Very disappointing when TBers try to make more than they should on a sale

[nortonrider]

Originally Posted by NorCal Dog

carrots

how much you want for them?
(and remember that we're all "family" here)

[hgiles]

Originally Posted by SBassman

Forget the way below market. I'd be happy if I saw the end of:

- People with plenty of disposable income, buying frequently, then quickly flipping - adding to the original cost.

- People buying when there are blow outs, then selling later at the original non-blowout price.

If you can sleep at night doing things like that, great for you.

+1

[Got2SadowskyNYC]

"More than they should"? According to who?

Do you get to set the price of MY gear or do I?

Capitalism tends to find a fair price of any item for sale. Things have value and it's the best way to find out what that is.

If I set what I think is a fair price and someone agrees by buying it what business is it of yours? It's their money.

If I've got it marked to high no one will buy it or someone will try to haggle me down until we meet what is fair to BOTH of us. Again, what business is it of yours?

Why should a third party, not involved in the transaction, get to be to great arbiter of how much money a seller makes or a buyer pays? There's a name for this.

I hate to break this to you, but we're not a family. If I ever decide to sell something on TB I'll mark it for as much as I think I can get.

[C.Linton]

As simplistic as it may be, but if you don't like the price, you don't have to buy it. (Has someone already said this?)

[Musiclogic]

Originally Posted by Brad Johnson

I love this topic.


Honestly, no offense... this is ridiculous. There's a simple formula for getting a killer deal. It bears no resemblence to what you posted. What you do is what the person who found the killer deal did, just do it before them.

Simple, right?


Sometimes killer deals are the result of dumb luck but more often than not they're the result of people putting in work. That's typically frequent perusals of anywhere that killer deals exist. And being ready to pull the trigger when you find it. What you're describing is the equivalent of you combing the beach for weeks at a time, you find something and give it to someone else who couldn't be bothered to do what you did.

"Hey, I found a nice watch. You can have it".



I remember when TB was so small we practically knew everyone onboard. That was a long time ago. TB is definitely a great place but this post is a sign of how some folks get it twisted. This is not a family. Some people will screw you for no reason at all. Making a fair profit is not my idea of screwing anyone..

You are free to trade between your internet friends but actually thinking that everyone should act the same way is fairly naive. Here's why:

Things are worth what they're worth. And that's tied to what people are willing to pay. I've had more than any ten guy's share of crazy deals and one still sticks out in my mind. I got a brand new high end bass on ebay for 1/3 of what it was selling for new. From a dealer. After I got it a TBer mentioned that if I decided to sell it a friend of his had bid on it and lost (because he wouldn't bid more than 1/3 of the street value). I said cool but just so we're clear, if I sell it it won't be for what I got it for.

And suddenly I was a bad guy. Why did I want to screw people? I got a genuine chuckle about that. I was told the same thing, about the TB brotherhood and how we should all stick together. I said cool, if someday I happen to come up short on my mortgage I'll check in here and see whose willing to help.


I just found THROUGH RESEARCH another ridiculous deal on a bass. About 1/4 what it went for new. I cleaned it up, got it refinished and just sold it and doubled my INVESTMENT. Was I wrong? Should I have sold it for...

what I bought it for + refinish cost + my clean-up time+ shipping?

BTW by doubling my investment the bass still sold for well below market. Is that a good or bad thing?

I treat any transaction I do as a business one. I pay what I think is fair and I don't expect anyone to give something away to me because that's how they got it. I really don't care how they got it because it's really not relevant. That's probably why I have no problem telling potential buyers how little I paid for something... either they understand the value and my good fortune or they don't. If they don't, cool... they'll probably miss out on some nice gear.

I once bought a Brubaker bass off of ebay for around $800... absolutely stupid deal. When I decided to sell it I put it on consignment, my end was $1100, the store's was $1400. I was going to make $300 and someone was going to get a absolute steal (I already have a couple ). A guy I knew told me he went to the store every day for couple of weeks to play my bass. He knew the store's price was a steal but he wanted to get it for what I paid for it. I laughed. Someone else ended up with the bass.

I'll never fall prey to that kind of frankly silly logic. If I find a $20 bill, should I give it to you for a dollar... obviously I didn't even have that much invested in bending over and picking it up. That's the logic at play here. So don't look at acquisition cost, it has absolutely nothing to do with the buyer. The buyer should be concerned with how much they're willing to pay. Period. I know guys who miss killer deal after killer deal because they can't seem to figure this out.


BTW when you see people commiting these "offense", don't buy from them. That'll show 'em... and the person who ends up owning it will likely appreciate your stance.

+100
Well put.

