ornary sellers?!?

[gln1955]

Selling is work. Taking decent photos, answering questions, dealing with flakey buyers. That is why salespeople get paid. Some think they can just throw something on CL and that's the end of it and cop an attitude when a buyer doesn't just immediately grab their item at full asking price. Lazy and/or dumb.

 

[jzucker]

Personally, I'd just put that easily found info in my ad.

+1000.

And seriously, these basses are all different. Especially custom builders. Even a fender - there must be 100 different jazz basses that are made in usa, china, south korea, indonesia, different electroncs suppliers, etc.

 

[Jeremy Crockett]

I don't know... what might make a seller surly?

Buyers offering you 50% of your asking price, then getting angry when you won't accept it?
Buyers telling you they are "on their way" and not showing up?
Going to meet a buyer, and they are not there?

 

[Jazzkuma]

yeah i dunno how I feel about this. As a seller there are a lot of people who ask for every single detail, extra pictures, who you bought it from, "can I call you?", "Do you take Venmo?"...etc and then they ghost you with no initial intention to purchase.

I like to keep it simple. If I am buying and the seller is not responsive or does not provide the info I need, then I skip and keep looking. If I am selling and the buyer is asking questions I simply dont know or cant find out, then I tell them I simply dont know. If they buy it good, if not no hard feelings, its just business.

 

[Ihaveshingles]

Because potential buyers these days ask questions that are plainly stated in the description, and I found the ones that ask a million questions never buy anyways….for all you know you may be the 20th person asking the same question and the seller thinks your wasting his time like the other 19 did.

 

[40Hz]

Personally, I'd just put that easily found info in my ad.

Well…if you’re going to muddy up the discussion by applying some intelligence and common sense, then we might as well end this thread right now.

 

[2F/2F]

Perhaps you come off as someone they wouldn't want to deal with. I certainly temper my responses to the details of a potential buyer's approach. E.g. misspellings, lack of capitalization when it is called for, improper use of punctuation, arrogant assumptions about what is going on in my mind, etc.

 

[BobDeRosa]

Why do folks list stuff and then cop an attitude when you ask them about the weight, balance, specifications, action, etc?!?

Then they're mystified when their stuff doesn't sell...

Oy...

It's amazing how many people have been brought up with NO human relations skills.

 

[jeffb28451]

Thanks for sharing your experience, POB.

 

[Durham52]

These things cut both ways, some sellers have a bad attitude, as do some buyers. (I wonder how many of the bad sellers are also the bad buyers?) Some people are just abrasive, some are nit pickers, some are time wasting tire kickers and think they're super deal makers and will try and lowball everyone, even when a list price is a bargain to begin with. Buying and selling involves dealing with human nature in all it's variety. Expect to run across your fair share of pests, idiots and others from the rich tapestry of humanity. Including some genuine reasonable people.

I never have a problem with someone asking for the weight of a guitar, bass, body, or neck, I get that for some people weight is a relevant issue and manufacturers (except for some in relation to necks and bodies) don't include weight, because wood varies and Fender, or whoever, are never going to say a P bass weighs x pounds, because a generalized weight will almost never be right on a mass produced instrument.

I do think that if a person gets annoyed when asked reasonable questions, then maybe this selling stuff game isn't for them, I do my research, but if I still have a legitamate question, I'll ask. ( I sell stuff from time to time too and I always give as much information as I can, that way I hope to get less obvious questions, though there will always be exceptions.) If I get aggression, I just move on, I'll find the same thing sometime, somewhere else. But it isn't worth getting bent out of shape over the attitude of a difficult seller, or buyer.

 

[jeffb28451]

Poor Mr. Zucker, I did not refer to anything like guitars. I referred to production line stereo gear, with thousands of the same item made and reviewed.

You know, I’m beginning to get the idea why I think people don’t read or comprehend simple listings…it seems my comments are either misunderstood or maybe just too difficult for some folks to understand,.

I’ll make it simpler: I don’t like lazy buyers. Those who simply misunderstood my comments have my apologies and sympathies.

 

[Alkali Ike]

When I see an item listed, anywhere, that I might be interested in, but the seller hasn’t provided any useful information or decent photos and the item in those fuzzy photos looks like it’s had no pre-sale TLC, I just move on.

HOWEVER, saying buyers aren’t expected or required to do basic research on what they’re buying is ludicrous.

 

[Nuage420]

Something I found helpful as a seller. See what GC will give me for my used gear and that's my bottom line. I'll list it for a little under average on reverb/ebay/GC and take offers and usually the first one to offer over the GC trade in is getting that item shipped the next business day.
Once you accept that when you buy high 99% of thentime you're going to sell low and lose you'll stop being grumpy. If you can't afford to sell something at a loss you most likely couldn't afford to buy it to begin with.

 

[Indiana Mike]

A seller with an attitude is one I pass on.
What are they hiding?
If there’s attitude up front I expect no recourse if there’s issues.
Pass

 

[Silky Johnson]

Depends if the question is of something that the potential buyer could easily find out themselves, usually in less time too. That annoys me as a seller, but things that pertain specifically to an individual item, then ya no reason to be an ass

 

[Jackcrow]

I always try to be as nice as possible when asked questions as a seller. Even if what they are asking is already in the ad.

What grinds my gears are the people that try to tell you what you’re selling isn’t what you say it is (when they’re wrong).

 

[Jazzkuma]

I always try to be as nice as possible when asked questions as a seller. Even if what they are asking is already in the ad.

What grinds my gears are the people that try to tell you what you’re selling isn’t what you say it is (when they’re wrong).

those ppl are just looking for any opportunity to lowball you.

 

[Bikeguy57]

I love the guy selling a 1,500 bass with two blurry pictures and a one line description. If you're that lazy, I don't want your bass.

 

[Tanner5382]

I agree, some sellers could certainly give more info and could be friendlier when it comes to (potential) customer interaction.

However, on the other side, I have had some annoying buyers in this sense. I only have ever sold instruments and amps locally (small things like accessories I've shipped and been happy to answer any questions). I've had people want very detailed info on subjective things and then not found my answers satisfactory to the best of my abilities while explaining that I can only offer my opinion on that type of thing. It comes down to a point in that situation where you have to be like "man, you just need to come over and check it out for yourself." Having buyers show up with less money than agreed upon is always a doozy too, or constantly trying to convince you to deliver to them in some far away play after you have politely declined.

Of course buying online, that type of thing is no worry. But I could see how maybe some sellers who have had a similar experience could get jaded in a way. Not excusing that type of behavior, but it happens.

 

[MikePlaysBass]

I’ve been on both sides several times as a buyer and seller. As a seller, I give as much information as I can and highlight any flaws in photos, etc… There are some potential buyers that repeatedly ask questions via several emails, which I always answer as well as I can, but it does get old quickly, especially when the questions they’re asking are already answered in the original posting. The ones who ask the most questions also hardly ever end up buying. I’m happy when I eventuality sell the item to someone else before getting yet another round of emails from them. Selling can be really frustrating sometimes, but that’s just how it is. Some customers are going to be real jerks, but there’s no reason for the seller to ever be one.