feel like I’m back on Neopets or something with people listing things they don’t intend to sell. If nothing else at least they’re being honest with me.
This definitely happens. A lot of people aren’t only ever looking for one card at a time. I’m a small seller, but I still get people asking me if I have cards that I haven’t listed/“anything else interesting?”.
I personally will look at sellers’ other items, partly to see if anything randomly piques my interest, but also a few other reasons, such as seeing what their prices are like in general.
As for listing above market price: people don’t only list stuff they want to sell immediately. Now more than ever, it can be hard to replace items—particularly if they’re high-end. So people often know that, if they do sell, they may not get another copy. So either they need the money now, or the price has to be exceptional enough to tempt them. They may not really want to sell, but if they get an incredibly offer they might consider taking it.
Keep in mind that a lot of people selling bought these cards when they were not expensive, and are not wealthy enough to be able to spend however many thousands comfortably.
Thanks for the insight. I guess with the value of the cards I buy and my budget I am pretty singularly focused on one card at a time. Even if there are multiple cards I need, I usually only pick up a different card than I intended if the price is really good. I guess I’m just really set in my habits.
As for being reluctant to sell unless the offer is excellent, I suppose that makes sense too. I’ve listed things like that. I have the tendency to assume most people selling their cards actively want to sell them or are cashing in but I suppose there’s lots of collectors who are weighing letting go of something valuable versus the money it could bring in. I guess the current card economy has made me more cynical, but lots of sellers were collectors first.
I find the best thing to do when looking for chase cards like 1st edition shinings is to wait for auctions to come up. Those are typically your best shot at not having to pay 50% more than the last sold or stuff like that.
Ya the excuse to build traffic is bullshit. I wish people would just list cards for what their comfortable selling at. Ebay can even get rid of the best offer button. Tell me the price without the run around please. The double to triple market price listings are quite annoying to buyers. It does not build traffic for other over priced listings. Just pick a price and list it. Simple process made more complicated by greed. The usual question sellers are asking themselves is. What’s the most I can milk out of this card?
I’ve had success with that but as I get closer and closer to finishing my sets I admit I’m also getting more and more impatient. I just want to buy the dang card, you know? Often I actually am willing to pay a premium on a Buy It Now if it means I can get it immediately versus waiting 5-6 days for an auction I might not win. But I’m definitely not willing to pay a 50%-75% premium. No convenience is worth that much!
I’m at 70 holos locked in with 5 left to nab. The end of a long journey is nearing. I’m closer than I’ve ever been but because the cards are so expensive I’m still awfully far away. I have to slow down and be smarter about how I buy these and my old tricks aren’t working as well. I will probably have to move away from DM negotiation and just try my luck at auctions. Bleh.
I list pretty much everything I sell at slightly above market price. For the most part, I have no trouble selling stuff. I have a great feedback score, provide detailed item descriptions/photos, am responsive to questions, and just generally operate honestly and professionally… It seems like people will pay a little more for a guaranteed positive experience. Also, eventually, all the lower priced ones will sell, and mine WILL be the cheapest! Might take a while, but if you don’t need the dough immediately, it’s the way to go.
To be honest, if I list an item and it sells within a day or two, I generally take that as an indication that I priced it too low.
There were also several incidents recently where they knowingly sold resealed MTG product, openboosters even made a vid about his purchase and how he handled the situation:
They´re known for bad business for a long time already but it seems that recently it really accelerated again.
Came here to search if anyone knew someone there directly and found this convo string. Damn. A December auction I had them ship to my PWCC Vault never showed up I came to find out this month. Ironically I had been tracking 5+ weeks of delay for PWCC to even register items I won from their December auction and just freaking carry them over to their vault at the same building address. (No joke they were charging me the usual high fee shipping to do that til I noticed).
