I don't understand this...

I'm looking in the BST section and I see more than a few lights for sale at close to and even a few dollars more than you can buy from a dealer brand new (and even with free shipping).

Case in point: Used E2L $105. Brand new with free shipping from dealer $97.80.

What am I missing here? I see this all the time on ebay, but I would think there are more informed people here.

It means they are not going to sell it to the average smart person.

And the E2L has a MSRP of $129, so the light is still a lot cheaper than at the average dealer....

MayCooper said:

And the E2L has a MSRP of $129, so the light is still a lot cheaper than at the average dealer....

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Even then I would still pay the extra $24 to get it new. I never buy used unless it's a really good deal. The only reason I bought my BMW used instead of new was because it was $6000 below book value. I could have turned right around and sold it at a profit but I like it too much

Yeah, not everyone is frugal though...especially now around the holidays. I have seen a lot of stuff on ebay sell for high prices this month. Good time to sell, bad time to buy....

BTW I also got my BMW private party for ~6K under book value. I basically nagged this guy that was trying to get out of a lease for 3 months till he broke down and sold it to me. Car only had 8K miles on it. He used my money and added money of his own to buy out the lease and now I own it outright at a steal.

The seller may have bought it for a high price and is unaware about the cheapest current deal.... or maybe they are just trying to find a 'sucker'.

I mean it's up to the buyer to do the research; if he finds a better deal elsewhere, by all means get that one. If no one buys the light, the seller usually adjusts downwards till someone buys it. If the seller refuses to budge, that's his prerogative and he can jolly well keep the light.

Bill97z said:

Yeah, not everyone is frugal though...especially now around the holidays. I have seen a lot of stuff on ebay sell for high prices this month. Good time to sell, bad time to buy....

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Really ironic that used prices are up when this is the time of year to find stuff on sale at bargain prices. The exception being last Christmas' ebay/Xbox360 rampant profiteering, but at least they were New-In-Box items, not used.

What you see is not at all unusual. People try to recover as much of their initial investment as possible, and sometimes that may indeed be above existing retail prices or what you may find on a web site. The seller may not be aware of the current price, or are hoping to catch a buyer who is not aware of the current pricing.

Additionally, there's a lot of web pricing of merchandise at misleadingly low prices where the merchant makes up the difference in shipping/handling charges or other charges that may have been created to compensate for the low advertised price.

St8kout said:

Really ironic that used prices are up when this is the time of year to find stuff on sale at bargain prices.

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I tend to give sellers here the benefit of the doubt as they are not up on what things are selling for they just know what they would like to get. It is not impolite to PM a seller letting them know asking price is too high as long as your nice and sincere about it. I have done that a few times (only stuff I wanted and stuff outrageous) and so far I got a positive thank you I did not know or something like that. Not one time have I gotten a "mind your own business" or anything negative.
YMMV.
Topper

The general availability of an item sometimes plays into the price, The Elmo dolls, and the new playstation come to mind right now. There is also the fact that some people may have bought an item at a higher than normal price, They may reduce the price, but it can still be higher than a discounted price, I have seen that with camera items.

There are also other benifits to buying used, like tint verification. When you buy from an established member you can rely on his/her word instead of taking the gamble.