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Ethical issues with reselling
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Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 10:34 AM
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I have a question about the ethics and etiquette involved in reselling something you found on ebay. I'm new, so I don't want to break any rules or even break "unspoken" rules, things you "just don't do". This would be mostly involving books, but also any other items as well. Obviously, most people check out flea markets and other venues for stuff that is valuable and the seller doesn't realize it, and is just getting rid of it. My question is, what about on ebay? I've seen items up for bid worth a good bit more than what the person is selling it for (usually in lots where maybe someone's selling a bunch of stuff they inherited or somehow got hold of and don't want, so they maybe don't care to research it). Is it unethical to buy a book that I could resell on ebay for it's actual worth? As a scenario, say as booksellers you came across someone selling a lot of old Stephen King books, that they inherited and don't care for, and just want to get rid of, and in that lot they had first editions of Carrie and other highly valued books, and they were selling the lot for 30 bucks? Would you buy it and then resell the Carrie separately on ebay for the actual value? Is that ethical to repost it on ebay when you just bought it on ebay? It seems the same as what we do at flea markets and book sales, I just wondered if it's considered rude to do it in the same venue where you purchased it? I don't want to break any rules, and honestly, I even feel a little guilty when I find something at a flea market or yard sale that I know is worth bunches more than the 50 cents it's going for, lol. Any advice about this?
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(19 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Oct 2, 2011 07:45 PM
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Buy low .... Sell high is a way to make money.
Many times I have had people sell it low to me even when they know I will resell......
If you do buy it on eBay... then as many will suggest.
Use separate ID
--- A Buying ID
--- A Selling ID
If someone asks me about what I do with all the books that I buy....
My answer... Doorstops.....
Then there are the other booksellers... the antique dealers and others... that know what I do...
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(18 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Oct 2, 2011 07:34 PM
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Here is an interesting progression of sales of the same item.
It was a silverplated candelabra marked with Grand Trunk Railway.
(1) First sale was at auction for $150.00.... Consignor got $120 after commission was deducted.
(2) Buyer sold that candelabra on eBay for $600.....
(3) eBay buyer sold the candelabra to a collector of railway memorabilia for $900
(4) This collector then sold the candelabra for $1300 to a collector who kept the candelabra as a part of his railway collection.
Should that seller who got $1300 feel bad that the original auction consignor got only $120 after commission.
At each step in this process each seller had a way of selling for better dollar value.
This is how a buy-sell option works... In this instance that first consignor at auction did not know much more than what it sold for at auction...
Each step to $1300 was calculated..
and so will any transaction be calculated event.
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(17 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Oct 2, 2011 07:21 PM
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A bookseller must find inventory....
I find inventory here there and everywhere in the city where I live.... That is my job.
I do what many cannot do ... and that is do the search.
My buyers each has a job.
They come to my store and they buy....
In essence they pay me to do what they cannot do.
They are looking for a specific book .... I look for a specific category... or niche of book.... and other inventory... sometimes.... my costs to find that book are spread over many books... something someone search for one book cannot do
I do not buy on eBay because I do not have to buy on ebay to replenish inventory..
The only ethic that a seller can maintain is to find inventory and sell that inventory at a price that the buyer will accept.
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(16 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Oct 2, 2011 09:48 AM
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To echo what has already been said, yes many of us do this regularly.
As for Paypal that is really not an issue when it comes to separate accounts. The only consideration is that when you go to pay for an item you have to be logged into ebay with that ID. As my selling ID is the default ID, when I get an email saying that I won an item, I have to log into Safari to pay, I cannot click the link in the email as when I do it tells me I am not the buyer. No big dial.
The true concern is with opening a separate ID on ebay. To open a separate ID on ebay it needs to be linked to a different email address. I think that is when I opened a gmail account and set it up to forward all emails to my sbcglobal address.
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(15 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Oct 2, 2011 09:35 AM
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Just so its completely clear...if a book is listed far below it's market value on eBay in Buy It Now, then a professional bookseller isn't required to tell the seller what the true value is...after the professional clicks on the BIN option?
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(14 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Oct 2, 2011 08:47 AM
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barbs_fantastic_attic wrote:
Thanks so much to everyone for the advice and welcoming words! It seems I'm learning something new everyday, and occasionally I'm seeing bids go crazy on an item that from what I've learned isn't a genuine first edition/first printing,
First Edition collectors mke up only a tiny fraction of the collector's market - and by and large, even that small fraction is limited strictly to hypermodern fiction. In plain fact - outside of that very narrow niche - First Edition means very little to any bibliophile save the very very very very very wealthy.
