And here's why I hate ridiculously priced Buy It Nows even with Best Offer...
bounce
Posts: 1,094 ✭✭✭
We've talked about this some before, but here's a perfect example of why I almost never submit Best Offers on ridiculous Buy It Now prices on listings.
So tonight, I do a search and find the following:
Don Nottebart signed baseball with his no hitter inscription
Don Nottebart Signed Baseball - $225 OBO
As a guy who collects the Colt 45s / Astros no-hitter autographs, I realize this is actually a somewhat tough find. It's easy to find signed cards and such of him, but baseballs are harder.
Before you bother to look him up, he played for 5 teams over 10 years, was 36-51 with a mid-3s ERA career. This no hitter was literally the only thing, other than also giving up Willie Mays 500th career home run.
I see it, and it's ridiculous Buy It Now price of $225! But, it has best offer and it's something I'd love to add to my collection so I figure I'll break my usual rule which would be to just mark it in my watch list and move on until the price came down on relist or got switched to auction at some point.
Now I figure my initial offer is very likely not going to be enough, but I want to see if I can get a counteroffer so that I know whether they really want to sell it or not. There's actually another one currently listed for auction at $100 which has the no hitter and the Mays 500 HR inscription (why anyone ever asks these guys to inscribe negative things like that I'll never understand, but whatever…).
So I put together my offer of $32, which when combined with the $8 shipping would make it $40 DLVD. That's $40 DLVD for a guy whose best season was 11-8, never appeared in an All Star game or anything like that. He was a journeyman player but he did throw that no hitter for my hometown team.
I hit send on the offer, and it isn't automatically declined so I figure there's a good chance I'll get something back. Fingers crossed...
Well, it didn't take long and I sure did get something back. Here it is (I cleaned it up so I could post it, but it's right there in black and white in my messages):
"You like waisting peoples time @**hole? Get a life you piece of &#!^. BLOCKED"
So, thanks to you sportssigned160! You've reminded me YET AGAIN that if the price is so far beyond anything that could even be considered reasonable, I'm better off just moving along.
And - he had a Greg Maddux signed baseball at $74.99, which I thought was actually not that bad of a price and thought if I could get the Nottebart at a decent enough price, I just might take the Maddux as well.
Learned my lesson I guess. At least he blocked me so he says, so now I don't have to think about it again.
So tonight, I do a search and find the following:
Don Nottebart signed baseball with his no hitter inscription
Don Nottebart Signed Baseball - $225 OBO
As a guy who collects the Colt 45s / Astros no-hitter autographs, I realize this is actually a somewhat tough find. It's easy to find signed cards and such of him, but baseballs are harder.
Before you bother to look him up, he played for 5 teams over 10 years, was 36-51 with a mid-3s ERA career. This no hitter was literally the only thing, other than also giving up Willie Mays 500th career home run.
I see it, and it's ridiculous Buy It Now price of $225! But, it has best offer and it's something I'd love to add to my collection so I figure I'll break my usual rule which would be to just mark it in my watch list and move on until the price came down on relist or got switched to auction at some point.
Now I figure my initial offer is very likely not going to be enough, but I want to see if I can get a counteroffer so that I know whether they really want to sell it or not. There's actually another one currently listed for auction at $100 which has the no hitter and the Mays 500 HR inscription (why anyone ever asks these guys to inscribe negative things like that I'll never understand, but whatever…).
So I put together my offer of $32, which when combined with the $8 shipping would make it $40 DLVD. That's $40 DLVD for a guy whose best season was 11-8, never appeared in an All Star game or anything like that. He was a journeyman player but he did throw that no hitter for my hometown team.
I hit send on the offer, and it isn't automatically declined so I figure there's a good chance I'll get something back. Fingers crossed...
Well, it didn't take long and I sure did get something back. Here it is (I cleaned it up so I could post it, but it's right there in black and white in my messages):
"You like waisting peoples time @**hole? Get a life you piece of &#!^. BLOCKED"
So, thanks to you sportssigned160! You've reminded me YET AGAIN that if the price is so far beyond anything that could even be considered reasonable, I'm better off just moving along.
And - he had a Greg Maddux signed baseball at $74.99, which I thought was actually not that bad of a price and thought if I could get the Nottebart at a decent enough price, I just might take the Maddux as well.
Learned my lesson I guess. At least he blocked me so he says, so now I don't have to think about it again.
