When did collecting become so aggressive?

indianawars

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So I haven't been collecting for 7-8 months and thought that I might pick up where I left off. The truth is I was missing it.
I decided to focus on a few loose figure that I'm missing from my collecting and one of them is the Imperial Dignitary.

After searching for the last few days, I finally found a decent one. No paint chip on the noise which I thought would be nice. The guy has it up for £95, plus £4 postage but with 'make an offer.'
I thought that his asking price was a little bit on the high side as I don't remember this selling for such a high price. So I sent him an offer of £60 this morning. A few hours ago my offer was declined, which was fine, but it was the comment left that really annoyed me.

(copied and pasted)
"Bro don't insult me it's already been reduced it's mint and no paint scratches off nose! Check your knowledge on this figure."

So I checked the newly listed eBay items and found another one listed in the same condition at £70 with 'make an offer.'
So I sent an offer of £60. Half an hour later I received a counter offer of £65. Happy days! Unfortunately, no sooner had I logged into eBay to accept it did the seller remove that listing :( They left all their other listings up except for that one.

I'm now feeling like why did I ever both.
 

Michael Sith

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Unfortunately prices have increased, with FB fuelling that, likeit or not it seems that's how it is. Having said that, there are rude, thoughtless and crass people around in life, SW collecting has some of those dipping in to make a buck.
The reverse of that is pretty much the case on here, with decent, genuine and helpful collectors ( as you well know as you are one of them ). It is good to see you back here, I'm sure you will find what you are looking for, don't let the negatives grind you down, there are always positives to outweigh them.

Now get a wanted thread up and see how you go, welcome back :D
 

Snaketibe

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I'm sorry to hear this has happened to you. It certainly sounds like you've had no luck at all with these two sellers. The first was needlessly rude and greedy, the second may simply have accepted another offer before yours; it's really unfortunate for you, but from the seller's standpoint, until you've paid they haven't sold the figure, so if someone else has an offer accepted and pays (or simply pays the full asking price) before you accept your counter-offer, the item is of course theirs. Have you checked the 'Sold' listings for the second seller to see whether this happened, or was it pulled without selling? If it was the latter, I would recommend politely messaging them to ask about it. After all, if they made you a counter-offer, it's reasonable to assume they were happy to sell it to you, and it's juuuuuust about possible they may have made a mistake in removing the listing or it may even have expired. Either way, if it isn't showing as sold, it's got to be worth a quick message to ask.

Anyway, best of luck and let us know how you get on. Whatever happens with this one, I hope you manage to find a Dignitary that you're happy with soon :)
 

indianawars

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I was just a little taken back by it all after only just stepping back into the water.

Just goes to show, no matter how long you step aside from the hobby, you've always got a home at SWFUK.
 

Clarkspie&chips

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Apr 27, 2014
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It's a shame you've run into a tosspiece on your first foray back into the game but don't take it to heart. It's likely to be an eBay bellend rather than the hobby being full of **** munchers. I had exactly the same thing last year with retro computer games - i wanted donkey Kong country 1, 2 & 3 and found a seller who had all 3 with a BIN. I offered a fair price and got a similar shitty response. I checked eBay and I could buy each one individually for about a tenner more than my offer so I sent him the links but never heard from him again. I did take great delight in seeing them sat there for months going unsold though.

£90 seems too high for the old lady though and I recon you're in the right ball park with £65. Just be patient and you'll get there
 

Stubbs

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Whats even stranger is a POTF mint on card can go for around £120 and a good condition loose is £90. I also need her for my loose collection but not prepared to pay £90 i am waiting.
 

theforceuk

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No matter how long your out of the hobby for, one things for sure, their are plenty of ignorant and rude people involved all the time. Welcome back anyway and good luck with the collecting. :)
 

TheJabbaWookie

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I reckon if you've done your research on costings, you're in the right area price wise (and it's not an insulting price) it's always good to throw in a bid you consider a reasonable one. Sure you might get the odd rude response from a twat seller (you probably don't want to buy from him anyway) and when you hit it lucky it feels good and outweighs the bad. Makes it all worth it.
 

SAVORY100

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May 29, 2014
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Such a shame...
I wouldn't worry, move on and find another. Without a nose rub they can be oddly tough (as most folk don't rate the figure), but you should never be shy to offer your price and accept that you'll be turned down once in a while... you shouldn't have to be treated like that in return though!!!
 

indianawars

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Apr 22, 2014
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You're all a great bunch of lads...

Oddly, it has never been a figure that I've had the urge to own in the past. But after all these years, I thought that it would be a nice addition to finally add. It was just a shame that after a long breakaway this would be the first guy that I encounter :lol:
 

Robstyley

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Hey Damien, good to see you on the boards. Don't worry about it, these things happen and it's always a bit dog eat dog this game... especially on eBay and Facebook. Don't get me started on the purple goon. I too have been on the look out for one for ages and got a nice one a while back for a good price but when it arrived it was damaged, had a big chip of plastic out the hat and one on the back of the leg. You couldn't see it in the photos and the seller failed to mention it, I sent it back. I don't have that much love for the figure but his one saving grace is the colour, I like it.
 

itfciain

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Sep 22, 2010
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Hi mate - good to see you back on-board - and sorry that you had to deal with that twat on eBay

I think the current climate in the hobby can be a bit aggressive -especially to those that were collecting a while ago - the demand for certain figures has gone through the roof and you are sometimes paying double if not 3/4 times what you were 4-5 years ago. Figures that used to take days/weeks to sell now go in seconds - and for big amounts

