Seller vs. Seller SS Related Ebay Etiquette

JustAlice

What are the struts thoughts on Seller vs. Seller Ebay Etiquette?Say a fellow strutter currently has up some of the same things you are looking to auction that week. Common sense and a certain amount of personal respect tells me to wait until their auctions are over before listing ours for the better good of both of our listings. I also realize any joe schmo that I don't have respect and admiration for could list the same shit we list on any given day or time without regard. So my question to other SS Sellers is: Do you monitor the SS sellers section enough to know or care if someone has up the same stuff?Do you care or let it impact when you might upload items?Does it make your items seem less rare and hard to come by if they are both up at the same time? Logic says yes, and will damage the out come for both parties. But then again, someone you don't know or care about could unknowingly or even knowingly do the same thing. So does it matter? Am I over thinking it? Any instances of someone Fuuckin' up your shit with cheaper items in the same vain/condition/magnitude?Have you purposefully put off listing stuff while someone else had things going?Or have you unknowingly listed and received a PM from a guy being like"Hey yo, your cramping my style"Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks in advance.

drewnice

If it's something raer, I tend to wait until there are no other auctions up for the record. Common stuff I'll list whenever.

skel

in a similar vein:

a friend deals in football (soccer) programmes and ticket stubs.
He listed a rare item that hadn't been seen for a year on a BIN at like $1000.
A day later, a competitor did the same but at $950.

A mad sore exchange of emails ensued.

I reckon that makes both look bad, and undermines the confidence of buyers.
NAGL.

twoply

in a similar vein:

a friend deals in football (soccer) programmes and ticket stubs.
He listed a rare item that hadn't been seen for a year on a BIN at like $1000.
A day later, a competitor did the same but at $950.

A mad sore exchange of emails ensued.

I reckon that makes both look bad, and undermines the confidence of buyers.
NAGL.

I had that happen when I had quantity of an item. I was trying to let them out slowly, but some other dude who also had quantity kept putting them up as buy-it-nows at a slightly deflated price. I finally contacted him, and after his initial defensiveness, he saw the benefits of working together to create a selling schedule.

skel

in a similar vein:

a friend deals in football (soccer) programmes and ticket stubs.
He listed a rare item that hadn't been seen for a year on a BIN at like $1000.
A day later, a competitor did the same but at $950.

A mad sore exchange of emails ensued.

I reckon that makes both look bad, and undermines the confidence of buyers.
NAGL.

I had that happen when I had quantity of an item. I was trying to let them out slowly, but some other dude who also had quantity kept putting them up as buy-it-nows at a slightly deflated price. I finally contacted him, and after his initial defensiveness, he saw the benefits of working together to create a selling schedule.

not a farm related 12 by any chance?

twoply

in a similar vein:

a friend deals in football (soccer) programmes and ticket stubs.
He listed a rare item that hadn't been seen for a year on a BIN at like $1000.
A day later, a competitor did the same but at $950.

A mad sore exchange of emails ensued.

I reckon that makes both look bad, and undermines the confidence of buyers.
NAGL.

I had that happen when I had quantity of an item. I was trying to let them out slowly, but some other dude who also had quantity kept putting them up as buy-it-nows at a slightly deflated price. I finally contacted him, and after his initial defensiveness, he saw the benefits of working together to create a selling schedule.

not a farm related 12 by any chance?

Nope.

shooterali

Do you care or let it impact when you might upload items?



no, i tend to just list because ebay is more than ss members.
i don't havetime to stroll through every ebay link & see what people are selling. I see they have some of the same items I'm not waiting. I'm listing stuff to sell now not later just to keep it moving.

Reynaldo

I say do what is in your best short-term economic interest. If that means listing at the same time as someone else, make sure you have the superior listing--more/bigger/clearer pics, comprehensive audio clips, more detailed description, better accompanying listings, etc. If you truly believe you'll get significantly less for an album if you list it at the same time as another seller and would rather wait to get more, then that reason alone is a good enough one not to list, with proper etiquette and respect being perhaps tertiary and quaternary considerations. If you are just trying to move records, business is business and all is lawful.

Young_Phonics

I say do what is in your best short-term economic interest. If that means listing at the same time as someone else, make sure you have the superior listing--more/bigger/clearer pics, comprehensive audio clips, more detailed description, better accompanying listings, etc. If you truly believe you'll get significantly less for an album if you list it at the same time as another seller and would rather wait to get more, then that is reason alone is a good enough one not to list, with proper etiquette and respect being perhaps tertiary and quaternary considerations. If you are just trying to move records, business is business and all is lawful.

