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"feeler"?

#26
SactoBass said:
Here is the real meaning of "Feeler":

Hey! I really wanna sell this item because I don't want it anymore (which is why I am posting in the classifieds), but I don't want you to know how badly I really wanna sell it. I want you to think that I am really stressed out about letting this item go, and I want you to fear that I just might keep it, and that you will be extremely lucky if I decide to sell it to you, therefore you will hopefully be inclined to give me lots of money for it. But I will only sell it to you if I can get more money from you than the item is really worth. Hence my "feeler" ad......to see if I can be successful in me coming out ahead in the deal. If I can't, then I won't sell it.

Nothing like brutal honesty, eh?
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This is my interpretation of "feeler":

I want to sell this instrument for the maximum possible price, but I can't figure out how to circumvent the TB "post a price" rule. Also I can't figure out how to use Ebay. So I will offer this instrument for trade only for a 1967 left-handed Danelectro in metallic orange with original strings, or best cash offer. As a feeler.
 
#27
Turock said:
When I see "feeler", I don't even open the thread. Come on, if you can't decide if it's for sale or not, why the hell did you put it in the classifieds.
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I'm with you on that one. Why go look at an item, get excited about buying it, then have the seller change their mind after all?

Usually because it wasn't worth as much as they thought, even though they often hide behind the "I played it last night and decided to keep it" excuse.

-Mike
 
#29
Jim Nazium said:
So I will offer this instrument for trade only for a 1967 left-handed Danelectro in metallic orange with original strings, or best cash offer. As a feeler.
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Mark Latimour said:
Feeler: TB's unofficial auction process.
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Sellers are not allowed to mention any suggestion taking best offers or anything of that sort. If you see someone write that in their thread or they mention it in a PM, report it.
 
#31
MJ5150 said:
I'm with you on that one. Why go look at an item, get excited about buying it, then have the seller change their mind after all?

Usually because it wasn't worth as much as they thought, even though they often hide behind the "I played it last night and decided to keep it" excuse.

-Mike
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Yup, I also agree .... Either you're keeping it or not, it's rarely something else.

I've put my FBB 7 up for a weird trade and didn't expect to get much action, and I was right ... no takers. I then put the bass up for sale or weird trade and was immediately hit with a variety of unacceptable purchase offers .... in my case, I know what I think the bass is worth and apparently it's too much in everyone else's mind. That's cool, I'll just keep it.

But the bottom line is that the bass is not "sacred" in my mind, it's not out for a "feeler", there is no question that I'll get rid of it if my weird trade demands are met or if someone coughs up what I think is the right coin. It will never be a case where someone makes a deal with me and then I withdraw it because I "changed my mind".

If I was ready to make a deal with someone and they backed out of it because they just "couldn't let the bass go", that is a bogus situation. Why not just be up front and tell the story as it actually is?
 
#32
sheesh...as for me, if I post something as a feeler, it just means that it's for something that I'm not 100% decided on getting rid of, so I'm just trying to gauge interest to see if it would be worthwhile for me to go ahead and trade.
Nothing nefarious at all. I guess I could just put it up for trade but then you get the idiots who get all mad if you don't want to trade your 69 Fender Jazz for their SX P bass...:P
It's just easier to say "putting out a feeler for trades on this 69 Jazz bass" and see what kind of offers you get.
I had no idea that it was such a big deal for people to see an ad like that?
 
#36
MJ5150 said:
It is. Put it up for sale/trade, or don't.
-Mike
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Well, there are occasional times when I'm not sure if I want to sell or trade something, so it's not an absolute "sell it or not" thing. It's just the way I am. Pick apart my personality if you want.
If it's against the rules, then so be it. No more "feelers" for me.
If however it's not, and it's just something that bothers you, then move on and don't read my ad.
I can however see how it can be abused. That I understand.
 
#38
See, people like me have no idea what they do or don't want at any given time. If I have a piece of gear that I don't HAVE to keep or would be willing to trade, I have NO clue what I want for it. If I ever put a feeler out it will just be to see if there is some odd piece of gear that I might want that I can't think of/don't know about that might be collecting dust for someone else. I wouldn't even expect someone to read it unless they explicitly wanted that exact piece that I was offering and had something that they wanted to trade.

Ya know, like "This is a feeler to see if someone wants to trade something cool for this ____". How else would you go about that, except via a "feeler"? I do understand though, for you hyper-organized/type A/no-nonsense types, that that is probably a foreign and irritating trait in us completely disorganized/scatter-brained/whatever types.
 
#39
finalrequiem said:
See, people like me have no idea what they do or don't want at any given time. If I have a piece of gear that I don't HAVE to keep or would be willing to trade, I have NO clue what I want for it. If I ever put a feeler out it will just be to see if there is some odd piece of gear that I might want that I can't think of/don't know about that might be collecting dust for someone else. I wouldn't even expect someone to read it unless they explicitly wanted that exact piece that I was offering and had something that they wanted to trade.

Ya know, like "This is a feeler to see if someone wants to trade something cool for this ____". How else would you go about that, except via a "feeler"? I do understand though, for you hyper-organized/type A/no-nonsense types, that that is probably a foreign and irritating trait in us completely disorganized/scatter-brained/whatever types.
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Welcome to the wishy-washy bassist club, brother. :)
 

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