The rising BIN prices upon negotiation, is it becoming a pandemic?

[Kguillemette | 1,606]

I tend to list items at market price with Best Offer in place. Whether I accept best offers is dependent on how motivated to actually sell something I am. Usually I'm looking to fundraise a specific dollar amount, and if taking a few bucks off a sale price here and there will get me to that number quicker, I might do it. That being said, I find myself overwhelmed much of the time with offers lower than what local game stores and pawn shops are willing to give me, so I always auto deny offers less than 80% of sale price.

[portabello | 104]

I think some EBay sellers don’t realize they have OBO selected when they post an item. It automatically checks the box by default to sell better. I’ve also run into a handful of sellers like the OP describes where they basically want to “negotiate” $3-$5 off. I just decline and move on if the deal isn’t right for me. 

[GPX | 1,403]

On 7/22/2024 at 1:39 AM, RH said:

What are you buying? As in for what era/systems and what condition.

Sometimes the behavior is isolated to groups. Maybe it is NES carts, but if, say, you at working on Jag games, maybe a group of people are getting high on their own supply and they’ve created a mini-culture of this behavior. (Note, the Jaguar was a random selection of a system, but it makes the point. Regardless, maybe they are all awesome people. )

The trend I’m seeing at the moment is for near-mint to sealed stuff that’s prior to 2005 or so. A couple of the sellers specifically stating they think they could get a lot more if sending them off for grading. So I think there is some link to the previous WATA craze with games going by the thousands of dollars, that’s filtering through to the mindset of these sellers. Granted, I acknowledge that these sellers have reasonably rare items, but it’s more their selling mindset that’s the issue here. 

The common theme is that their BIN price is set at a reasonable above-market value (relative to sold listings). With the ONO function, I would give something between 70-80% offer. Then boom! A new rising BIN price without a hint of a negotiation mindset.

[GPX | 1,403]

On 7/22/2024 at 2:17 AM, 3rdStrongestMole said:

Trying to get into the heads of these idiots is nearly impossible,  but my guess:

They are afraid to sell for anything less than the highest value of the item. They think that if you're willing to accept $$ (their BIN or a little cheaper) they are probably undervaluing their own item because "why would someone want it otherwise!?"

Hence the price hike, then wait for more attention from potential buyers.

This seems excruciatingly tedious, but they are most likely so egotistical, they can't fathom someone else "getting a deal" off them. Even if it's like, $3.50.

This is exactly the type of selling practice I’m talking about on this topic. I’m buying stuff from Australia, and I want to know if this is happening more globally hence the “pandemic” reference in the title.

[GPX | 1,403]

On 7/22/2024 at 4:51 AM, Kguillemette said:

I tend to list items at market price with Best Offer in place. Whether I accept best offers is dependent on how motivated to actually sell something I am. Usually I'm looking to fundraise a specific dollar amount, and if taking a few bucks off a sale price here and there will get me to that number quicker, I might do it. That being said, I find myself overwhelmed much of the time with offers lower than what local game stores and pawn shops are willing to give me, so I always auto deny offers less than 80% of sale price.

This is likely the common selling practice for most, with the aim being to sell. The ones I’m talking about in this thread are seemingly selling for the power trip. I don’t care if they reject my initial offer, I won’t even care if they do decide to raise the BIN price. But it’s the instant raising of the BIN price upon an offer that’s the grating experience for me.

[3rdStrongestMole | 442]

1 hour ago, GPX said:

This is exactly the type of selling practice I’m talking about on this topic. I’m buying stuff from Australia, and I want to know if this is happening more globally hence the “pandemic” reference in the title.

I haven't had it happen, but I do mostly purchase from auction. The few times I've made offers on stuff, I get decent response (like the classic back and forth: $60... $40... $55... $52... sold)

[LeatherRebel5150 | 1,093]

13 hours ago, GPX said:

The trend I’m seeing at the moment is for near-mint to sealed stuff that’s prior to 2005 or so. A couple of the sellers specifically stating they think they could get a lot more if sending them off for grading. So I think there is some link to the previous WATA craze with games going by the thousands of dollars, that’s filtering through to the mindset of these sellers. Granted, I acknowledge that these sellers have reasonably rare items, but it’s more their selling mindset that’s the issue here. 

