What to do when selling a head and being pressured to sell for less!

First of all, there will always be someone on ebay trying to pressure you to give them a bargain. In my experience as a seller, these people never let up, and even afterwards they will give you bad feedback because you didn't give them free shipping or something. The proper response if she keeps pestering you is "I am not selling at this price and if you continue I will report you for harassment." And if she does...do it.

Now, that said, the economy is in a terrible state. All you can do if you are not desperate for money is to decide what your limits are, and if they are not met, put the head away and continue to relist on free sites like the Marketplace until the economy improves or someone buys him.

 

It's true that sales are not going well at the moment, but even so the head is worth more than $99. Hell, the faceup alone is worth $100 and that's even if you can get a slot, selling the head for $99 would mean you're essentially giving hem the head itself for free. O_O

Basically right now you have two options. Option one is to lower your price and accept less than what you paid for the head (though my own personal opinion is that $99 is way too low), option two is to not lower the price and just keep bumping it on the MP or keep listing it on eBay waiting for the right person to come along who's willing to buy it at the price you want. This might take a long time, or it might never happen. Sadly, it's really hard to sell things quickly and for a good price (for the seller) at the moment... but if you'd be taking so much of a loss on the sale that it becomes not worth it, do you really want to sell?

This is kind of a specific topic (you might be told to take it to LJ), but a lot of people are in the same boat right now. Good luck!

 

i don't think you should succumb to the pressures of this person. they probably know what the head is worth, but are forcing your hand because of the super low starting bid (which i think is a mistake right there) i don't think that it should be allowed for people to harass you, your price, is your price, either pay it, or don't.

that being said, i personally "hate" reserves and will not bid on anything with a reserve price. i find it insulting, as a way of attracting bids that the seller has no intention of settling on. i think you should offer the head at the lowest, reasonable starting bid, with a higher BIN price and give people the opportunity to bid appropriately.

there is no reason that someone would not pay a fair price for the head, if the auction is fair and reasonable.

 

I wouldn't drop down to $99--that's excessive, and while it is tough to sell stuff right now, a potential buyer shouldn't expect that much of a bargain--$99 is a mere third of the reserve price. I don't see anything wrong with making an offer on something, but when the offer hits ridiculously low territory it can come off as a bit insulting IMO (as is pressuring a seller--it's perfectly possible to do business without getting pushy). If you think you might have to drop the price, I would do it in smaller increments--it's possible that you won't get a buyer at $300, but you might get one at $275 or $250 which would be a heck of a lot better than the other person was offering.

 

Just an idea...Could you list it for trade in the Marketplace? There are always things to want and it might be more of an option in this penny pinching age...

But good luck, my love, whatever you decide.

 

My advice is that you ebonk him in a fixed-price listing with a 'best offer' option (which you can set to automatically reject offers below a certain amount). This is (I think) the cheapest way to list something, and you can factor in the shipping and call it "free" which will give you better visibility as well (or so they advertise).

Definitely don't succumb to the pressure of that meanie, they're just trying to take advantage of you.

You do need good pics, though, and to fully advertise the rarity and specialness of the faceup. Not all interested parties would be automatically clued in!

Good luck, Wolfie!
Raven

PS I forgot to mention that it takes forever to sell anything nowadays, and that there are lots of people who want it but can't afford it and can't say so in the thread, and there are plenty who don't know they want him yet but will. That's just how it is. ^_~

 

I was trying to sell my Unidoll Ark when I was going through some hard times and I happened to buy him a month before Unidoll decided to knock 200 dollars off the price of their dolls so I will never be able to make back what I paid for him now but anything less than I was listing him for wouldn't have been worth it. Anyway not even a bite on him after a month which I am sort of thankful for because now I am in a position to keep him.

I think the price you have set is very reasonable and the buyer is being ridiculous to try to make you sell him for 99 dollars. If you wait long enough someone may come along to buy him or your situation may change and you will be able to keep him. I think you should definitely tell the buyer that if she doesn't like the price she should stop contacting you.

 

I also think that part of the issue with this head is that Ricky heads aren't exactly the most popular flavor of the month, and every experience I have had (save a few exceptions) with Ricky heads is that they sell for less than what Ricky sells them for. And even though SDink face ups are totally awesome and worth a lot, I have also found (as I am trying to sell a head with an SDink face up myself) doesn't really make an unpopular head "worth more" and grab people's attention and encourage bidding.

But I do agree, do not sell the head for $99 dollars to this person who is harrassing you. I think Ravendolls advice is your best bet, but if you are really struggling for pennies and are selling things because of this, you may be best looking at other items you own. You will not get back what you paid for with an Eluid, I really think you'll have to be willing to loose 100-150 usd on him. Last year, before the crisis, I bought a callas head from the Marketplace with 150 loss on what Ricky would've orginally sold him for.

Good luck with your sale! I have been admiring your boy in the marketplace.

 

There really is no right or wrong response to this post other than general commiseration. Perhaps Ebay isn't the best choice right now for selling dolls. We've all taken various amounts of losses on our dolls and accessories over the course of collecting and currently the economy does seem to be impacting some prices.

Best of luck.