Classifieds

Parker

It seems to me that nothing much is selling at the moment unless it's an absolute bargain - admittedly not just on the FB. (I thought we were out of recession!!)

There also appears to be quite a lot of trolling creeping in to posts. And wonder if this is connected!? Quite a bit of bitching about pricing (...I thought the rule was that this was unacceptable?).

Surely if someone has got the price wrong, a PM is the gentlemanly way to advise someone that they might have better luck to reduce prices due to X. Instead a gang-mentality begins like a group of hyenas. It used to happen on MR a lot too. I certainly don't see any adverse comments on-mass when there is a bargain to be had! 'Mate, that's too cheap! They're going on EBay for a hundred quid more than yours - sort it out!'.

I just think there is a fine line between constructive criticism and bullying.

(NB - I've not had these comments myself!)

JookyChap

Amen...

underdog

Think the classified section on here is pretty good, most know their stuff and get the prices "right", I've see one LP up for about 30% too much but that seemed a genuine uninformed seller.

fretmeister

underdog said:

Think the classified section on here is pretty good, most know their stuff and get the prices "right", I've see one LP up for about 30% too much but that seemed a genuine uninformed seller.

I've had a bass on sale for about a year (different forum) at about 100% too much.

Why?

Because the missus wants me to clear out a bit of space, and I don't want to sell it....

TTony

Parker said:

Surely if someone has got the price wrong, a PM is the gentlemanly way to advise someone that they might have better luck to reduce prices due to X. 

That is correct.

If there's any undue, aggressive, OTT, (etc) adverse comment, they will be looked at if they are flagged.  We modmins don't (can't) read every post on every thread, so rely on the membership flagging stuff that is out of line.

Flagging is anonymous and flagged posts do get read and discussed by the modmins as to what action is appropriate.  Not every flag will result in action as sometimes it's a matter of interpretation, opinion, judgement (etc).

meltedbuzzbox

And what happens when you try the friendly PM approach and you are not so kindly offered to eat your own ass with a spoon?

As a community is it not beneficial to notify those not in the know?

UnclePsychosis

meltedbuzzbox;221144" said:

And what happens when you try the friendly PM approach and you are not so kindly offered to eat your own ass with a spoon?

Then roll your eyes, mutter "di*k" under your breath, close the message and get on with your life!

As a community is it not beneficial to notify those not in the know?

People are free to ask as much money as they like for something. Buyers should research whether or not that price is acceptable to them. We don't need forum police deciding what is or isn't a fair price. If something is overpriced it won't sell.

Forge

meltedbuzzbox said:

And what happens when you try the friendly PM approach and you are not so kindly offered to eat your own ass with a spoon?

That had me laughing out loud!

I can think about answer to this sort of pm but it is not very appropriate!

I think PM for any price query is the best way to go, if the item is non genuine or not identified properly then a post on the thread is better, it would inform a potential buyer straight away.

JDE

Agree with all of the points made by @UnclePsychosis - ultimately life is too short. If rather sell on here than on eBay, even if you ignore all the fees etc.
There has been a slump in the market of late - there's so many options for buyers that a lot of people bide their time I think. Great if you're a buyer, shit if you're a seller. But this is the circle of life. The lowball arseholes are mainly an eBay phenomenon though - after my current batch of sales I don't think I'll use it again.

guitarfishbay

My own feeling is the community is in the discussion pages, not the classifieds.  That might sound a bit cold but buying and selling isn't quite the same as banter and helping each other out with gear questions etc.

Community enforced pricing just isn't fair.  It is up to the seller and buyer to agree a price.  If a seller can't sell because the price is too high then that is a result of their choices.  It is their choice to price it that way.  I don't see a problem with informing the seller privately but if they choose to keep the price high then that is their choice.

If the buyer buys at a higher price than the 'going rate' that is their decision - it should be their responsibility to ensure they are paying what it is worth to them.

I do not like the idea of always conforming to a 'going rate' because these things change all the time with fashion trends, supply and demand, and the time of the year (a lot of people are skint in January for example!).

The prices on here are by and large miles more realistic than the ones I see on the Facebook groups I am a part of.

Parker

I think the Big Three have flooeded the market personally. I swear Fender must have a catelogue the size of an '80's Yellow Pages!

PolarityMan

tbh i think alot of prices are too high, you see alot of people buying something then punting it on for 10 or 20 quid less than they paid for it (or sometimes trying to recoup the intial investment). As a buyer if something either isnt a significant saving over the price of buying new or cheap enough to be a disposable income type purchase (say 50 quid or so) then im prob not interested and will jsut buy new.

