I got my blue pearl set for $550 and the red set will cost the same. I'd say I'm doing well.

The pattern you describe means that all is well and microeconomics models work well enough in describing pricing behavior.

People are free to ask whatever prices they wish. Asking isn't getting. If you look at asking prices you think prices are higher than they really are. If you monitor prices for sold kits then you are looking at the real selling prices. The test of whether people are asking higher prices than people are willing to pay is how long it takes for a set to sell when it is "overpriced" compared to when it is "fairly priced". And we know how quickly something sells if you put it online for a BIN which is 20% of the expected market value. :2Cents:

People who choose to ask high prices may or may not be delusional. They may be using poor price research techniques (like looking at asking prices rather than completed sales). They may be using anecdotal evidence rather than properly designed research to get their price samples. They may base their pricing on a personal sense of value (for example endowment effect) without reference to whether a sale is likely to happen at that price. I've done a bit of study of old K prices and written a bit about why people hold beliefs which seem to be completely at variance with what is actually happening. Here is a link to that section of my pricing research:

http://black.net.nz/old-k/old-k-prices.html#summary

Zen...I get it. I think there's a lot of, "they're old drums so they're worth a lot of money" mentality going on. Then, people realize they're expecting too much and adjust their prices if they are serious about selling. Some never do and sit on the drums forever.

I went to an estate sale last year locally. The deceased was a drummer. There were three or four semi-current MIJ sets-Tama and Pearl-for sale. The family was asking list prices for everything. In good faith, I tried to explain to the person running the sale that they were used drums that were priced too high, but she said, the family wants what they want for them and she could only discount a small amount. All I could do was wish her luck selling the drums.