There seems to be a change recently in "Basses for Sale"

[karlfer]

10 hours plus £35 is a bit more effort than somebody who WANTS TO SELL having to spend an hour or so boxing/booking in.

Disappointed in that response Dad

[Dad3353]

Disappointed..? Change your aspirations, perhaps..? It's true I don't see these 'problems' in the same light. When I found the Verithin I wanted advertised, I travelled to Nottingham to inspect it, and eventually buy it. I live in France. Similarly for my Hiwatt head. I came across with our youngest, as it's far too heavy for me alone. Pain in the rear, maybe, but I'd wait forever to find one locally, and boxing up a Hiwatt is not simple, either. It's a choice, that's all.
I agree that packing anything up is always a possibility, and should not be beyond the scope of most folks, but by the same token, if it's too much bother to travel, stay with local sales, no..?

[gary mac]

I've couriered a fair few basses but it always make me nervous, particularly with the more valuable ones.

None of the companies seem to offer any decent level of insurance, some will take a fee but it is still not actually insured.


To limit the risk I avoid Friday collections, so that the instrument isn't spending a weekend in a depot somewhere.

[CamdenRob]

I always list stuff as collection only to see if anyone local is interested first before resorting to shipping. It is a mission for me to have stuff picked up as I'm always at work during the hours couriers collect, so I try and see if there is any local interest first.

I live very close to a parcel-force depot and if they offered insurance for musical instruments it would be incredibly easy for me to pop in there with a bass in the evening and send it off.... sadly they don't offer adequate insurance so it's a non starter.

I'm always happy to travel out from London for an hour or so and meet at a train station to exchange in person though and I've done that in the past.

[Lw.]

Another good reason for collection only is cash in hand. It's too easy for buyers to mess around if they've paid by pay-pal & it will often leave the seller out of pocket if not out of pocket & without their goods back - some of the horror stories you hear about have ensured that I'll only post small or low(-ish) value items.

[karlfer]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1415351292' post='2599408']
Disappointed..? Change your aspirations, perhaps..? It's true I don't see these 'problems' in the same light. When I found the Verithin I wanted advertised, I travelled to Nottingham to inspect it, and eventually buy it. I live in France. Similarly for my Hiwatt head. I came across with our youngest, as it's far too heavy for me alone. Pain in the rear, maybe, but I'd wait forever to find one locally, and boxing up a Hiwatt is not simple, either. It's a choice, that's all.
I agree that packing anything up is always a possibility, and should not be beyond the scope of most folks, but by the same token, if it's too much bother to travel, stay with local sales, no..?
[/quote]

Why should I change my aspirations?

It's simple enough, if somebody can't be arsed to box it up and use a fully insured courier then they will need to get somebody else's money.
As long as they aren't moaning their tit's off about nothing selling here anymore.

I'm quite happy to meet halfway, say Birmingham but few are prepared to do that without wanting petrol money, if at all.
Statement on the football last night "it's quicker to get to London from Lilles than in is to get from London to Liverpool.

Sorry Dad, not all of us can afford the time or money to pop over from France to Nottingham.

In answer to another comment, I don't do PAINPal. bank transfer is easy enough.

Edited November 7, 2014 by karlfer

[Dad3353]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1415356680' post='2599488']
Why should I change my aspirations?

It's simple enough, if somebody can't be arsed to box it up and use a fully insured courier then they will need to get somebody else's money.
As long as they aren't moaning there tit's off about nothing selling here anymore.

I'm quite happy to meet halfway, say Birmingham but few are prepared to do that without wanting petrol money, if at all.
Statement on the football last night "it's quicker to get to London from Lilles than in is to get from London to Liverpool.

Sorry Dad, not all of us can afford the time or money to pop over from France to Nottingham.

