“Consigning” for a neighbor by selling his card collection on eBay and he has unrealistic expectations

[rjs]

I hope this is allowed but this has been my experience consigning for the first time. Basically, I’ve been hand listing all of his cards on eBay (it’s a fairly nice collection) but from the start he has overvalued everything to laughable amounts. When I started selling some and he questioned why they only sold for x amount I told him again that his prices are unrealistic and gave him sold examples of recent sales etc. I explained to him the difference between graded and ungraded prices (which is super important, especially for vintage) and he seemed to accept that part so I thought it was good. Weeks later he’s now complaining that I haven’t sold enough of his cards recently but its more that everything is up and listed and I’m waiting for buyers and that I’d be happy to go back and change all 1100 active listings to auction but that he’d get way less. basically, this dude overvalued everything from the start but I thought I had soothed things over enough. I’ve been selling/reselling/selling sports cards etc for 4 years now. He said he’d gladly take them back off my hands and sell them to an LCS(Local card shop) but then he would get absolutely gutted by a lowball offer but Ik starting to think that that’s the only thing that helps him see what his collection is truly worth (and the not 100k+ he thought) any advice would be super helpful, he’s started to be very condescending and rude over text and I’m being polite as possible while also trying to explain what these are worth ( again I didn’t blindly post these things either, I hand listed them and priced them on the average few sales (with the exception of nicer condition big name players being put to auction to fetch a bit more) any advice is greatly appreciated! (I’ve netted 3000 for him in total so far which is about 1/3rd of the cards) and gotten my own % too.

 

[sleepy321]

@rjs You’re not going to make this guy happy. Delist them. Give them back. Tell him good luck.

 

[rjs]

@sleepy321 Definitely looking like the best thing to do.

 

[smurf50]

@rjs If you have undervalued them so much, it’s very interesting that they haven’t sold…

 

[rjs]

@smurf50 I told him I'd list them for whatever he wants but that if we list them at his crazy asking they will never sell.

 

[cameron1]

@rjs Never get into that kind of arrangement. Waste of your time/energy. And, as you've experienced, he's no doubt blaming you for the lack of sales.

That's one reason I don't do business with family and people I want to keep as friends.

 

[rjs]

@cameron1 Tbh I don’t even know if I consider this guy a “friend” I get a long with him here and there but he can turn very rude very fast

 

[lafferty]

@cameron1 In that situation, you say, "I'll list the card at the $100 you want. I think it's worth $20. You pay me my 20% on the $20, up front for listing it, and whether the card sells or not, it's not my problem."

You get your cut of what the card would actually sell for, his crap goes unsold and he gets his reality check. If you need to update listings to lower his prices, charge him again.

 

[mayyoubeblessed]

@rjs The problem here is you guys are at the point where you can't do anything. He needs at least 1, maybe 2 other people to say what you said.

 

[fanofjesus333]

@mayyoubeblessed Apparently the market is speaking.

 

[thehappycreative]

@rjs Also what happens if you get scammed? Like if a buyer says they never got it. Think your client will say "ah ok no worries"

 

[waiarlap]

@rjs Why are you helping somebody for free

 

[tsquared]

@waiarlap Consigning is literally the first word…

 

[rjs]

@waiarlap It’s not for free, I’ve gotten a % of every sale

 

[rockfish37]

@rjs You’re paying taxes on the whole thing…

 

[7even7eas]

@rockfish37 If that's what you think then you just plain don't understand how taxes work.

 

[sahline]

@7even7eas How do they work in this case?

 

[7even7eas]

@sahline Ebay sends a 1099 to the OP, OP sends a 1099 to his client showing what he paid to the client. The IRS sees that only OP's commission was taxable income. Even with poor book keeping and failing to send a 1099 properly this is pretty easy to rectify after the fact unless you pay your client in cash and don't create a receipt.

 

[rjs]

@7even7eas

Ebay sends a 1099 to the OP, OP sends a 1099 to his client showing what he paid to the client. The IRS sees that only OP's commission was taxable income. Even with poor book keeping and failing to send a 1099 properly this is pretty easy to rectify after the fact unless you pay your client in cash and don't create a receipt.

Correct

 

[rockfish37]

@7even7eas eBay is going to send OP the 1099 for the full amount and given the situation he’s in I doubt he’s got accurate bookkeeping…

But sure.