I don't get it, ebay film prices higher than BH Video

[Vickko]

I don't get it, ebay film prices are higher than BH Video.

Why would anyone buy it?

Why would someone list a product for higher than an easily available alternative?

 

[furcafe]

People are lazy &/or stupid (or rather "ill-informed")?

Similarly, w/current USD-Euro exchange rates, there is no reason to pay significantly more to buy new Leica equipment in the U.S., compared to buying from Germany or Austria (& even UK prices aren't that much higher than U.S. which is unusual), but people still do.

 

[user237428934]

I don't get it, ebay film prices are higher than BH Video.

Why would anyone buy it?

Why would someone list a product for higher than an easily available alternative?

Some people look for things to buy on ebay first before they look somewhere else. If they find it there they might buy it, even if its cheaper at specialized shops.

 

[Laviolette]

I too was wondering about that. Maybe it is cheaper in some countries when the shipping is considered?

 

[Sparrow]

... market capitalism is always correct, so e-bay will go bust eventually ... how could it be otherwise?

 

[ferider]

Not just film, used lenses are overpriced frequently. Even here on RFF, I wonder why I would buy a lens for more than, say, at KEH (there are currently several lenses like that for sale in the classifieds). Either sellers don't do research, or they count on a buyer's stupidity.

 

[Clint Troy]

I don't get it either.
There is a guy selling "super rare" ilford RC paper (pack of 10 sheets) for 199$.

 

[Sparrow]

How do you figure that? eBay's debt coupons continue to issue under sub-one percent. They do not have a huge cash pile, but are never the less likely to slog on for many years to come.

All companies even Coca Cola and GE will go bust someday, but we will not likely live to see eBay turn into Kodak.

... I once read Adam Smith, it was his idea, one can't buck the market, apparently ... or something like that, he padded it out a bit imo

 

[VTHokiEE]

Never understood this either, at the same time a lot of overpriced material simply sits on ebay and doesn't appear to ever be purchased.

 

[btgc]

I see it all the time. And often it's either short term or already expired.

Man is selling a rooster.
- How much?
- Hundred
- Why so much?!?
- Need money

 

[sevo]

I don't get it, ebay film prices are higher than BH Video.

Why would anyone buy it?

Clueless buyer.

Why would someone list a product for higher than an easily available alternative?

Clueless seller. What's more, thanks to the way ebay works, outrageously overpriced offers stay around until the seller dies, quits ebay or finds a sucker, so there is a accumulation of that type of crud - these days I only look for auction only items and filter out with a high price limit, as even items where only a single honest offer per month appears tend to have dozens or even hundreds of these idiot entries.

 

[nikon_sam]

That's why I always say do your homework...check out as many prices as you can...
Adorama was selling film on ebay at their normal store prices but when you factored in the shipping it was cheaper to buy it from the store...I saved a few bucks...The End...

And never pay more than what KEH has it listed for...

 

[goamules]

It's the same for any place that sells a commodity, and that's what film is. I've been going to antique shops, gun shows, garage sales all my life. The huge majority of prices there are too high, and I just look and move on. Occasionally a person sees something they don't want to wait to find another, and they buy it. Occasionally a seller gets tired of having an item sit on a shelf, and lowers the price until it sells. It's the way a free market works.

The general rule is to price something as high as the market will bear. The old system of brick and mortar shops and stores couldn't afford to keep overpriced inventory around forever. The new system of online, with free listing for buy it nows, eliminates that concern. Hence; overpriced items sit around for years on ebay.

 

[Sparrow]

No question ebay is a bit frothy in 2012, going from 30 to 55, but even if it should correct back to 30, I doubt it will go bust. I really hate the way eBay is evolving, it is a mess IMO, but still one invests where the profit is, sadly last year many were in Apple rather than eBay, where the money was, it turned out. What fool would have bought RIMM in September, but look where that went, profit at almost 200%.

Ah, so the market isn't able to deal with a company misvaluation? ... no hang on! you realise that could lead to lots of bad stuff going on? ... BTW, can I interest you in this rather unusual tulip bulb?

 

[sevo]

I would think the accumulated listing fees would finally be greater than the sale price?

It is free to re-list. The last time I checked, a listing fee was only due the moment the item is sold, pulled or the price reduced to a lower category.

 

[Sparrow]

One has to setperate stock froth from company value at some point. Clearly Apple has fallen 36 percent, but there has been no significanat change in the company or their products. Tulips continue to sell each day at my local florist - the price of tulips had nothing to do with the actual product. Kodak is bankrupt not because the stock was priced poorly -- but because the company was run poorly.

The sad thing about the market, is that so many depend on it for retirement income -- yet rush to buy tulip bulbs. The sad thing about ebay, seems the worse it is run for small sellers, the better the company does.

One year at a village fair this chap did a Guess the Weight of the Pig Competition, but unfortunately he had nothing to weigh the pig on ... so instead of actually weighing it he took all his customers guesses found the average and declared that as the pig's weight, which worked so successfully they continued with that system the following year. Over the years the pig's average weight grew and grew until one year, it died

 

[jwicaksana]

I too was wondering about that. Maybe it is cheaper in some countries when the shipping is considered?

This is the case for some Asian countries, B&H or Adorama won't ship to some countries, or their shipping charge is more expensive.

 

[David Hughes]

Hi,

The joy of ebay is that you can search and search, ditto Google etc.

So people who pay the top price are lazy, daft or what? But they do, time and time again. The best rule is to decide on a maximum you'd pay and bid that because another one just as good or bad will turn up sooner or later.

There were 3 Hektor 13,5cm 30's lenses yesterday; the first sold for £60 ish, the second 36 and the third for £31...

Regards, David

 

[bitfeng]

My wife bought a brand new tennis racket for $79, then the next day on the bay a ten-year old beatup racket of the same model was sold for $78.25 - never understand those bidders.

 

[barnwulf]

I once listed some color film on ebay that was about to go out of date and the bidding went higher than what I paid for the film originally. I don't understand it either but bidders get caught up in bidding and will pay high prices. - jim