I also think that we have a new wave of 'dealers' at the moment - some of whom I liken to those buying houses in the early 2000s - you could buy a house, paint it pink and 6 months later it would still be worth a load more money. Some of these guys have gotten lucky in buying figures that have then increased in price - they aren't necessarily good at sales, they are just sat on items that they paid a lot less for. The stinky, shitty attitude of some of these people is amazing - but yet people still buy from them as they are so keen to get their next plastic fix

Still, there are plenty of bargains out there to be had and good sellers to buy from - the hobby itself has grown massively and that has obviously increased the number of twats that you find in it - but overall it is still very enjoyable and the social side is top notch
 

Pomse2001

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sorry to read this has happened to you. Prices have gone up and this hobby have turned to be all about money for many people :( I remember the good old days where is was more fun to find a figure or a lot for nearly any money, this days are over.

I have also had many problems and people that get rude. A few days ago I won a childhood lot of auction, 2 min later I paid. ½ hour later I got my money back with only a pm about seller was out of town and that he would contact me when he came back :roll: 2 days later he cancelled the auction :roll: I think he was unhappy with the price he got for the lot and I gave him bad feedback :evil:

Last year I also had a problem, I won a childhood lot for a good price. Not long after I won the auction seller contacted me about his wife have sold the lot in a store for used toy and he cancelled the deal :roll: I again think he was unhappy with the price and I gave him bad feedback :evil:

I have said it for years I do not like what this hobby have become, fake weapons, figures, repro stuff, angry people, greedy people and crazy high prices. I do not have the same fun with collecting star wars today as I had years ago, but I would still miss it, if I did not have it.
 

choffialoopa

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Dec 18, 2017
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Definately a minefield to maneuver. Especially to us newbies. I often get no response when I ask for a better picture of guns and accessories. I take it they know it is repro but want $$

All I've traded with on eBay have been very nice.
 

jared007

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Apr 26, 2015
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I think it has become a bit aggressive cause the values and amounts of money involved has shot up from 4/5 years ago. Some people may have paid over the odds recently and are frustrated that they are looking at taking a loss when they sell (if they can even sell), or frustrated they aren't going to get the short term profit they expected. You will probably have the odd bad encounter, the best to hope for is that these are in the minority.

And don't be shy of putting those "low ball" offers in. A couple of years ago there was a bug on eBay that allowed you to learn the *accepted price* of a listing (if you knew how to invoke it). I definitely saw people accepting 50% off their listing price so you just never know.

Your best weapon is to be in the know about current pricing so you know when to snap something up, when to move on, and whether it's a common/rare thing that is likely to come up again soon.

The hunt is sometimes so much more than the kill.
 

subzero

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Jun 20, 2017
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Whenever a collecting craze/phenomenon really takes off yes unfortunately this is where it starts attracting all the arseholes, driven by competition, money & greed. Iv'e seen it several times over the years with different collecting crazes, back in the mid - late 90's Pokemon card collecting was massive, I remember shops even popping up overnight left right and center with traders that dealt solely in Pokemon card buying & selling.

My two little brothers were prob about 10 years old or so at the time and I always remember what they told me about this disgusting ****ing moron, their school friend told them about a new Pokemon card shop in a certain area and told them where it was, said they had all kinds of rare cards and foreign Jap import cards etc, so on the Saturday they both went up there and their friend just happened to be in there with his dad. Apparently their friends dad spotted my brothers in the shop and knew his son told them about the shop, he went up to them and sternly said "don't you think you owe us something?"... ie some Pokemon cards as payment in return for going to this 'secret' card shop that he and his son wanted all to themselves, because he didn't want other kids going there and buying rare cards that he could have snapped up.

Made my little brothers feel very ****ing uncomfortable and worried about this grown man that was in their faces demanding they hand over their cards, to 10 year old little kids, but luckily didn't give him **** and turned away and walked off. This is what these collecting crazes do to people they either turn them into complete cunts or they bring existing cunts out of the wood works. :evil:
 

hellhippie

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Jun 30, 2015
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ive been collecting for years and years on and off , you'll always run into the occasional asshole . screw it there are better people in the hobby and eventually you will find them and what your after . good luck , stay patient and enjoy it for what its worth
 

retrotoyinfo

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Dec 30, 2017
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Ebay allows a seller to send an optional message to a potential buyer when declining the offer or offering a counter offer. I suppose the idea of ebay allowing a seller to send a message when declining an offer is for the option of allowing a seller to put a message indicating the sort of money they would accept. But some sellers see this message option as the opportunity for some sort of 'retaliatory' response about how insulted they feel.

I have been on both sides as a seller and buyer. I've had an item up for sale on Buy It Now for £250, and been offered less than £100 on it by several 'chancers' :lol: . I do feel a bit insulted in a way, but it is just pointless to attack someone with a message, just a decline is enough. It's generally naive or inexperienced sellers who send such messages.
 

subzero

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Jun 20, 2017
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If i'm ever selling something and someone sends me an offer that's well below 50% of it's actual value then I decline their offer and block them forever lol.

Iv'e found usually those types of very tight people are the very fussy types and complain about non-existent problems, and are more likely to want to scam you in some way or another, their attitude of wanting a massive discount or free postage or something similar is a telltale sign to me that they will be trouble. Not every time of course, but the chance is a lot higher which iv'e found in this personality type over the years.

Block them! 8)
 
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