The common theme is that their BIN price is set at a reasonable above-market value (relative to sold listings). With the ONO function, I would give something between 70-80% offer. Then boom! A new rising BIN price without a hint of a negotiation mindset.

Alright, I have to ask because it’s driving me nuts. I’ve never heard/seen it called ONO anywhere else before. Is that what they call it in Australia?

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,042]

14 hours ago, GPX said:

The trend I’m seeing at the moment is for near-mint to sealed stuff that’s prior to 2005 or so. A couple of the sellers specifically stating they think they could get a lot more if sending them off for grading

That's gotta be why. Sealed and dead mint carry a premium more than ever. With the rise of grading, everyone thinks they're raw games are 9 and over. 

[DarkKobold | 228]

On 7/21/2024 at 3:52 AM, jonebone said:

That's not the norm, just an unfortunate circumstance with a seller.  Some people will play hardball more than others and some have flexibility.  Just the way it goes.

I'll speak from the seller side.  I get so many unsolicited comments: "What's the lowest you'll take?" or my favorite, "$xxx" where they literally type a price and no other words at all.  A lot of that stuff is annoying and I just don't have the time to respond in my day. 

Also, if a buyer ask a ton of questions I've learned it's just best to block them and move on.  No offense to any buyer that does this, you have a right to ask as many details as you want to feel comfortable about a purchase.  But as a seller, I have a right to refuse a sale and just keep waiting for a less picky buyer.  Especially in this era of free returns.  As a seller, that means you have to eat shipping both ways for absolutely any return reason.  So just remember both point of views in the transaction... both sides get frustrated with the shenanigans of the other.

Oh man, you literally took the words out of my mouth. I imagine someone setting a BIN OBO but not actually accepting offers just wants to get ahead of those stupid one word emails asking for a game at 75% off the price. That same obnoxious buyers that would send that offer via Best Offer will hit the automatic refusal, and it will save the seller both emotional frustration and time. It sucks for the people who think there's a legit chance to negotiate, but the seller can do whatever they want, it's their item. 

I think people have different tolerances for bullshit. You see it all the time on Facebook, sellers absolutely losing their shit over getting the message "Is this still available?" The hilarious part is that is a default message by Facebook that can easily be accidentally clicked. Sometimes, the person sending it doesn't even realize they've sent it. It's innocuous, but I've seen multiple sellers that say "I WON'T RESPOND TO IS THIS STILL AVAILABLE" as angry as possible.  On eBay, my assumption is the sellers taking their time to set an OBO as an auto-reject for any offer just have a very low tolerance for stupidity and don't actually want to take offers. 

To your second point, that's definitely something a seller (hopefully) learns early. The buyers who are most persnickety are going to be the biggest pains, and back in the day, they would abuse the hell out of the partial refund. They'd see a slight bend in manual page 9, and ask for 50% back. You as a seller can either eat the return fee for "item not described" or bend over backwards for a shitty buyer. Whenever someone asks about condition, I say it's in "awful" condition, just so I don't have to deal with people trying to beat me up on partial refunds. 

[RH | 5,206]

Man, some of you would hate me as a buyer.  I do have special strategies for some high dollar rare items.  Very rarely, I will see a rare item I've been looking for drop and I think it's placed way too high.  I explore the seller to see what type of seller they are--do they only have 1-5 items, are they a game shop or are they one of those people that likes to raid yard sales and thrift shops to flip anything they can make a few bucks on?

If it's that last group, I'll watch their item like a hawk and let it sit for 1-3 months.  Usually, the thrift shoppers just want to move their inventory and I 100% will send them an offer 75% of the asking price.   Have I been ignored? Yup!  Have I snagged deals at 60-75% less than was asked, it's rare but yes, and usually at that price, it's still 30-50% less than what is "fair", in my book.

[Mega Tank | 1,093]

27 minutes ago, RH said:

Man, some of you would hate me as a buyer.

