HOBBY forum or BUSINESS Forum?

[Wickabee]

with cases being so expensive now you really have to sell all you don't want to get some money back, but I understand it can be frustrating when people don't want to even trade.

On the flip side it's frustrating when people say trade only! I have missed out on a few cards because I didn't have anything to trade. I was always willing to pay more then fair price for those cards too!

I will say, I used to be this guy. I refuse to go cash TTM and didn't have PayPal until fairly recently. In that situation, what can I do but say, "Trade only".
While this isn't a trade only site, I have no problem with people here to trade only. I have no problem with trading/selling or even buying/selling. But the people here who are constantly selling and the only time you see them looking to buy or trade is "I'm looking for all your best cards for $1 a piece" or, "I have this Stamkos UD insert. Looking for a Crosby auto in return".

Those people are not here for the hobby. Those people are here for the money and the business and nothing else. It seems to me that there are several non-hobby hobby sites to go to. If you're in it for the business only, go to a business oriented site. If you're here for the hobby, help support the hobby. Nothing is more frustrating for a new collector than seeing every card worth having for sale only.

[Marko]

LOWBALLER should be named as such

just like the MUST SEND FIRST

I think this would work just fine...

sending copies of lowball offers to the mods and if a guy
pops up more then a couple of times he gets a new shiny
element to add to his Username.

[thegenerel]

imo, it can be very difficult to make trades. If I have a card worth a few hundred dollars, I lose patience when people try to offer 5 GU cards in exchange.

[jlai624]

My take, I see this has a hobby and a business forum.

I personally don't like to trade too much for two reasons. I don't have too many traders compared to most people on this site and I decided only to keep a few players. Therefore, I prefer to sell off my other cards to help with the $$ for this hobby. I prefer to buy boxes/packs as opposed to singles because nothing beats pulling a sick card.

I prefer to sell on ebay as well because I find there is a lot of chasing on this forum sometimes. I know there are some better deals on there as opposed to ebay and I've gotten a few, but chasing someone over a trade is a waste of time imo. *Knock on wood* I've had nothing but smooth sailing so far on the bay and that is my preferred method to sell cards in spite of the fees.

[flopfish]

That's the thing that is annoying. I get it if I don't have any cards you want, but if you're here to sell only and absolutely refuse to trade under any circumstances, what are you doing here? Go to Ebay and leave the hobby to the hobbyists..

Those people are not here for the hobby. Those people are here for the money and the business and nothing else. It seems to me that there are several non-hobby hobby sites to go to. If you're in it for the business only, go to a business oriented site. If you're here for the hobby, help support the hobby. Nothing is more frustrating for a new collector than seeing every card worth having for sale only.

Personally, I'd WAY rather sell a card on here than on Ebay any day.

You also don't have to trade to be a hobbyist. Any money from my sports card sales go straight back into the hobby through buying more boxes, cards etc. I'll buy cards just to see what they look like in person. Breakers are key for any one in the hobby. Without them recuperating their funds, you even have a shot at half the cards today. So are people who look to make a profit, because they are still investing into the hobby by taking these cards and keeping good care of them in an attempt to flip them to someone who wants them for their collection, rather than you not doing anything with them. Heck, I'm trying to sell all of my cards so I can do my own case break and when people like this come along I can move them for them and get something in return that would take a ton of time to sell and move it all in one shot. No matter where, what, when, why or how, there will ALWAYS be people looking to make money because they can. What they do in the sports card industry takes a ton of time, effort and motivation that few people have.

Lowball offers can get annoying and frustrating but they also help set a sale value because if they continuously get turned down at that price, then they will have to offer more to get them eventually. If someone is generally nice in the way they talk to me and give me an offer a bit lower than expected, I am way more willing to do the deal with them. (Now I'm going to get nice lowballers on all of my threads )

Every single person on this forum is helping the hobby:

Breakers buying wax gives us a large selection of cards to buy, the collectors fund the breakers' banks to buy wax by buying the cards they want from them, and the profiters take the unwanted cards of one person and turns them into wanted cards for another person, giving collectors the money they need to buy the cards they want from breakers. It's like a food chain, only better and no one gets hurt

The main rule of thumb to anything in the world, including this hobby is to HAVE FUN.

[Sapphire Sports]

I have had no luck on this fourm as far as selling anything. This is how it always starts with the how much question ?? then Will you Trade ?? then 10 or more PMs to get nothing done. I also find tons of tire kickers on this site asking for or looking at items that there entire buckett could not afford. When attempting to make purchase I have made strong legitimate buy offers only to be quoted prices 20% higher then Ebay. I love the concept of the fourm and keep trying but if I want to do business it is ebay all the way.

[netsinah]

I think some people are missing the point. When I drop big bucks on wax (ie. cases of the Cup) I may want to sell to recoup some money which I can then spend on more wax or pay my visa bill which is sky-high due to the wax that's been charged on it. That doesn't mean I'm "using our hobby as a way to make money rather than an actual hobby" (to quote the OP). So I don't think all people who sell cards should be branded as "running a business".