0
Comments
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
"How about put a real price on it? I know it's a bit rare, but be serious for a minute. I'm confident there aren't people beating down your door because they've been waiting forever to add another Don Nottebart autograph to their collection.
You've got a Greg Maddux ball at $75, which is definitely a good and fair price. Why would I expect a $40 delivered offer would elicit this sort of response? I was kind of anticipating something like maybe $70-80, maybe even as much as $100 as a counter offer.
But no - you showed your true colors. Good work."
And here's what I get in return:
"Go f%^& yourself. Who the f%^& are you? How about you start getting about 20 bullsh*^ offers a day. On your old @&& sports illustrated that NOBODY WANTS. You want to know the difference between you and I? I make 6 figures a year at my profession, you try and scrape by selling anything you can find to try and stay above the poverty level. I own people like you. Either way, you and your opinion don't amount to $#!^. So go f%^& yourself welfare case. Enjoy your day broke boy. Keep grinding it out.
- sportssigned160"
Good stuff - I'd say it's pretty safe to assume that I will not be the new owner of the Don Nottebart baseball.
"Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean, that really got out of hand fast."
LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!
<< <i>Maybe we should all send this loser some lowball offers on that ball. Sounds like he needs a few more. >>
+1
Doug
Please allow 48 hours for a response from sportssigned160.
Don't want to wait? You can still buy it now.
Your offer :
US $37.00
Shipping:US $8.00
Change your mind? You can retract your offer.
Feedback on Best offer
Want it now?
Buy It Now:US $225.00
Shipping:US $8.00
Time left:23 days 23 hours
Snorto~
<< <i>Maybe we should all send this loser some lowball offers on that ball. Sounds like he needs a few more. >>
I just made an offer of $32.01 (plus $8 shipping).
Dave
<< <i>Couldn't you submit his responses to e-bay and try to get him kicked off for using that kind of language? >>
Indeed.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Thanks! We've sent your offer to sportssigned160.Review Offer Overlay Opened
Thanks! We've sent your offer to sportssigned160.
info
Please allow 4 hours for a response from sportssigned160.
Don't want to wait? You can still buy it now.
Your offer :
US $7.99
Shipping:US $8.00
<< <i>I'm in no way defending the psycho seller, but it was a waste of time to submit a $32 offer on an item with a $225 BIN. I understand (and follow) the logic of submitting a starting offer in order to get a counter that you can weigh, but you can't be that far off the reservation to start. Just my two cents. >>
Believe me, I totally understand what you're saying which is why I usually just move on without doing this sort of thing.
But if you don't mind, could you tell me what you really believe a reasonable price would be a for a Don Nottebart signed baseball?
Who is really "off the reservation" here?
ON ITS WAY TO NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658
"You want to play? You got it b!^ch. Watch how many people I know. Enjoy trying to get paid for sales."
<< <i>Couldn't you submit his responses to e-bay and try to get him kicked off for using that kind of language? >>
I would definitely report it to eBay. Different circumstances but the only altercation I have had with someone on eBay was a lot of cards I bought that were advertised to be in NM condition that showed up looking like a lawnmower had driven over them. After failing to get a refund or anything close to that I negged him. I got a string of emails from him stating he knew were I lived, see you tomorrow (the flight would have cost him 4 figures) etc etc. I eventually got him banned from eBay. I expected him to pop up with a new ebay ID and start badgering me again but that never happened. So yes, I would report it if I were you.
Edited to add:
Your offer price: $35.00
Your terms: --
Offer expires: Aug-31-14 19:07:14 PDT
fingers crossed
Perhaps the seller thought the ball is tough. Regardless, an offer at a little more than 15% of the asking price is only inviting some sort of response and the odds are it won't be favorable. While the seller would be wise to set an auto-decline and avoid the hassle and his response was unnecessary, is it really necessary for others to jump into this and start sending low-ball offers to the seller just to elicit a response or exact revenge?
It is so much easier to just let those that have anger issues pass on by...
<< <i>Let's see. Not taking sides, but Nottebart passed in 2007. Given that it isn't just the past year or so, perhaps he took a page from the Vic Raschi single signed ball book. Raschi did one public signing at a show on October 9, 1988 (I had a box of balls signed) and he passed the following week. I had the box for several years then found out that he was one of the tougher singled-signed Yankees from the hey-day. I ended up wholesaling 10 of them at $2500 shortly after learning of the scarcity. Perhaps Nottebart didn't sign much.