WITH AN IRON FIST!

skel

I say do what is in your best short-term economic interest. If that means listing at the same time as someone else, make sure you have the superior listing--more/bigger/clearer pics, comprehensive audio clips, more detailed description, better accompanying listings, etc. If you truly believe you'll get significantly less for an album if you list it at the same time as another seller and would rather wait to get more, then that is reason alone is a good enough one not to list, with proper etiquette and respect being perhaps tertiary and quaternary considerations. If you are just trying to move records, business is business and all is lawful.

this kind of implies that you have little or no regard for the longer term health of the market.
From a buyer's perspective, if I see an item suddenly appear twice or more after a long wait, I think it highly suspect. Not from mistrusting the seller, I'm just thinking someone has found a batch of these, therefore price will drop, or someone is offloading these as a re-issue is hitting the market, etc etc.

Reynaldo

I say do what is in your best short-term economic interest. If that means listing at the same time as someone else, make sure you have the superior listing--more/bigger/clearer pics, comprehensive audio clips, more detailed description, better accompanying listings, etc. If you truly believe you'll get significantly less for an album if you list it at the same time as another seller and would rather wait to get more, then that is reason alone is a good enough one not to list, with proper etiquette and respect being perhaps tertiary and quaternary considerations. If you are just trying to move records, business is business and all is lawful.

this kind of implies that you have little or no regard for the longer term health of the market.
From a buyer's perspective, if I see an item suddenly appear twice or more after a long wait, I think it highly suspect. Not from mistrusting the seller, I'm just thinking someone has found a batch of these, therefore price will drop, or someone is offloading these as a re-issue is hitting the market, etc etc.

Why would one have any regard for the longer-term health of the market for specific records that they aren't personally trying to sell (or have already sold off at the top) and wouldn't bother selling again if the record's value had tanked significantly, perhaps due to over saturation?

If in some cases it is ultimately more profitable to an individual to kill a record, then so be it.

hcrink

Unless it's something idiotic like these numb skulls who will list something weekly that was once thought to be rare, it really makes no difference. I mean, if it's something that hasn't been on eBay in two years and then two copies show up in one week the grip will be on both... and the better copy/better seller will probably get more... otherwise if it's some bullshit like Idris Muhammad Boogie to the Top on Kudu then who gives a fuck? It's not this big superstitious thing some people make it out to be.

hammertime

I would never purposely list something a Strutter is currently selling, but I also almost never consciously check, so unless I happen across something in a sale thread I would never know.

JustAlice

Just checking back and wanted to thank everyone for their thoughts and opinions.

I would have posted back sooner but I was too busy preparing for our e-battle and subsequent take over of French and Italian currencies against ______________.

Just joking.


I'm glad Hammertime addressed the question about the sell section and Rey came in with some well rounded insight.

Much appreciated.

spelunk

The only time I wouldn't list something is with a private record with an unknown/volatile price, like some modern soul record that Marcofunk would bid on. With records that have established prices, there's a large enough market that putting up another copy isn't going to do much.

skel

I'm glad Hammertime addressed the question about the sell section and Rey came in with some well rounded insight.

Much appreciated.

translation: everyone else go uck yoursel

mannybolone

in a similar vein:

a friend deals in football (soccer) programmes and ticket stubs.
He listed a rare item that hadn't been seen for a year on a BIN at like $1000.
A day later, a competitor did the same but at $950.

A mad sore exchange of emails ensued.

I reckon that makes both look bad, and undermines the confidence of buyers.
NAGL.

haha reminds me of the douchebag who cried cuz i was selling a tobert 7" same time as him & got like 1500$ more than he did, fool wanted a %...
i still LMFAO at that shit...

That's Frickin' hilarious - he actually asked for a %?

mannybolone

I say do what is in your best short-term economic interest. If that means listing at the same time as someone else, make sure you have the superior listing--more/bigger/clearer pics, comprehensive audio clips, more detailed description, better accompanying listings, etc. If you truly believe you'll get significantly less for an album if you list it at the same time as another seller and would rather wait to get more, then that is reason alone is a good enough one not to list, with proper etiquette and respect being perhaps tertiary and quaternary considerations. If you are just trying to move records, business is business and all is lawful.

this kind of implies that you have little or no regard for the longer term health of the market.
From a buyer's perspective, if I see an item suddenly appear twice or more after a long wait, I think it highly suspect. Not from mistrusting the seller, I'm just thinking someone has found a batch of these, therefore price will drop, or someone is offloading these as a re-issue is hitting the market, etc etc.

I can't cosign on that logic. The appearance of two items around the same time says to me "coincidence."

