Members Large Posted January 29, 2010 Members Share Posted January 29, 2010 Is someone in your area trying to sell something similar? I've never had any potential buyers tell me to take down my listing.As far as eBay/Craigslist go, it basically comes down to what do you value more; time or money. If I've got a guitar that I believe is worth easily $400, I can list it on Craigslist and fully expect to get 10 replies in a few days. That sounds good until you realize that these 10 replies break down to 1) A guy who wants to trade me a BRAND NEW FISHTANK for the guitar2) "still got it? 8765552875 pete"3) Guy asking questions that are answered in the text for the listing4) Person who says they're very interested, then mentions that he's three hours away and doesn't have a car, but will pay $20 for gas to deliver it.5) Nice-sounding guy who agrees on a time/place to meet up and never shows.6) That first guy reminding me just how much he spent on that fishtank7) "Hi that's a really nice guitar. I once had one like it except it was black. Can we be friends?"8) Some raving lunatic who you're very glad doesn't have your email address9) Dude who shows up and then asks for $50 off because of a mark in the finish that was explicitly pointed out and photographed in the listing10) Guy who belongs on Hoarders, whose house is just filled with garbage and looks like he's spending the family electricity bill on toys for himself. There will be a crying child that he's watching while his wife is working, and you *may* get your full asking price, but you will leave with a dirty feeling that will never wash off.You can sometimes get better people by lowering your price a little bit, but in my experience, the sale isn't over until the money is in your hands. No matter what you agree to on the phone or in email, when you show up to sell something, know ahead of time what you're going to say when they ask "So what's the best price you can do on this?"At least with eBay, I can take pictures, make my listing, and then just box it up until I know what address to write on the label. I know ahead of time exactly how much money I can expect to lose in fees, and figure out whether or not I want to sell. The only person I have to deal with is the nice lady at the UPS Store, and if anything goes wrong, the worst that can happen is that they mail it back and I issue them a refund. Sure, I might end up only making $350 instead of $400, but I don't have to spend the week answering idiotic emails, driving to the middle of nowhere for a person that may or may not show up, and wasting time on people who don't have a vested interest in following through on a transaction. I've gotten that a couple times. The first time, the guy told me "well, I only have $700 instead of $800 on me..." and trailed off. I told him to go to an ATM lol, at which point he pulled out the full amount of money and paid for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bisticles Posted January 29, 2010 Members Share Posted January 29, 2010 I've gotten that a couple times. The first time, the guy told me "well, I only have $700 instead of $800 on me..." and trailed off. I told him to go to an ATM lol, at which point he pulled out the full amount of money and paid for it. Good move. I try to meet people in a place that's on my way home from work, or in the parking lot for a place that need to go to anyway, so if the deal falls apart, I'm not out that much time or gas. I've walked away from buyers and sellers. Just said "This isn't what we talked about... and I wouldn't have dragged myself out here for this" and driven off. This summer, I was listing a MIM Strat for $350. Had a pair of SD humbucker pickups, a nice hardshell case, and not a scratch on it. The ad said $350 firm. Twice. The kid I talked to on the phone agreed when I said "And you know that the price is $350 firm, right?". Yet when we met up and he checked it out, he goes "Can you do $300?" Fortunately, I was ready and said "Yeah, absolutely. Just let me get my screwdriver""Hahahaha... what?""Well, I thought you wanted the $350 Strat that was for sale. Turns out you want the $300 Strat, which is just like the $350 strat except that I keep the case and rip both pickups out""...""That *is* what you said, right? You want the $300 Strat?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deadwax Posted January 29, 2010 Members Share Posted January 29, 2010 The whack jobs on EBAY are of a higher class. As a rule they at least have a credit card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tlbonehead Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 I personally love Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamdogg Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 yeah, me too. i've made alot of $ on ebay. funded 90% of my gear from flippin' stuff on the bay. whats not to like about that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members StevenJM Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 craigslist sucks job listings are nothing but scams, and the responses to things i'm seliing are always a joke too... i agreed to meet somebody to sell a boss giga-delay for $130 (decent price, mint condition) I MENTIONED THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE A POWER SUPPLY... i meet him and he looks at it and goes... "no power supply, well thats like $20... and no owners manuel... it looks like you left a battery in there too long, theres some corrosion in there (it was dust, i NEVER ONCE used a battery)... i'll give you $75 for it" ... i'm 24, he had to have been like 50, so i don't know if he thought he could rip off a young whippersnapper, but i grabbed it back from him and was like "no thanks, you can print the owners manuel off of the website for free like i did, and i said i didn't have a power supply for it and i've never used a battery... they go for $150 on ebay so if you don't want it for $130, someone else will" so i came home, put it on ebay and got around $165 for it. and the buyer was 100% satisfied. ebay 1craigslist 0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BG76 Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 Is someone in your area trying to sell something similar? I've never had any potential buyers tell me to take down my listing.As far as eBay/Craigslist go, it basically comes down to what do you value more; time or money. If I've got a guitar that I believe is worth easily $400, I can list it on Craigslist and fully expect to get 10 replies in a few days. That sounds good until you realize that these 10 replies break down to 1) A guy who wants to trade me a BRAND NEW FISHTANK for the guitar2) "still got it? 8765552875 pete"3) Guy asking questions that are answered in the text for the listing4) Person who says they're very interested, then mentions that he's three hours away and doesn't have a car, but will pay $20 for gas to deliver it.5) Nice-sounding guy who agrees on a time/place to meet up and never shows.6) That first guy reminding me just how much he spent on that fishtank7) "Hi that's a really nice guitar. I once had one like it except it was black. Can we be friends?"8) Some raving lunatic who you're very glad doesn't have your email address9) Dude who shows up and then asks for $50 off because of a mark in the finish that was explicitly pointed out and photographed in the listing10) Guy who belongs on Hoarders, whose house is just filled with garbage and looks like he's spending the family electricity bill on toys for himself. There will be a crying child that he's watching while his wife is working, and you *may* get your full asking price, but you will leave with a dirty feeling that will never wash off. You'll also get the Nigerian trying to schedule a pickup with a cashier's check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mike Fiasco Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 I don't have much of a problem with Craigslist because my expectations are pretty low. When I'm getting ready so sell something I put it on Craigs becasue is free and easy. I like the anonymity of not having to return stupid emails, only the ones I want. I usually wind up having to put my item on ebay if I really want it to sell. Every so often, I get a guy who wants to buy my stuff and will pay what I want in cash. My only bummer are the fresh crop of people who email me saying, "I'm from chicago too and I like your EPIPHONE VALVE JR - MINT - LQQK! I thought I had to sell my stuff too, but I learned to consolidate my debts at www._____" {censored}ers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Scifi Metalhead Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 My one and only craigslist deal went fine. Guy drove two hours to meet me, told me up front what he would pay, and showed up with that much cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dpartn Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 Skibob pretty much has it nailed on what to do when on CL. Oh, I'd add if your selling there and don't want flakes (even though you still will get some) is write the ad firmly. Serious buyers Only. Firm on price, dont even try that twisted rationalizing BS to justify your lowballing, etc, etc. I have gotten a couple great guitars over the years there, but if the deal seems too good, be sure and phone the serial number of the guitar in to your police to check the database that all police enter stolen goods into. I had to do this twice just to cover my tail. I bought a 51 nocaster relic for $1200 and a Fender CS Gilmour relic strat for $2000. while realistic sellers know newer guitars take a 50-60% hit if you want to move them in a reasonable manner, I still had to check the database on those two. Be careful because there is a lot of stolen crap on there. ebay is hardest on the smaller sellers. paypal is a very risky thing. they tend to freeze money you get paid longer these days and if you sell something high end they reserve the right to freeze it till they are damn good and ready to cut it loose. I quit dealing with them in terms of selling. i cant wait around 1-4 weeks for payment on a high end piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members citizens_X Posted January 30, 2010 Members Share Posted January 30, 2010 just sold my 5th guitar on ebay... no problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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