GoForSmoke:
That seems to be a buyer-centered view.An object may be sold for less than it's worth but that doesn't make it worth less any more than overpriced junk isn't junk.
sure, it's a micro business, I am more a buyer than a seller (70% auctions as buyer, 30% as seller)
so, how do you determine the price ? and what is a reasonable price?
- a) It is a price that the consumer is happy with and will buy the product at that price
- b) It is a price where you can make a profit from selling the product
to have a deal, they must be satisfied both
in order to determine the sales price I have also to consider
- the manufacturing costs of the product, in my case it's the cost I have to find the object (typically it means how much petrol I have to put in my car in order to pickup), clean it, repair it, plus the profits required
- the price in the market and competitors selling the same product, in my case, I have to fight with dealers and junk-sellers
- the cost of risks, breakage, decay/rot, left over stock
obviously one aims for maximizing the profit, which also aims for minimizing the costs, on ebay I have to pay fees and taxes to paypal, I have a lot of competitors, most of them are selling untested things, they offer no DOA, no warranty, but the main problem I have is related to customers which want cheap shipping, therefore possibility of breakage during the shipping or because they have no idea about what they are doing. I have to assist them, which costs time and effort, fortunately I have no decay, but, in order to provide 90days of warranty I need to have replacement parts, consequently I can be trapped into "no left-over-stock", which is a cost for me because I have to buy more parts than how many I can sell.