So I have been more active on Discord (CheCortez) than e4 forum but I wanted to get a wider perspective.
First, I am newer to collecting and while I’m using this time to get know knowledge of the hobby first, regarding how and why items are at certain price points, ungraded card to graded (calculating the risk) and mislabelled conditions on ebay etc.
I mentioned that I was after a few cards and that I had seen TCA_gaming (sorry to mention you by name) had a few that I was after and discord said I should contact him directly regarding what I am after.
How do sellers feel about getting contacted off the ebay platform?
Should I look to list what I am after in the Buy/Trade first?
Where should I contact, discord, e4, ebay ( but cant mention going off site because ToS)?
Purchasing off ebay has a 10% saving, so there is that. But the only reason I was initially looking to go off site was because a lot of sellers don’t post to Australia, or used GPS, which is only worth it for multiple purchases, even then…
I haven’t even begun to look at IG as a platform for buying/selling.
One concern I had was burning bridges if I offered something offensive.
Obviously it’s a bad idea to try to circumvent Ebay through Ebay just to save 7% in fees. That said, if a known seller on ebay is also a known collector/member of E4; it makes total sense to message them asking if they’d sell you via G&S or using a middle man or whatever else.
Yeh I agree of course, I think the protection the buyer has on ebay for larger items it worth the trade off. Unless you know you can trust them.
For Reference this started cause I was looking a purchasing multiple neo gen starter mon cards ( mutliples of each in an attempt to grade), and wanted to see if they had any they hadn’t listed. Rather than going through multiple eBay stores incurring more shipping costs and some not shipping.
I made an instagram and put the link in my ebay bio as well as my efour profile. If someone wants to contact me outside ebay or vice versa I tell them to check out my ebay bio. Most people catch on pretty quickly.
Most sellers including myself are okay with being contacted outside of the official sites we are selling. As mentioned, it will introduce additional risk for the buyer, but if they’re a known and trusted seller, it makes sense for both to make a deal outside of certain platforms.
Just remember some of the sellers do this for a living; Don’t waste their time. This actually goes for casual sellers as well, but professional sellers can prioritize other customers or flat out refuse to deal with you if you don’t have your act together.
Be clear (what is it you want, did you come across a certain listing of the seller (->include a link), state your offer
Be polite (don’t demand something, ask nicely)
Bonus points for proofreading your message at least once and correcting the mistakes.
And finally a tip from your example, Rusty himself:
What the op can do is start a buy thread here on e4 using the three parameters stated above. I’d only add that e4 members are all experts so you won’t run into newbie problems like you would on eBay, ig, fb, et all…so offer market or more for quick collection building.
IF you want to work a deal off ebay - dont start that conversation through ebay messages. I pretty much have to shut down that conversation anytime it happens to protect myself as a seller. Ebay takes their money seriously.
I almost always check IG or efour if I see a card I want on eBay. A lot of sellers will accept the 10% discount through here or IG as long as you ask politely but definitely do not message them on eBay.
eBay message: “Hey I see you are selling your item with GSP. I don’t like that. Instead I’ll pay 10% (often times more) under your list price via PP G&S since you can save the fees and you can also mark it down to $5 for customs.”
Doing this, you simultaneously say that you want all the savings for yourself, you want the seller to commit tax fraud, and you risk their eBay seller account just by sending the message. I get something along these lines nearly monthly.
The respectable way is to contact them through other means. If you have no other means to contact someone then just contact them through eBay about completing a sale on that platform. Do NOT ask for other means of contact through eBay. Either find it elsewhere, or pay the 5-10% premium to learn their name and e-mail address and then contact them in the future after starting business where you found them. It’s only reasonable to do so.
Thanks for the replies, @thecharizardauthorty, @fritz and @chrisbalestra. Good suggestions everywhere. Also I’ll check out any stores you have linked in the bio and save them on the ebay list in case I see anything
@gottaketchumall, Thanks. Yes that is definitely a bad way to approach someone! I tend to just look elsewhere on ebay if I can find someone who does cheaper shipping since some items are common enough.
@pokecollectoramy, How many deals do you think you’ve done on IG/efour compared to ebay?
@garyis2000, I plan to, however, I am probably about 2 months out from buying any big ticket items so I will wait before I post my buy post.
I’ve got a better understanding of what I asked, Cheers.