In answer to another comment, I don't do PAINPal. bank transfer is easy enough.
[/quote]

I did add 'perhaps'..! You do as you please, of course, although I'm sorry that my 'contribution' disappoints you. It's not a question of affording the time or money, it's simply a matter of how much one wants something. If it's worth it, you do it; if it's not you don't. No big deal, either way. As for meeting halfway, I find that to be an excellent compromise, but it's also true that not all sellers have the wherewithal to do that, either. I don't really see what your beef is. If folks don't want the hassle and risk of posting, I can understand that, and live with it. I've had several guitars and basses arrive by post, and never a problem, but it's not always the case, as we see often in these columns. Still, if it bugs you, I can't do much more for you, I'm afraid. Life's a bitch, eh..?

[neepheid]

It's certainly helpful if people are willing to post stuff to me, I'm in Aberdeen. The shops here do not cater for my tastes, I've travelled before to trade (met half way within Scotland) and a trip to Glasgow/Edinburgh with better shops can yield results from time to time, but if I want to sell anything quickly and for the price I want I have to be willing to offer postage. Last 4 basses I've sold have gone local, Germany, local (buyer was coincidentally in the area), Cambridgeshire somewhere I think. Gumtree, here, here, Gumtree. Even score on local vs. remote and here vs. Gumtree.

It's the seller's choice if they don't want to post - people in big places like London will have no problem shifting anything without getting off their backsides, so why should they? I totally understand. It's my choice to live in the middle of nowhere, relatively speaking. There are benefits and drawbacks wherever you live. But believe me when I say that local collection only in London for example ain't gonna happen with me unless by some luck I have another reason to be in the area. I've got a threshold for the lengths I will travel solely for a bass I might not buy and that's pretty much limited to within Scotland. Transport costs and TIME are more than I'm prepared to spend when one can courier a bass anywhere in the UK for £30. That's my call.

I've had success in the past with "local pickup only" items just simply asking the question, "would you be willing to post?" and explain my location. Sometimes, people list things as "local pickup only" simply because they haven't even considered posting an option, and if their bass/whatever isn't moving as quickly as they'd like they might come around to my way of thinking. Worth registering the interest anyway, don't be pushy and don't get pissy if they say no though.

[Rick's Fine '52]

In response to these latest threads, i can see both sides. It does depend how much you want something,a nd its value of course. I've gone to the US to buy a bass before, because it saved me £5k on the price of one here, took the opportunity to have a few days in the Big Apple whilst there, so it was worth it. Would i get the train to Wigan and back for 10 hours to buy a £700 bass or amp that is generally readily available elsewhere, not a chance, better things to do. Would i travel 10 hours to Wigan and back for something rare that i have always wanted that rarely turns up, absolutely. Horses for courses.

Having said that, it is frustrating when someone wont spend half hour packaging something up, but its their choice, and they risk not selling as a result, but its the sellers choice, not the buyers. We are all different. Its the same as when people wont take off three screws of a contol panel, to lift it up and tell you pot codes? Frustrating, but we have to accept, and respect, their position (even if it makes our blood boil).

[karlfer]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1415359958' post='2599555']
I did add 'perhaps'..! You do as you please, of course, although I'm sorry that my 'contribution' disappoints you. It's not a question of affording the time or money, it's simply a matter of how much one wants something. If it's worth it, you do it; if it's not you don't. No big deal, either way. As for meeting halfway, I find that to be an excellent compromise, but it's also true that not all sellers have the wherewithal to do that, either. I don't really see what your beef is. If folks don't want the hassle and risk of posting, I can understand that, and live with it. I've had several guitars and basses arrive by post, and never a problem, but it's not always the case, as we see often in these columns. Still, if it bugs you, I can't do much more for you, I'm afraid. Life's a bitch, eh..?
[/quote]

Of course you can do more for me Douglas.
Pop over to London, pick up a bass for me and head up to the cobbled part of the M6

Seriously though it does bug me, but with an attention span of a goldfish, I move on to my next moan quickly enough.

Seriously though it does bug me, but with an attention span of a goldfish, I move on to my next moan quickly enough.

Yours,
Indigenous Moaner.

Edited November 7, 2014 by karlfer

[Dad3353]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1415362571' post='2599589']
Of course you can do more for me Douglas.
Pop over to London, pick up a bass for me and head up to the cobbled part of the M6

Seriously though it does bug me, but with an attention span of a goldfish, I move on to my next moan quickly enough.

