Author:  Gaston.La.Brick  Posted:  Oct 1, 2018 09:54  Subject:  Re: 90-percentile as new average price ?  Viewed:  54 times  Topic:  Suggestions Cancel Reply

BrickLink ID Card Gaston.La.Brick (1844) Location:  Belgium Member Since Contact Type Status Nov 12, 2016 Seller Store: The Rolling Bricks

I really don't think prices on Bricklink are unfair at all considering all the work that goes into running a store. You are jumping to conclusions. I never said prices are unfair. I'm saying the average calculation, although mathematically correct, is not a good indication of what a piece is actually sold for most of the time. Because that is what the average amount implies: the average price to which an item is sold for most of the time. For me, I use the average price to set my pricing. But currently it becomes unreliable, when you have to verify how many items have been sold at a price that's not realistic (or at least: that has something strange going on -- $1.00 for a typicall $0.02 item, seems strange to me). You are not for, because it would make the calculation less transparant. But it doesn't have to be clear how it was calculated, as long as it's accurate. It's like Google search engine: you don't need to know the algorithm behind it, as long as the results are accurate (which they typically are). Your remark about why not the middle 90p (so 5p-95p range), is valid but I'm in doubt about that. It still is a seller/buyer market. So a low price actually does mean a very solid competition that influences the seller/buyer market. This in contrary to a very high price, which is not relevant for the seller/buyer market. The reason I wouldn't include the lowest 5p, I give you that, is to exclude the sellers who price very low but add a ridiculously high fee per lot. In the end, to me, it still feels the average price as a purely mathematical average, is not very useful. You imply it's good for sellers, since the buyer gets an (unrealistic) idea about the amount he should spend on the item. Unless it's a smart seller that looks at other stuff than average amounts... (and I think most of them do).

Message is in Reply To:

Re: 90-percentile as new average price ? - Teup (6615)

[...] This suggestion comes up now and then, I am not in favour, as it makes the priceguide less transparent but most of all it promotes the race to the bottom even more. In [...] (69 months ago, Oct 1, 2018, to Suggestions)

Message Has 2 Replies:

Re: 90-percentile as new average price ? - MidwestBrick (1855)

[...] A low price puts in all those sales where people are "selling out". Overall, to each their own on pricing. I have my own methods which vary from color to color, type [...] (69 months ago, Oct 1, 2018, to Suggestions)

Re: 90-percentile as new average price ? - yorbrick (1185)

[...] Throwing away data using some other biasing gives an even worse indication of what it has sold for. [...] The average value reports the average (mean) value [...] (69 months ago, Oct 1, 2018, to Suggestions)

8 Messages in this Thread:

 Msg 1 - Gaston.La.Brick (1844) 69 months ago Oct 1, 2018 to Suggestions
 Msg 2 - Teup (6615) 69 months ago Oct 1, 2018 to Suggestions
 Msg 3 « - Gaston.La.Brick (1844) 69 months ago Oct 1, 2018 to Suggestions
 Msg 4 - MidwestBrick (1855) 69 months ago Oct 1, 2018 to Suggestions
 Msg 5 - yorbrick (1185) 69 months ago Oct 1, 2018 to Suggestions
 Msg 6 - Bricks_NW_UK (1367) 69 months ago Oct 1, 2018 to Suggestions
 Msg 7 - Etown (1740) 69 months ago Oct 1, 2018 to Suggestions
 Msg 8 - jx (13) 47 months ago Aug 12, 2020 to Suggestions