How to Know When You're Paying Too Much

Back in my first post, I mentioned that the first item I remember purchasing from a garage sale was the first season of the Simpsons on DVD for $2.  I also mentioned I paid too much.  This is where I discuss one of the reasons I know that.

When I bought those DVDs back in 2006, the woman who was selling them told me to make me an offer when I inquired about the price.  I offered $2 and she immediately accepted with no hesitation. This is how I know I paid too much: if sellers don't counter your offer, you offered a sum greater than their minimum and are thus overpaying.

What do you do when this happens?  You can't tell the seller you changed your mind and make a lower offer.  The only thing you can do is remember this incident and offer less for similar items in the future.

The same holds true for selling items, as I mentioned before regarding Nintendo 64 controllers and in my first post regarding my metal detector.  I've found that if you have people inquiring about your item within the first week your asking price is too low.  This proved a problem regarding those controllers I mentioned above because on Amazon, once you sell an item, you can't raise your price so I was stuck earning a few dollars less than I should have. 

On Craigslist, this isn't issue such a big deal; you can either just ask potential buyers for more money, explaining that you've reconsidered your asking price (or just lie and say it was a price mistake, people are less likely to get indignant when you say this I've found) or just not respond to them and raise the price on your ad.  I do this quite frequently with my Craigslist items now, especially textbooks.  

When reselling items, don't be afraid to ask for more money if you face unexpected demand.  Some people will get offended for reasons I cannot fathom; they, after all, are not entitled to purchase the item from you as I have had some people angrily claim (over email, luckily).  Don't make a mistake like I did selling the metal detector.  When I sold it, I had someone come and pick it up within 24 hours of my listing it.  He didn't even try to bargain me down.  In retrospect, I should have held relisted it for $100 and waited for $75 or $80 because $50 was clearly too little.