Re: Getting Way Less Than What Something Is Worth On eBay As A Seller
First of all, you don't even have to do a reserve. Start the price of the auction at the bare minimum you'd accept for the items. I do this on all my auctions, especially since there are no listing fees for the 1st 50 items each month, regardless of starting price, or buy-it-now options. Second, you thought you were going to get $40 for 40 blank cassettes?? What gave you the impression blank cassettes are worth $1 a piece? Not everything old and "vintage" is collectible, or sought after. You got about what those cassettes are worth in reality (not in your mind).
Audiophiliacs may indeed search eBay for vintage items, but by definition, an audiophiliac is an elitist/snob looking for high quality/end stuff, not just "old" stuff. For example, they may look for old records, or high end used turn tables, because many of them feel sound quality of vinyl > CDs/MP3s. Cassettes, on the other hand, sounded like garbage by comparison to modern forms of media. Not even the most expensive cassettes and cassette recorders could make your copies sound remotely close to the original (not that those were great to begin with), not to mention they loose even more sound quality/playability as they get used and worn out. There was no logical reason as to why you'd believe they'd be worth anything today. It's so annoying when people think something is worth money just because it's old, and/or "rare".