I’m glad you stopped by!

It really depends on the dealer, and sometimes just the individual piece. The dealer may not have any room to barter the price. But in most cases, yes. Barter away! The worst that can happen is your offer is turned down. But, with a good attitude, ask what the lowest price could be. If the counter offer is acceptable to you, you have save money and gotten something you really want!

I barter all the time and have no problem doing so in most cases. But very often I have to turn down an offer because it is just too low.

I enjoyed reading this comment, Richard. Thanks for giving a bit more of a glimpse “behind the curtain” from the sellers perspective. 🙂

Hi Janice,

If you mean trading one item for another, I’m not sure – I think it would depend on the seller, and I’m guessing there would only be a few willing to make trades.

I have done a lot of business on Ebay, but I also have a lot of problems with them. This is especially true when it comes to arts and collectibles. I have to tell people all the time that if the deal online is so good they should by it there instead of mine, but I cannot and will not reduce my prices as much as people want based on something they found on an Ebay listing. Just as it is easy for someone to find a low ball price on Ebay, I can find a high price. Then I show people how to go into the site to find out how much similar or identical items have actually sold for and when. What an eye opener for many!

For one, I have money into everything I have and I must make a certain profit margin or I am out of business. There are times when I make a mistake in buying and pay too much. In those rare instances I take the loss as it is my fault. In most cases I do have some room to move on my prices, but I do not set prices with the expectation they will be bartered down. Depending on the piece I ascertain the actual value through research and even experience. I set my price below that so I can offer a bargain. I will drop even more depending on the situation, especially if you buy more than one piece. I’ve been doing this longer than Frank on Pickers has!

Another problem on Ebay, especially with items such as art, fashion and accessories, jewelry, watches, etc…, is the vast number of fakes, even with the so-called certificates of authenticity. Those things are faked more than the items themselves! The only way to protect yourself is knowing what you are buying. I love an educated buyer and they teach me a lot!

I spent a lot of time, effort and even money learning what I know, but I am not the best expert on most things. I can still learn a lot. But most people do not know what I know so I learn all I can and share it with the buyers. Most appreciate learning about their items! I remember one woman who I spent a lot of time with teaching her how to identify prints, and to determine if the signature is part of the print or actually signed by the artist. Good money in prints, but many of these are run off by crooks and the signatures faked. Still others look to have real signatures, but they are not as they are part of the print itself. Most people have no idea how to tell. I do not deal in fakes and am very happy to teach my customers, some of whom become regulars.

I am not the least expensive vendor around, but I always have many unique and wonderful pieces and I am fair and honest. This gets you a long way as a dealer, and I have many regular customers to back this! As they say, it takes a lifetime to build a reputation, but just a moment to destroy one!

Hi Richard,

Thanks so much for stopping by and lending your perspective! I may have pulled my phone out a few times while we were in Sarasota :). You’re absolutely right though, you can never trust an eBay listing to be an accurate value of something.

The best part of looking is that there’s no charge for that! 🙂

Different markets offer different items. It is best to know all your local markets so you can choose accordingly to the items you are looking for at a particular time. If you are looking for antiques, art, home decor, collectibles, it does help to have an idea of what values are. Speaking for myself, I have no problem with people doing research on items they are looking at. Many people come by my place and yank out their phones and look things up. But even on this it is good to have an idea what you are doing. Just because someone lists an item on Ebay does not mean that is the actual value! Many try to get way more than something is worth while other sellers on the web sites merely find items and dump them for fast profit.