Are dealers prowling our classifieds?

jeztone2

A few weeks ago there was a CS 60’s Telecaster in the classifieds for £2250. I’ve just seen the same guitar pop up on my Instagram feed being advertised by a well known vintage dealer for £2750.

Didn’t we have a rule about dealers declaring themselves? 

jeztone2

Sorry just discovered there was already a thread about this. As you were. 

Strangefan

Maybe they went Richard Henry, themselves? At least I hope that's what happened. 

Dan_Halen

Yeah, seems to be a thing. Saw a lovely CS Tele up for about 1800 that was on ebay a week later for nearly 2800.

There's 2 sides - the people who think the classifieds should be for those who are part of the community and the people that think if you sold something and got the price you wanted then what's the problem. Guess what? Both sides are probably right.

Jackobean

Bedroom dealer offer: Your asking price in cash - no nonsense.
Average forum offer: Ten pence, an old Squier and some pocket fluff.

Don't get me wrong, I love getting my pitchfork out too - but it's tough to favour the community sometimes.

Strangefan

Jackobean said:

Bedroom dealer offer: Your asking price in cash - no nonsense.
Average forum offer: Ten pence, an old Squier and some pocket fluff.

Don't get me wrong, I love getting my pitchfork out too - but it's tough to favour the community sometimes.

The pedestal the classifieds on here is up on is laughable sometimes,, it's not a viable alternative to ebay as much a I wish it was, plus  a lot of offers on here are usually low ball or terrible trades. 

Dan_Halen

Strangefan said:

Jackobean said:

Bedroom dealer offer: Your asking price in cash - no nonsense.
Average forum offer: Ten pence, an old Squier and some pocket fluff.

Don't get me wrong, I love getting my pitchfork out too - but it's tough to favour the community sometimes.

The pedestal the classifieds on here is up on is laughable sometimes,, it's not a viable alternative to ebay as much a I wish it was, plus  a lot of offers on here are usually low ball or terrible trades. 

If all the offers are all lowballs or terrible trades then maybe you’re overpricing your stuff?

I’ve had some great transactions and met some very nice people through them as well as getting some great guitars at decent prices. As have plenty of others.

Clearly you’ve got very different expectations but maybe adjust them rather than just moan about a great, free service.

Hattigol

Dan_Halen said:

Strangefan said:

Jackobean said:

Bedroom dealer offer: Your asking price in cash - no nonsense.
Average forum offer: Ten pence, an old Squier and some pocket fluff.

Don't get me wrong, I love getting my pitchfork out too - but it's tough to favour the community sometimes.

The pedestal the classifieds on here is up on is laughable sometimes,, it's not a viable alternative to ebay as much a I wish it was, plus  a lot of offers on here are usually low ball or terrible trades. 

If all the offers are all lowballs or terrible trades then maybe you’re overpricing your stuff?

I’ve had some great transactions and met some very nice people through them as well as getting some great guitars at decent prices. As have plenty of others.

Clearly you’ve got very different expectations but maybe adjust them rather than just moan about a great, free service.

Absolute wis for that @Dan_Halen ;

Not a viable alternative to Ebay? Who the hell suggested it was?!

Sometimes it's a struggle to sell on here but other times, it is an absolute breeze and like Dan, I've met some great people on here through purchases/sales - most recently the lovely @Grangefirth and @m_custom ;

Viva the classifieds!

Strangefan

Dan_Halen said:

Strangefan said:

Jackobean said:

Bedroom dealer offer: Your asking price in cash - no nonsense.
Average forum offer: Ten pence, an old Squier and some pocket fluff.

Don't get me wrong, I love getting my pitchfork out too - but it's tough to favour the community sometimes.

The pedestal the classifieds on here is up on is laughable sometimes,, it's not a viable alternative to ebay as much a I wish it was, plus  a lot of offers on here are usually low ball or terrible trades. 

If all the offers are all lowballs or terrible trades then maybe you’re overpricing your stuff?

I’ve had some great transactions and met some very nice people through them as well as getting some great guitars at decent prices. As have plenty of others.

Clearly you’ve got very different expectations but maybe adjust them rather than just moan about a great, free service.

All the offers? did I actually  say all of them? No I didn't ...... Did I not say I wanted it to be a viable alternative..... Maybe re read what I said before you spout sanctimonious bumfluff

danny_777

It's not great, but if no-one else has bought it, and a dealer comes along and offers you asking price...

