Second hand prices

Voxman

Bigsby said:

TimmyO said:

SlopeSoarer said:

Nerine said:

Even realistically priced stuff doesn’t sell because people want a “bargain” or to feel like they’ve “won” the deal. 

My opinion is that if prices are realistic, they will sell... but one persons realistic isn't always anothers. Other than that poor descriptions, rubbish photos and niche items don't help.

I suspect there are very few people who don't put wiggle room in their classified ads.

I don’t. If everyone is assuming that everyone is, then THAT’S the/a source of asking price inflation !

I don't understand why anyone would put wiggle room in their price. If I think the guitar I'm selling should get £1000 I'll advertise at that price. If I make it £1100 I'll just risk putting some buyers off, as they'll assume I'm being unrealistic and won't accept a realistic amount for it. If anyone assumes I've included wiggle room and offers £900 I'll assume they're only interested in buying if they've got a good chance of flipping it for a profit. 

I'll still have the option to accept their low-ball offer, but if I've over priced it with 'wiggle room', I may not get an offer from someone who would've paid what I thought it was worth. 

I kind of get both sides of the coin here.

For folks selling at their minimum best price perhaps the ad might simply make clear 'this is best price so no offers please'. And I get that would then be a very straight bat approach. If it was on Ebay then bidding would be irrelevant and it would simply be a BIN price. 

On the flip side, many folk like to feel they are getting a bargain and some realistic wiggle room allows for that psychology.  And psychology and sentiment can be big factors in buying and selling. You only need to consider how stock markets and derivatives function, and see the psychology of store discounts and sales. So building in some sensible, albeit not excessive wiggle room, can help encourage a sale.

And what may be a fixed price initially may need revision if the seller hasnt got pricing and market sentiment quite right in that the item is still unsold a few months.  The other factor to consider is how badly and quickly the seller needs to sell, eg financial issues, or needs funds to buy another piece of gear, or whether they're quite happy to keep the item if they don't get the price they want. 

Both approaches are valid and it's not therefore a one size fits all.  Just to clarify, I'm not equating some reasonable wiggle room with chancers who put gear in for stupid money. 
 

guitarjack66

Bigsby said:

TimmyO said:

SlopeSoarer said:

Nerine said:

Even realistically priced stuff doesn’t sell because people want a “bargain” or to feel like they’ve “won” the deal. 

My opinion is that if prices are realistic, they will sell... but one persons realistic isn't always anothers. Other than that poor descriptions, rubbish photos and niche items don't help.

I suspect there are very few people who don't put wiggle room in their classified ads.

I don’t. If everyone is assuming that everyone is, then THAT’S the/a source of asking price inflation !

I don't understand why anyone would put wiggle room in their price. If I think the guitar I'm selling should get £1000 I'll advertise at that price. If I make it £1100 I'll just risk putting some buyers off, as they'll assume I'm being unrealistic and won't accept a realistic amount for it. If anyone assumes I've included wiggle room and offers £900 I'll assume they're only interested in buying if they've got a good chance of flipping it for a profit. 

I'll still have the option to accept their low-ball offer, but if I've over priced it with 'wiggle room', I may not get an offer from someone who would've paid what I thought it was worth. 

£1100 ono or £1100 plus open to sensible offers would sound like your best options.

fretfinder

I sold my motorbike yesterday. I had some wriggle room in my asking price but the buyer bought at the full price and didn’t haggle. The same can happen with guitar gear so I’ll always include a little headroom in my asking prices. Just a little mind you, so don’t go making silly offers folks! 

strtdv

A lot of what you see on Facebook marketplace and Gumtree is just the same stuff at too high prices listed over and over again. 

Some really rather nice gear seems not to be selling at the moment though. There's a very nice USA telecaster elite (formerly the USA Deluxe) for £1000 in near mint condition with case and tags, and it hasn't sold in months at that price which seems crazy to me.

On the other side of the coin I see lots of Les Paul standards and traditionals with plenty of play wear for £1700 which feels about £2-300 too high

Benm39

Yes but like vegans and crossfitters they’re not shy in volunteering that info so it would probably have been mentioned :-)


Made me chuckle and reminded me of Ismo..

pintspiller

Sellers may include "some wiggle room" on their prices as they expect people to haggle. Obviously there's a difference between picking your nose and trying to remove your brains through your nostrils and I'd sit your ground and let them repost on Facebook a couple of months later at a reduced asking price.

Voxman

strtdv said:

A lot of what you see on Facebook marketplace and Gumtree is just the same stuff at too high prices listed over and over again. 

Some really rather nice gear seems not to be selling at the moment though. There's a very nice USA telecaster elite (formerly the USA Deluxe) for £1000 in near mint condition with case and tags, and it hasn't sold in months at that price which seems crazy to me.

On the other side of the coin I see lots of Les Paul standards and traditionals with plenty of play wear for £1700 which feels about £2-300 too high

I haven't seen an elite at that price... Where did you see this please?  

strtdv

@voxman on Facebook marketplace, it's in Portstewart (Northern Ireland).
I was tempted myself though have reached my self-imposed guitar limit

SteveRobinson

mankytom said:

For example there is an SG Standard that is a few years old on Facebook for £1400, Andertons currently selling them for £1399..

*Everyone* knows that older is better

Voxman

strtdv said:

@voxman on Facebook marketplace, it's in Portstewart (Northern Ireland).
I was tempted myself though have reached my self-imposed guitar limit

Thanks for that - looked, but still couldn't immediately see it?  Search function is pretty useless!

mankytom

Voxman said:

strtdv said:

@voxman on Facebook marketplace, it's in Portstewart (Northern Ireland).
I was tempted myself though have reached my self-imposed guitar limit

Thanks for that - looked, but still couldn't immediately see it?  Search function is pretty useless!

Sometimes things are just posted in private groups and not everyone can see them? Might be the case here. 

guitarjack66

SteveRobinson said:

mankytom said:

For example there is an SG Standard that is a few years old on Facebook for £1400, Andertons currently selling them for £1399..

*Everyone* knows that older is better

Totally agree. But not necessarily talking about guitars!

Litterick

One explanation is endowment effect, a phenomenon much discussed by behavioural economists: 'people's maximum willingness to pay to acquire an object is typically lower than the least amount they are willing to accept to give up that same object when they own it—even when there is no cause for attachment, or even if the item was only obtained minutes ago.'

Another explanation is money laundering: "Products listed at astronomically high prices on eBay appear to be real transactions when sold but are in fact methods to launder and secretly send cash. This simple, popular ruse has been used by Islamic State to funnel cash to operatives in the Middle East, according to the FBI." The Wall Street Journal reported, "The government had alleged in a 2016 indictment that the American suspect, Mohamed Elshinawy, pledged allegiance to Islamic State and had pretended to sell computer printers on eBay as a cover to receive payments through PayPal, potentially to fund terror attacks."

rlw

Some of the big hops are asking silly prices for used stuff.  I've been looking at AmPro II Strats and most of them are £200-£300 less than theire new price and some are more expensive than others' new prices.