It's the items that appear weekly or every few weeks that are mad suspect, just given the regularity. BUT, even in those cases, you can milk that for a while. I remember someone (maybe even a Strutter) clearly had a stack of stock copies of this gospel soul 7" and was selling a copy every two weeks or so for at least half a dozen copies - they all sold for around the price despite it being fairly obvious that he had quantity. I think it really depends on the item.

skel

I say do what is in your best short-term economic interest. If that means listing at the same time as someone else, make sure you have the superior listing--more/bigger/clearer pics, comprehensive audio clips, more detailed description, better accompanying listings, etc. If you truly believe you'll get significantly less for an album if you list it at the same time as another seller and would rather wait to get more, then that is reason alone is a good enough one not to list, with proper etiquette and respect being perhaps tertiary and quaternary considerations. If you are just trying to move records, business is business and all is lawful.

this kind of implies that you have little or no regard for the longer term health of the market.
From a buyer's perspective, if I see an item suddenly appear twice or more after a long wait, I think it highly suspect. Not from mistrusting the seller, I'm just thinking someone has found a batch of these, therefore price will drop, or someone is offloading these as a re-issue is hitting the market, etc etc.

I can't cosign on that logic. The appearance of two items around the same time says to me "coincidence."

It's the items that appear weekly or every few weeks that are mad suspect, just given the regularity. BUT, even in those cases, you can milk that for a while. I remember someone (maybe even a Strutter) clearly had a stack of stock copies of this gospel soul 7" and was selling a copy every two weeks or so for at least half a dozen copies - they all sold for around the price despite it being fairly obvious that he had quantity. I think it really depends on the item.

you may not cosign the logic, but when I see a rarity suddenly appear in 2+ spots, I am immediately thinking these guys know something that I don't, i.e. they want to dump on buyers. And so I don't bid. And since I sometime bid mad amounts on stuff I really want, then in the end both sellers are potentially out of pocket. I can't be the only buyer out there who thinks like that.
So the perception created by some vendors seems counterproductive to me. And to not be interested in the long term health of your chosen market....?! WTF!
I know we're not talking US Govt Bonds here, but markets take a long time to develop, always remain fragile, can be easily poisoned by a few small issues.
Being so cavalier with them almost invites problems into your market.

mannybolone

you may not cosign the logic, but when I see a rarity suddenly appear in 2+ spots, I am immediately thinking these guys know something that I don't, i.e. they want to dump on buyers. And so I don't bid. And since I sometime bid mad amounts on stuff I really want, then in the end both sellers are potentially out of pocket. I can't be the only buyer out there who thinks like that.
So the perception created by some vendors seems counterproductive to me. And to not be interested in the long term health of your chosen market....?! WTF!
I know we're not talking US Govt Bonds here, but markets take a long time to develop, always remain fragile, can be easily poisoned by a few small issues.
Being so cavalier with them almost invites problems into your market.

I'm wondering if you have a specific example that might help demonstrate where a case of such caution actually turned out to be the right move, i.e. sellers were dumping on buyers? My sense is that, more cases than not, you might be missing an opportunity rather than avoiding a trap.

skel

I'm wondering if you have a specific example that might help demonstrate where a case of such caution actually turned out to be the right move, i.e. sellers were dumping on buyers? My sense is that, more cases than not, you might be missing an opportunity rather than avoiding a trap.

haven't monitored it so closely, but I've walked from three or 4 buys in the last 6 months just because it felt shady. My earlier experiences of this came in the late 80's when I got ass-hurt on paying for several big (at the time) jazz items:
Jerome Richardson
Johnny Lytle
Dansers Inferno
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Hal Singer
Cumulo Nimbus
24 carat Black
FranticDiagnosis

etc etc.Shortly after shelling out chunky cash, each of these were released either on bootleg, comp or legitimate reish. Now I have never bought as an investment, but felt pretty burned by these experiences. I know the dealers knew the score, but of course they never told. At the time it was felt that a re-release would severely dampen the originals market, at least in the UK.
I became so disillusioned that I left the game for several years.
An example of unscrupulous dealing poisoning the long term market health for me and others I'm sure.
And those examples have stayed with me ever since, hence why I say that all participants in a market might consider their actions before acting.
Not saying that anyone here or on ebay would pull such tricks, but short term hustles leave a longer term legacy.

And yes undoubtedly I have missed out on good stuff as a result....

