deanbean502 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Right time for a whinge I currently have my Custom S2 for sale in the sale forum for the second time. The first time I was bombarded with silly question and offered ridiculous money for it, so i decided to keep it for a while and try again in a month or so. Now second time around its attracting the same silly questions and begin offered silly money for it. I know this is beyond my control but do people really think they cant get things for nothing? It is really frustrating because you get a promising email, reply and then nothing. If people aren't genuinely interested then why bother and go to the effort of making contact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarky Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 (edited) I've sold maybe 15 basses on BassChat. If the price is right and the advert makes clear what is and is not acceptable then your bass will sell. These are unusual times, though, and money is in short supply so that quality basses that would have been snapped up 12-18 months ago (like yours) are now languishing on the FS pages and getting bumped endlessly. PS. Would you part with a grand without asking questions first? Perfectly reasonable to get lots of questions, although I admit that lowball offers always annoy me or offers that are clearly pointless (eg, would you sell me your custom shop Fender for £500, a Warwick amp and a Squier Affinity?) Edited July 30, 2011 by Clarky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademan_98 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 It is a shame that so many people try it on but as Clarky say's money's tight. Hope you get what you want for the bass. The rant is always good to get things off your chest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sprocketflup Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Get the same things everywhere you try to sell things, I have some leisure batteries on Trade-it and even though I have priced them at rock bottom prices ( £10 lower than the next cheapest) Im still getting emails offering less. Ive noticed one rule of thumb, no matter what price you put something up at, I guarantee someone will ask if you can do it for a fiver less. £5.00 must be a magical figure or something....... What sort of silly questions are you getting BTW? post em up, we all love a good laugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 It's all just a waste of TIM lol jk but yeah i hate getting stupid offers for things, some prick tried to offer me £500 for my bike. I told him where to shove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherairsoft Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 I'd just accept that as part of selling online. If you are selling an expensive desirable object people tend to think you need the money and so it's worth a punt. I have the same thing on eBay... I don't think it's a 'Basschat' thing. If you don't want the 'faff' take it to Bass Direct or the Gallery and let them deal with all the stupid questions for a small cut of the selling price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubs Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Welcome to the internet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Selling cars is the worst, We just sold a 56 plate Golf and the first bloke that came to look at it said it was for his son who was at uni. He liked it but explained to me that he wasn't sure about some stone chips which is fair enough but already allowed for in the price compared to others available on the net (which may all have stone chips too?) and the fact his son really wanted a four door instead of two? Now the add has a full description and many photos of the car yet he was using that as a bargaining point? afaik the 2 door model is all legit, it's not a four door with the doors welded up! Easiest thing with basses is to not sell any, Just buy more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 I sometimes come in with a low offer expecting someone to counter offer. Not ri.diculously low but one of the reasons I buy second hand is because you can haggle the price down a bit. One thing I never got about cars is when people use paying in cash as a bargaining point, you can pay by any way you want it aint gonna make the price go down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirkThrust Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 [quote name='stingrayPete1977' post='1321083' date='Jul 30 2011, 08:54 AM']Selling cars is the worst, We just sold a 56 plate Golf and the first bloke that came to look at it said it was for his son who was at uni. He liked it but explained to me that he wasn't sure about some stone chips which is fair enough but already allowed for in the price compared to others available on the net (which may all have stone chips too?) and the fact his son really wanted a four door instead of two? Now the add has a full description and many photos of the car yet he was using that as a bargaining point? afaik the 2 door model is all legit, it's not a four door with the doors welded up! Easiest thing with basses is to not sell any, Just buy more [/quote] +1 but at least selling on the internet you can just say no. With cars the tyrekicker in question is most likely round your house and being face to face adds an extra element of pressure I was selling a Mondeo a few years ago and the usual "I know more about cars than you" bonehead turned up to look at it. "This is wrong with it", "That's wrong with it", "it hasn't got all the usual Ghia features", It hasn't got a trip computer", " The injectors are leaking and are going to need re-seating" He says, pointing at the glow plugs. At this point I'd already bought another car and I just wanted rid of the Mondeo. It was 10 years old with 180,000 on it, and the first person to offer me £200 would have got it (I advertised it for £400) but this fool wound me up so much I just told him to get lost. I think I took £100 for it in the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 [quote name='Ross' post='1321092' date='Jul 30 2011, 09:13 AM']One thing I never got about cars is when people use paying in cash as a bargaining point, you can pay by any way you want it aint gonna make the price go down.