Lol based off some in this thread I won't be able to buy from some sellers because I ask basic questions to be better informed of what I'm buying. Oh well!

[Andy_Bogomil | 861]

22 hours ago, DarkKobold said:

I think people have different tolerances for bullshit. You see it all the time on Facebook, sellers absolutely losing their shit over getting the message "Is this still available?" The hilarious part is that is a default message by Facebook that can easily be accidentally clicked. Sometimes, the person sending it doesn't even realize they've sent it. It's innocuous, but I've seen multiple sellers that say "I WON'T RESPOND TO IS THIS STILL AVAILABLE" as angry as possible.  On eBay, my assumption is the sellers taking their time to set an OBO as an auto-reject for any offer just have a very low tolerance for stupidity and don't actually want to take offers. 

 

Another problem with FB is there is a lot of scam or bot activity which will only send the default message. Honestly, I stopped replying to those because 95% of the time the person wouldn't reply after that initial message.

I agree with the OBO auto-reject... Usually I set it at about asking -20%  or so. Before that, I'd get so many junk offers it was a waste of time. Lately, I just post asking with free shipping and just lump everything into the asking price. Take it or leave it. Once in a while I'll get a message asking what's the lowest I'll sell but that doesn't happen that often. I also block users that ask too many questions or something that's clearly in the listing... fairly easy to spot the buyers that will be trouble.

[thrashncrash | 99]

Certain eBay sellers include eBay selling fees of 12% of the BIN price. Since they don't want to lose any money. This is why I don't buy or sell on eBay.

I say good luck to OP sellers selling their stuff on eBay. I will not buy your high items. But instead I go to my local video game store to do business there.

[Code Monkey | 2,129]

I don't know why anyone uses eBay anymore. What are you buying that you can't buy in your local collecting community? If your community isn't big enough to have items you need, expand your community by joining Facebook groups with like interests. I haven't bought a video game from eBay in a decade.

[Gloves | 12,251]

21 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

I don't know why anyone uses eBay anymore. What are you buying that you can't buy in your local collecting community? If your community isn't big enough to have items you need, expand your community by joining Facebook groups with like interests. I haven't bought a video game from eBay in a decade.

I don't know why anyone uses Facebook.

[Tyree_Cooper | 858]

33 minutes ago, thrashncrash said:

Certain eBay sellers include eBay selling fees of 12% of the BIN price. Since they don't want to lose any money. This is why I don't buy or sell on eBay.

I say good luck to OP sellers selling their stuff on eBay. I will not buy your high items. But instead I go to my local video game store to do business there.

you can choose sellers on ebay charging you their fees, or physical shops charging you their rent and taxes.

but i agree, go local if you can! it's just that so many places have no game shops, so internet is the only viable choice for lots of people on this planet.

[a3quit4s | 4,344]

7 minutes ago, Tyree_Cooper said:

you can choose sellers on ebay charging you their fees, or physical shops charging you their rent and taxes.

but i agree, go local if you can! it's just that so many places have no game shops, so internet is the only viable choice for lots of people on this planet.

Local game store uses PriceCharting to price games -> PriceCharting uses eBay sold to get pricing -> either way you pay eBay prices 

The best bet is still just hang out and wait for auctions on whatever you want, if you have no patience try to find a BIN. Either way, games are expensive lol

[Tyree_Cooper | 858]

hey it's just my opinion but anyone who spends more than 0$ on grading and at some point complains that games are expensive, is just farting from his mouth and breathing it back with the nose.

[doner24 | 1,224]

On 7/23/2024 at 11:44 AM, Mega Tank said:

Lol based off some in this thread I won't be able to buy from some sellers because I ask basic questions to be better informed of what I'm buying. Oh well!

As someone that started selling off my entire collection via eBay this year. I would probably be better off just blocking every person that sends questions. Every single issue from buyers has been from someone that has asked a question.

[doner24 | 1,224]

22 minutes ago, doner24 said:

As someone that started selling off my entire collection via eBay this year. I would probably be better off just blocking every person that sends questions. Every single issue from buyers has been from someone that has asked a question.