Richardj

Parker said:

I think the Big Three have flooeded the market personally. I swear Fender must have a catelogue the size of an '80's Yellow Pages!

This.  I amp personally pretty disappointed at how used prices seem to be crashing.  Partly due to the manufacturers having vast ranges and continually adding new models.  I have a guitar on here that I have no intention of playing again and it seems cannot sell for what I believe to be a reasonable price.  No-one has said it's too much (I wouldn't be offended at constructive criticism), the market seems flooded and no-one is buying.

Gagaryn

I agree wholeheartedly with the OP. People are free to ask watever price they want for something they have for sale. It only really becomes your business if you are genuinly interested in buying it - then a PM suggesting a lower price and politely explaining why would be appropriate.

digitalscream

Richardj said:

This.  I amp personally pretty disappointed at how used prices seem to be crashing.  Partly due to the manufacturers having vast ranges and continually adding new models.  I have a guitar on here that I have no intention of playing again and it seems cannot sell for what I believe to be a reasonable price.  No-one has said it's too much (I wouldn't be offended at constructive criticism), the market seems flooded and no-one is buying.

The usual response to that in the market is the one thing that you can do on here that you can't do on eBay - people start offering stuff for trade rather than cash. We saw that trend for a little while, but then everybody went back to wanting cash again.

As for the whole pricing-by-community-enforcement thing...no, that's definitely not how we do things here. The rules in the Classifieds area are a lot more specific than anywhere else on the forum for this exact reason; it doesn't matter how many times we're accused of heavy-handed modding (which does happen more frequently than we'd like), we're not going to allow that area to devolve into a vigilante-led bunfight. The flip-side of that is that we do need the community's help, hence the flag button. We try to be as responsive as we can, but we simply can't review every post in every thread to make sure it abides by the rules. There aren't that many of us

LooseMoose

I tend to agree but it DOES get on my moobs when someone posts something for a ridiculous price and forever bumps it.  Take the hint, it's not selling because your price is way off.  This doesn't happen here but it's terrible on facebook groups - there's one where I swear I die a little inside each time I see the (daily) bump of his massively overpriced Trace Eliot rig.

Parker

LooseMoose said:

I tend to agree but it DOES get on my moobs when someone posts something for a ridiculous price and forever bumps it.  Take the hint, it's not selling because your price is way off.  This doesn't happen here but it's terrible on facebook groups - there's one where I swear I die a little inside each time I see the (daily) bump of his massively overpriced Trace Eliot rig.

I don't disaggree with the bumping, but sometimes you see apparent bargains (that would have been snapped up in a matter of seconds in yesteryear) sitting on here for days. A good example is the recent Coronado. There was also a Trace Tramp for £60 that was sat around for weeks! Its sometimes difficult to gauge what is the 'right' price. I have listed stuff here, but no one has as much as sniffed at it. Listed on Ebay with a hefty mark-up to allow for fee's and Best Offers and it sells for full price quickly. My Vox AC30 Brian May amp is an example - I got £200 more on Ebay in the end. I know it's niche, but someone could have bought it just to flip at that price!

close2u

I have a few classifieds threads running and I'll happily take any thoughtful, informed, constructive comment on the pricing of those items.

Whether pm or in the threads.

GuitarMonkey

That's because the size of the eBay market is magnitudes greater than this little community.

Selling popular stuff like Telecasters is okay but niche items will be tricky unless they are very cheap.

meltedbuzzbox

Forge said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

And what happens when you try the friendly PM approach and you are not so kindly offered to eat your own ass with a spoon?

That had me laughing out loud!

I can think about answer to this sort of pm but it is not very appropriate!

I think PM for any price query is the best way to go, if the item is non genuine or not identified properly then a post on the thread is better, it would inform a potential buyer straight away.

Life is too short etc but I am just puzzled. I cant question a price on a public forum thread but if I exercise the gentlemens code of conduct via PM I am free to be abused with no issue because its not in public view?

On the plus side I can message mdphillips aka sausage fingers however I like then?

mike_l

meltedbuzzbox said:

Forge said:

Life is too short etc but I am just puzzled. I cant question a price on a public forum thread but if I exercise the gentlemens code of conduct via PM I am free to be abused with no issue because its not in public view?

On the plus side I can message mdphillips aka sausage fingers however I like then?

In reply,

1) yes

2) s'pose so.