Any interest in a new way of selling gear?

jake_the_pake

Hi all,

I'm sure we've all had those bits of gear we've been trying forever to get rid of to fund new stuff/make space.

The missus was telling me recently of a method of selling used on her baby sites/forums for classifieds called 'dipping'.

From my (still limited) understanding, it works as follows; the seller decides on a price (inc. Postage) they wish to sell an item for. This total is then divided into X amount of 'dips', which in effect, act almost like raffle tickets. When the total amount of dips have been sold, and the seller has received the full amount of his selling price, a draw is made and the 'winner' gets the item. The seller gets his full valuation and the buyer potentially gets a big bargain.

If someone was particularly interested in an item, they could buy more dips etc. Apparently there are sites online to make the draw absolutely random and to negate any bias.

What do you guys think? Any potential in that or is it more trouble than it's worth?

ddlooping

Interesting concept.

[Deleted User]

Why would Anyone pay for an item they never got....

JookyChap

Sounds cool, but a bit of a mare to do properly. Although I guess a book of raffle tickets would help

gilby

So we're gambling ? Do we know the odds before hand (ie how much the individual think its worth which maybe well above the going rate)
Think it's an interesting idea but stuff isn't shifting as most people haven't got readies in the pocket. There's been some proper bargains on here that hang around for ages. I can't see many people saying ohh I've got a one in fifty chance of not giving a fiver away after not winning the last ten dips at the same cost each.

Iamnobody

I suspect it only works with low value items....

I'd risk a couple of quid maybe for a £50 or £100 item.

I'd be much less inclined to spunk £10 to get into the hat with a hundred others for a Les Paul.

There is a site called random.org to make draws but it's still open to abuse...

Something like this would need to be properly regulated and well supported to work.

But it brings many problems along with it.

What happens if the item doesn't sell? Do you give refunds?

What happens if the seller doesn't release the goods?

Etc etc

Fazer

interesting idea, although it probably works best for super popular items like a new digital camera or something, where 100 people might be prepared to gamble £5 or so.
but how many people want to gamble on getting an obscure fuzz pedal or similar?
100 people gambling a £1 each? (or some gambling 5/10/20 etc)

i would be happy to do it as a seller, but i'm not a gambler so i probably wouldn't ever be interested as a buyer/gambler

chrisj1602

There was a thread on mylespaul where they were going to do something like this for a 1960 burst!

shuikit

I would imagine it would work better for items where you're not that bothered about the make or spec of what's on offer. Eg a child car seat. Whereas I don't think there's many of us here that are just after 'a guitar'

randomhandclaps

This whole concept explains why I never let my wife buy anything big and expensive on her own.

jake_the_pake

All good points. The big thing to me, as has been said, is would people be willing to pay money for potentially nothing? I think it likely that if it were only a couple of quid then probably but it wouldn't be feasible for anything over, say, £5.

The sheer organisation of it is probably the main drawback to be honest!

sted

Saw someone try this with a house near me, they had a big sign up saying buy this house for £10 or something but they abandoned it and just sold it normally. Saying that I'd bang a few quid in for a '60 burst, I mean, why not!

[Deleted User]

How about eBay

GuitarMonkey

jake_the_pake said:

...which in effect, act almost like raffle tickets. 

What do you guys think? Any potential in that or is it more trouble than it's worth?

I think you'd fall foul of the law:

"Lotteries (also known as raffles, or draws) cannot be run for private or commercial gain."

chrisj1602

GuitarMonkey said:

jake_the_pake said:

...which in effect, act almost like raffle tickets. 

What do you guys think? Any potential in that or is it more trouble than it's worth?

I think you'd fall foul of the law:

"Lotteries (also known as raffles, or draws) cannot be run for private or commercial gain."

Can you not just donate a % to charity to get around that?

jake_the_pake

chrisj1602;77139" said:

GuitarMonkey said:



jake_the_pake said:

...which in effect, act almost like raffle tickets. 



What do you guys think? Any potential in that or is it more trouble than it's worth?





I think you'd fall foul of the law:

"Lotteries (also known as raffles, or draws) cannot be run for private or commercial gain."










Can you not just donate a % to charity to get around that?

I believe you can ask a question - so it becomes a competition.

fretfinder

If you do it legally then I believe once you start selling tickets you have to go through with it and do the draw on the date you've set and give the prize... even if you've only sold a handful of tickets!

jake_the_pake

Sounds pretty much like a logistical nightmare really, doesn't it? Haha

axisus

Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb

Oh ........ don't mind me, I'm just humming along to something in the background.