To add, they are also some of the biggest time wasters, especially when I was happy to send them extras pics and they often started to turn into a penpal, not an interested buyer. There are plenty enough buyers to just add them to my blocked bidder list and move on now. 

[Hammerfestus | 4,100]

On 7/23/2024 at 12:16 PM, RH said:

Man, some of you would hate me as a buyer.  I do have special strategies for some high dollar rare items.  Very rarely, I will see a rare item I've been looking for drop and I think it's placed way too high.  I explore the seller to see what type of seller they are--do they only have 1-5 items, are they a game shop or are they one of those people that likes to raid yard sales and thrift shops to flip anything they can make a few bucks on?

If it's that last group, I'll watch their item like a hawk and let it sit for 1-3 months.  Usually, the thrift shoppers just want to move their inventory and I 100% will send them an offer 75% of the asking price.   Have I been ignored? Yup!  Have I snagged deals at 60-75% less than was asked, it's rare but yes, and usually at that price, it's still 30-50% less than what is "fair", in my book.

I check a seller‘s “type” out a lot.  Thrifters/Random Assortment types are the best with BINs.  There’s some killer deals to be had when they misprice game stuff and you see it pretty regularly.  If you can catch them while they’re in the process of listing stuff?   

[Tanooki | 5,113]

And then there's the utterly disgraceful Mercari that a few months ago decided to instead of charging the sellers seller fees, they tack them onto the buyer instead which grossly raises the prices of what you pay for an item when you up with it.  I erased my account.

[spacepup | 2,482]

10 hours ago, Code Monkey said:

I don't know why anyone uses eBay anymore. What are you buying that you can't buy in your local collecting community? If your community isn't big enough to have items you need, expand your community by joining Facebook groups with like interests. I haven't bought a video game from eBay in a decade.

You may be right for standard retail games and common items, but I know for myself, the types of items I'm buying are niche, rare, and impossible to find in local groups.  Most of my collection is now Japanese imports, and further, taikenbans (demos) and other not-for-sale items.  I typically buy from Yahoo Auctions, Mercari Japan, and other sources anyway, but occasionally something I need will be on ebay.  This type of item is VERY uncommonly found in facegroup marketplaces and other local groups.

For US items, I'm typically buying also obscure old PC demos and various other things as well, that I never see anywhere but ebay.

So despite ebay's issues, there are just many items that can't (easily) be found in most other places.

[Hammerfestus | 4,100]

53 minutes ago, spacepup said:

You may be right for standard retail games and common items, but I know for myself, the types of items I'm buying are niche, rare, and impossible to find in local groups.  Most of my collection is now Japanese imports, and further, taikenbans (demos) and other not-for-sale items.  I typically buy from Yahoo Auctions, Mercari Japan, and other sources anyway, but occasionally something I need will be on ebay.  This type of item is VERY uncommonly found in facegroup marketplaces and other local groups.

For US items, I'm typically buying also obscure old PC demos and various other things as well, that I never see anywhere but ebay.

So despite ebay's issues, there are just many items that can't (easily) be found in most other places.

Facebook cant possibly have been a serious recommendation.  Copy and paste this chain letter or Facebook will steal your photos first.  Maybe high dollar graded jag offs hang out in there but for the other 99.8% using Boomer Hell over eBay for everyday collecting is nonsense.

[Code Monkey | 2,129]

1 hour ago, spacepup said:

You may be right for standard retail games and common items, but I know for myself, the types of items I'm buying are niche, rare, and impossible to find in local groups.  Most of my collection is now Japanese imports, and further, taikenbans (demos) and other not-for-sale items.  I typically buy from Yahoo Auctions, Mercari Japan, and other sources anyway, but occasionally something I need will be on ebay.  This type of item is VERY uncommonly found in facegroup marketplaces and other local groups.

For US items, I'm typically buying also obscure old PC demos and various other things as well, that I never see anywhere but ebay.

So despite ebay's issues, there are just many items that can't (easily) be found in most other places.

There are probably groups specific to this interest and will contain a higher concentration of these items. I'm not talking about Marketplace.