Perhaps the seller thought the ball is tough. Regardless, an offer at a little more than 15% of the asking price is only inviting some sort of response and the odds are it won't be favorable. While the seller would be wise to set an auto-decline and avoid the hassle and his response was unnecessary, is it really necessary for others to jump into this and start sending low-ball offers to the seller just to elicit a response or exact revenge? >>
I voted yes on this.
<< <i>
<< <i>Couldn't you submit his responses to e-bay and try to get him kicked off for using that kind of language? >>
I would definitely report it to eBay. >>
EDIT: I found the link. Let's see what happens.
<< <i>Perhaps Nottebart didn't sign much.
Perhaps the seller thought the ball is tough. Regardless, an offer at a little more than 15% of the asking price is only inviting some sort of response and the odds are it won't be favorable. While the seller would be wise to set an auto-decline and avoid the hassle and his response was unnecessary, is it really necessary for others to jump into this and start sending low-ball offers to the seller just to elicit a response or exact revenge?
It is so much easier to just let those that have anger issues pass on by... >>
My thoughts exactly.
<< <i>Not taking sides, but Nottebart passed in 2007. Raschi did one public signing at a show on October 9, 1988 (I had a box of balls signed) and he passed the following week. I had the box for several years then found out that he was one of the tougher singled-signed Yankees from the hey-day.
Regardless, an offer at a little more than 15% of the asking price is only inviting some sort of response and the odds are it won't be favorable. >>
As I said, I usually don't offer on stuff like this, but we're talking about a guy who didn't spend more than like 3 seasons with anyone, wasn't on a championship team or anything like that. He had a stroke in 1999, passed in 2007, and he wasn't a big show regular anyway. There is a scarcity component for sure.
But you're talking about a Yankee who was a 4X All Star and on 6 World Series winners for probably the most popular team in baseball. Totally different, IMO.
ANYWAY - For what it's worth, I use BIN with best offer on my auctions, and I used to get annoyed at what I considered a low ball offer (which is an OPINION by the way), so I just started using the auto-reject below certain amounts. Saves me the time and hassle, and makes sure anything that gets through is something I'd consider or at least close enough that I could counter.
<< <i>Let's see. Not taking sides, but Nottebart passed in 2007. Given that it isn't just the past year or so, perhaps he took a page from the Vic Raschi single signed ball book. Raschi did one public signing at a show on October 9, 1988 (I had a box of balls signed) and he passed the following week. I had the box for several years then found out that he was one of the tougher singled-signed Yankees from the hey-day. I ended up wholesaling 10 of them at $2500 shortly after learning of the scarcity. Perhaps Nottebart didn't sign much.
Perhaps the seller thought the ball is tough. Regardless, an offer at a little more than 15% of the asking price is only inviting some sort of response and the odds are it won't be favorable. While the seller would be wise to set an auto-decline and avoid the hassle and his response was unnecessary, is it really necessary for others to jump into this and start sending low-ball offers to the seller just to elicit a response or exact revenge?
It is so much easier to just let those that have anger issues pass on by... >>
Sorry, but even what may be thought of as a low-ball offer does not justify the response that this seller gave.
Dave
<< <i>you're talking about a Yankee who was a 4X All Star and on 6 World Series winners for probably the most popular team in baseball. Totally different, IMO.
>>
Not saying they are even close in comparison. Just suggesting how the seller may have come up with his pricing. Look at Raschi signed cards and cuts versus his baseball. Nottebart is cheap in most every other format, but perhaps he didn't sign many balls...
<< <i>looks like more than one guy feels Nottebart's balls are pricey >>
Yes - I saw that one and pointed it out previously
I think that's also too much, but since it's an auction all it takes is 1 bid to prove me wrong
I could link multiple cards that sold for less than $8, and multiples more that didn't sell at all
Not sure what any of that proves
<< <i>Sorry, but even what may be thought of as a low-ball offer does not justify the response that this seller gave. >>
THANK YOU!
<< <i>Nottebart is cheap in most every other format, but perhaps he didn't sign many balls… >>
Could be, they're not just out there all over the place as I don't have him yet on a baseball. I do have cards and 8x10s, none of which cost me over $20. I just dot think it really required that sort of reply right out of the gate. A "no thank you" or just a decline would have been sufficient. Or even a counter at the minimum you'd take, put the decision back to me the potential buyer.
Also, if you take the time to list items, is it really that much more time consuming to send a counter offer? Is your precious time that valuable?
As others have said, you can list for whatever price you want & you can offer whatever price you want. How can anybody argue this?
