Buyers' mentality these day?

[774553]

Warning, this is a rant.

It has come to my attention that it seems that it is increasingly hard to earn a decent net profit* on used items. It appears that buyers like to offer prices that only covers or barely cover the shipping cost, which leave me with nothing or negative balance.

Also does no one realise what the seller had to pay for those items which they are selling? To illustrate that, let use the following example:

I sell games most of the time. Now, when I bought them new in the shop, it cost $100 to $150. Or if they need to be imported, I went to Play Asia and paid for $150 to $200 (not including Shipping). Now, say that I want to make a bundle of them old games (bought from both places), would you not say is fair to price them around $500? Unfortunately, as of today, some idiot offer me $20 for them and call me a troll.

So my question here is, is the idea of trying to get half back from what I paid for is nothing but a fantasy?

Also, base on the formula logic below, it is easier to archive a net profit with a negative value and impossible to archive a positive value, even just for as little as $5 (net profit).   

*in case you don't know what net profit mean. Net profit = selling price - price that the seller had paid - shipping cost

[amber-eyed-girl]

We are all buyers of something, and will look for the best price on things. I value handmade items because I know a lot of thought, work and time goes into it. But most will just see the finished product and price compare on that alone, yes.

[phorum_junkie*]

When I am entering items onto my spreadsheet new items get whatever I paid for them entered in the cost column. For items I bought for myself and have used I enter zero, it doesn't matter to me if it originally cost $5 or $50, I have already had my money's worth out of them so every cent after fees, postage etc is profit as far as I am concerned.

[774553]

Yes, I understood my mistake of selling over the holiday. But my concern here is regarding to paying postage service, which sometime end up paying more than what I got paid for.

[774553]

I think I will move that to a variation listing.

[774553]

Just expect not everyone think the same way?

[774553]

Why would it matter which version is OneChanbara is anyway? All PS3 games play every region these day. Also, I would say that people who translate that game name based on reading the katakana would result in different spelling.

Austpost pre-paid parcel bag for item less than 500g is $8.25

Actually planning to cancel both of them and try a variation listing.

[digital*ghost]

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@774553 wrote:
Just expect not everyone think the same way?

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I don't expect everyone to think the same way - that isn't what I said (or even implied) at all. In point of fact, I fully understand and appreciate that lots of different people have lots of different opinions (if I didn't, it would be virtually pointless for me to hang out in a public discussion forum....or, at the very least, highly frustrating and confronting  ).

What I said was that I have never come across anyone who has thought it was feasible to price an item above market value just because they wanted to make a profit when selling them, after buying them for personal use.

Video games really aren't one of those things that's an investment, very few appreciate in value unless - as mentioned previously - they become hard to find but highly sought. If you bought them used at a certain price, how can you expect someone else to pay more than you did? Your desire to make a profit doesn't make them more valuable. You haven't added any value to them by using them, so what makes them worth more than what you paid for them? 

If you can give me a good reason or answer to those last few questions, maybe I'll be able to understand where you're coming from. 

[kopenhagen5]

DG, some just have wishful thinking and end up realizing in the end that older, wiser members are usually correct.

[heihachi_73]

To a collector, the difference between one version (or region) and another could be a sale or not.

I stopped collecting after the PS2, but take the Grand Theft Auto games for example - if I want to buy a replacement if one of my discs were trashed, I would have to seek out the exact same version as none of them are compatible with one another. Of the five releases on PS2, assuming the PAL versions only and not US, Japan or anywhere else, only two of them are interchangeable: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories.

GTA3 was originally released uncut with the 18+ disc (SLES-50330) and was pulled from the shelves immediately and replaced with a MA15+ version (SLES-50793). The 15+ version is not compatible with the 18+ version as the serial numbers do not match; the PS2 thinks they are two completely different games and you cannot reuse your save file between games. GTA Vice City also did the same thing; 18+ for UK/EU but 15+ for Australia. For PS3, Grand Theft Auto IV on PS3 also did that, the UK imports not being compatible with the Australian ones.

GTA San Andreas was slightly different. The original black label release had program version 1.03, and later Platinum releases had version 2.01 - the catch is, they actually did have the same internal serial number, SLES-52541, but using the wrong version's disc in place of the original could corrupt your saves. To make matters worse, they re-released the game a third time, this time with a regular black label with a red MA15+ on it (not the older MA15+ in a white square), which despite being a black label version with a picture disc, had the version 2.01 program, which is the same as the Platinum version. Ironically, the Australian release(s) of San Andreas was actually uncut and is identical to the 18+ versions overseas. You really had to know which version you were getting for these games, unless it was the first time you were buying it.

And as I said about postage, people are often turned away when sellers only offer Parcel Post. Yes, anyone can simply walk up to the post office with the game in hand, buy a 500g satchel, put the game straight in and mail it away, but not only is it significantly more expensive to post games that way, and it doesn't offer any padding against rough handling somewhere between the post office and the buyer's address. And it will happen eventually.

PS3 games usually weigh about 90-110g (unless the manual is thick or has half a dozen languages; some can push up the weight to around 200g); there is no need whatsoever to put it in a 500g satchel in the first place. PB2 or PB3 bubble mailer (padded bag/Postpak or whatever AP calls them), 2 stamps, registered post, sent for under $7. Or if you must, a B4 Registered Post envelope for $6.50, but I do not recommend sending games in paper envelopes without any padding as bad things can happen to game cases when thrown around by Australia Post and its contractors. I buy 160x230mm DVD bubble mailers in bulk on eBay which cost next to nothing individually which is how I can afford to send my games for $2, $3 and $7.50. I also offer tracking via Registered Post if someone requests it (for more expensive items I send with tracking/signature anyway).