[/quote] Its because its instant, Car nuts are the same as bass gear nuts, you see a car you want but need to sell your car before you can buy it. If you come to me with cash as soon as you drive off I can ring about the car I have fallen in love with and maybe even go and get it that day! Same as with a bass gear nut that could be worth £50-100 maybe more especially once you are not talking about run of the mill stuff where even a few days could mean someone else gets it. Also the tax man need not know......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomBassmonkey Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 (edited) It winds me up too, I try to be fair with my prices and I'll do things like if there,s a cash adjustment my way involved in a trade, I'll work the difference out as though my bass is as cheap as the cheapest I've seen it and let them value their bass at the higher end. Some people just won't move though. There was one guy a while ago that expected me to value my Warwick thumb bo5 at £600 beause he'd seen a 4 string for that much so thought I should match it on a 5 and was expecting me to accept about £125 cash adjustment with his g&l l2500, essentially valuing that at £475. It wound me up because I was really up for that trade but there's no way that I'd give so much on the value of my instrument when someone's trying to rip me off on theirs. Edited July 30, 2011 by ThomBassmonkey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademan_98 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 [quote name='Ross' post='1321092' date='Jul 30 2011, 09:13 AM']One thing I never got about cars is when people use paying in cash as a bargaining point, you can pay by any way you want it aint gonna make the price go down.[/quote] I have to disagree on the car thing. I bought a car from a dealer. I paid cash (£3,500) and he put it through his books as £1000 less and we split the difference. All very dodgy but I did get a three year old car with low mileage for well under book value. It does sometimes work. On the other hand (with eBay) some people take the mick. I have just viewed a car (because of redundancy I need a replacement for my company car) that was at top book on an 03 plate. The paint was faded, there were a lot of small dents marks not mentioned in the advert and the sevice 'history' was just smudged stamps that did not look real. Instead of a lower than the starting price offer, I just walked away. It does make you see both sides of the story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 (edited) [quote name='Blademan_98' post='1321104' date='Jul 30 2011, 09:38 AM']I have to disagree on the car thing. I bought a car from a dealer. I paid cash (£3,500) and he put it through his books as £1000 less and we split the difference.[/quote] Not paying with cash but i remember buying a hipshot bridge from an online shop in the states and they put on the package that it was only worth $25 so i wouldn't have to pay import charges. Edited July 30, 2011 by EdwardHimself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dubs Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 [quote name='Blademan_98' post='1321104' date='Jul 30 2011, 09:38 AM']I have to disagree on the car thing. I bought a car from a dealer. I paid cash (£3,500) and he put it through his books as £1000 less and we split the difference. All very dodgy but I did get a three year old car with low mileage for well under book value. It does sometimes work.[/quote] Ha, I didn't think this sort of thing still happened, what with the FSA tightly regulating dealerships at the moment. Fair play though - if you don't ask, you don't get... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CyberBass Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 It does surprise me a little that people are shocked at getting low offers for the items they sell. I think yes it is annoying, however it is the starting point of communication and negotiation, it is an opportunity to sell your item at a mutually acceptable amount. The key is not put your item too cheaply to begin with. In the Uk we seem to shun the bartering and get all offended. Most other countries embrace it, and expect it. Rightly or wrongly, we can all be offended by low offers, my recommendation is to put an opening price and use the low offer as an opening to negotiating a price you are happy with, that way you get what you want and the buyer feels he has made a saving. Win win all round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 [quote name='CyberBass' post='1321160' date='Jul 30 2011, 11:01 AM']It does surprise me a little that people are shocked at getting low offers for the items they sell. I think yes it is annoying, however it is the starting point of communication and negotiation, it is an opportunity to sell your item at a mutually acceptable amount. The key is not put your item too cheaply to begin with. In the Uk we seem to shun the bartering and get all offended. Most other countries embrace it, and expect it. Rightly or wrongly, we can all be offended by low offers, my recommendation is to put an opening price and use the low offer as an opening to negotiating a price you are happy with, that way you get what you want and the buyer feels he has made a saving. Win win all round.[/quote] +1 Someone's asking a question, that's all. You want the highest price possible, they want the lowest, so some negotiation is to be expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 (edited) Also I have said this before but not everyone is clued up on every make/model price wise so ignoring the very stupid offers something like an offer of £800 for my natural Ray doesnt sound too bad yet its not even half what I would want for it if I sold it, See what I mean? Edited July 30, 2011 by stingrayPete1977 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 I take my time to research and post things up at a fair price, so it does tick me off when people come in with daft offers. They also cannot read, as I often state that the price is firm. But the main thing that ticks me off is that some people seem to think that I'll pay their postage for them. They can get poked, I'm not operating a charity here. Postage is a separate consideration. If I put something up at £100 + postage then the total price will not be £100, because that means I get £100 - postage. I don't see