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predatorkj
Active member
- Aug 7, 2008
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There has been some griping lately about the lack of threads and thread content here so I figured I'd open up a nice sized can of worms and see where this goes. Remembering fondly the ensuing mess that a guy got in on here for paying next to nothing for a Manny Machado, why is it some people get really upset when you severely underpay for a card?
My thinking, if you are a seller, then you are obviously in the business to underpay for cards just so you can turn around and sell them for the going rate, keep the profit, and keep your business alive. If you are a collector, then it's even more of a necessity to do so because unlike a business, you aren't helping yourself merely stay afloat, you are trying to keep buying while selling nothing. Which is hard to do, especially on a limited budget. I know some of you buy and flip to keep your collection going and to fund it properly. I could, myself, have done this time and again. But the way I collect, the sheer amount of people I collect, and the fact that I never buy anything to sell kind of hinders that. I won't buy something to turn around to sell, even if it means I could easily profit from it. I don't know why, but I just don't bother. And then I know people where everything is for sale, no matter how much they treasure it.
About the only thing that gets my goat is when a dealer buys something just to turn around and flip it for way the hell more than they paid, while lying the whole time. Like they may buy a $100 card for $15 claiming they can't possibly afford to pay more than the $15 because that's what they need to buy it at to make money, and then they turn around and get the whole $100 for it. Now if they get somebody who straight up offers it to them for $15 and they buy it, then cool. Why should they get knocked for someone else's stupidity? But acting like they have to make that $85 or they couldn't possibly buy it is kinda dumb. I don't know what their situation is, maybe they took a big hit on something else so they need to recoup, but it still seems wrong. Plus, I've had plenty of people I know willingly sell me a card for way less than the going price as long as they could make money off it. That way they help me, and themselves in the process.
Another thing that seems weird is when people get mad that a person did not offer info about what an item was worth before buying it. I get that a little old lady selling off her husbands old cards is a very special situation but even little old ladies know, by mainstream media outlets alone, that old cards can be worth a fortune. And if the person is 40 or younger, the mere fact that they did no research of their own accord is just ridiculous all by itself. It's their job to make sure they know what they have. Now they can take the item in and have it checked out and often times a dealer will lie just to see if he can pry it from their hands, which I deem wrong by all accounts, but if they are going in just asking about what it's worth, they should know damn good and well they need to check more than one source to see what it's worth and on top of that, if anyone says something is worthless and then immediately offers to buy it, they are trying to screw you.
But if, like in the case of the Manny Machado, it's a friggin card shop owner that doesn't know what his own crap is worth, I have no pity. Or if anyone comes to you, wants to move a card, and then has no idea what it's worth, are you supposed to sit there and educate them? Plus, in a weird way, I can see it being a little different from a seller and buyer's viewpoint. A seller needs to make money but shouldn't mislead anyone. A buyer shouldn't mislead anyone either. But after that is all said and done the argument can be started about who needs to be paying the lower price due to what was mentioned above. A seller will at least make money on the card provided he is buying something movable(which if he is smart, he will be doing). A buyer isn't moving it so does he need not take care that he buys low too? Especially since he is gaining no money on the venture?
Just some thoughts... I realize there are clear distinctions in some cases but it seems sometimes this board picks and chooses what it does and does not tolerate, even if the circumstances are quite the same.
My thinking, if you are a seller, then you are obviously in the business to underpay for cards just so you can turn around and sell them for the going rate, keep the profit, and keep your business alive. If you are a collector, then it's even more of a necessity to do so because unlike a business, you aren't helping yourself merely stay afloat, you are trying to keep buying while selling nothing. Which is hard to do, especially on a limited budget. I know some of you buy and flip to keep your collection going and to fund it properly. I could, myself, have done this time and again. But the way I collect, the sheer amount of people I collect, and the fact that I never buy anything to sell kind of hinders that. I won't buy something to turn around to sell, even if it means I could easily profit from it. I don't know why, but I just don't bother. And then I know people where everything is for sale, no matter how much they treasure it.
About the only thing that gets my goat is when a dealer buys something just to turn around and flip it for way the hell more than they paid, while lying the whole time. Like they may buy a $100 card for $15 claiming they can't possibly afford to pay more than the $15 because that's what they need to buy it at to make money, and then they turn around and get the whole $100 for it. Now if they get somebody who straight up offers it to them for $15 and they buy it, then cool. Why should they get knocked for someone else's stupidity? But acting like they have to make that $85 or they couldn't possibly buy it is kinda dumb. I don't know what their situation is, maybe they took a big hit on something else so they need to recoup, but it still seems wrong. Plus, I've had plenty of people I know willingly sell me a card for way less than the going price as long as they could make money off it. That way they help me, and themselves in the process.
Another thing that seems weird is when people get mad that a person did not offer info about what an item was worth before buying it. I get that a little old lady selling off her husbands old cards is a very special situation but even little old ladies know, by mainstream media outlets alone, that old cards can be worth a fortune. And if the person is 40 or younger, the mere fact that they did no research of their own accord is just ridiculous all by itself. It's their job to make sure they know what they have. Now they can take the item in and have it checked out and often times a dealer will lie just to see if he can pry it from their hands, which I deem wrong by all accounts, but if they are going in just asking about what it's worth, they should know damn good and well they need to check more than one source to see what it's worth and on top of that, if anyone says something is worthless and then immediately offers to buy it, they are trying to screw you.
But if, like in the case of the Manny Machado, it's a friggin card shop owner that doesn't know what his own crap is worth, I have no pity. Or if anyone comes to you, wants to move a card, and then has no idea what it's worth, are you supposed to sit there and educate them? Plus, in a weird way, I can see it being a little different from a seller and buyer's viewpoint. A seller needs to make money but shouldn't mislead anyone. A buyer shouldn't mislead anyone either. But after that is all said and done the argument can be started about who needs to be paying the lower price due to what was mentioned above. A seller will at least make money on the card provided he is buying something movable(which if he is smart, he will be doing). A buyer isn't moving it so does he need not take care that he buys low too? Especially since he is gaining no money on the venture?
Just some thoughts... I realize there are clear distinctions in some cases but it seems sometimes this board picks and chooses what it does and does not tolerate, even if the circumstances are quite the same.
