Is ridiculous pricing here hurting the more reputable and honest sellers?

[usgrant18642008]

Anyone else think that ridiculous price points hurts Ebay's reputation - and, in turn, all legit sellers here?

Examples: a price of .99 - with something like $9.99 shipping costs - for a small item. 

Or $300+ for Atari 2600 game cartridges, which were loosely tied to the "burial" of several Atari cartridges several years ago. The cartridge was not even part of the dump of games, but the seller wrote about it, IMO, to dupe buyers into thinking that the cartridge for sale was somehow special. 

I'm all for a seller getting what they can, but be let's real about it. And yes, no one is forcing folks to make a purchase, but if silly prices are rampant all over Ebay, I think folks are going to stop looking.

[dhbookds]

Ridiculously low prices probably keep more buyers here than chase them away........which can hurt sellers........but it's part of the game...........and the alternative is?  Ebay sets price ranges..........I don't think any seller would want that, at least small sellers...........

[rolenboy01]

I only feel it's a problem if a bunch of sold listings show a bunch of ridiculously high or low prices that do no refect the true value of an item.

[plumbingspecials]

Pricing IS what keeps buyers coming here, and it's the main component in competitive marketing.

No, it's not hurting sellers. 

[annadryl]

This has been going on since the beginning, and it's everywhere, not just ebay. Not even just in ecommerce. Think much bigger.

[traderbob444]

No, no, no.  I do not think that ridiculous prices for items or for shipping hurts eBay, or hurts any good seller, or buyer.  I have seven eBay accounts that I sell on and also use a couple of those to buy.  Before I list any item, I search all of the similar items to compare what they are asking, and more importantly what they have actually sold for.  I love to see ridiculously high prices and asinine shipping charges.  I can easily beat most of them, on the same items.  This is very helpful to me, and I believe beneficial to eBay, to sellers, and to buyers.  Is this what they call laissez-faire capitalism?  

[usgrant18642008]

Lots of good points. I think where it might hurt is with new, casual  buyers. If they came here looking for something and only saw a few items and they were way overpriced, they might think EBay is a joke. Otherwise, ya, I think my selling price would be a lot more appealing if someone had the same item priced

10x higher.

[emerald40]

I agree.  Shipping on small items - 6 ounces - in my category can reach up to 9.99 for economy.

I immediately hit the back button and go on the other E where it is 2.67.

[traderbob444]

In my opinion, there is only one way to tell the  "True Value" of an item.  It is when one person agrees to pay the price that another person is asking, or in other words, "sold items".  The only "true value" I care about is what items sell for on eBay, (and the flea market), not the so called "guides".   My estimate of the "true value", at least on eBay is to work out the average of all of the "sold" items.  Not meaning to criticize your input though.   This has been a pet peeve of mine over the last 40 years.

At the flea market, people are always stating prices, and when I say that it to high, they respond with "that is what it is worth".  The worth, or value to me is only when what I am willing to pay equals what they are willing to let it go for.  

Bob Hill