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Are buyers always this unreliable?

#21
Katoosie said:
Hey!

Been trying to sell some gear and I've noticed a lot of flaky/annoying buyers.

You know what I mean, sends a message, I answer - never get any reply.

Or talks and talks and just randomly leaves me on read for forever and never gets in touch again.

Or when we talk for weeks and all it ammounts to is "I just want to try the bass".

Jeez, how do you even have the patience to do flipping or selling and buying, stuff is beyond me.

When I buy gear I make sure everything is ready beforehand, out of respect for the buyer.

Just ranting.
Click to expand...
Jeez does it like this.
Them: "Is ___ still available?"
Me: "yes it is"

Them: "(2/3 of asking price)?"
Me: "(higher than asking price)"


In situations like yours,

Them: "Hi I'm interested in ____. When can we meet?"
Me: "I get off work at ___" good to go then.
Them: ...
Me: "I'm home. Anytime's good."
New Guy: "Is this still available?"
Me: "It yours." (Meet up and sell item)
Other guy: "sorry, I'm available now. Let's do this"
Me: "I sold it"
Them: "what!? That's completely messed up man! You couldn't wait 6 hours!"
Me: "nope. You didn't answer your phone. He did."
 
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#22
JeezyMcNuggles said:
Jeez does it like this.
Them: "Is ___ still available?"
Me: "yes it is"

Them: "(2/3 of asking price)?"
Me: "(higher than asking price)"


In situations like yours,

Them: "Hi I'm interested in ____. When can we meet?"
Me: "I get off work at ___" good to go then.
Them: ...
Me: "I'm home. Anytime's good."
New Guy: "Is this still available?"
Me: "It yours." (Meet up and sell item)
Other guy: "sorry, I'm available now. Let's do this"
Me: "I sold it"
Them: "what!? That's completely messed up man! You couldn't wait 6 hours!"
Me: "nope. You didn't answer your phone. He did."
Click to expand...


Experienced that A LOT when I was still fishing and selling fishing gear and was selling my stuff locally (low prices). Had someone respond 4 days later and was so mad that I sold it. He never responded after the initial "where do you want to meet".
 
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#25
ColdEye said:
Experienced that A LOT when I was still fishing and selling fishing gear and was selling my stuff locally (low prices). Had someone respond 4 days later and was so mad that I sold it. He never responded after the initial "where do you want to meet".
Click to expand...
Somebody's doing it to me right now. I hate people sometimes.
 
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#27
yes there are buyers like that no matter where you go or what your method of selling it is. I answer any question as simple as I can, if I can answer with one word, thats best.
If my ad says "no offers, no trades, cash only...etc" and you ask for it, I wont reply and message will be forever ignored.
Oh and the worst to me are people who ask for me to call them or to email them to a different email...etc. If they cant complete a purchase without sending you instructions then they are not interested to begin with and im not interested in wasting my time either.

Dont sweat it too much for one buyer, there are several buyers out there, if one is causing you too many problems or stress you are free to ignore and keep looking for a legit buyer.
 
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#30
Skygoneblue said:
And 99% of messages are, you guessed it, "IS THIS AVAILABLE!??!!?!?" "WILL U TAEK HALF OF WHAT UR ASKING!?!?!?!"
Click to expand...

You'd be amazed how often people forget to take down their CL and FB ads after the item has sold. Maybe not you, but enough people forget that I give prospective buyers a pass when they ask this question.

In fact, I give prospective buyers a pass on most of the things that irritate others. I seriously doubt people are out to intentionally mess with me, there is never any real harm or malice, and if I get all uppity and indignant it might chase off someone who would have otherwise followed through with the purchase if I had just exercised a little patience.

Numerous times I had a buyer who started out with lots of questions and nitpicky, and the more I patiently answered in fair but firm terms, the more they came around and gave me my ask. Making them feel like an imposition would have resulted in the eventual sale of the item taking far longer, if at all.
 
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#31
I expect someone to bargain for a 'better' deal, just natural, we all do that, within reason.

But . . . IF I posted 200 pictures of every square inch of the axe, had sworn affidavits from witnesses, an appraisal from Gruhn's (good enough for any insurer), X-rays and a cat scan, the nimrod I just spent 150 bucks shipping it to (while waiting on PayPal) will find SOMETHING to chicken-s++t me over, want more money off, or just send it back.

