Just venting my general frustration with eBay as a platform, and the way people use it while asking you to hold up, as they check to see how much to charge you for something they're in possession of. Shallow? Yes, I will complain but then of course I'm going to go crawling back. eBay to me just feels less legitimate as a pillar of valuation because there's so much that seems entirely arbitrary about it. Look up Powerslave for the Saturn and then observe 4 to 5 separate listings all by the same seller, selling different copies of the game but taking all different backgrounds photos and wording slightly different. It gives the false impression that the game is generally perceived to be worth those extremely similar prices he's asking for all of them. Seems like market manipulation to me. I've seen games go from being priced at next to nothing, to hundreds of dollars with no precedent of such a price increase on any record. That to me, is a form of dishonesty that has lasting influence. So then the next seller who comes along looking to sell the same title, suddenly also feels they should get a similar high amount, etc.
Prior to eBay's BIN option and prior to eBay, people had to pay for books with information on auction records and store sales for collectibles like coins, and baseball cards. Call it pedantic, but I find it to be an art that has been lost, in large part due to the nature and ease of using eBay. Even still, quoting a price on an ended auction from eBay I can respect somewhat, because I feel like that is legitimately a show of what buyers feel it's worth and not simply what a seller pulled out of the air. After all, there is such a thing as overpaying. eBay is no Kelley Blue Book. Condition is often not taken to effect value. No one can even agree on what condition is. There's just so many problems. The list could go on, and on.
Making a profit is fine, I'm certainly not above it. I only pointed out that I made no profit because that sale you quoted needed some context. It wasn't sold for profit. Normally, I'd prefer to sell low not for any moral or ethical reason but so it will sell faster, because I am greedy and want money now and not in three months from now when someone finally breaks down and pays me more than they wanted to. In terms of sales, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush is the way I see it.
However, I don't want to derail Seether's thread for focusing on the politics of eBay and market values. It is what it is, more people agree with it than those who don't and that much I will concede.
