[Rant] Craigslist Sellers

[Mantisking]

Look, I know not everybody knows about Bricklink but please don't mention how much whatever you're selling goes for on eBay. Prices on eBay can be artificially inflated because it's an auction site. If you don't understand what that is, people bid on items driving the price up, this does not accurately reflect the market value of said item. Clear? And if you really expected to get that much, why didn't you just list it on eBay in the first place?

[legogeek]

Probably they want to avoid ebay because final prices can sometimes be high or low.

[toystest]

Ebay also charges a 12% fee on the final sale price.

[Asterios]

when I'm at flea markets and Garage sales and see LEGO at high prices I ask why so high?, and they say thats what their selling for on eBay, so I tell them 2 things:

1: no their not selling for that much, just some idiot has them priced high with a buy it now in hopes of finding a sucker

2: if you think you can get that much for them on eBay then go there since your not getting that much here.

they never sell the LEGO, there are 3 main LEGO buyers here in my town, 2 are resellers and then theres me, none of us pays full price for LEGO or even close.

[Mantisking]

Probably they want to avoid ebay because final prices can sometimes be high or low.

True. Although I wasn't really aiming at being logical, this being a rant and all. :)

Wow, that's a neat function. I've never seen it on any other phpBB board. (I'm talking about the "review your post" because of "at least one new post" function in case anyone is curious.)

[vynsane]

Ebay also has rules and fees, whereas, comparatively, Craigslist doesn't. If a seller wants to use Ebay as a baseline price, I think it's pretty much normal - after all, it's basically a great equalizer, the largest online marketplace where prices are set by demand for an item as opposed to what the seller feels an item is worth. That said, it's not fool-proof. There are some who will list items with exorbitant prices - but if it doesn't sell for that price, that's not the true value anyway ;)

Basically, for those out there who don't know about BrickLink, Ebay is the de facto pricing standard (not just for LEGO, either). For the most part, I'd say LEGO sellers on Ebay or Craigslist aren't LEGO enthusiasts themselves, but are probably Estate Sale/garage sale resellers or just people selling old stuff they no longer want. Their only guide for the value of these items is past Ebay sales, so that's what they go by.

Luckily enough, we know about BrickLink ;)

[wkunert]

Probably they want to avoid ebay because final prices can sometimes be high or low.

Probably want to avoid ebay because their feedback rating is nonexistent or in the toilet.

[slacker]

People using ebay as a baseline should atleast use the " completed listing" option. But then again, they're probably the same people buying the barcode sheet. There is a wealth of info and people are just too lazy to look. I happen to be one of them sometimes, lazy that is. :D

[legitimatealex]

It's a shame that people don't have all of the information that they really need. We'd all be better off if people sold at the right prices.

[Asterios]

until eBay came along you could find LEGO for pennies on the dollar, now its just ugly.

[NIGELTTF]

People using ebay as a baseline should atleast use the " completed listing" option. But then again, they're probably the same people buying the barcode sheet. There is a wealth of info and people are just too lazy to look. I happen to be one of them sometimes, lazy that is. :D

Lazy? Or just unwilling to hear a lower price.

[NIGELTTF]

It's a shame that people don't have all of the information that they really need. We'd all be better off if people sold at the right prices.

What is the right price? Sure as buyers we might want a lower price, but as sellers we/they are going to try to get what they think the market will bear.

[Everybody]

I think it's worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay, caviot emt tor (buyer beware).

[Mantisking]

I think it's worth whatever the buyer is willing to pay, caviot emt tor (buyer beware).

Caveat Emptor.

[slacker]

People using ebay as a baseline should atleast use the " completed listing" option. But then again, they're probably the same people buying the barcode sheet. There is a wealth of info and people are just too lazy to look. I happen to be one of them sometimes, lazy that is. :D

Lazy? Or just unwilling to hear a lower price.

or cheap :D I see alot of people bidding on stuff on ebay thinking that it's where the best deals are. Sometimes, the online stores are way cheaper than ebay. I'm not talking about toys but in general.

[NIGELTTF]

People using ebay as a baseline should atleast use the " completed listing" option. But then again, they're probably the same people buying the barcode sheet. There is a wealth of info and people are just too lazy to look. I happen to be one of them sometimes, lazy that is. :D

Lazy? Or just unwilling to hear a lower price.

or cheap :D I see alot of people bidding on stuff on ebay thinking that it's where the best deals are. Sometimes, the online stores are way cheaper than ebay. I'm not talking about toys but in general.

oOh yeah, sometimes you will see set still available at Lego.com going for as much as a 30% premium on Ebay, and selling. I cannot understand it. You know enough to use a computer, and to use ebay, and when buying lego, it never occured to you to check lego.com???????????????????????

[ncbarrett]

. You know enough to use a computer, and to use ebay, and when buying lego, it never occured to you to check lego.com???????????????????????

What is the address for lego.com?

[Asterios]

LEGO does not ship to alot of countries.

[slacker]

I know alot of you don't have a lego stores near you but for some of us, it makes no sense to buy anything from TRU at marked up prices when you can get it at the Lego store for msrp. Unless it's on sale. Have you seen the battle packs at TRU for $14.99!? Still $7.99 at target if anybody is looking. I got most of my minifigs from Lego because I didn't want to pay an extra dollar to TRU. Plus they were really nice about me using my phone to scan the barcodes. And customer service is awesome unlike my mechanic ( another story).

[natelite]

oOh yeah, sometimes you will see set still available at Lego.com going for as much as a 30% premium on Ebay, and selling. I cannot understand it. You know enough to use a computer, and to use ebay, and when buying lego, it never occured to you to check lego.com???????????????????????

what asterios said. also some ebay auctions are rigged. seller gets some of his "friends" (or his other accounts) to bid up the price of the item and hope for one sucker (just 1 is enough) to outbid his "friends" (i.e. other accounts). if no sucker bite. then just cancel the sale (say non paying buyer, blah blah blah) void all ebay fees, and relist.

since this is your "friend", you wouldn't want to give bad feedback now do you?

yeah, 5 years ago i would say that ebay really helps link the seller to the buyer but these days it's so open to abuse and fraud it's not worth the time and effort.