If you sell on eBay and see some folks have added a Buy it Now item to their watch list, you might reach out and make them an offer. It seems to work pretty well if you’re willing to take the initiative and don’t mind selling for a little less than your listed price.
eBay’s Offer to Buyers program (also known as Seller Initiated Offers) reached a milestone last week when the company reported $1 billion in gross merchandise volume so far this year. That’s a lot of sales that might not otherwise happen so quickly.
“It all started with a simple idea in 2018 that became reality in 2019,” eBay wrote in making the announcement. “With approximately 30% of unsold, consumer-to-consumer (C2C) listings having at least one watcher or one person with the item in their cart, why don’t we empower sellers to reach out to their potential buyers and see if they can close the sale? After all, we were already enabling buyers to reach out to sellers with a best offer.”
The Offer to Buyers option is available for all eBay users who have items for sale.
While some locations are bracing for potential shutdowns as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, hobby shops that have managed to remain open and have an online presence continue to see strong sales.
Location doesn’t seem to matter much. New customers and those looking for something to do indoors are keeping shops all over North America in business and shows are seeing more traffic than ever.
“The last six months have been insane,” Don Berrios, owner of Toys from the Attic in Somersworth, New Hampshire told Terrill Covey of Seacoast Online for a lengthy story on the market. “I have been doing this for 20 years in this area, (sports cards) have never been this hot; sales have been through the roof.”
Bidding for one of two PSA 10 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie cards appears on its way to reaching the $1 million pre-sale estimate. Bidding at Heritage Auctions currently sits at $662,500. With the buyer’s premium factored in, it’s at $795,000.
The same person also consigned a PSA 10 Topps version of Gretzky’s rookie card, which currently sits at $290,000 ($348,000). Both auctions are scheduled to close Thursday night.
The photo for the card was taken November 9, 1978 when the young Oilers star faced off with 50-year-old Gordie Howe and the Whalers at the Springfield (MA) Civic Center.
The Toronto Star carried a story about the card–and the auction–in its Sunday sports section.
The market for current hockey cards get another boost with the arrival of top draft pick Alexis Lafreniere in Upper Deck’s Series 1 Hockey. His Young Guns cards are among the hottest rookie cards in any sport.
Newsday spoke with Upper Deck about what went into making the 19-year-old from Quebec the face of its 2021 products.
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