Commission sales

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Can someone please explain to me why anyone would put up a relatively expensive bass for sale (which would attract a commission in the four figure bracket) without making any effort to advertise it anywhere else (as far I can tell).

[uncle psychosis]

Perhaps the sellers desire to avoid the hassle of selling it directly outweighs their need to avoid paying commission.

[ambient]

Maybe they're not wanting to mess the shop around ?

If they live somewhere, and the shop is 100 miles away, it'd be a bit awkward trying to sell privately too. Selling through the shop they don't need to worry about taking credit cards and shipping etc.

It's something I was considering when I sold ,my Modulus before Christmas. I was going to use Bass direct, but ended up selling it privately through Facebook.

[Naetharu]

I've done that one before with a Fender Jazzmaster guitar. In my case I was working away from home for a long period of time and selling it myself just didn't make sense. I needed the cash from it at the time however, and so I was happy to let my local shop do all the hard work in return for a reasonable cut. I guess it just depends on why you are selling and to what extent it is possible for you to manage that sale yourself.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

[quote name='uncle psychosis' timestamp='1454521411' post='2970493']
Perhaps the sellers desire to avoid the hassle of selling it directly outweighs their need to avoid paying commission.
[/quote]
I just don't see it as hassle. There are a lot of people here that could buy their dream bass just from the commission of this sale.

[Len_derby]

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1454521052' post='2970489']
Can someone please explain to me why anyone would put up a relatively expensive bass for sale (which would attract a commission in the four figure bracket) without making any effort to advertise it anywhere else (as far I can tell).
[/quote]

I guess it would suit someone who had no knowledge or interest in the bass. Perhaps it was an inheritance. This method outsources the whole transaction. A bit like selling a piece of art through an auction house.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

[quote name='Len_derby' timestamp='1454522277' post='2970510']
I guess it would suit someone who had no knowledge or interest in the bass. Perhaps it was an inheritance. This method outsources the whole transaction. A bit like selling a piece of art through an auction house.
[/quote]
Almost excusable, but I'm fairly certain that the seller is a player.

[AndyTravis]

Slightly off topic, but we put an expensive wedding dress in a shop on a comission sale a few years ago.

Time passed and I said to the wife I'll go and get it back and we'll eBay it.

The shop had gone bust basically and the dress was gone.

A few phonecalls later and the record keeping at the place was so bad (hey, they went bust) there was no record of us giving the dress over so it was just considered as their stock.

I wanted to pursue it but the Missus was so upset by the thing, she wanted to just leave it.

I'm wary of comission sales, I'd be a lot more on the ball than Mrs T though...

[TheGreek]

I had one of my high end basses with a well known store for a while in the hope that they had an existing clientèle who might be interested - turned out not to be the case. I didn't feel that their efforts to sell it justified their commission so took it back.

[bassace]

I've put a very nice Upton DB up for sale with a bass shop near London. If it sells I'll get £3.5k out of a £5.5k selling price. Yes, that's a lot to lose but DBs just don't sell for anything approaching sensible money on BC. And I don't want time wasters tramping over my carpets.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1454521052' post='2970489']
Can someone please explain to me why anyone would put up a relatively expensive bass for sale (which would attract a commission in the four figure bracket) without making any effort to advertise it anywhere else (as far I can tell).
[/quote]

Why does it matter to you?

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1454523152' post='2970523']
Why does it matter to you?
[/quote]
For essentially the same reason that most complain about eBay.

[Chiliwailer]

I hear you mate, but for some guys, it's not about the money at all.

They may want to avoid the emails and viewings, or maybe they have a tasty collection and they don't want people coming around and seeing that. So they are either paranoid of people or payments and scams. If money is no object to them, then they are happy to pay the commission so that they don't have to put the time in.

I had the opposite recently. Bear in mind that when selling very expensive gear sometimes buyers trust dealers and shops more. If I'd of sold my 57 P Bass via a commission sale I'd have got back more than I did selling it on BC as they'd have priced it much higher and taken less commision than usual due to the rarity and high value. But at least this way I got my money back when I needed it, and I didn't have to wait months to get the cash back from a dealer who's selling at a premium rate.

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1454521052' post='2970489']
Can someone please explain to me why anyone would put up a relatively expensive bass for sale (which would attract a commission in the four figure bracket) without making any effort to advertise it anywhere else (as far I can tell).
[/quote]

Tricky one to answer this, but as someone currently engaged in this process I'll give my perspective:

1. As well as putting it in the hands of (in my case) The Bass Gallery, I listed it on here. Despite a number of very supportive comments from fellow BC members, I have had no explicit expressions of interest from within the community (not a dig by the way, just a point of fact). If it costs me 15% of the listed price (not too sure where your 'four figure bracket' comes from) to increase the chances of a sale (and have one of the country's foremost bass emporia to field questions) then I can live with that;

2. It's a Lefty, which automatically diminishes the potential market by around 90%; and much as I love BC and all it stands for, I feel the need to expose it to a wider audience;

3. It's a vintage instrument, and if I'm honest I have no clue where the market truly is (the more so with the currently depressed state of the world economy), and am happy to be advised by experts in the field; they tell me that in better market conditions the current asking price (having been dropped twice since The Gallery's original recommendation) is a bit of a steal;

4. I detest having to package, insure and despatch this kind of kit: always have, and doubly so with a vintage Wal. The commission I will pay includes all the post-sales processing.



