If you know that the market has either exploded 
or dropped out, then you're keeping track of the 
market. On either case, you *can* probably guess 
the value of your cel. Or at least approximate 
somewhere near it.

Example #1 - The Market Exploded

If the market has suddenly exploded, then when 
you sell your cel, you'll be getting back more 
than you paid. As far as I've ever been concerned 
(at least about my own stuff) anything I happen 
to get above what I paid is a bonus. So what is 
to be worried about? That you could have possibly 
squeezed a few more bucks out of someone for it?? 
Why!? When this would be one of the few times 
there can be happy win-win situations all around. 
One person gets a cel for (given the current 
market) a deal - and you still get well over and 
above what you originally paid for it.

The only thing I think people REALLY worry about 
in a case like this is that the person they sell 
to will grab up the cel, turn it around to Ebay 
as soon as they lay hands on it, and price gouge 
someone for it - getting a lot more money. I'd 
say, then only sell to people you know *don't* do 
that. . . However since this has become so common 
under the "everyone deserves to make a quick buck,
not just dealers" mentality poisoning our hobby, 
the only real way to avoid something like that is 
don't sell the cel in the first place.

When I sold a cel of Raphael for a very low price 
at a time even lousy cels of him weren't going 
for less than $50, everyone thought I was nuts. 
Why did I do that?? Because the price I put on it 
was already more than I paid. I could have gotten 
more. . . But to what point? I feel better that 
someone else is happy to have found something 
they liked for a deal. And I will freely admit I 
skipped over the real first order which was from 
a "snap it up, run it to Ebay" person. When you 
sell your cels privately, you HAVE that option if 
you have some reason to NOT like the person who 
happened to order first by 90 seconds. If you 
think that sounds dishonest, then make no bones 
about it and simply state on your page that you 
are only loosely following the "first come, first 
served" rule. Myself, I think people already WELL 
expect there to be things like that going on with 
private sales.

Example #2 - The Market Dropped Out

This is the position I was mostly referring to 
when I said that people need to be honest about 
the value of their cel when selling it. Yikes!! 
You bought on a high, and it's now a low - or you 
overpaid - and you have to sell. What to do? o_0;

Best is not to get into this predicament. You 
need to remember you have the full right to 
overpay for anything you want, but it better be 
something you really do want to keep. . . Because 
if you're expecting to get your money back from 
it, the chances are best that you won't. This 
also applies to people who buy cels that are
"reasonably priced" from series or of characters 
that are in the middle of popularity fads. The 
fad WILL die eventually. If you're worried about 
resale, it's highly inadvisable to buy under 
those circumstances.

However, the past is past and hindsight is always 
20/20. But!! You might have a cel that is someone 
*else's* BIG want and maybe they'll happily 
overpay to have it. In this case, why not try 
this. . . List it on your page for what you paid 
with a notation to the tune of: "Or best offer, 
remembering that if someone wants to buy it for 
the listed price, it will go to that person. I'll 
accept offers until (give a date here)." That's 
*perfect*. There is the chance you will find 
someone who wants it (at least monetarily) as 
much as you originally did, and yet at the same 
time people realize you really *are* serious 
about accepting lower offers, as opposed to only 
saying "OBO" and then never accepting any of the 
offers.

There's yet another *wonderful* idea used by Oion 
(hoping I'm not misremembering the "who") and 
that was a page of cels for offer where each cel 
had two prices tags: One for a "buy it now", and 
a lower one for "offers should start at", with 
the notation that the cel would go to someone 
willing to pay the "buy now" price. There was a 
firm end time set on the sale. (An actual *date*,
not "sometime next week".) I couldn't believe how 
fabulous this was! I loved the idea! People who 
*had* to have a given cel had a set price they 
could order it at instead of putting in an offer 
and praying there wouldn't be a bidding war that 
emptied out their savings. If someone wanted it, 
but for less, they could try to offer less for it.

So there are a lot of options out there which 
still leave you (as a seller) wiggle room without 
gouging your fellow collectors and creating bad 
feelings all around. ^_^

Many Sharp Smiles,
--Drac