I figure without the ebay tax the market price here would be at least 10% less. Can anyone comment on the difference in market price between ebay and e4wtb?
It depends. I think for stuff that you can find regularly on eBay, that sounds about right. For rarer items, you’ve got to make an offer that would make a seller actually want to sell their card. This is especially true if the item hasn’t popped up on eBay in a while.
11 Likes
Ebay sellers are also wise to the fact that state tax is now automatically added on eBay purchases, while it is not for PayPal. If I’m buying on eBay I’m paying 8.875% tax, so I could pay MORE off eBay and be happy!
10 Likes
Sounds about right, however, most people opt to buy here because of the pool of collectors and their ability to find items rather than to get a “better deal” than eBay.
Just make fair offers because the people here will in turn support the community as a whole.
E4 is not a marketplace. We aren’t set up to be one and we don’t want to be. The buy section is provided as a convenience and aid to members.
There isn’t a set market value difference between eBay and E4. For some items you can have sellers who will happily sell to a respected E4 member for a price lesser than market value because it expedites the sale of an item and they know there will likely be no issues with the purchase. For many other items, especially rare ones, good luck coming here and getting the largest group of serious collectors to sell to you for under market value. This is how you get quickly ridiculed. Also keep in mind that if an item is on eBay, then it’s a seller looking for a buyer. On E4, you’re a buyer looking for a seller. This means you should expect to pay more in order to entice cards out of people’s stocks.
Long story short, if you want to utilize the buy section, make compelling offers for the cards you want. If you’re nickel-and-diming over 10%, you likely will have a significantly lower success percentage.
29 Likes
Depending on the rarity and scarcity of the item, it usually takes a strong offer to persuade the most dutiful members. You’re more likely to find below market value deals on eBay.
1 Like
you gotta love those people who post WTB posts and lowball all the offers on big items and defend it with “it doesn’t hurt to try.”
5 Likes
I am not asking about the nature of market price for nefarious purposes.
3 Likes
What if I come to get ridiculed? Don’t you kink shame!!!
It is funny to see WTB gone wrong.
6 Likes
On ebay people are looking to sell. On e4 people are looking to buy. The negotiation and power dynamic is totally inverted.
For something that has many sales and a well defined and stable pricepoint, the minus fees rule is pretty reasonable. For something rarer or in high demand, trying to get the best deal is the best way not to acquire the item. I’ve seen so many WTB thread fail because of this
edit: didn’t really read the responses before I wrote my own and I guess most of my points have already been brought up lol. I guess it just shows you most people agree with this opinion
13 Likes
FourthState always is negative, and a negative one to have in this community.
Fourthstar is correct*
You might think that, but then you’ll hear people here claim you’d need to pay a 10-20% premium from the last/highest sales price since you’d be prying it from their collections. Best thing to do is just put out your buy price and ignore all the extra noise. If you don’t get bites on your asking price, you can bump it after a week with an updated pricepoint.
5 Likes
a true friend will not sugar coat a message to make you feel better, the truth hurts 
2 Likes
Even for regularly available items I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect sellers to give buyers the full 10% discount. Why would the seller give 10% off, provide a means for the buyer to avoid taxes, and get no benefit in return? The buyer gets the tax savings, the seller gets the extra 10% in eBay fee savings, and that makes it a win-win for both.
6 Likes
As someone who generally shares his point of view, he is a much needed moderator. I’m curious, where are you getting the information to make such statements?
I came here to post this exact same thing! There has to be an incentive for the seller to sell, other than not paying eBay fees. If at the end of the day, the seller here nets only as much as he would of by selling on eBay for a higher price minus fees, there is zero incentive for him to sell. The best way to locate a card is to not only make it a beneficial buy for the buyer and looking out for yourself, but also a financial incentived sale for the seller other than what he could get on eBay.
1 Like
this is gonna be good
I don’t think there is much else to gain from this discussion. Moderators? Mom?
Both of you pretty much hit the nail on the head. As a buyer you are already saving on sales tax even without the 10% price reduction, so I don’t think it is realistic to expect people to sell here for what they would get on ebay after fees anyway.
1 Like