> On Jun 27, 2024, at 4:56 PM, Chuck Guzis via cctalk <cctalk@classiccmp.org>
> wrote:
>
> On 6/27/24 13:11, Tony Jones via cctalk wrote:
>> I see so many sellers listing stuff as "used" with poor photos and often
>> some "as-is" disclaimer in the text body. I don't know why sellers do
>> this as eBay is going to force them to take an item back at their own
>> expense.
>
> I see a lot of listings with "not working or for parts" with the tag
> "seller does not accept returns". I don't understand how a seller can
> ask for more than scrap value in these cases, yet I see outrageous
> asking prices.
>
> One born every minute?
>
> --Chuck
Simple answer: price is what a buyer will give for the item, and the seller
will accept. It is a psychological thing, not an objective metric and not a
constant or anything that can be determined by analyzing what the item is.
For example, consider "luxury goods". The WSJ a few days ago had an article
about luxury handbags (Hermes, I think), which have a list price of $12k or so,
can be immediately resold on the used market for almost double that, but cost
perhaps $1k to make.
Conversely, an RK05 may have had a list price over $10k new, a parts cost
certainly of several thousands of dollars, a cost to reproduce that I can't
guess at but is bound to be high, a sentimental value that's all over the map.
But what can you sell it for, if anything? Not much, I suspect.
Those asking prices are simply attempts to see if someone is willing to pay
that. If not, not much harm done, except to the extent that it turns away
people who might be interested at a better price and now won't even bid.
You can call it an attempt to find suckers, but it might also be a realization
that people vary wildly in what they will pay for weird things, and it may also
in part be a case of the seller not having much of an idea about the market.
paul