I sold online twice. The first was to a reasonable person I'd had several conversations with, and it went without a hitch. The second reasonable person turned into the fussiest, wussiest, dweeb I could have hardly imagined, and that broke me of EVER putting myself through that again.

I'll either sell locally or just trade it in.

There. I feel better. The red mist is fading . . . . .
 
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#32
The buyers that ask multiple questions, want more photos, etc... usually don't end up buying anyway. I try to include all the information I can and post lots of photos showing any blemishes. The ones who know what you're selling or ask a reasonable question that you didn't think of are the ones who end up buying.
If you have a unique item, the price is seldom what moves it. It might take a while but if you connect with the right buyer who wants it, they don't want to risk losing it, so they may make a reasonable offer or pay the listed price.
Also, shipping costs since COVID have really gone up, especially on bigger items. The prices on the UPS or FedEx website calculators don't include extra fees added on since the pandemic and that comes out of your profit. I was shocked when I had to pay something like $40 more than the website price estimate for an amp I sold not that long ago. At least at USPS, whatever price is on their website is what you pay.
 
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#33
It's retail and it's dealing with human beings. The vast majority of people are reasonable buyers and sellers, but the one's who aren't really stick in your mind.

I've sold on ebay(no Craig's List, or until recently, Reverb here) for about 15 years, not bulk amounts and mainly guitar and bass parts. I build and do repairs etc. so parts accumulate. Pickups ordered then customers changed their minds, stock of pots, tuners, etc. kept on hand for repairs.

For all sales I list fair prices after checking current averages on the site, provide detailed information and really get few tire kickers, or nit pickers. It might be more of a problem selling instruments, but I have no experience of that. (other than custom builds to order and that can be a mine field of it's very own, but different to what's being discussed here.)

I've worked in retail in my teens, bricks and mortar stores, plus my parents owned a general store at one point and a record store later. There is always a percentage of customers who are a real pain to deal with. Maybe they're just worse when trading on line as they don't have to actually be a d**k face to face, so have less barriers to their d***ishness? The internet is a boon to those types, just like all the keyboard warriors and trolls, safe in their anonymity.
 
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#34
Most folks have been fine but…

I had a guy and his wife come look at my Yamaha grand piano that was for sale. He said he wanted it, we actually shook hands and he left. He was supposed to connect with the money in a couple of days. Never heard from them. Not even a call to say 'no can do', which I would of been fine with.

But to shake hands and then be a coward?

The nice thing is I have been playing the piano during this covid era and really enjoying it, and decided to not sell.
 
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#35
You obviously do not want tire kickers or flippers. You should be looking for 2 things in one message- I'll take it, and where should we meet to complete the sale? An actual description with multiple photos is very often key to a quick sale.

Otherwise, you've landed on one or more of the big four.
1. The person is not committed to buy it.
2. The price listed is not very attractive.
3. The ad is not reaching interested shoppers.
3. The email is from a scammer.
 
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#36
Now, what about the guy who hits you up, gives you the life story about why he can only spend X much on your bass. You finally agree, and he then says he's an hour away from you, and heading in the opposite direction. And then, asks if you could drive there to meet him.

Me: No.


That just happened. Some people dude. Over it.
 
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#37
Katoosie said:
Hey!

Been trying to sell some gear and I've noticed a lot of flaky/annoying buyers.

You know what I mean, sends a message, I answer - never get any reply.

Or talks and talks and just randomly leaves me on read for forever and never gets in touch again.

Or when we talk for weeks and all it ammounts to is "I just want to try the bass".

Jeez, how do you even have the patience to do flipping or selling and buying, stuff is beyond me.

When I buy gear I make sure everything is ready beforehand, out of respect for the buyer.

Just ranting.
Click to expand...
Haha like that Spector so much you decided to sell your Warwick? Lol not likely but good luck sister!
 
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#38
The good thing with selling used items is that you usually only have one of item X and only need to sell it to one person. So if someone is being weird, I just thank them and wait for the next person. You can usually tell within the first sentence if they are going to buy or if they are going to be the weirdo. Sometimes if you just thank them for their interest and pass on their offer, then they really want it.
 
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