I wanted some 86 memorabilia, but...
 

Really?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2013-Scion-F...sories&vxp=mtr


Only 34xx miles on it! Date coded correctly for your 86 resto-projects three decades from now?

At least its a better deal than this...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Scion-FR-S-F...andise&vxp=mtr

The Venn diagram for this seller's flair for commercialism and greed are highly overlapped.

Enjoy your Sunday, good laughs from eBay for 86'ers today!

Eric G

I just don't know what to say about those. $499 for a pen, tag frame, oil cap & battery tie down...insane!

"Consumer Surplus" is an economic concept. It refers to the difference between the price on an item and the highest price that a consumer would be willing to pay for it.
Some sellers attempt to price an item as close as possible to the ultimate price - they are attempting to minimize the consumer surplus.

Other sellers take a different strategy, they deliberately sell items with a large consumer surplus... for example those 25 cent packs of gum. They believe that people will buy the gum in part due to its cheapness, not just from want. Other sellers price very high, because scarcity itself is a desirable commodity for some buyers (think Bentley). The question all sellers have is which strategy makes them the highest margin for each item, and ensures a certain longevity for the firm and product (exceptions to the latter rule are TV infomercial items and often have a deliberately short lifespan).

There is no effective way for a seller to determine what that point is. If you think of a group of buyers (on other words - the market), this works out to be a bell curve. At X dollars (the top of the curve) half of potential buyers would purchase the item. At X+1 dollars, perhaps 25% would purchase the item. At X+2, perhaps 10%. Conversely, at X-1 dollars, 75% would buy. You get the idea.

A buyer selling a very rare item, such as the FIrst 86 kit, has very little idea of what the items are worth. They have no intrinsic value, since they just replace items that already function. Their value is almost entirely sentimental. So it is a very hard thing for the seller to determine the value. He/she doesn't want to sell for too little, and doesn't want to sell for too high, because then it would take too long to sell.

The guy selling the First 86 items is simply trying to determine the market based on his/her estimation of the sentimental and scarcity value of the items.

I saw the oil filter while browsing E-bay FR-S items. Had to chuckle.

Yup. This is pretty much the textbook definition/explanation for collectable markets in general. These well written, concise paragraphs describe what I witnessed and was part of within the baseball card/comics/beer cans/antiques/auctions-whathave you with my father's stores in the 70's and 80's. As well, the reason I find the asking price to be laughable and greedy (grabbing for the 'top of the curve', as it were.)

I fully get the economics of the sale. Although I covet some of the goods shown for high prices on eBay given their limited production, I find a greater value in spending the same money on those helping develop the community/support new products and goof on the person trying to make the highest dollar from the community on gratis swag.

As said above: with all collector markets, if someone wants it bad enough, they're bound to pay for it. Eventually...

Eric G

So, a pen and license plate frame are worth $300?

Because you can get the grimmspeed oil cap & battery tie down for ~$200.

Yup, the license plate is worth whatever someone will pay for it. After all, think about the aftermarket for the FR-Z. People will spend 10K or more on stuff for the car. The car works very well stock. So adding anything additional to the car is doing so for factors such as a very high rate of acceleration, sound, appearance or extreme braking and cornering ability. Except for motorcross or other direct activities that require such modifications, one can argue that there is no practical value to these additions to the car. Instead, the value is in the satisfaction of the individual consumer. Obviously that is very hard to price. That would be like trying to put a cash value on an extra five minutes of sex (Outside of Las Vegas).

If it is the genuine article, who am I to say that the item is overpriced at $50, $500 or $5,000 dollars? Since I don't desire one, it is overpriced at $10. To another guy $5,000 is okay. To say that it is "greedy" to price something at a particular price, when, or if, none other is available, is a misreading of markets. There is simply no basis for saying one price is "fair" and another is "greedy." If, on the other hand, an item is sold frequently, for example a bag of Gold Medal flour, we know what a "fair" price is because there is an established market and the item is sold millions of times per week. So someone that derives great personal satisfaction from having a carbon fiber hood. Who is to say that they wouldn't derive equal satisfaction from a $500 First 86 license plate frame? There is no greed here, only a price level that will satisfy a buyer and a seller. If you are personally outraged by the price, and it is not essential to your well being, you have the choice not to buy it. That's how our system works. Anything else is a directed or "command" economic system, and those systems invariably fail to work.

Only $499! That's a steal!!!

too much for that i want the license plate frame so bad

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FihSyAikRY"]ICE AGE 3D Trailer "Scrat, Scratte & the Acorn" - YouTube[/ame]


everytime i see you I watch this clip.

haha thanks appreciate you think about me :thumbup:

In five years, will anyone remember the "First 86" program? I kind of doubt it. Does anyone remember the Bill Blass Lincoln?

Why would they?

Ill remember that scion sent me to long beach for free, and if/when i sell my car the new owner will have a numbered car with historical value...im not saying this is gonna be a barret jackson yenko camaro, but it should hold some value over the rest of the 86's for sale to certain people.