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(13 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Oct 2, 2011 08:07 AM
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Thanks so much to everyone for the advice and welcoming words! It seems I'm learning something new everyday, and occasionally I'm seeing bids go crazy on an item that from what I've learned isn't a genuine first edition/first printing, and I feel like I just barely escaped losing some money, b/c a few days before I wouldn't have known the difference either...so it's nice to have a place to come to for advice and to pick the brains of those in the know. Speaking to the ethical issues, something funny happened this weekend...I went to my local flea market, and theres an elderly man there who runs a booth selling old western lobby cards, posters, magazines, comics, and big little books. After noticing what he had, and coming home and pricing it, I saw he was REALLY letting stuff go for next to nothing, when it's worth far more (lots of genuine gene autry/roy rogers/tom mix stuff). He's a sweet old man, very sick on an oxygen tank, can barely hear or get around, and I really did think this was one of those situations where someone should tell him his stuff is worth more than what he's selling it for...so I did, while talking to him. His answer wasn't what I expected...he just laughed and said "I got all the money I need, did well when I was a young man...I'm just selling all of this stuff before I die so my kids don't git their greedy paws on all of it!" lol, I love his way of thinking! And I bought a large lot of his lobby cards for 50 bucks for my husband's christmas present!
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(12 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 04:00 PM
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BTW Barbandhenry, welcome to the neighborhood!
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(11 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 03:56 PM
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Fine.books has said exactly what I would say except for better legal references.
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(10 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 02:39 PM
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barbs_fantastic_attic wrote:
Is it unethical to buy a book that I could resell on ebay for it's actual worth?
As a scenario, say as booksellers you came across someone selling a lot of old Stephen King books, that they inherited and don't care for, and just want to get rid of, and in that lot they had first editions of Carrie and other highly valued books, and they were selling the lot for 30 bucks? Would you buy it and then resell the Carrie separately on ebay for the actual value?
Is that ethical to repost it on ebay when you just bought it on ebay? It seems the same as what we do at flea markets and book sales, I just wondered if it's considered rude to do it in the same venue where you purchased it?
I hope your questions have been sufficiently answered. People buy undervalued items on eBay all the time - the buyer is benefiting from the knowledge and experience they have acquired. This knowledge and experience is due to their efforts and investment of time. One doesn't become a successful booksellers by learning through osmosis. It takes weeks months years decades of hard work.
As an aside, I appreciate the consideration of your questions. If your mental radar is tuned to the ethical issues you bring up, then you have the acumen to be successful in this business.
"Good as it is to inherit a library, it is better to collect one."
- Augustine Birrell
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(9 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 02:08 PM
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A short story from when I first started selling on eBay: I didn't have a clue what I was doing but one of my best friends was very successful (and still is) in selling pottery, china and other collectibles and her success motivated me to give it a try.
My background and training is in music. I walked into a music dealership that was going out of business and found bins full of sheet music for .04 a copy. I bought hundreds of sheets. They were music groups unfamiliar to me since most of my music training was classical. Groups like Crowded House, Heart...that I've since learned a lot about.
I was just hoping to make a few extra dollars as I had resigned a well-paying job and we had not yet sold our house, so house payments, utilities, etc had to be paid. The sheets started selling fairly quickly, and over the weeks I had 2 or 3 buyers that came back repeatedly. They were buying to resell...and it didn't take me long to figure that out. But I was so glad they were even buying that I would notify them ahead of time if something were going to be listed that I thought they might be interested in. I even sent several sheets free to one of the buyers because he had helped me out so much.
During that time period, I was able to make enough money to make my mortgage payment. The month that the sheets ran out was the month we sold our house and were able to move.
I've sold a few things since, but never had so much fun as when I was ignorant...and amazed.
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(8 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 12:20 PM
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fine.books wrote:
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That's it in a nutshell.
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(7 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 11:38 AM
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You can link another ID to your current paypal account - I have 2 such links.
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(6 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 11:25 AM
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Also, if you create a separate buyer or seller id, can you link it to the same paypal account? Or do you have to have different paypal accounts for every id?
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(5 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 11:15 AM
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Thanks so much for the advice. I figured it was one of those issues that has gray areas.
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(4 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 11:12 AM
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That's it in a nutshell. If they ask you what it's worth, your professional opinion when (and if) rendered, must be accurate to the best of your knowledge. If they come to you, on your premises, and request a value estimate, your professional opinion when (and if) rendered, must be accurate to the best of your knowledge. When you buy at auction, it's the seller's responsibility to set the price, and whatever you pay, you pay - usually. There are exceptions to this - that enormous sapphire which was sold by a novice at a gem show some years back springs to mind. The expert, despite having paid the asking price, and having rendered no opinion whatsoever, still had to give the novice sell whet he realised for the rough stone at auction (several million dollars), but in this case, there was something of an "unfair advantage" in the eyes of the Law. At auction, the presumption is that the items are vetted beforehand - though not always particularly well.
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(3 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 11:05 AM
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Quite a few of us do this, you should have a seperate buying ID though so people can't see what you paid for the item.
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(2 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 11:02 AM
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So basically, there's a difference between someone asking you what you will pay for something and making an offer (it would be unethical to make an unfair offer), and just buying something that is already priced or set at a low bid? The latter is fair game, as in at flea markets and such? And once it's yours you can resell if you wish at full market value?
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(1 of 19)
Re: Ethical issues with reselling
Sep 30, 2011 10:43 AM
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Read Westby vs Gorsuch.
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