Are the Classifieds Broken?

Wazmeister

matone said:

I think this forum has done amazingly well in a very short time!
As the community grows I`m sure sales will speed up.You have to be a bit more than realistic on prices everywhere at present unfortunately,that`s just the way it is.Too many people cannot accept the realities of the market but actual selling prices will always be the market value.

I agree wholeheartedly....

I actually think that some of the prices that people ask on here are too dear. They try to recover what they have spent... and forget that it is a used market. 

matone

Exactly ! Some of the prices asked and apparently achieved for 70`s crap defies logic to me
and everyone whom I know especially the refinished,refretted old beaters which are talked about with reverence !

robwright

I haven't sold much on the forum but when I do advertise, I am more than happy for people to advise on price and in fact the Aria Cardinal that I eventually sold on ebay went for almost exactly the price that someone suggested when I had clearly over-valued it. Its human nature to want as much as you can get when selling (we must have collectively lost the GDP of a small country in 'GAS depreciation!'). 

As we are all friends, perhaps we should encourage this feedback in a positive way. 

Ché

eBay take 10% of your profit, PayPal takes 2/3%... Guess who owns PayPal.

I have to price stuff with a 10% hike on eBay just to cover the cost! even then people low ball you or wait for you to relist at a lower price. It's a tough waiting game but I'd rather sell on here and have the money in my pocket rather than that of a large corporation. Plus it's a. Lot more friendly here and more specialised. I miss MR but I'm super glad we have this place! 

matone

Ebay & Paypal are just a no no for selling  anything valueable to my mind,far too many
ways to be ripped off by underhanded buyers.
Face to face and cash is the safest way to do deals !

dindude

matone said:

Ebay & Paypal are just a no no for selling  anything valueable to my mind,far too many
ways to be ripped off by underhanded buyers.
Face to face and cash is the safest way to do deals !

Totally disagree. Never had a bad transaction on eBay, if you are sensible it's pretty straightforward. And you're protected. I would sooner take £800 via paypal than I would in cash any day.

Van_Hayden

dindude;173384" said:

matone said:

Ebay & Paypal are just a no no for selling  anything valueable to my mind,far too many

ways to be ripped off by underhanded buyers.

Face to face and cash is the safest way to do deals !




Totally disagree. Never had a bad transaction on eBay, if you are sensible it's pretty straightforward. And you're protected. I would sooner take £800 via paypal than I would in cash any day.

Nothing is risk free.

Reminds me of the scam in Manchester a couple of years back. Man sees ad for cheap hifi on, I think, Gumtree, £6k amp for £2k. Man arranges viewing, goes to address with £2k in cash as it's such a great deal, two blokes waiting bash him with baseball bats and take cash.

robwright

Now theres an idea!

Who wants to by an original '54 strat for £4k????? Lovely neck - quite chunky and baseball-bat like!!

Fusionista

Been on EBay 12 years, 600+ transactions, maybe one or two a bit 'off'. One deal on Gumtree, which I was not careful about because of my largely happy experiences online until  that time.  Long story, for another day, but beware. 

For sure don't expect any help from the authorities. They are so far behind the curve it is not funny.

dindude

Van_Hayden said:

dindude;173384" said:

matone said:

Ebay & Paypal are just a no no for selling  anything valueable to my mind,far too many

ways to be ripped off by underhanded buyers.

Face to face and cash is the safest way to do deals !




Totally disagree. Never had a bad transaction on eBay, if you are sensible it's pretty straightforward. And you're protected. I would sooner take £800 via paypal than I would in cash any day.

Nothing is risk free.

Reminds me of the scam in Manchester a couple of years back. Man sees ad for cheap hifi on, I think, Gumtree, £6k amp for £2k. Man arranges viewing, goes to address with £2k in cash as it's such a great deal, two blokes waiting bash him with baseball bats and take cash.

The other scam I've heard of. Sell your car far say £5K cash, wave goodbye, all good. Later that evening you are broken into and turned upside down because, well you have £5K cash shoved under your mattress. It won't be the guys on who bought the car either.

impmann

Could it just be that the market is just totally saturated? 

Fusionista

Interesting question.  The market, as ever, is a moving target.  You might say that certain segments could be saturated from time to time or that the demand cycle is the lower half of its progression perhaps.  But as long as Fender and Gibson maintain pricing power, which they clearly are - there is certainly no saturation at the top end.  What amazes me is how many people buy new from shops.  Quite apart from the retail margin, which is relatively large, I find 20% VAT wholly unacceptable and I refuse to pay it wherever possible.

matone

dindude said:

matone said:

Ebay & Paypal are just a no no for selling  anything valueable to my mind,far too many
ways to be ripped off by underhanded buyers.
Face to face and cash is the safest way to do deals !

Totally disagree. Never had a bad transaction on eBay, if you are sensible it's pretty straightforward. And you're protected. I would sooner take £800 via paypal than I would in cash any day.

So you sell an 60`s Fender /Gibson /Marshall/whatever,the buyer lodges a dispute,claiming parts weren`t original(having replaced original parts & kept them .You get some of your item back ! How do you prove they nicked the original parts ?
Don`t think you `ll get much help with that one !

Van_Hayden

impmann;174736" said:

Could it just be that the market is just totally saturated? 

There was an interesting article on Fender's financial woes last year. Their biggest problem is this. The number one competitor against a new strat is a secondhand strat. The analysts view fenders position negatively as they can't see where the future growth will come from.

Add to that there are fewer kids playing than ever before it's easy to be pessimistic.

richardhomer

Van_Hayden;179039" said:

[quote="impmann;174736"]There was an interesting article on Fender's financial woes last year. Their biggest problem is this. The number one competitor against a new strat is a secondhand strat. The analysts view fenders position negatively as they can't see where the future growth will come from.

Add to that there are fewer kids playing than ever before it's easy to be pessimistic.

I don't doubt this for a second.

I don't know the numbers but my guess would be that in the 70s, neither Fender or Gibson's production numbers would be anywhere near what they are now - yet everyone watched Top of The Pops and everyone wanted to be a guitarist.

I own a '64 335. They made approximately 900 in the same colour as mine that year....

The recent failure of Tone World (which was an outstandingly good shop) and the rumours I've heard about the financial health of others, suggests problems in the market. As any GCSE economics student will tell you, when supply is plentiful, prices fall.

My guess is that what we are seeing now has little to do with post-2008 economics and far more to do with a permanent shift in the market. I suspect the big American manufacturers will radically rethink their business models. Lower numbers and higher prices?