I sold a PSA 9 1st edition base Zapdos earlier in August 2017 on eBay to a guy. All good.
So I’m browsing eBay today searching for cards and I see another one with a best offer, priced for £100 more than I sold it for. So I click on the listing and it was the one that I sold by the guy who bought it from me. Not sure what he’s hoping to make out of it.
My first reaction was how disappointing. As when I sell a graded card I hope it is for ones collection for them to treasure and keep for a long time. Not to flip it after 2 months for a few pounds more. I won’t bother asking him why as there’s no point.
I would understand if he just needs some quick money back, then again why buy it in the first place if you can’t afford it 2 months later. But any other reason I don’t get it.
I know the Pokémon market goes up and down and there is opportunity to make some money off finding raw cards and grading them which I’m sure everyone on here does or has done. Flipping graded cards though, I’m not sure what to make of it unless its a Charizard etc that went up drastically overnight.
It’s fine for you to be disappointed, but also realise that once you sell the card to someone else you give up all possession of the card and any say in what the new owner does or intends to do with it.
They are allowed to flip it, no matter your personal feelings on that act. That person may also have just had a major unpredictable bill of expenditure come in and they need to sell their investments to pay them off. The point is that you have no idea why the person is selling it, and have no right to know.
Don’t ever sell to that person again if you don’t like what they have done.
In my opinion, you sold it and got the money in exchange for your card and now the card belongs to him. He can do whatever he likes with it, just like you can do whatever you like with your money. Just like he may not approve with what you decide to do with your money, but who’s he to judge now right? If he wants to try and flip it for money so be it. Or like you said yourself, maybe he needs to money back. 2 months is a long time where someones financial situation can drastically change. Or maybe he just doesn’t want the card anymore. I think you may just be looking too much into this or you’re just wishing you held onto the card now instead. At the point of transaction, you both got what you wanted.
Even if he did buy it specifically to flip, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. You wanted to sell it, you got the price you wanted for it, that’s great Maybe the next time it sells it will go to someone else who will treasure it, you’ve just helped it on it’s way.
I literally just bought a card where I missed the original listing and the guy flipped it instantly and slapped the price up by 150$ more at least… I’m just glad he accepted my offer at $75 above what he payed since I really wanted the card… It’s sad for pure collectors honestly to see such things… but that’s how selling on eBay goes.
I guess looking through the buy listings here and on other places might help you feel better if its going to a collector that will give it that forever home.
Good points all of you. I don’t care what he does though I’m just saying in an idyllic world I/you would want someone to appreciate the card and collecting Pokémon in general. Or if they don’t then flip it a few years down the line for even more money.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I’d argue it is a good thing. There is quantity demanded at certain prices. At lower prices, you’ll sell quicker but realize less profit. At higher prices, you’ll sell slower but realize more profit. A flipper can only accomplish profit by buying from people more urgent to sell and having less urgency to sell at a profit. Or monetizing on a seller who is ignorant of the market value of his card.
I’d argue flippers provide valuable services to our hobby as they can take risks by buying lots of cards and sorting out the most valuable cards to resell at a greater. Flipper’s profit in this case are providing a service to sort through cards for those who don’t have time. There is also a lot of risk involved considering the chance of a card not selling as easily as expected, and being able to overcome eBay fees+shipping costs.
If a flipper resells a card at a profit based on the ignorance of the original seller, who can blame him? He’s simply taking advantage of a market value when another person didn’t.
It begs one to ask—In a 19 year-old hobby when cards were in the first instance manufactured by printers, sold to wholesalers, distributed to retailers and enjoyed by the public, aren’t we all flippers in some way? Flipping is nothing more than voluntary exchange, which is always beneficial to its participants.
Think it’s ok tho. For example I bought an unlimited blastoise and now I have a first ed one, so I’m selling the unlimited one. He might have gotten a psa 10 one.
Maybe he needs money badly, maybe he got a 10, or a stronger 9. But even if he did it purely to flip for more, there isn’t anything wrong with that in the least bit if he obtained it fairly.
£100 really isn’t a significant margin, hell if the card is near £1k then he loses after all the fees - I’m guessing the dude just needs the money (or he’s a really bad flipper…)
I know what you mean. I rarely ever sell anything, but when I do, I usually want it to go to someone who actually wants the card because they like it or they’ve been searching for it. For instance, usually if I sell something I want to give someone a good price, so I might ask for just under what the market is asking. But I wouldn’t want to give them a good deal if I know they are just making money off of my generosity.
Milhouse brings up a lot of great points though. Once you sell it and get what you want for it, it’s out of your hands. And you really don’t know what their motivations for selling could be.
Unless you’re fine with him dictating what you get to spend the money from the sale on, i don’t see why you’d think you have a right to dictate how long needs to pass before he can sell the card, or for how much more than the original price he can ask.
It is very possible that this is my listing that your are talking about as the dates seem about right.
Regardless my input might put your mind at ease. I bought the Zapdos a few months ago as I had (unwillingly) accepted that a PSA 10 holo set was out of my reach so I had picked up a number of 9s on eBay and Instagram. However I have recently decided to focus the majority of my money and effort on collecting Scyther, Scizor, Jungle Error and Leafeon cards and I find I am getting a lot more from the hobby as I am collecting the individual cards and artworks instead of ticking off numbers in a set list. For me this is much more enjoyable (each to their own).
If you receive a fair price for a card then I think it is better to be happy about that, regardless of what happens to the card going forward. Another way of looking at it would be; would you sell a card for less if you knew it would not be relisted?
While I do think they are an important part of the hobby, I would not consider myself a flipper. If the cards I am after grade a 9 or lower, or I have multiple 10s, then they go on eBay - otherwise they go in a wallet and on the shelf.
It is also worth noting with instances like this that, although it is not the case here, mid-tier collectors may need to rely on selling certain parts of their collection if times are hard. In my opinion it is a little harsh to question why someone would buy something a few months ago if they couldn’t afford it.
Maybe the next time it sells it will go to someone else who will treasure it, you’ve just helped it on it’s way.
