What is the best way to determine what price you should ask for when selling vintage. Do you ask for a percentage over your cost? Do you start at or even above comps expecting some negotiation? Or do you price well and stay firm regardless of what you paid?
Personally, I price very close to comps, as determined by the actual card in hand. Sometimes all of the recent comps are poorly centered for the grade, and if my card presents better, it will fetch a bit more. And vice versa. When I see prices 20% or more above market I just keep walking / scrolling. I prefer to price cards to sell and to buy from people who have the same philosophy. There's no need for extensive negotiation on most cards.
What is the best way to determine what price you should ask for when selling vintage. Do you ask for a percentage over your cost? Do you start at or even above comps expecting some negotiation? Or do you price well and stay firm regardless of what you paid?
For me, it depends on what it is. If we're talking about quality vintage cards that are readily in demand, I usually price pretty close to comps on my website and at shows, with a markup on eBay to cover the eBay fee. As Matt mentioned, it's important to consider more than the simple number grade when determining comps, though. The eye appeal for the grade compared to the similar graded cards matters a good deal.
If we're talking about low-demand (or high population vintage) like a nice Steve Carlton rookie, I'll price right at comps on eBay, and usually 10% lower on my website and at shows.
If it's something that just doesn't come up very often, or just something that I like more than I should as a seller, I'll price it over comps. I'm much more likely to sell these via cash offers at shows when I can talk to folks. My philosophy on rare cards is that finding them is the hard part, you can always auction them if you need to.
-Burl
What is the best way to determine what price you should ask for when selling vintage. Do you ask for a percentage over your cost? Do you start at or even above comps expecting some negotiation? Or do you price well and stay firm regardless of what you paid?
I try to do a combo of comps and a certain percentage above what I paid. In my experience there are a fair amount of customers that just will not buy something unless they can negotiate a better price, so I would definitely consider leaving room to negotiate when pricing you items, especially on expensive cards.
