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"On my bathroom scale"

#43
Altitude said:
maybe best if you explain to the seller that weight is of especial concern for you and you'd like a more precise answer if possible. I'd certainly oblige if I were a seller.
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This. When I DO sometimes use the bathroom scale, I say so and the buyer can assess the validity of the weight with that in mind. I suppose, if one actually assumes that the tolerance is +/- .5lbs, they can make a decision based on that information. I do for my own purchases, but that works for me. I recognize there will be folks that need more specificity; I totally respect the need for some folks to know "to the ounce" for any number of reasons. If they're interested in the bass, I'll carry it to the post office for a more accurate measurement if they ask.

Some of my basses have been measured on a travel scale (which I no longer own), but most were measured on my bathroom scale. No one has ever mentioned any inaccuracy after the sale on any of my sales. Nor has any shipper charged me for my packages being overweight after I weigh them on the bathroom scale (though, to be fair, I round up to the next pound when shipping).

I'm as averse to controversy after the sale as the next guy, but this doesn't really seem to be a thing. Is it diminishing my sales opportunities? Does anyone actually choose NOT to buy a bass specifically because the seller weighed it on their bathroom scale? Enquiring [seller] minds want to know!
 
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#44
MultiScaleMale said:
Bad data is worse than no data.
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I don't disagree.

Slight digression: I've been buying and selling 2nd-hand electric basses and guitars since 1975, but until I joined TalkBass ~10 years ago nobody ever asked me how much an instrument weighed. The topic just never came up. Is this because the phenomenon of on-line ordering through companies like ebay and Reverb means more people are buying instruments sight-unseen these days?

I get why weight is an excellent data point, especially if you can't actually touch/lift the instrument being sold, but the almost obsessive quibbling over fractions of a pound in the TB Classifieds seems so odd to a guy who's used to just picking up the proffered instrument and saying "Oh yeah, that feels good!" or "eh, that's kinda hefty, not sure I wanna do three sets a night with that pig on my shoulder."

I still don't know what any of the basses I currently own (or ever owned) actually weigh.
 
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#46
I’ve weighed the same basses with fish, postal and digital bathroom scales and they were all within an ounce or two. I’ve advertised using the on with the bass, subtract on without bass bathroom scale method. Full disclosure doesn’t mean dishonest. It meant I did the best I could with what I had and I’m telling you exactly how. Don’t know why the $7 fish scale would be the gold standard.
 
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#47
nutdog said:
I’ve weighed the same basses with fish, postal and digital bathroom scales and they were all within an ounce or two. I’ve advertised using the on with the bass, subtract on without bass bathroom scale method. Full disclosure doesn’t mean dishonest. It meant I did the best I could with what I had and I’m telling you exactly how. Don’t know why the $7 fish scale would be the gold standard.
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I'm not saying it's the gold standard, just saying that it is an expensive way to obtain a very close weight. The bathroom scale method varies greatly in both accuracy and precision. They're tuned for the 100-200lbs range. And if the weight listed turns out to be different when it arrives, would you take a return if there is a half pound difference?
 
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#49
MultiScaleMale said:
I'm not saying it's the gold standard, just saying that it is an expensive way to obtain a very close weight. The bathroom scale method varies greatly in both accuracy and precision. They're tuned for the 100-200lbs range. And if the weight listed turns out to be different when it arrives, would you take a return if there is a half pound difference?
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Especially if the receiving party is also using an inaccurate scale.
 
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#52
MultiScaleMale said:
Why do sellers list a weight with "on my bathroom scale"? Whatever means you use, the weight is the weight. When I see OMBS, I think "it's probably a little heavier, but that's the lowest number I got on this imprecise scale". Then when the bass arrives, it's a full pound heavier, "sorry man, the bathroom scale is all I had". It's similar to listing a bass as "34", using an old shoe string" or a $1350 selling price and I'll just pay in CAD.
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I think that's a little disingenuous. But then, so is selling a measurement device specifically designed and calibrated to under-report the measurement in the name of vanity. That's the main problem with the bathroom scale; they commonly under-report by as much as five percent, because someone in some marketing department somewhere said "you know that stores are going to line our scale up alongside everyone else's, and someone's going to buy our scale just so they can continue to say they're under X pounds even though every other scale in the store says differently." They were right, and as a result, every other brand did the same thing. Men's pant sizes are similar; take a seamstress tape and measure around the waistline of the pants themselves, and I bet you'll be surprised how many more inches the waistline actually is versus what they say it is.

Anyway, you're right on two points. Accurate scales (+-0.1oz) in the weight range of the average solidbody guitar are not expensive. However, interest in the accurate weight (+-0.1oz) of a solidbody guitar is not commonly demanded. Most people just want the ballpark figure; "15 pounds? That's a friggin' anchor, sorry but I value my back more than that", or "6 pounds? What, is the thing made of styrofoam?". "OMBS" is shorthand for "ballpark figure, just to tell you what you're getting into".
 
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#56
bholder said:
What kind of bait do you use for digital fish?
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maxresdefault.jpg
 
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#57
Liko said:
I think that's a little disingenuous. But then, so is selling a measurement device specifically designed and calibrated to under-report the measurement in the name of vanity. That's the main problem with the bathroom scale; they commonly under-report by as much as five percent, because someone in some marketing department somewhere said "you know that stores are going to line our scale up alongside everyone else's, and someone's going to buy our scale just so they can continue to say they're under X pounds even though every other scale in the store says differently." They were right, and as a result, every other brand did the same thing. Men's pant sizes are similar; take a seamstress tape and measure around the waistline of the pants themselves, and I bet you'll be surprised how many more inches the waistline actually is versus what they say it is.

Anyway, you're right on two points. Accurate scales (+-0.1oz) in the weight range of the average solidbody guitar are not expensive. However, interest in the accurate weight (+-0.1oz) of a solidbody guitar is not commonly demanded. Most people just want the ballpark figure; "15 pounds? That's a friggin' anchor, sorry but I value my back more than that", or "6 pounds? What, is the thing made of styrofoam?". "OMBS" is shorthand for "ballpark figure, just to tell you what you're getting into".
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Personally, I usually pass on these because it comes across, to me, as either lazy or trying to hide the actual weight because it's easier to sell something under 8.5 lbs than over 9 lbs. The worst one I saw was someone listed the weight as "not too heavy, not too light".
 
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#58
Well, if you agree to buy a 34" bass measured with a shoe string, or a bass that has been weighed on a bathroom scale, as listed in the ad, then a few things are true.
Someone is selling a bass that is measured without the precision you require.
And
You have agreed to buy a bass that is measured without the precision you require.
 
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#59
If I sell a bass I specifically say on bathroom scale the weight but will not sell to someone who cares about specific weight. If it’s 8.6 pounds I figure someone looking for under 9lbs will be happy etc. Sold a bass that at home was 9.9 pounds but ended up being 10.1 and the buyer freaked out (which I kind of understand)
 
#60
New digital bathroom scales have 0.1 lb precision. Absolute accuracy questionable but as someone suggested above, easy enough to test it. Grab a 10-lb weight to test it, gallon of water or whatever. The weighing self with and without bass trick should get you very close.
 
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