this as haggling, I see it as taking the mick. Be warned - I do not and will not react well to such requests. I'd rather eat beans on toast for a month than sell to those who try this on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreek Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 [quote name='deanbean502' post='1321066' date='Jul 30 2011, 08:16 AM']Right time for a whinge I currently have my Custom S2 for sale in the sale forum for the second time. The first time I was bombarded with silly question and offered ridiculous money for it, so i decided to keep it for a while and try again in a month or so. Now second time around its attracting the same silly questions and begin offered silly money for it. I know this is beyond my control but do people really think they cant get things for nothing? It is really frustrating because you get a promising email, reply and then nothing. If people aren't genuinely interested then why bother and go to the effort of making contact.[/quote] I raised exactly the same points in my thread "Chancers and timewasters" - people making rediculous offers, asking stupid questions which they could answer themselves if they did some homework and generally wasting your time and winding you up.. If I'm going to buy something I try to find out as much as I can about the item, speak to other people who have had or currently own a similar or the same item and check what this item is selling for elsewhere. Based on this I'll make what I think is a little less than a reasonable offer and see where it goes from there. When I'm selling I work from a similar point - ask for a fair price knowing that the buyer will try to haggle - whether I do or not depends on the amount we haggling over - I'm not haggling over a tenner!! Those people who haggle over the (already rediculously low) prices of Warwicks, for example, should be ashamed of themselves - get real - you're already getting a lot of bass for your money - a friend of mine recently sold a German Standard Corvette for just over £300 - absolute steal in my mind - once it was in his possession the buyer became a right ass - complained that the strings were old, etc - my mate stated in the ad that the bass hadn't been played for over a year - do you think he's going to add new strings to a bass he doesn't use?? As a rule of thumb isn't the first thing you do when you buy a bass is to change the strings anyway?? I know that business is business and that we're all after a bargain but have some respect and don't take the piss!! Total respect to the OP!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Why can't people understand that there is no 'correct' price for anything? It's ALL by negotiation because the 'worth' of the item will likely be very different to the seller and the buyer and sometimes the difference will be so large as to be irreconcilable such that no trade is possible. That's life. There's no point getting upset about it. My SIL inherited a car when her father died. She didn't want it and tried to sell it, but she had it in her mind that the car was worth more than anyone would offer her for it. So she held out for her target price. Five years later, the car is still parked in the same place as when it was last used about 4 years ago, the battery is flat, the tyres are down and the brakes are seized because of rust. She turned down £3500 for it but I doubt it's worth £500 today. What a waste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 [quote name='Ross' post='1321092' date='Jul 30 2011, 09:13 AM']....One thing I never got about cars is when people use paying in cash as a bargaining point, you can pay by any way you want it aint gonna make the price go down.[/quote] It's about disclosure. If your buying from a dealer the taxman doesn't always find out about those sales.... if it's private then the Mrs. doesn't always get know where you shook hands at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfisher Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 The 'cash thing' is generally regarded as an advantage because it means the buyer is willing to do the deal right there and then. If the seller accepts a cheque or a bank transfer or something similar then it takes a bit of extra time for the funds to clear and the buyer might change their mind after the initial excitement of the deal dies down and not actually make the transfer, or might cancel the cheque. With cash-in-hand the seller knows the buyer is serious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 [quote name='TheGreek' post='1321189' date='Jul 30 2011, 11:42 AM']As a rule of thumb isn't the first thing you do when you buy a bass is to change the strings anyway??[/quote] I feel the same way when people want more for a bass thats had a setup to be honest, £30 on a setup for you means nothing to me and if the bass was in such an unplayable state that only a pro could get it back to where I could adjust it to my taste then whats been going on with it in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayPete1977 Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 [quote name='flyfisher' post='1321193' date='Jul 30 2011, 11:45 AM']My SIL inherited a car when her father died. She didn't want it and tried to sell it, but she had it in her mind that the car was worth more than anyone would offer her for it. So she held out for her target price. Five years later, the car is still parked in the same place as when it was last used about 4 years ago, the battery is flat, the tyres are down and the brakes are seized because of rust. She turned down £3500 for it but I doubt it's worth £500 today. What a waste.[/quote] As someone who is usually up to my elbows in old cars this is very common, Its often built up by years of the (now deceased) owner telling everyone what its potentially worth rather than what you could get for it then the beneficiary feels they are being disrespectful selling it for less at a later date. I see morris minors that need a total rebuild with no tax or mot advertised for £2000+ every week yet I can (and have) bought cars ready to use today and drive home for £1000-1500. No one will ever buy them eventually they get bust up for parts or just scrapped. Total waste as you say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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