Over priced items online/auction starting bids…

[Model29-26.5]

Regarding items starting at twice what you’ve seen them go for previously that sit there for months online without a bid.
Sometimes I feel like contacting and saying “Let me know when you’re getting ready to sell this.”

Maybe if there’s no cost to leave it up online, they’re just waiting for a time when the value actually reached what they’re asking?

 

[diyj98]

Often, they don't care if it sells or not. There's no cost for listing on many auction sites, so it's no sweat off the listers back if the items sells or not. I'd just forget the item or look for a seller that has a similar item posted at a price you're willing to pay.

 

[AudieMurphy]

Alot of times at gun shows the same way. Over priced junk, when I ask the vendor how'd they come up with that price. They'd say "well thats the last price one sold for on x web site".....yea, sure!

 

[mikerjf]

This is how things work on the upslope of economic expansion. And yes, it works both ways… but few economists alive have experienced the reverse side of the slope. Gonna be a doozy…

 

[A10]

Some of the listings on our favorite site make me laugh out loud. Recently saw an obvious hard chromed Model 15 they claimed was "factory satin nickel". Yeah, the factory nickeled the hammer, trigger, and rear sight too...

 

[Drm50]

The best one I can relate was at a big outdoor trade days type deal. There were a good many guns but no that were anywhere close to a deal. After
spending several hours dickering around was walking back to car. I came across a guy with piles of used clothes and plastic toys. Perched on top of the pile like a diamond in a goats butt was a Stevens SxS 12gauge beater.
Ask the guy what his price was. He said he was looking for $700. I told him
if I didn’t have to be home for supper I’d stay and help him look.

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

This thread reminds me of the cabin down the road from ours that was listed for sale at twice the ongoing market price. This was about 40 years ago. The buyer finally got his asking price twenty years later, when the prices "rose to the occasion"... or should I say, "his expectations". Me thinks to many sellers are just hoping to find one of P.T. Barnum's suckers.

John

 

[RM Vivas]

On one online auction site I always see a S&W M64 NY-1 revolver with an opening bid of $5,000. Knowing a little bit about those guns, I think that maybe twenty years down the road the market will rise to meet that (or the dollar will devalue), but for now, thats outrageous.

Best,
RM Vivas

 

[VictorLouis]

.. Knowing a little bit about those guns,

I think you have just made the Understatement of the Year, Sir!

 

[jc2721]

Ever go fishing for a big one? Same thing--shiny lure and a lot of patience. lol.

 

[stansdds]

I sometimes wonder if outlandishly high opening bids or listed prices are the result of the seller not really wanting to part with something, but maybe their spouse is pressuring them to get rid of some things. That goes for auctions, gun shows, and the used firearm section at gun shops.

 

[46er]

When I put something on the market it's because its no longer needed/wanted. My start prices are a bit more reasonable than many. Why sit on something that the kids are going sell for 1/10 they're worth or get dumpstered.

 

[Jon651]

I have noticed that asking/opening prices also tend to rise sharply around the holidays. Also, in the distant past an outrageous asking price was because the item was listed on more than one site and was in the process of being sold elsewhere, so the seller would jack up the opening bid to discourage anyone else. And if there was a sucker who would buy it at that price then more's the better...

 

[djohns6]

There is a particular gun forum I belong to that has a pretty active marketplace section . Somebody got bent out of shape over people " bumping " their listing . The rules say only once a day is allowed . It got pretty spirited and of course items being overpriced also became part of the discussion . My opinion is that people may price an item however they wish . It's nobody's business why . If you don't like the price , move on .