Pricing logic

[PeterW]

Dave,
In the thread on old stereo cards you wrote:

All I ever seem to see near us is overpriced tat - or if there is something good: very overpriced.

I think everyone's desperate to make more money.

Last week I picked up a 1930s folding camera in a flea market but it was too badly damaged so I put it down without asking the price. The stallholder said that if I wanted it I'd better get it now because it will cost more when VAT goes up on January 4.

I was a bit puzzled by this so I asked if he was registered for VAT. He said,

"Good Lord, No. I don't have that sort of turnover. I wish I did. But that's the trouble. Next week the fuel for my car's going to cost more, the rent for this stall's going to cost more and so is most of the other stuff I have to buy. I'm not registered for VAT so I can't claim the VAT back on business expenses. So I'm going to have to charge more for my stuff."

I thought about it but I couldn't find an answer.

PeterW

[daveh]

Peter, wonderful.

Pricing is a strange thing. Going back 30 years or so there was a local builder, who, having previously obtained the land 'cheap', was able to sell semi-detached houses for £8,500 when that type of house in the same locality would go for £9,000+. They weren't selling, so he put them up to £9,000: people started buying them, and quite quickly he sold out. The builder always said it was because if people were looking for a £9,000 house they would dismiss anything cheaper as being 'not up to requirements'.

We ask the question ourselves "how much is something worth?" I suppose the answer is about the same as a length of string.


Peter, I see the change in your post: good spot before anyone noticed it!

[photax]

Dave wrote: How much is something worth ? I am not able to answer your question, but I can give you two examples. Collectors stuff sometimes have a high value to collectors, on the other hand they often have low value for people selling them. I came across this advertisement last week ( I disguised the name and address ): A Nikon FG-20 offered for 5.- Euro ( 6.53 USD ), unfortunately already been sold. In the same week a Nikon FG-20 had been sold for 220.- ( 287.- USD ) on Ebay.



Some times ago I purchased a plastic toy car at a flea market for 1.- Euro just for fun. It reminded my of my childhood and it was cheap. Some days later I found an advertisement: Same toy, same condition, for 125.- Euro ( 163,25 USD ). I don’t know anything about toy cars, so for me 1.- is all right. An expert, who I met by chance told me, that this car is a special model produced in the 1960`s by a company named “Tomte” from Sweden, or Norway ( I don’t remember exactly ). I don’t care, I am collecting photographic items ;D.





The stereo cards had been very inexpensive about 20 years ago, I bought all I could get back then. I could not afford them today…

MIK

[nikonbob]

Putting the words pricing and logic together is somewhat akin to military intellegence, highly debatable. In the end the buyers determine if you are correct in your pricing of an item. There sure is plenty to shake your head at and wonder about. One thing for sure is the value of an item rises and falls over time, just as the stockmarkets do, falling in and out of fashion.

Bob