My PWCC “Rep” kept telling me it’s nothing to worry about and the Shipped Items I had routed to them as well as their 5-6 week Items sitting next door would all likely be fully curated in the next few weeks Max. By the time that promise failed to deliver I realized I don’t have much to worry over regarding the PWCC auction items I won, but what about the 7 outside purchases I shipped to them for my vault… so far I can only see 5 of the PWCC auctions registered halfway or less in my vault, two items that aren’t even mine, and 3 of the 7 outside shipments nowhere to be found. Two of the tracking numbers at least show delivery w/signature to PWCC, but going back to PRobstein, his auctions rarely show tracking info accurately I’ve noticed, and my remaining $500 purchase from him is MIA. eBay won’t help because it’s far past 30 days, I’ve messaged him countless times on EBay only to get a single response 3 months ago. Emailed and called their corporate contacts a bunch and it’s all crickets from them.
Yesterday PWCC confirmed they’ve got no other pending shipments or items not yet processed for me, and the tracking info from PRobstein still shows as “Waiting for Package” on USPS. Now I need to find another way to find a human there. (sorry for the rant)
@john Ya go ahead and check probstein123 recent feedback on eBay. Persons been very shady. Complaints range from:
Item never arrived
Bad pictures and recieved a damaged card not described as damaged
Same issue except cracked PSA cases
Double listed item’s
Shill bidding their own auctions
If eBay won’t help you open a case thru PayPal directly or thru your bank directly. You will get your money back. And let this be known to all E4 members Probstein123 needs to be black listed!
Yeah I’m definitely up to speed now, unfortunately. I did some digging and ended up reading through the latest PWCC/Probstein card trimming lawsuit. Interestingly enough it seems he got himself out of it by throwing a bunch of money at the plaintiffs, and now he’s in the process of sueing PWCC as well for similar ‘travesties’. It appears he was able to get details of the settlement sealed and even dismissed, as did PWCC. But most recently it notes that the case is not dismissed in entirety because the judge said it’s not in the right jurisdiction and referred it up to the state courts. It’s a lot of jargon so I’m not 100% certain I interpreted it all accurately. But back to robb-ster, I did find several addresses, old and current phone numbers (latest of which is another hot complaint about no one answering), and also some more items I don’t care to share online. If he runs this through the same ‘delay of game til it’s gone’ tactic he apparently has been using elsewhere I will gladly throw another suit at him. Benefits of growing up with lawyers all around.
I mean, it’s their card and they can do what they want with it. It’s unbelievable that we are seriously reaching a point where people think it’s “greedy” to list a card above market value lol. No one is forcing you to buy the card. No one is even forcing you to click on the listing. Just bypass it and move on. Gary has had his massive Charizard collection listed on eBay for ages, and he has even said in the past he really has no intention of actually selling it. I guess he’s committing a sin for listing it, right? I listed some cards during the boom following Logan’s box opening back in the fall. Some of them didn’t sell, and prices have dropped on them, but I still have them listed in my eBay store for the same prices I listed them at back then. Sue me.
The “what’s the most I can milk out of this card” thing is also ridiculous thinking. Why shouldn’t a person get the most they can for the card they’re selling? Like, are you actually serious? The entire point of selling is to make as much money as you possibly can, and if you aren’t doing that, you probably aren’t a very good businessperson. We aren’t talking about essential goods like food and water here. We are talking about pieces of cardboard with cartoon pictures on them. If a person can get more than market value for their card, why shouldn’t they do it? If someone comes along and offers you $50 for a card that typically goes for $25, are you seriously telling me you’re going to say, “No! Absolutely not! I don’t want to be greedy! Have it for $25?” Come on.
It’s funny: people will complain about sellers listing items above market value because they are trying to “milk” the card, but those same people probably have no problem with lowball buyers making offers less than half the market value or sending “what’s the lowest you’ll go” type messages. And it’s funny that you mentioned eBay getting rid of the best offer button, because if they did, sellers would STILL get inundated with “offers” in their messages. But I guess that’s fine, right?
TL;DR: It’s their card. They can do whatever they want with it.
@cerulean I wasn’t talking about any one person. No need to fly off the handle on me. Ill make sure to avoid your listings tho if that’s how you feel no biggie
(sorry for the rant)