[jwr]

Here's my thoughts. I have giving KILLER deals on this forum and have gotten KILLER deals as well. Is it a requirement though? Hell no. If I don't like someone's asking price, I either make them an offer or move on. Simple as that. I know they are selling because either A)they need money or B)they want to buy more gear.

It drives me bonkers when people come in and post "you know you buy this new at Prymaxe or Ebay for X amount cheaper" Awesome story there. Why crap on someone's else business? WHY? What purpose does it serve you?

If you want to buy the product new somewhere else, do it! If you don't know how to use google, learn!

It's that simple.

I'm all about deals, but I'm also not a cheapskate.

[mjac28]

I just took advantage of the Verellen sale and bought a Meatsmoke Pre if I ever went crazy and decided to sale it I will be making money on it for sure and will sleep like a baby.

[Turock]

Originally Posted by SBassman

Many of you very quickly demonstrate exactly what I'm talking about.

Yeah, I went too far with my "give it away" words, but that doesn't change the fact that we should be treating each other here as members of the same community. This should not be a place to rip every penny from our fellow TBers that we can.

If you think that's ok, great. It Is a free world.
And I'm free to think you're not much of a person for thinking that way.

I'm with you man. I believe we should be looking out for one another.

[KeithPas]

There are two sides in every sale. I typically lose money on sales on TB but I do not care, it is my choice. The OP has a problem with sellers making a profit but is;nt it the same for a buyers that throw out ridiculous low ball offers on gear?

[ubnomnar]

Originally Posted by jwr

It drives me bonkers when people come in and post "you know you buy this new at Prymaxe or Ebay for X amount cheaper" Awesome story there. Why crap on someone's else business? WHY? What purpose does it serve you?

That's why TB has the little red-outlined triangle in the upper right corner of every post... so you can FLAG people who are out of line with their comments. It works wonders. You click it, send a note to the moderators... and magic... the offending, out of line post vanishes

[ubnomnar]

I typically lose $50 to $100 for every bass I sell on TB... due to the darn cost of shipping

I consider my loss a "rental" fee

GAS has a High Price

[refinedbass]

I'm just waiting for this guy to close this thread due to getting flamed so bad. Guess I'll just grab some popcorn and wait it out.

[lizardwizard28]

I check out the classifieds at least once a day, and you know what? I usually see some fair pricing, some prices that seem a little high, and every once in a while i'll see a pretty sweet deal. And for the most part, the prices that I think are too high are on par with ebay, guitar center, amazon, and craigslist. Another thing that I see is that a majority of the sellers are willing to negotiate their prices or augment with trades, which I think is pretty cool. All in all, TB is a great information and idea database, and to educated buyers and sellers, a great marketplace. I love this site!

[hibachiduck]

So here's what you do: find a bass you want that's priced "fairly" and then buy it. Another option is to send an offer via PM. Just about every piece of gear I've bought on here (I've definitely spent at least $3000 on TalkBass this year now that I think about it) I've gotten for less than the original asking price. Sometimes just chatting with the seller a bit will get them to be more willing to lower the price for you (I'm not saying feign kindness to rip them off, but it's basic psychology that you're typically more willing to help someone out who's friendly to you than someone who just throws an offer at you out of the blue).

People are free to price things however they want. If nobody wants to buy it at their price then they don't get to make any money at all.

edit: Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like a jerk when I wrote this

[oniman7]

People making a profit is one thing, though typically I consider the value of an item to diminish between owners instead of increase. Blatantly ripping people off or over charging is another story and I expect a lot of us here are educated enough to call someone out when it happens

[hibachiduck]

You can get ripped off anywhere. Caveat emptor.

[Stumbo]

What's the best bass to sell for Metal?

[Bassbubble11]

It's really very simple.

If you don't want to buy something someone is
selling........... Don't. Otherwise mind your own business.

Overcharging? What does that even mean?

If I sound like a jerk...... Good.

[joebar]

all i expect from this community is transparency and full disclosure and good communication; the rest is free enterprise
i cannot believe the OP`s statement to be honest; it is no one`s business what an item buys and sells for except the buyer and the seller

[1SHOT1HIT]

So if I sold my bass here I'd need to price it at what?

I paid $100.00 for a 1962 Shell Pink Fender Jazz in immaculate condition with case.
If I followed the thinking of the OP i guess, I'd need to price it at $75.00 to be fair? Right?

That's one Classified ad that will never exist.

That's completely ridiculous to expect people to cut themselves short on potential income, all for some other guy on the Internet, and simply because they both visit the same site and play the same instrument.

If one guy gets a killer deal on something that's his good fortune.
Selling it for that profit IS the payoff to ever getting the killer deal to begin with.
There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with asking fair market value for something, the owners cost has absolutely nothing to do with his sale price.

I get the whole community thing, and honestly I have seen far more community type behavior than not.
You don't need to give things away.
And nobody should expect anyone to.