Rockadelic

I'm wondering if you have a specific example that might help demonstrate where a case of such caution actually turned out to be the right move, i.e. sellers were dumping on buyers? My sense is that, more cases than not, you might be missing an opportunity rather than avoiding a trap.

haven't monitored it so closely, but I've walked from three or 4 buys in the last 6 months just because it felt shady. My earlier experiences of this came in the late 80's when I got ass-hurt on paying for several big (at the time) jazz items:
Jerome Richardson
Johnny Lytle
Dansers Inferno
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Hal Singer
Cumulo Nimbus
24 carat Black
FranticDiagnosis

etc etc.Shortly after shelling out chunky cash, each of these were released either on bootleg, comp or legitimate reish. Now I have never bought as an investment, but felt pretty burned by these experiences. I know the dealers knew the score, but of course they never told. At the time it was felt that a re-release would severely dampen the originals market, at least in the UK.
I became so disillusioned that I left the game for several years.
An example of unscrupulous dealing poisoning the long term market health for me and others I'm sure.
And those examples have stayed with me ever since, hence why I say that all participants in a market might consider their actions before acting.
Not saying that anyone here or on ebay would pull such tricks, but short term hustles leave a longer term legacy.

And yes undoubtedly I have missed out on good stuff as a result....

I'm confused by this post.....selling an original pressing of an LP that is later reissued is unscrupulous??

skel

I'm confused by this post.....selling an original pressing of an LP that is later reissued is unscrupulous??

I reckon it is when you know it's being reissued and you don't tell the buyer
especially when you are the one reissuing or bootlegging
Not talking years in the future, but like a month later
In financial markets its known as insider dealing

verb606

I'm confused by this post.....selling an original pressing of an LP that is later reissued is unscrupulous??

I reckon it is when you know it's being reissued and you don't tell the buyer
especially when you are the one reissuing or bootlegging
Not talking years in the future, but like a month later
In financial markets its known as insider dealing

Doesn't this depend on how much a reissue will affect the going price of the original? If I bought an OG and then the shit got reissued, wouldn't my OG be little more desirable, and by extension, worth a little more?

Bootlegs are usually shitty, and even a lot of legit reissues are janky as hell, so I'd rather have an OG. If it's a raer, it'll still be a raer after the reissue comes out, no?

mannybolone

I'm confused by this post.....selling an original pressing of an LP that is later reissued is unscrupulous??

I reckon it is when you know it's being reissued and you don't tell the buyer
especially when you are the one reissuing or bootlegging
Not talking years in the future, but like a month later
In financial markets its known as insider dealing

With all due respect...I think that's just part of the game.

Rockadelic

I'm confused by this post.....selling an original pressing of an LP that is later reissued is unscrupulous??

I reckon it is when you know it's being reissued and you don't tell the buyer
especially when you are the one reissuing or bootlegging
Not talking years in the future, but like a month later
In financial markets its known as insider dealing

With all due respect...I think that's just part of the game.

If it were a really obscure LP I would personally wait until it was re-issued, and more people knew about it, before selling with the hopes of getting the highest price possible.

mannybolone

Not like I'd want to put the time in to gather the data and crunch the numbers but it would be interesting to see what happens when reissues hit the market and what effect they have on the price of the OGs. This topic gets bantied about here on Strut every few months and I don't recall seeing much of a consensus.

For example, would an OG copy of "East of Underground" sell for more or less right now given the existence of the reissue? Personally, I could still see it going for the same rate it commanded pre-reissue.

I thought it was conventional wisdom that reissues/bootlegs are more likely to affect relatively low/middle market pieces - stuff that might, on a good day, have sold for over $100, now get undermined by the presence of a mass market reissue.

hcrink

I'm confused by this post.....selling an original pressing of an LP that is later reissued is unscrupulous??

I reckon it is when you know it's being reissued and you don't tell the buyer
especially when you are the one reissuing or bootlegging
Not talking years in the future, but like a month later
In financial markets its known as insider dealing

Hilarious.

Rockadelic

I'm confused by this post.....selling an original pressing of an LP that is later reissued is unscrupulous??

I reckon it is when you know it's being reissued and you don't tell the buyer
especially when you are the one reissuing or bootlegging
Not talking years in the future, but like a month later
In financial markets its known as insider dealing

Hilarious.

I'm no Wall St. whiz but if you compare records to stocks wouldn't having knowledge about an upcoming re-issue and revealing such info be the same as insider trading??

hcrink

I'm confused by this post.....selling an original pressing of an LP that is later reissued is unscrupulous??

I reckon it is when you know it's being reissued and you don't tell the buyer
especially when you are the one reissuing or bootlegging
Not talking years in the future, but like a month later
In financial markets its known as insider dealing

Hilarious.

I'm no Wall St. whiz but if you compare records to stocks wouldn't having knowledge about an upcoming re-issue and revealing such info be the same as insider trading??

How so?

selperfuge

In financial markets its known as insider dealing

LOL, here's what i don't understand about record people (and by extension, myself)

if 1/3 the time put into learning labels, what to grippe, what to flip, and general nuances of the hustle was reinvested into learning about capital markets, i bet the majority of us would be sitting on flush e-trade accounts rather than healthy paypal accounts with fractional worth.