Sorry to sound like a broken record here, but just because you're "baffled" by the price of something or you think it's "unreasonable" doesn't make it the wrong price. It's dead simple really, going rate = what someone is prepared to pay for it. Someone could conceivably set a price of $1000 for Pincher and that obviously sounds absurd to us, but if someone buys it for $1000 then too bad for us!

You could use any example you like, but the same rules apply. You could say it was freak or a one off, but that is irrelevant as there is no set market value for items like this, which have long since disappeared from store shelves.

Also, I seriously doubt BBTS dropped the price of Henkei Strafe because they thought it was a bad representation of the character from G1. I mean, honestly is that what you think? BBTS (or any other online store or eBay seller) is not a charity. They don't look at their products and think 'gee, we are selling lots of Henkei Strafes for $120 but he sure doesn't look much like that dude he's named after from G1. I feel bad for charging so much for him. I know, let's drop the price by over 50% to appease our consciences'.

The truth is that if he was selling at $120, as you claim (how do you know this btw?) then they would not have dropped the price. He went down to $41 or whatever it was because he wasn't selling for $120. Therefore the going rate was not as high as the asking price.

Please tell me I'm getting through to someone here.

 

Agreed. I need Classics Ramjet to complete my seekers but have yet to find one for a reasonable price. Last week I was watching 5 on ebay and they all went for $50+  

 

Yeah, it's insane. The cheapest on Amazon is $79.79

Heck, I'd be better off getting the Igear MP version for only a few bucks more.

 

Ok, I got the G1 Dreadwind which was in a pretty neat state..I'd say 75 (10 points off for a broken off tab ) for about € 35, without weapons and without the little Powermaster figure.

Fortunately I'm not a completist, I don't care for the weapons nor the Powermaster figure.

However, gauging Ebay prices for Dreadwind's Powermaster figure, prices range from € 25 up to € 45.

So, when I say the pricing for this Powermaster accessoire is 'overpriced', I mean it's a warped/skewed price, in relation to the main figure itself.

 

Wow.

The reason it wasn't SELLING at that price anymore is because collectors weren't buying it, the most popular reasons were price, and poor representation of character. I realize that with a nitpicker I should have spelled out everything explicitly, but I thought for the briefest second that a human mind could apply a little reading comprehension. That'll teach me.





Now back to the subject. Too bad for us isn't good enough. In the interim after posting the Pincher example, I was looking around for another one of my long lost childhood bots on ebay whom I will not name til after the auction so I have a better chance at landing this guy, and found where almost every one posted was well over $125 for near complete, pushing $200 for complete. One was going for under $50. So "going rate" and "too bad for us" don't really apply unless you happen to be one of the sellers asking said price. What applies is the fact that people are willing to shell out triple digits for stuff that will come up for half that if you are patient.

Which, ironically enough, leads us back to the heart of the OP.

 

I'm sorry, but your arguement is still based on the concept of what you think the price should be in your opinion. There is no such thing as a 'correct' price here. There can't be a reasonable outcome in this discussion if you continue to attempt to ram home your misguided whining that 'things are too expensive'. Complain about it all you want, but it IS too bad if the price is more than you want to pay. Someone else will pay it and more luck to them.

 

As a dirty rotten no good eBay seller, I kind of enjoy when stuff goes up to ridiculous prices   (fondly remembers stack of Target exclusive clearance Bruticus Maximi)  

 

So...who's going to stop overpaying thanks to this thread?

Raise your hands.

 

Whoever does, I'll probably just outbid them by a penny.

 

I say it pays off to get to know a seller. I got a complete and basically mint doubledealer for 60 dollars, including the powermasters, another guy wanted to charge me around 100 bucks. there are always those who charge too much, and always those who will do what they can to be as fair as possible for both sides.

 

no, your not getting through. because the point of the thread is for people to STOP being "that person" who pays those prices. if we all STOP being "That person" Than prices like that go away. your the one missing the point of this entire thread.

 

No, if we all stop being 'that person' then another person will come along and buy it instead. You will never be able to buck a trend like this on such a mass scale. Whatever you guys can't afford or aren't willing to pay, someone else is.

Look, I don't think that certain items are worth what they sell for either! But my opinion (or anyone else's) don't mean shit in the context of a free market where people can sell and buy for whatever they like.

It's no good sitting around complaining that a tiny piece of 20 year old plastic is costs $500 (or whatever). The fact is, everything has its price and we can't control that, however much we might like to.

 

Two crazy ideas:

1. Use the food coop model -- members buy in, use collective group buying power to affect prices.

2. Hasbro re-releases the shit out of Classicsverse toys to destroy price points in the 2ndry market.

 

You better not or I might have to make a thread about it  

I think the funniest thing about prices going as high as they do is that 20 years from now you know some idiot is gonna try to sell Tuner Mudflaps for $100 a pop on eBay.

 

  W....What? If everyone stops doing something.... more people will come along to do it??? where are they coming from? Is the universe creating these people for the sole purpose of driving up prices?

 

Well, trying to get into the G1 market now or within the last couple of years you WILL fork over money period. Its supply and demand pure captialism. Some people will always have more money than you and they will pay double sometimes just to get a desired item.

 

I generally don't worry about buying vintage g1 items anymore due to the speculation. It's all in what you are willing to pay.

 

There's two psychological words for this.

1) Genovese effect also know as bystander effect or diffusion of responsibility.

2) Irrational escalation, it's how people get into bidding wars and pay more for items then they are truly worth.

Ebay is ripe for diffusion of responsibility as people assume that "some guy" is "always" going to irrationally pay high prices so you might as well buy when it's high versus extremely high. Basically rationalizing irrational behavior. Psychology is better at talking about these situations then solving them but it does have one solution. Awareness. Which hopefully this thread succeeds at doing.

 

Exactly. I know the original post is long and a bit disorganized, but you obviously read through the rest of this thread and the responses both from myself and everyone else, so thank you for doing that.

A lot of people are misreading the thread completely or reading the OP or the last few posts and basing their response off that alone, then pointing the finger at me for "whining", misunderstanding markets/economics, spending too much/too little money, buying parts for the wrong reasons, wanting prices to drop - none of that is the point of this thread nor are they the reason this thread was made. The toys & accessories mentioned are only meant to illustrate an example.

All I have been trying to accomplish is raise awareness, and possibly drive some patience, common sense, etc. into all of us so we don't continue this irrational behavior and suffer because of it.