Premium prices on eBay

[bcla]

So I'll preface this by saying my kid's favorite movie is Cars, along with the rest of the franchise. I'll periodically go to discount stores looking for different diecast toys that my kid currently doesn't have. Also - none of this is for collecting in the package. Each and every one gets opened and played with. I've resorted to getting discontinued items on eBay, as well as the limited Chase and Super Chase models. Sometimes the prices have been better than the original price in stores, since sometimes sellers are trying to get rid of inventory.

However, when I was checking today, I saw something odd. One guy was selling a set of all seven currently available "Ice Racers" series cars for a price over $120. Now my kid already has the full set since they're readily available at Target for $5 + tax each. I'm not quite sure what to make of this. It seems like the seller is looking for someone gullible enough to pay more than 3x the retail price (plus shipping) of a readily available item.

 

[Sosai X]

Simply resellers hoping to score an easy cash grab from uninformed or impulsive buyers. The worst mark ups are in Disney pins, where ones sold for $15 dollars on average appear on ebay the next morning listed for hundreds of dollars.

 

[cbreg1]

The Haunted Mansion Dooney purses are another example.

 

[figment_jii]

Sadly, I general agree with the PPs. Unfortunately that is how things often work on eBay. Seller hope that folks don't know enough or do enough research to determine which items are still/readily available and which are truly hard to find/rare/collectible. That's one of the most common bits of advice about eBay: know what you are buying before buying it. Mark-ups, like that one, is not uncommon and it's not limited to Disney items. There are plenty of eBay sellers that are fine (the majority, I would think), but there are some that make you wonder...

 

[bcla]

The Haunted Mansion Dooney purses are another example.

I had to look that up. I actually understand that dynamic. Apparently a lot of people snatched them up quickly, driven by speculation and an annual release schedule. Those sold out within days and were no longer available until the next release in a year.

What I saw was a product that is on store shelves, remains on store shelves in large quantities, and is in no danger of selling out. Now I get that some people may not live near a store selling them, but I saw some sellers with individual pieces for $8. That seems like a reasonable premium if location is an issue.

Actually - I looked on Amazon and there are quite a few independent resellers that are charging almost 3x for these, even though they're in no way hard to find.

 

[mesaverdefan]

On the flip side, many items that don't sell well at the parks or Disney Store can see deep discounts on ebay. If someone is willing to pay that much for the cars, which is unlikely, but if they do, then there is demand for the cars at that price. Disney has no problem making dollars on the penny, the seller is just following Disney's lead.

 

[bcla]

On the flip side, many items that don't sell well at the parks or Disney Store can see deep discounts on ebay. If someone is willing to pay that much for the cars, which is unlikely, but if they do, then there is demand for the cars at that price. Disney has no problem making dollars on the penny, the seller is just following Disney's lead.

I think the deal is that most of the potential buyers could probably easily buy them at retail prices, but many haven't seen them before or know where to look. Then they might first see it on eBay or Amazon and pay an inflated price because of some perception that it's rare or discontinued. The other thing is that the shipping cost was way too high, so I think the seller was probably making a steep profit on shipping.

I've seen crazy stuff with $2 bills. I get them at a bank typically. The serious collector understands that they are pretty common and where to find them. None would pay a premium even for a crisp set. Once I had a few and one guy asked if I'd sell them to him. He said that would resell them to his brother for $5, since this brother was convinced they were some sort of collector's item that was worth a premium price.

 

[bcwife76]

I did a search for those new Starbucks Disney mugs - people are asking $50+ on ebay for them!! And then shipping is another $20+!!!! Crazy. No thanks!

 

[bcla]

I found something to top this, although it's not Disney per se. I was looking around for Chuck E Cheese tickets to see if maybe I could get a head start on a toy my kid wants. I'd consider them if someone was trying to unload redemption tickets cheap.

I saw a whole bunch of offers for ticket and tokens. Quite a few were for current tickets and or tokens. Some were for "vintage" instruments as collectibles. However, I saw this one for a single ticket and a cheap 4x6 frame. It was marketed as a "vintage" ticket even though it seems to be the current version. This isn't my auction, so I hope posting this (for entertainment purposes only and not as a solicitation) is OK.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Vintage-C...512?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c4d957808