How to set pricing?

[katterfelt0]

I recently had an exchange with a member who wanted to buy something and I happened to have that item. I had no idea what to charge. I looked online everywhere I could think of to see the going market value and found nothing. I quoted a price I thought was fair based on the scarcity of the item, and he said he didn't want to pay that much.

I know the best way to handle this is to negotiate with the buyer and try to come to a consensus. My question is how to set the initial price. I had no clue.

Any suggestions?

[Tarotist]

Tell us what the item is. I bet lots of know alls here will tell you what it is worth.

[Syd]

Tell us what the item is. I bet lots of know alls here will tell you what it is worth.

Or maybe there are people here who can provide guidance as to where to look. Or whom to ask about it. For example, I know an individual who has a complete collection from P&L. He is, imo, an expert and can tell you an accurate price or range for a piece. And that is likely true for many manufacturers. But hey..l maybe that just makes me a know it all.

[katterfelt0]

Tell us what the item is. I bet lots of know alls here will tell you what it is worth.

In this particular case it's Asi Wind's Chapter One. I posted in response to the buyer's inquiry stating I had no idea how to price it, and no responses regarding that pricing were forthcoming.

It's sort of a non-issue now for that item, but I'd like to know resources for further inquiries.

[Joe Lyons]

Assuming you've tried several online used magic bookstores and a few auction sites utilizing their sold button, you can also search forums such as this one where they've been sold in the past. Google, of course, sometimes serves up previous sales.

Even if you find one for sale, sometimes the prices on Abe books and eBay are ridiculous anyway. As my horse trading grandfather used to say - asking ain't getting. If you price one similarly you might find yourself holding it indefinitely.

After you have exhausted other resources, you basically have three choices.

1) Make a guess and price it.
2) Hold on to it until you're able to find it elsewhere.
3) Put it on eBay at a starting bid for a dollar, for long enough to attract some eyeballs. That usually fetches a fair price.

First, however, I would email the gentlemen running the used magic book sites and ask them. They are all a bunch of nice individuals.

[kkelly]

i agree with joe. ask the pros. and then...go with your gut. just because your prospect didn't want to pay "that much" doesn't mean it wasn't a fair price. as you said, the fact that you are not finding any current market info on your book MAY mean that it's in such high demand that no one wants to let go of their copies. or, it might mean that the publisher underestimated demand and not enough books were printed. who knows!

[Edward Pungot]

When you have an item that everyone wants and at the moment you are the only one willing to part with one, you have a better chance of getting a more than fair price for the item if it goes on auction.

Why? I think asking for a high price up front is too ballsy a move, too aggressive a strategy where the potential buyer will naturally want to lower the price in a sort of negotiation mode. In other words, too time consuming and back and forth barging to reach a middle ground.
Better to set a ridiculously low price and have plenty of eyes see the item and have the scarcity of the item naturally drive the price to the desired price. A lazier-fairs sort of approach where you let the market do it’s thing. But this only works for scarce items. As long as you are the only one at the moment who is selling, let the impersonal auction format drive the price for you.

As Dustin has mentioned on another post and John from Aladdin Books has mentioned to me when asked a similar query: “In the end the price is whatever a willing buyer is willing to pay and a seller willing to take.” And to add my own 2 cents if using an auction platform such as eBay: They too will want their cut.

[Tom Gilbert]

You do need to be careful, a lot will try to lowball you. I had a couple of people interested in a Lassen set I have, one offered less than I pait and I know Lassen right now is commanding (yes, and getting) high prices.

[lotcaster]

Amazon has a free service called "Terapeak" that lets you see what specific items sold for over the past year. It looks like a copy of that particular item sold once in the past year. It is a good place to start when seeing what prices the market will bear.

[katterfelt0]

Amazon has a free service called "Terapeak" that lets you see what specific items sold for over the past year. It looks like a copy of that particular item sold once in the past year. It is a good place to start when seeing what prices the market will bear.

Thank you. That's exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for.
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Edit: Wow! An eBay listing for the booklet sold for $139.50!

[lotcaster]

Amazon has a free service called "Terapeak" that lets you see what specific items sold for over the past year. It looks like a copy of that particular item sold once in the past year. It is a good place to start when seeing what prices the market will bear.

Thank you. That's exactly the sort of thing I'm looking for.
________________________________________________________
Edit: Wow! An eBay listing for the booklet sold for $139.50!

Oops, sorry, Terapeak is an eBay service, not an Amazon one. Sorry about that!

[katterfelt0]

Oops, sorry, Terapeak is an eBay service, not an Amazon one. Sorry about that!

No worries. I found it.