The standard process here (and elsewhere of course) is to keep dropping the price until I 'find the market'. Unfortunately, in the current climate that would most likely involve me in lopping who-knows-how-much-more until somebody makes an offer some way below that price. The simple fact is that although I do indeed want to sell it, I'm in no particular hurry and can afford to wait for the market to pick up again. (IME people sell instruments like these in order to either generate funds for something else they're after or to help make domestic ends meet: I have no such needs, and being what it is the value is sure to start rising at some point in the not-too-distant future.) In the absence of any pressing need to move it on at all costs, I'm happy to leave it in the very capable hands of The Gallery.

Hope that clears things up for you.

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

But, you still listed it on here which can cost you as little as £7 for a potential sale at your original asking price.
Obviously not every bass will sell and I do understand the difficulties around lefties, but at least you tried.
I'm not great at math, but if 15% is just over a grand, you could probably figure out what ballpark the asking price is in?

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1454526029' post='2970554']
I'm not great at math, but if 15% is just over a grand, you could probably figure out what ballpark the asking price is in?
[/quote]

Just over £6,666.67. At that sort of price I'd be a bit surprised if anybody listed on here TBH. (Not to say that it wouldn't happen of course, but how many £7k basses have you seen listed here in the last year or so?) Not trying to diss the BC membership, but somebody with a bass worth that much is likely to have a pretty good idea where they want to list it I would think.

While I'm here (and without wishing to cause offence) I must confess to being a bit confused as to what exactly the issue is here. My view would be that anybody with an expensive instrument (or even an inexpensive one for that matter) is at liberty to sell it how and where they like. Surely...

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

[quote name='leftybassman392' timestamp='1454527280' post='2970578']
While I'm here (and without wishing to cause offence) I must confess to being a bit confused as to what exactly the issue is here. My view would be that anybody with an expensive instrument (or even an inexpensive one for that matter) is at liberty to sell it how and where they like. Surely...
[/quote]

Saving around £1k seems fairly attractive to me.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1454523462' post='2970529']
For essentially the same reason that most complain about eBay.
[/quote]

TBH I've never understood why people complain about the prices of instruments listed on eBay either. Either it's an attractive price to you and you make a bid or you consider it too expensive, move on and wait for one to come up at what you consider to be a more sensible price. Sellers are at liberty to price their items however they want. If it's too high no will buy it.

[leftybassman392]

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1454527624' post='2970582']
Saving around £1k seems fairly attractive to me.
[/quote]

Well in the first place it'll only be £1k if the sale price is close to £7k. At the risk of repeating myself, how many £7k basses have you seen listed recently?

In the second place (and at the risk of repeating myself again), isn't that the seller's business?

Hang on a minute... Is this some kind of backhanded humour? You know... make a provocative comment about something completely innocuous and insubstantial, and then dig a little trench for yourself and pop off at anyone who shows up? Is it one of those?

[neepheid]

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1454522610' post='2970516']
Almost excusable, but I'm fairly certain that the seller is a player.
[/quote]

"Almost excusable"? Have a listen to yourself! Did I miss the memo when you were appointed judge, jury and executioner?

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1454578884' post='2970899']
"Almost excusable"? Have a listen to yourself! Did I miss the memo when you were appointed judge, jury and executioner?
[/quote]
Apologies. Poor choice of word. Understandable would have been better.

[BassTractor]

[quote name='hiram.k.hackenbacker' timestamp='1454521052' post='2970489']
Can someone please explain to me why anyone would put up a relatively expensive bass for sale (which would attract a commission in the four figure bracket) without making any effort to advertise it anywhere else (as far I can tell).
[/quote]

A serious depression?
Can't be arsed?
No clue, and too rich to be caring about the four figure number?
Very busy, presumably making a lot more money?
Living abroad?
One year sailing trip?
Beautiful long/short-haired blonde/brunette demanding the darn thing out of the house before he will be allowed near her again, so he desperately sees no other option than a quick handing it in to a shop?
Other good or bad reasons that may or may not be rational or may be driven by emotion or the lack thereof?

[Machines]

I have sold several basses via BassDirect and got the same price after comissions as I would have got on here with people trying to haggle the price down.

I sold a Peavey T-40 for £500, Yamaha TRB4 for £550 and Line6 Variax for £500 which I'd say was over the odds for every one. However, I didn't have to take photos, record a demo, manage the transaction, package it or worry about insurance and couriers.

By the end of the deals, BassDirect had their 20%, and I had a hassle free amount of cash about the same as i'd have had on here.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Machines

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

[quote name='BassTractor' timestamp='1454584993' post='2970998']
Beautiful long/short-haired blonde/brunette demanding the darn thing out of the house before he will be allowed near her again, so he desperately sees no other option than a quick handing it in to a shop?
[/quote]
Now that does makes sense!

[colgraff]

One of the things I love about Basschat is the diversity of topics and the frivolity of subject matter. However this thread may be the most pointless topic of all.