Seriously though it does bug me, but with an attention span of a goldfish, I move on to my next moan quickly enough.

Yours,
Indigenous Moaner.
[/quote]

No problem, buddy; next time I'm coming up your way I'll see what you'd like picked up. [size=4] [/size]
You'd better bloomin' well like it when it arrives, though..! [size=4] [/size]

[karlfer]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1415365593' post='2599625']
No problem, buddy; next time I'm coming up your way I'll see what you'd like picked up.
You'd better bloomin' well like it when it arrives, though..!
[/quote]

[Cameronj279]

[quote name='karlfer' timestamp='1415350790' post='2599402']
10 hours plus £35 is a bit more effort than somebody who WANTS TO SELL having to spend an hour or so boxing/booking in.

[/quote]

For some people it's more than an hour or so though. For example it overall takes me maybe 3/4 hours as I don't drive and in order to get a box need to travel into Glasgow (1 bus and 1 train). Having said that. whenever I have sold a bass I always offer delivery option. I have also saw myself travelling to buy some stuff from this parish also.

[discreet]

Has anyone got any Savlon? I think I've chafed my inner thigh again.

[Geek99]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1415287438' post='2598802']


I think I know where you're coming from here.

The uneditable price field we use is a trade off needed to allow the 'free advert under £50' model.
We can't edit it either.

If it was editable then someone could simply value a bass at £5, get their free advert up and then edit the price up to £500 to hide what they'd done.

Trying this sort of thing wouldn't occur to most of us, but we regularly identify people thinking they're smart enough to 'beat the system' in various ways and that annoying little uneditable price tag plays a big part in stopping that.
[/quote]
Oh sure - doesn't take a lot of effort to modify a title when you drop the price though, does it ?

[Geek99]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1415288146' post='2598821']


I'm not against the idea, but there's a bit of a limitation.

Something might be advertised at £549 on day one and it's perfectly reasonable to expect to see that in the header.

The catch is going to come some time later when the price is reduced to £499.

There's no easy way we can capture that programmatically so it's going to need the advertiser to change it manually - which kinda brings us back to where we already are.
[/quote]
Dead easy programmatically.
See if there's a £ sign, see if anything that follows it can be parsed into a sensible number.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1415373278' post='2599742']
Dead easy programmatically.
See if there's a £ sign, see if anything that follows it can be parsed into a sensible number.
[/quote]

Permit me to doubt that it's as easy as that. I can imagine many scenarios where this would be insufficient. How, for instance, would one know, for certain, that the price following a £ sign meant a price reduction..? Could be any number of things (Postage..? Cost of a re-valve..? Price of amp and cab separately..?). Would that it [i]were [/i]simple; it would help all, but it ain't.

[skankdelvar]

Fact is, there is much that could be done to enhance FS. The option to have the background to one's sales post appear in a kind of tasteful Paisley pattern springs to mind, as might an iPhone search app that scours new posts and sends a tiny but pleasing electrical shock to one's prostate when a matching item appears.

But there is little to beat the BC marketplace as a cheap, simple means of advertising a bass-related item. Everything else is a mere refinement which does nothing to address the unpredictable tides of supply and demand.

[icastle]

[quote name='Geek99' timestamp='1415373278' post='2599742']
Dead easy programmatically.
See if there's a £ sign, see if anything that follows it can be parsed into a sensible number.
[/quote]

That'll work until some wag says something like "I'll give you £5 for it 'lol' "

Programmes don't have a sense of humour.

[karlfer]

As a result of my selling my SEI, I had a bit of interest from one particular chap.
He was too late it was in the throes of deal being sorted.
We got chatting.
He mentioned his band.
I searched them, I love them.
Mad Dog McRAE Guildford tonight but Attila the Hen and I are going to see them on the 18th in Preston.

An excellent result from a sale that didn't happen

[Geek99]

[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1415387074' post='2599889']


That'll work until some wag says something like "I'll give you £5 for it 'lol' "

Programmes don't have a sense of humour.
[/quote]
I know:)
I meant in the title only