There is no rationale for this large discrepancy.

[sakic92710]

Does anyone else feel the frustration of trying to improve sales when you do a sold search on eBay & find that prices have absolutely no consistency?  This is one of the finest examples I can see to show my meaning.  Look up National Geographic Afghan girl.  The one at the top of the list, in my search, shows it sold for $75.  As you go down the page, you will see prices greatly vary from as low as $7.00.  Several in the $15-35 range.  The one that sold for $75 was listed as new.  One sold for $10 on Mar. 8 - also as new.   Please explain this as if you are convincing a new online seller how to figure out what prices to set your items at to help gain sales.  I'm an online seller for almost 25 years & it makes absolutely NO SENSE to me!   lol  Please do not answer with the standard, "Well, list items at prices that you know will make a profit for YOU."  This does not help if a seller believes they can sell an item for $75 but is competing with others selling it for $10.

[lakefor94]

I know it is disappointing when you think you have a decent $75 item and others have the same listed for $10.

It is what it is, at this time, a $10 item.

[janet9988]

 This does not help if a seller believes they can sell an item for $75 but is competing with others selling it for $10.

A seller would need to adjust their beliefs about pricing down to the 10 dollar range.

[kensgiftshop]

It might have sold for $75, but that doesn't mean the buyer paid for it.

[sakic92710]

How do you claim it is a $10 item when the same item sold today for $75?   lol

[sakic92710]

Why?  Most sell for much more than $10.   2 answers to my question & either is useful at all.   lol

[sakic92710]

And if they did pay for it?     

[chapeau-noir]

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@sakic92710 wrote:

Why?  Most sell for much more than $10.   2 answers to my question & either is useful at all.   lol

---

That's because there IS no 'useful' answer to this. People have wondered why this happens for years. It's like traffic surges on freeways - there's no real explanation for it save for humans being humans.

[sakic92710]

Of course there is an explanation for traffic surges.  More people are driving their vehicles on a certain piece of payment.   😛

[chevymontecarlo88]

Well, list items at prices that you know will make a profit for YOU. 

I sell items (guitars) for a lot more than my competitors all of the time. Why don't you? 

[slippinjimmy]

Rational and eBay, two words I would not associate. No different than wondering why some sellers offer some items.

Three year history on eBay.com

[keziak]

I see this sometimes when a copy of the book is priced really low and auctioned, often with a Buy Now price more in line with other listings.  Maybe they feel that the low price will draw attention and the buyer will pay the higher price to avoid dealing with an auction.

Other than that, wild price differences seem to be the norm here, as it is on Amazon. I've read comments from sellers saying they don't care, they'll wait to get their price. 

[theteamsetguy]

@sakic92710 ,

I would consider the $10.00 and $75.00 sales as outliers. Since several sold for $15 to $35 I would price mine at $25.00 and see what happens.

[kensgiftshop]

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@sakic92710 wrote:

And if they did pay for it?     

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If they did pay for it, they got a better deal then the one listed for $2500.

[sin-n-dex]

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@sakic92710 wrote:

Does anyone else feel the frustration of trying to improve sales when you do a sold search on eBay & find that prices have absolutely no consistency?  This is one of the finest examples I can see to show my meaning.  Look up National Geographic Afghan girl.  The one at the top of the list, in my search, shows it sold for $75.  As you go down the page, you will see prices greatly vary from as low as $7.00.  Several in the $15-35 range.  The one that sold for $75 was listed as new.  One sold for $10 on Mar. 8 - also as new.   Please explain this as if you are convincing a new online seller how to figure out what prices to set your items at to help gain sales.  I'm an online seller for almost 25 years & it makes absolutely NO SENSE to me!   lol  Please do not answer with the standard, "Well, list items at prices that you know will make a profit for YOU."  This does not help if a seller believes they can sell an item for $75 but is competing with others selling it for $10.

---

How are you looking for solds? When I look at my sold history it has some pretty impressive prices, but it was a seller initiated offer which sold for much less (sometimes 30% discount). I think Terapeak has the price it sold at, are you checking solds with that?

I usually price somewhere in the middle of the range, I won't list it for $7 if I see many selling for $25-30, but I'll also assume the one that sold for $75 might have been sitting for a long time and possibly the only one listed at the time it sold. I also look at what they're currently listed at and try to be in the lower part of the range to increase the chances that mine will be the next one sold. Sometimes if it's a rare item the ones for sale are all listed for fantasy prices that no one will realistically pay, but looking at solds they've sold for much less. I like to say "I price items to sell", but I'm aware I have some high priced stuff that will never sell for that price.

C.