For sellers of vintage series books, this is not the way to do business. In recent weeks, the resellers on eBay have begun to lower their prices in order to attempt to make sales, no doubt due to our struggling economy. I have been a bit surprised at a few of the prices for books that are offered in fixed-price listings from people who are not new to selling series books. Some of the prices are quite low.
I realize that some people may desperately need to make a few sales in order to pay bills, so my comments are not really directed at people to which that applies. I can understand why someone would sell a book at below value in order to bring in some quick, much-needed money.
My comments are also not directed at people who list books at auction with very low starting bids. After all, low starting bids can cause bidding wars, thus resulting in books that sell for approximately or above current value. A seller always has a chance at a higher price when listing books in auctions.
My comments are only directed at sellers who use Buy It Now and list at prices that are way too low. I have to wonder about people who take a book that is worth $10.00 or more and sell it at a Buy It Now price of $1.00. Why do this? There have been many times when I have purchased a book for a mere pittance, and I would have gladly paid a higher price, sometimes a much higher price.
This has happened to me in the last few weeks. In one of my searches, I noticed a Buy It Now listing for a Patsy Carroll book that had a dust jacket. I am casually working on a set of the Patsy Carroll books; it is not a priority. So when I saw the Patsy Carroll book for a Buy It Now of $1.00, I took it.
I already had one Patsy Carroll book, and I paid $15.49 including shipping for it. As I recall, it was an auction, and the winning bid was around $11.00-12.00, so the above book is definitely worth more than $1.00. After I bought the book, I looked at what else the seller had. I found a Grace Harlowe book that had a Buy It Now of $3.00, so I bought it too.
The Grace Harlowe book is an Altemus edition, and the Altemus editions are very hard to find, especially with dust jackets. Most of the available Grace Harlowe books are the ones published much later by Goldsmith with cheap quality paper. While the dust jacket has a significant flaw where a previous owner wrote her name on the front panel, it is still worth more than $3.00.
The seller charged $6.00 shipping for the two books, which included at least a $3.00 handling fee. The seller's cost for packaging was definitely not $3.00. This is a seller who must feel that items should be priced low to sell fast and plans to make a profit on the handling fees. As I have already stated, sellers of vintage series books should not do this. I would have gladly paid at least $10.00 each for the two books plus the postage charge for combined shipping.
The seller undercut herself by offering the books at such low prices. The books might have taken slightly longer to sell, but they would have sold. The listings were 30-day listings, so the seller did use the lowest cost option available on eBay. When a seller lists a book for 30 days, it is not sensible to undercut oneself so dramatically.
Go to eBay and do a search for "Patsy Carroll" and just see how many dust-jacketed books you find. One one is available right now with a starting price of $32.50. Next, search for "Grace Harlowe" and see how many Altemus editions with dust jackets are listed. As I write this, eBay has none. Neither book should have been sold at such ridiculously low Buy It Now prices.
4 comments:
Thanks for the interesting post, Jennifer. I have tried looking for Buy It Now bargains for Nancy Drew books, especially later yellow spine picture covers. What I find is that many sellers who list in the "children's books" category use stock photos and all the visual clues that you've discussed on this blog, and which I've come to rely on, are not applicable. Plus the descriptions are terrible and often self contradictory. I know the stock photo can't be correct, because it shows the later publisher, while the seller indicates Grosset & Dunlap and earlier copyright dates. But it takes too much time to ask questions to clear up discrepancies on all the books that MIGHT be what I'm looking for. So far, I've found the auctions to have better information and/or prices. Maybe because the Nancy Drews are more popular and widely known there aren't many BIN bargains for these books? But i will keep looking because perhaps I just haven't been lucky enough to catch the deal before it is bought up by someone else. :)
What I find is that many sellers who list in the "children's books" category use stock photos and all the visual clues that you've discussed on this blog, and which I've come to rely on, are not applicable.
That is why I am not a very happy eBay buyer. That person who criticized my opinion recently and stated that I should be grateful if eBay went to free listings failed to understand that free listings would cause even more of the books with stock photos. Those books usually are recent editions, and if they are not, it is impossible to tell.
When eBay introduced stores and began catering to people who list in bulk, the quality of the books offered for sale began to decline. EBay is not what it was just a few short years ago.
So far, I've found the auctions to have better information and/or prices.
Most of my searching is done in auctions. The store listings are mostly worthless. I look at recently listed, and ignore the rest. Sometimes I am able to grab something decent before someone else sees it. Sometimes I click on something right after someone else got it.
Maybe because the Nancy Drews are more popular and widely known there aren't many BIN bargains for these books?
It is about equally hard to find bargains for all kinds of books, but it is a little harder for Nancy Drew books because far more people are searching for them. The resellers also troll for low fixed-price listings so that they can resell them. There is a lot of competition.
But i will keep looking because perhaps I just haven't been lucky enough to catch the deal before it is bought up by someone else.
Eventually you will get one of the really good deals. Keep an eye on auctions, because many of the bargains are in the auctions. The resellers get their inventory mainly from auctions that were started too low and did not get many bids. Consider using eSnipe to hold your bids until the last few seconds. It is quite effective, and it keeps other people from noticing which listings have bids and are more desirable. I find that when I bid early, I usually lose or have to pay close to my maximum bid. When I wait until the end, I have a much better chance. Of course eSnipe will not help when someone is willing to pay much more than I am, but it can very effective when someone wants to pay around what I do. ESnipe also helps protect buyers from being shilled by their sellers.
I dealt with one of the huge sellers and purchased two Nancy Drews that were described as Applewoods with proper dates and descriptions. Received two flashlight copies. Luckily, I was reimbursed the money and kept the books. But unwrapping the books and seeing glossy formats was very annoying.
On a different note, do you all get annoyed with inflated handling fees like I do? I have refused to bid on several books just because the media shipping charges were too high. Six dollars to ship one book makes me fume. I would much rather pay more for the book!
I once bid on eight paperback books which were up individually. I asked the seller ahead of time would she combine shipping which she said she would. When I got the invoice the shipping was for $33.00 discounted by $7.00. I offered to pay $12 shipping, she disagreed and cancelled the auctions. She was very upset that I thought her shipping cost was horrendous. I now ask more specific questions about combining shipping. As both seller and buyer, I know what shipping costs and I don't think that shipping is where sellers should be making their major profits. What do you all think?
Lian
On a different note, do you all get annoyed with inflated handling fees like I do?
Definitely. I did not like the $6.00 charge for the two books mentioned in this post, but since they were priced too low, I did not mind that much. The seller used recycled materials, so her cost was nowhere near $6.00.
People should price their books at what they want and charge actual costs for postage and handling. I charge $3.75 for one book, and since I use purchased boxes and stretch wrap, I am sending the books at cost. I may even be losing a small amount.
When I got the invoice the shipping was for $33.00 discounted by $7.00. I offered to pay $12 shipping, she disagreed and cancelled the auctions. She was very upset that I thought her shipping cost was horrendous.
That is the type of seller for which eBay created the detailed star ratings. If you had completed the transaction, she would have deserved only one star on the postage star.
I get really tired of all of the games that sellers play.
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