There's a fellow on eBay who's been trying to sell a collection of admittedly rare Bizarre Magic books by Tony Andruzzi for some years now. For $13,000. That's for the Scroll, the Negromicon, and Daemon's Diary. I corresponded with him, suggesting his price is a bit high, but he was confident. It has to be at least four years he's had his auction up.
Well today he's lowered his price to $7,000. Still way to high, but maybe in another four years he'll drop it down to about $3k which someone might actually pay, though nowadays even that may be slightly high.
I see the guy has lowered his price on his Andruzzi collection.
Re: I see the guy has lowered his price on his Andruzzi collection.
I am frequently amazed at how people set prices. There is a guy on the green forum that listed a bunch of things for sale recently. He stated repeatedly that the prices were firm. But the one effect I looked up was cheaper brand new on Penguin. You would think that you would at least see what they are selling for now.
I realize these books by Andruzzi are no longer available. But I just wanted to share an example of pricing that causes me to shake my head.
There is another guy selling a small list of collectibles on that same forum. I made what I thought was a fair offer which he rejected. No big deal. He keeps reposting the same list and has done so for almost a year. You would think after a year you might recognize your prices are too high.
I realize these books by Andruzzi are no longer available. But I just wanted to share an example of pricing that causes me to shake my head.
There is another guy selling a small list of collectibles on that same forum. I made what I thought was a fair offer which he rejected. No big deal. He keeps reposting the same list and has done so for almost a year. You would think after a year you might recognize your prices are too high.
Syd
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Re: I see the guy has lowered his price on his Andruzzi collection.
I am amazed on a weekly basis at some of the prices people ask for items. A prime example was a guy on ebay who was asking $1600 for the Juan Tamariz book Mnemonica. I got in contact with him and said that the book new normally sells for about $60. He replied and said i was wrong and there was 2 copies for sale on Amazon for that price and that it sold on ebay for $1600. I did my research and sure enough he was right!!. Two people bid up to $1600 for the book on ebay and hence everyone else copied suit!.
The truth is that Mnemonica was out of print briefly but was due another printing run.
The truth is that Mnemonica was out of print briefly but was due another printing run.
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https://www.britannicauctions.com/magic-collectibles/
Re: I see the guy has lowered his price on his Andruzzi collection.
I wonder about some of those eBay prices. I think some are run up by shills and then later cancelled. You wouldn’t know it was cancelled. I may be wrong but some of the completed prices make no sense whatsoever. If Juan had signed it in blood it wouldn’t be worth 1600.
Syd
- Richard Kaufman
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Re: I see the guy has lowered his price on his Andruzzi collection.
These sellers who have things posted at crazy prices are not interested in you as a customer.
They are waiting for that one uneducated buyer who comes along once every five or ten years.
They are waiting for that one uneducated buyer who comes along once every five or ten years.
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Re: I see the guy has lowered his price on his Andruzzi collection.
Christopher1979 wrote:I am amazed on a weekly basis at some of the prices people ask for items. A prime example was a guy on ebay who was asking $1600 for the Juan Tamariz book Mnemonica. I got in contact with him and said that the book new normally sells for about $60. He replied and said i was wrong and there was 2 copies for sale on Amazon for that price and that it sold on ebay for $1600. I did my research and sure enough he was right!!. Two people bid up to $1600 for the book on ebay and hence everyone else copied suit!.
The truth is that Mnemonica was out of print briefly but was due another printing run.
I'm not questioning sales of just a few times over the suggested cost of an item. Example: Andy Nymans' book Bulletproof is currently at an asking price from $450-650. Originally sold for $250. No doubt some buyers were speculators. But still, for a person who loves books (as I do), with an interest, 2x or 3x isn't absurd, if one can pay it. I considered it myself, but after some research I decided to go with just copies of Nyman's lecture notes, forgoing the 1/3 or so presented in the new book.
As for Amazon, prices for used books there are absurd. Amazon in general usually isn't a bargain, but for OOP books, forget it
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Re: I see the guy has lowered his price on his Andruzzi collection.
Robert77 wrote:Christopher1979 wrote:I am amazed on a weekly basis at some of the prices people ask for items. A prime example was a guy on ebay who was asking $1600 for the Juan Tamariz book Mnemonica. I got in contact with him and said that the book new normally sells for about $60. He replied and said i was wrong and there was 2 copies for sale on Amazon for that price and that it sold on ebay for $1600. I did my research and sure enough he was right!!. Two people bid up to $1600 for the book on ebay and hence everyone else copied suit!.
The truth is that Mnemonica was out of print briefly but was due another printing run.
I'm not questioning sales of just a few times over the suggested cost of an item. Example: Andy Nymans' book Bulletproof is currently at an asking price from $450-650. Originally sold for $250. No doubt some buyers were speculators. But still, for a person who loves books (as I do), with an interest, 2x or 3x isn't absurd, if one can pay it. I considered it myself, but after some research I decided to go with just copies of Nyman's lecture notes, forgoing the 1/3 or so presented in the new book.
As for Amazon, prices for used books there are absurd. Amazon in general usually isn't a bargain, but for OOP books, forget it
It is understandable to pay over the odds for a magic book as they usually have small print runs and go out of print after a short while. Some people just abuse this fact and have no idea of "real market value". There is every chance that someone will pay well over the market value if they really want a particular book. But, like i said, some sellers abuse this fact and ask for over inflated prices.
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Re: I see the guy has lowered his price on his Andruzzi collection.
Richard Kaufman wrote:These sellers who have things posted at crazy prices are not interested in you as a customer.
They are waiting for that one uneducated buyer who comes along once every five or ten years.
I think you have hit the nail on the head Richard. 9 times out of 10 when i politely tell a seller that what they are asking for a book is way to high, even after i have showed them comparisons,they tell me that i dont know what i am talking about...
Maybe i should not get involved...
Auctions & Consignment for Historic Memorabilia and Collectibles
https://www.britannicauctions.com/magic-collectibles/
https://www.britannicauctions.com/magic-collectibles/
Re: I see the guy has lowered his price on his Andruzzi collection.
Richard Kaufman wrote:These sellers who have things posted at crazy prices are not interested in you as a customer.
They are waiting for that one uneducated buyer who comes along once every five or ten years.
Yeah they're playing the lottery. Once in a blue moon, some inexperienced inpatient collector with deep pockets may drop a fortune for that item.
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Re: I see the guy has lowered his price on his Andruzzi collection.
Now down another $1k to $6,000. Maybe he has some Xmas bills to pay.