I've had several people look at my bucket and erroneously think I'm running a business, since they've asked me for an invoice as part of a deal...

Secondly, some people seem to think it's their "right" to get a trade...or their expectation is that they MUST be able to convert some cards that are meaningless to them, into something GREAT they want in their PC. Sorry but that only works if you've got something "EQUALLY GREAT" that the other side sees as a fair trade for what they've got. I've run out of fingers and toes to count on...when it comes to the number of times I've been asked to "check my bucket" and when I look at the other person's bucket, nothing exceeds $50 in book value...whereas the card I'm asked to trade is worth several hundred dollars in SALE VALUE. So the expectation is that I'll miraculously find interest in 10 cards which might (might) add up to the value of my card and usually NONE are in the wants I've listed in my signature...and somehow that has a chance of being a fair trade. When I respond saying there's nothing of interest, I often hear "oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained"...sigh. I know other people share my sentiments, based upon many of the postings I see on the Board which contain introductory comments saying "please read carefully, these are my wants and none other" and "I will not check buckets". Obviously these collectors have wasted too much time in the past and want to find serious collectors who will actually work on a fair trade and not simply have the attitude of "let's throw this at the wall and see if it sticks".

Finally, I've actually offered to pay cash to other Board members for cards that I want for my PC. After all, these are PC cards. I remember one such offer a couple of years ago for a grouping of higher end cards. The seller responded by saying: "Finally, an actual offer." or words to that effect. He then went on to tell me how much time he'd burned up dealing with people who expected "something for next to nothing".

So that's the end of my rant. Just my two cents worth, but a different perspective than some of the posters on this thread. All I ask is that anyone trying to trade make an honest effort at a fair trade and not simply think of yourself and your wants...but keep in mind there's another side that has to be satisfied before any trade will get off the ground.

[mrveggieman]

I didn't read the whole thread but even though this is a "hobby" it is a billion dollar industry and a lot of people involved have dreams of a big payday. Unfortunately the average joe will not be able to retire by 21 selling sports cards but if they know what they are doing and have a bit of luck can make a couple of dollars selling cards. That being said if you only want to sell cards you should specify cards only for sale not currently accepting trade offers at this time.

[bojohnson]

Personally, I'd WAY rather sell a card on here than on Ebay any day.

You also don't have to trade to be a hobbyist. Any money from my sports card sales go straight back into the hobby through buying more boxes, cards etc. I'll buy cards just to see what they look like in person. Breakers are key for any one in the hobby. Without them recuperating their funds, you even have a shot at half the cards today. So are people who look to make a profit, because they are still investing into the hobby by taking these cards and keeping good care of them in an attempt to flip them to someone who wants them for their collection, rather than you not doing anything with them. Heck, I'm trying to sell all of my cards so I can do my own case break and when people like this come along I can move them for them and get something in return that would take a ton of time to sell and move it all in one shot. No matter where, what, when, why or how, there will ALWAYS be people looking to make money because they can. What they do in the sports card industry takes a ton of time, effort and motivation that few people have.

Lowball offers can get annoying and frustrating but they also help set a sale value because if they continuously get turned down at that price, then they will have to offer more to get them eventually. If someone is generally nice in the way they talk to me and give me an offer a bit lower than expected, I am way more willing to do the deal with them. (Now I'm going to get nice lowballers on all of my threads )

Every single person on this forum is helping the hobby:

Breakers buying wax gives us a large selection of cards to buy, the collectors fund the breakers' banks to buy wax by buying the cards they want from them, and the profiters take the unwanted cards of one person and turns them into wanted cards for another person, giving collectors the money they need to buy the cards they want from breakers. It's like a food chain, only better and no one gets hurt

The main rule of thumb to anything in the world, including this hobby is to HAVE FUN.

Only problem is, I find it can be hard to sell cards here
People want specific things, and its hard to find a buyer(partially because the layout, finding interest in a big pool of sellers and buyers)

[Wickabee]

LOWBALLER should be named as such

just like the MUST SEND FIRST

I think this would work just fine...

sending copies of lowball offers to the mods and if a guy
pops up more then a couple of times he gets a new shiny
element to add to his Username.

I don't mind getting lowball offers. Sometimes that's just what it takes to get the ball rolling.

Too many people treat sellers on this site as if they are Wal-Mart. I have trouble finding people who will negotiate. A couple of my past deals I've actually had to save from the start because the other party said, "We're too far apart to ever work something out." Funny thing is, we eventually did.

At least those guys were eventually willing to talk, nothing irks me more than getting a message looking for a price / trade value for a card and replying to my answer with 'no' or not replying at all. If you're really interested in the card, come back with something. Let's both see where we sit and then decide if it's worth doing something or better to walk away. If you just say 'no thanks' with nothing else (something like, "It's a little more than I want to spend and I'm looking at several possible deals" is great. I understand that) I figure you were looking to flip something, saw a card you figured would sell but left when you figured you couldn't make enough of a profit. My asking prices for selling are always a little high, to allow room for movement. I hate putting out my absolute basement of a price only to get, "Can you knock $10 off that?"

I think that had absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand.