Why do so many sellers not check comps?

[quadcitypickers]

It blows my mind how many sellers don't bother looking up items before pricing them, and they are probably the same ones on these boards complaining that sales are dead.

If I need an exact item, say an Apple 543C (example), and 5 sellers are selling them new for $32-$44, guess which ones aren't going to sell? The 7 other sellers listing them for $87-$112.

No color variations, revisions, etc, but they probably saw the same item at a store for $124.99 and think that $112 "is a steal" when 100 of them have sold, all under $60.

If you put two Walmart stores next to each other, and charged double at the other store, which one is going stay open? The answer is rather obvious.

IDK if people are pricing things high so they can make a print out for their garage sale "proving" their item is "worth" twice as much as it actually is, or whatever.

[jda12121]

Not exactly sure what business that is of yours?

[membersinceaug2001]

Not all buyers are going to see all the items.  I have higher priced items sell all the time.  I don't copy what others are doing, what makes them so right?

[inhawaii]

I do when i list something.

And i try to check comps periodically but you know how that goes.  You get busy an forget to. 

The best thing is where you have no comps.  You are the only one selling that item.  😃

[2013grotz]

Same reason why so many post in here that they aren't aware of ebay's fee structures.   They really don't know or don't care to know.  They just price the item at what they think it's worth, instead of something based in reality.  But as you will see in the other comments, sellers set their own prices within their own realms and if things don't sell, they don't care.  (I run into this myself when I mention "cost structures", and people blithely tell me to raise my prices, but if I do so, my items would be by far the most expensive.)

[2013grotz]

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@inhawaii wrote:

The best thing is where you have no comps.  You are the only one selling that item.  😃

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Assuming you got the demand.  I have had many many items on ebay like that, yet no takers and I've ultimately had to either throw the items away or give them away.

[discountmagz]

Make an offer. Prices do fluctuate especially if you have a lot of items in your store. Of Corse you do have to take into consideration how much you spent for the item. Then again if it sits too long let it go. Make an offer has made me comfortable as a seller. The buyer feels like they always got a deal and they usually are satisfied. 

[assortedcollectibles]

There is some strange psychology involved with pricing. Sometimes buyers don't want an item if it is too cheap because they feel they are somehow above it, some may be thinking that "there has to be something wrong with it" or "it must be a scam". Checking sold listings you will often find huge differences in pricing for the same item. Maybe they are just gambling for that one buyer who does not do his reseach and is happy to pay above average market value just to be over with his quest, then there are those sellers who are happy to "wait it out" because they know the market for what they are selling and know that supply will dwindle and with time the item sell for what they want. I have sold items that were priced above average listing price before because i knew the market better than the other sellers.

[pikabo-icu]

Isn't it wonderful that eBay allows us to set our own prices.

We can price way under, way over or about the same as other comparable items. 

Enjoy that while you can one never knows when eBay will start deciding that for us too. 

I look at other sold items not listed but I price my items according to what I want to sell them for- if they sell great if not that's ok too. Perhaps I'll lower them eventually or perhaps I'll raise them just for grins.  

[kawe-4254]

Hope that teaches you to shop only on eBay!

[farmalljr]

There are more factors to pricing, other than what someone else might be selling it for.  Those who think of nothing but the "cheapest price" do not understand what OTHER value there is in the whole of the sale. 

There is plenty to be said on this subject, but I'm afraid this would be a casting "pearls before swine" kinda thing. If you just want the cheapest price, then eBay offers filters for that. Not everyone is in a race to the bottom on pricing, and may offer more for your money, then the person selling at the lowest price. 

[rah-8679]

I sold an item for $100 the other day which had comps for $50.  The others were probably quick sales, and those sellers got their inventory sold first.  Some people are comfortable waiting.

[slippinjimmy]

When I'm listing I do compare, I generally try to set my prices in the lower third of the range.

That said, the "lower third" when I am checking may not be the lower third a month later after new listings from other sellers appear.

I could use software to  constantly scan and automatically reset my prices but this tends to lead to a race to the bottom which is something I don't want to get involved in.

[gracieallen01]

Of course, there are many  buyers that say to themselves, "One often gets what they pay for.  If you don't pay anything for something, you don't get anything or very much."

How many of those cheap ones are returns that were sold on that last pallet - wholesale?

[tdumonde2014]

Shhh. It makes the good sellers stand out and it makes their prices hard to beat.