@hyruleguardian, Buy threads are a catch 22. If they are crazy off, its an inconvenience to read, and if you have relevant knowledge, its always a risk commenting. I personally try to avoid most threads, even when I have the cards.
As for private offers, I get that, but its difficult as most of these items will naturally transact privately.
So just leave the individual in the dark? Read the thread people are making comments about how wonderful the offers are. If I didn’t know better I might think the only reason they didn’t get the cards they’re looking for is they didn’t find someone selling. The truth is these offers don’t excite the few that have these cards.
The real irony is, I’m the only one commenting on this thread that has a card the op is looking for, and willing to sell it. 30k and 40k for kangaskhan, and ‘98 doesn’t excite me.
In my buy thread I’m offering under the market value for a PSA 10 1st Edition Neo Genesis Pichu simply because I don’t think they’re worth the current going rate. That is to say, I am not willing to pay the current going rate but I’m hopeful that someone who has one may want to sell it to me - I realise of course that this is an unlikely occurrence.
If someone left a comment on my thread about me offering too low for that card, all it’s going to do is push away any potential sellers who may also read that comment and result in me likely reporting the comment so it can be removed if I disagree with them. I completely understand why cullers left the post, but it’s something which I feel would have been much better suited in a private message.
These buy threads are the ownership of the person who made them, and naturally over time if they haven’t acquired a card for the price they originally listed their prices will go up. I alter my buy thread when I feel like I’m now offering too low, as do many others here. I don’t think threads here should be seen as an inconvenience to other people if they are offering lower than you’d like.
Here we are, buyer perspective and seller perspective. I’m in the seller perspective pushing the price up, people complaining are in the buyer perspective trying to keep the prices lower. I don’t think either of us are wrong, and I appreciate that you can understand my perspective as well PichuFan.
I’m tired of walking on egg shells, I’ve been holding back my character too much to try and appease people and it’s gotten nowhere.
Ultimately, it’s not that the offers are private, it’s that the private offers are higher than people are expecting. It’s not that I’m being rude saying that 30k is too low, it’s that people are holding out hope that they can get the cards for cheaper. It’s not that I need to keep my mouth shut, it’s that I’m saying isn’t what people want to hear.
If it’s not true, ask yourself if you’re helping the OP get the cards they want or not. If the answer is no, you’re wasting everyones time.
Which is why this section is a catch 22. I personally don’t mind people making a low open offer, but there is some context that is lacking:
This site isn’t a marketplace. The buy section exists entirely as a privilege. People have immediate direct access to the highest end of the hobby, for free. The buy section is by far the most work for the mods, and most likely to be nuked or heavily modded in the future. We used to have a sales section ages ago, and it was constant spam/too much work. Since the site is non-profit/no one is paid for their time, it is inherently an inconvenience for mods to babysit the section, and unreasonable that they or members should have infinite patience with a section that exists as a perk.
With that said, the average user can peruse at their leisure, and chose which thread to read. But it is inherently inconvenient to read a thread with a 25% under market on popular/liquid items, on a forum that isn’t a marketplace.
But again, I personally don’t mind much, just explaining the inherent reality/context of the buy section.
@cullers I don’t see anything wrong with you, as an owner of the cards and potentially willing to sell, coming into the thread and saying the offer isn’t what you’re looking for. In fact, I think that’s very useful for OP.
The only thing I’m taking issue with here specifically is the idea of referring to private offers in these threads as a way to drive up the price, especially when no proof is offered (yes I understand it may not be ethical to produce proof of a *private* offer, but that’s the point). Don’t get me wrong, I would never question you and Scott because you are both highly credible. I have no doubt that you have received the private offers you’re referring to. But as a general rule of thumb, I think it’s a bad practice to come into a buying thread and mentioning all the better private offers you’ve received without offering proof. And since these buying threads can get controversial, I think it’s important to have consistent rules in place (I understand that the rule currently in place is the opposite of the one I’m suggesting).
For what it’s worth, I own 2 of the cards mentioned in the OP and although I’m not *actively* looking to sell, I do have a price. I am also interested in buying some of the cards in the OP so I am on both ends of it.
Fine, ignore the private offer comment.
All that matters is everyone who owns these cards aren’t biting at the prices listed, yourself included.
We aren’t adding a rule for no private offers.
If people don’t like private offers, great, buy a cheaper option.
Ultimately cullers is right; the people who actually have the cards aren’t selling at these prices.
The best way to avoid all this needless noise is just for the owners to counteroffer what they will accept.
@cullers I can only speak for myself, but for me personally it’s not that the private offers are higher than I want them to be. I have no aspirations to own these cards and know they are likely forever out of my reach. Its that they are higher than I have ever seen and I am genuinely ignorant of what the real values of these cards are.
I’ve got no inside connections to hear any private offers and all I see is what is discussed here and what transacts on Ebay. These to me are as I said the highest priced ever offered for these cards, but getting more information is always welcomed.
As with the illustrator auction recently I am just interested in these for my own curiosity and informational purposes. I wish more of the private would move public and just have generally more accessible information on a lot of this stuff. The buy thread on it’s own provides a snapshot in time of a ballpark of where we are at. I love looking back through early pages of this forum and pokegym for similar historical offers, similar mentions of private deals and what they were going for etc. and like to think people wont be discouraged from creating more in the future.
Half the reason it stays private is because of the mess this thread has become. There was plenty of opportunity for this to be a public transaction, but not anymore.
@smpratte , Fair enough! It was just a suggestion on my part. I’ve been heard, and I have no interest in making this suggestion again in the future. I get the position that you and @cullers are coming from even if I have a slightly different perspective.
And it goes without saying, this forum is a godsend for high-end collectors and I appreciate everything you and the other people who run this forum do. I don’t want to take any part in seeming like I’m complaining without making it clear how much I appreciate efour.
Sorry for playing a part in you missing your package drop time. 
Op hasn’t mentioned if the trophy cards he wants are graded, so would that not be a good offer ungraded ?
@smpratte dang that’s got some youtube markup on it the other on ebay is only 100k.
Tbh it’s become a joke, people run in with their pitchforks when someone doesn’t put a price up right away… and gets criticized when he does… last year I put up a post for a play umbreon psa 10 for 7k USD, I found one within hours… Let buyers play a little as well, I get this hobby is purely only investments for some of you guys and you dont care about the actual collecting side of it but grow up…
Which person in this thread isn’t a collector?
Haha the offer option will accept 100k 
Would a better solution be to private message the person letting them know you have the cards they’re after but at this price and going from there?
Or simply not post and let the op get no sellers which would result in him upping his offers.
I’ve bought and sold many cards using the 2 methods above and they’re much more efficient and don’t give the appearance of derailing a thread.