No matter what that ball is valued at, this seller is way out of line & truly a classless jerk! I will send him my offer, I feel it is my duty to.
<< <i>I can understand why the seller felt that the offer was insulting >>
As I said, I usually just go on my way or hit "watch" and move on.
But I felt like this might be worth the offer, since he had other stuff that was priced really well. Seemed like he knew what he had, but the other prices also made me think he'd be open to some sort of back and forth.
I got that part right obviously, just wasn't the negotiation that I was hoping for! LOL
I really did want the ball if it was a price I could justify, if it had auto-declined that would have been fine. Or even if he just declined, ok fine, or just ignored it altogether. I do that sometimes, too, I just don't reply at all and let the offer expire.
I mean, that's basically exactly why those various options exist right? It takes LONGER to express disdain like this.
I have some serious doubts about that Walking Dead frame that he has.
What? Doesn't he know how wealthy I am!?!?! I'm going to e-mail him and render an opinion on his mother's sexual history!!!
Snorto~
<< <i>Let's see. Not taking sides, but Nottebart passed in 2007. Given that it isn't just the past year or so, perhaps he took a page from the Vic Raschi single signed ball book. Raschi did one public signing at a show on October 9, 1988 (I had a box of balls signed) and he passed the following week. I had the box for several years then found out that he was one of the tougher singled-signed Yankees from the hey-day. I ended up wholesaling 10 of them at $2500 shortly after learning of the scarcity. Perhaps Nottebart didn't sign much.
Perhaps the seller thought the ball is tough. Regardless, an offer at a little more than 15% of the asking price is only inviting some sort of response and the odds are it won't be favorable. While the seller would be wise to set an auto-decline and avoid the hassle and his response was unnecessary, is it really necessary for others to jump into this and start sending low-ball offers to the seller just to elicit a response or exact revenge?
It is so much easier to just let those that have anger issues pass on by... >>
Scott, I hear you and understand where you are coming from. But the other way to look at it is this may be a teachable moment that will discourage such outbursts in the future by demonstrating his bad behavior has clearly been shared with others who were potential customers not likely to do business with him as a result. Reporting the guy and getting him put on time-out will go a long way in making him think twice in the future as well. Creating consequences may, or may not, change their behavior in responding to Best Offers in the future with abuse... but not creating consequences certainly will not change behavior.
Snorto~
How sweet.
IG: goatcollectibles23
The biggest lesson I've learned in this hobby, and in life, is that if you have a strong conviction, you owe it to yourself to see it through. Don't sell yourself, or your investments, short. Unless the facts change. Then sell it all.
Dave
<< <i>Maybe we should all send this loser some lowball offers on that ball. Sounds like he needs a few more. >>
He just got an offer for $19.37
<< <i>I'm in no way defending the psycho seller, but it was a waste of time to submit a $32 offer on an item with a $225 BIN. I understand (and follow) the logic of submitting a starting offer in order to get a counter that you can weigh, but you can't be that far off the reservation to start. Just my two cents. >>
Never understood why its okay for the asking price to be " far off the reservation". .......... But not okay for the offer to be "far off the reservation".
<< <i>looks like more than one guy feels Nottebart's balls >>
<< <i>sportssigned160 has turned down your offer of US $37.00. Make another offer before the item ends.
What? Doesn't he know how wealthy I am!?!?! I'm going to e-mail him and render an opinion on his mother's sexual history!!!
Snorto~ >>
<< <i>Never understood why its okay for the asking price to be " far off the reservation". .......... But not okay for the offer to be "far off the reservation". >>
+3
This type of behavior always struck me as myopic and odd and sad-- and most of all potentially embarrassing; the person has no clue who they are talking to-- it could be a billionaire at the receiving end of their verbal diarrhea and little do they know they are totally playing themselves. Now I'm no Spence or Branca, in fact far from it, but as it stood let's just say if I was as boorish and uncouth as he was, he would have been quite chagrined (I looked him up). But as it was, I had long ago made a solemn vow never to get involved in heated internet beef, so I turned the other cheek and walked.
Just felt compelled to share that as when I read the OP's experience it harkened me back to that one. I'm sure we all have our hysterical travels through ebay stories!
Instagram: mattyc_collection
Sometimes if you make what a person believes to be an insulting offer, you will get this type of response. The better questions to ask are, how long have you been looking for this item and have you seen others.
If the answers were no, then you can understand where the seller came from.
Just throwing out the other side of the argument.
Rich