I turned down good dealer offers on my R9 because it was a very special guitar and I didn't want to just see it go to someone who viewed it as a £1k profit. It went to a really nice bloke, as one of his two main guitars, who will really appreciate it over the years. I was very happy with that.

prlgmnr

They Post Among Us

Dan_Halen

Strangefan said:

Dan_Halen said:

Strangefan said:

Jackobean said:

Bedroom dealer offer: Your asking price in cash - no nonsense.
Average forum offer: Ten pence, an old Squier and some pocket fluff.

Don't get me wrong, I love getting my pitchfork out too - but it's tough to favour the community sometimes.

The pedestal the classifieds on here is up on is laughable sometimes,, it's not a viable alternative to ebay as much a I wish it was, plus  a lot of offers on here are usually low ball or terrible trades. 

If all the offers are all lowballs or terrible trades then maybe you’re overpricing your stuff?

I’ve had some great transactions and met some very nice people through them as well as getting some great guitars at decent prices. As have plenty of others.

Clearly you’ve got very different expectations but maybe adjust them rather than just moan about a great, free service.

All the offers? did I actually  say all of them? No I didn't ...... Did I not say I wanted it to be a viable alternative..... Maybe re read what I said before you spout sanctimonious bumfluff

Well it's good that you pedantically pick up on the fact that I mis-qutoed with 'usually' rather than 'all' and can't have been paraphrasing. Clearly that completely changes your entire point and makes you sound much more mature.

Strangefan

Dan_Halen said

Well it's good that you pedantically pick up on the fact that I mis-qutoed with 'usually' rather than 'all' and can't have been paraphrasing. Clearly that completely changes your entire point and makes you sound much more mature.

Yes yes, jog on Princess 

Dan_Halen

Strangefan said:

Dan_Halen said

Well it's good that you pedantically pick up on the fact that I mis-qutoed with 'usually' rather than 'all' and can't have been paraphrasing. Clearly that completely changes your entire point and makes you sound much more mature.

Yes yes, jog on Princess 

Someone's grumpy.

 https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/175/need-to-vent-do-it-in-here#latest

axisus

What's the problem? You advertise to sell and someone buys. 

soma1975

This place is exponentially better to buy and sell on than anywhere else as long as you doing it in the spirit of the forum. 

People genuinely moaning about it in here... This country... 

Musicwolf

I don't have an issue with dealers buying via the classifieds.  My only problem would be if someone, dealer or otherwise, were to misrepresent themselves i.e. invent a backstory that they were buying on behalf of a terminally ill child who’s dying wish were to play an electric guitar sort of thing in order to get the price down.  Other than that, if they’ve offered me an acceptable price, then it’s theirs to do with what they will.  I may have priced below ‘the market’ in order to get rid with minimum hassle.  If they spot that there’s a margin to be made buy buying and selling on then good luck to them.

When it comes to buying from dealers then that’s a different matter.  There’s nothing wrong with buying from dealers per se but you do have consumer rights.  If a dealer is misrepresenting themselves at point of sale then that is dishonest, possibly criminal.

matone

Don`t think the dealers prowl much,they`re in plain view mostly!lol

dogload

Over the years I've bought and sold plenty of gear in the classifieds on here.

You get low-ball offers sure, but all it takes is a polite refusal or a counter offer.
Likewise, I've made what I'm sure have been low-ball offers, and am content if I receive a refusal or counter offer.
Usually in either scenario a deal can either be struck, or not. No big deal.

I understand the whole bought-cheap/ flipped for a profit dismay, especially if you've sold in good faith and seen your gear being punted elsewhere for a higher price, but ultimately that's how it goes. It's annoying - it's happened to me plenty, but is it worth stressing about?

Of course if there are 'undercover traders' lurking here and flipping, well...

Kittyfrisk

matone said:

Don`t think the dealers prowl much,they`re in plain view mostly!lol

And the ones that don't declare themselves, usually get weeded out.
Just have a look through Help & Feedback at the Admin/Mod interventions   

Roland

It’s pretty obvious that traders will peruse the Classifieds. Should we be worried? From a seller’s viewpoint it increases the number of people viewing the adverts. This increases the chance of the item selling quickly, and reduces the likelihood of a price drop. Compared with ebay etc the seller has no fees, and hence can sell at a slightly lower price. 

The discussion in another thread has been about buyers misrepresenting themselves, and using sob stories to get price reductions. We don’t like deception in any form. Consequently we insist that traders identify themselves as such. We’ve recently banned a few members for ignoring this.

What we also object to is the forum resources being used for commercial advertising. Hence the rule on each member only having one active For Sale thread in each section, and the Classifieds only being used for personal sales.