Buying (then selling on) for profit?

[Dan Dare]

"What's the least you'll accept?" is the chancer's line. They're always hoping to find someone who is desperate or who has no idea. The only answer is "What are you offering?" as others say.

[Grangur]

[quote name='dood' timestamp='1472219929' post='3119579']
Or being really cheeky with a low-ball offer, which there are a few basschatters who are maybe guilty of and I'm not just talking the odd £20 here. It's frustrating enough when the market is so slow that you offer up an item at a vastly reduced price to sell. You think you are passing on the good community spirit, something I've always tried to do. Do unto others and all that kinda thing... hmmm!
[/quote]

On selling a bass at a £100 loss to me, I recently got one of, "Please can I have it for £25 less than the asking price, and INCLUDING shipping to Poland?"
Shipping to Poland will be another £45 off as well. (£25 shipping, £20 insurance). Naturally I bit his arm off! Why miss out on a chance to make a loss like that!
You don't get those chances every day!

Edited August 26, 2016 by Grangur

[gjones]

[quote name='Fionn' timestamp='1471980439' post='3117465']
Don't you just hate it when you sell a bass and, only a few days later, notice it for sale somewhere else for £550 more than you sold it for.

Very recently sold a bass on here for £1100, and now seeing it for £1650 in Bass Direct ...

The bass I just sold, unmistakably ... [url="http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Wick_Streamer_1987.html"]http://www.bassdirec...eamer_1987.html[/url]

Might not be the case, but if it was ... Would this be common practice around here, to buy bargain basses, and sell them quickly for profit?
[/quote]

I've had that happen to me on Basschat. The guy who did it was not a bassplayer, just a middleman. He used to lurk around here but I haven't seen for quite a while.


Edit: I have to say that I have sold basses on Basschat (after a year or two of ownership) for a profit in the past but making a few quid was never my reason for buying the bass in the first place.

Edited August 26, 2016 by gjones

[Dood]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1472228762' post='3119685']
On selling a bass at a £100 loss to me, I recently got one of, "Please can I have it for £25 less than the asking price, and INCLUDING shipping to Poland?"
Shipping to Poland will be another £45 off as well. (£25 shipping, £20 insurance). Naturally I bit his arm off! Why miss out on a chance to make a loss like that!
You don't get those chances every day!
[/quote]

Yes, "I want £50 off and shipping thrown in" is not ever going to be well received on an amplifier that is so cheap already that units that are considerably less powerful are going for more money. I just can't make it more of a deal than that lol.

[luckydog]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1472212087' post='3119477']
And I'm sure, when his playing days are over, it will be sold for only$100 won't it? Besides anything else would be immoral wouldn't it? [/quote]I seriously doubt he'll ever sell it: you just wouldn't, that really would be wrong. More likely prised from his cold dead hand, though the grip will be so tight it might just have to stay with him........

For some, playing music is just not about money. Some others never will be able to get that, because for them it fundamentally is. As a player, you get to know who's who, and I know what sort I prefer to spend time and play with for sure.

LD

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1472228762' post='3119685']
On selling a bass at a £100 loss to me, I recently got one of, "Please can I have it for £25 less than the asking price, and INCLUDING shipping to Poland?"
Shipping to Poland will be another £45 off as well. (£25 shipping, £20 insurance). Naturally I bit his arm off! Why miss out on a chance to make a loss like that!
You don't get those chances every day!
[/quote]

I have never not had one of those sort of things, but I don't mind it, what is the harm in asking?

[stingrayPete1977]

Here's my two part guide to buying and selling.

1-when buying only pay the amount you are happy with.

2-when selling only accept the amount you are happy with.

[zero9]

On a similar note:
1. Don't pay the asking price.
2. Don't accept the buyers lower offer

[luckydog]

Hmmmm are so many peeps here in the habit of buying/selling basses regularly enough to get excited about?

How many peeps here look upon trading basses as a source of income ? I am curious, and suspect it's more than I first thought.......

LD

[Woodinblack]

[quote name='luckydog' timestamp='1472236121' post='3119755']
How many peeps here look upon trading basses as a source of income ?
[/quote]

I seem to do it as exactly the opposite!

[Skybone]

[quote name='luckydog' timestamp='1472236121' post='3119755']How many peeps here look upon trading basses as a source of income ? [/quote]

More like "outcome"

[karlfer]

Bass out at £1800 (always open to a chat).

"I offer £1500 include ship to Spain".

So, insured shipping was £92.
An offer of £1500 against a selling of £1892.

Somebody else got the bass.

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='zero9' timestamp='1472234822' post='3119741']
On a similar note:
1. Don't pay the asking price.
2. Don't accept the buyers lower offer
[/quote]
Those are all in the build up to mine though, if paying more gets you a bass you love then that's ok,if selling your bass cheap gets you into another deal that you really want that's ok too as long as my parts 1&2 are the final result

[luckydog]

So roughly how many basses/gear items per year qualifies as a trader, and is it OK not to identify oneself as such ?

In the last decade I've bought no basses, 2 amps, and sold no basses and 1 amp. None on BC. So that's def not me ! Curious what volume of gear other peeps buy/sell yearly, what is normal here?

LD

[spencer.b]

I could understand the OP being a bit narked if it had turned up on BC for £1650 but surely any business sells for what they can get . Also you sold it BD haven't presumably they'll be happy to wait a bit longer for the right buyer
Now this is just a theory but BC has it's own little economic trends and one of them has been a drop in used warwick values but BD has a potentially broader marketplace
I find BDs used prices very good for a dealer especially on fender type stuff I actually saw a bass I'd owned and sold on commission come up on his site for less than I received from the shop I sold it through!! I guess cos people know him for the modern sound like warwick

Edited August 26, 2016 by spencer.b

[mcnach]

[quote name='4stringslow' timestamp='1472204481' post='3119375']
But what is a 'fair price'? There is no official price list so it's just what the seller and buyer are happy to agree between them. With two bassists buying a bass it's probably fairly easy to agree a price that both think is fair, but widen the scope of the participants and the item I question and it becomes a lot more subjective.

I recall a story about someone who had inherited an shotgun, Holland and Holland I think, the sort of thing that could cost £100k brand new. They were a photography fanatic and had long wanted a top of the range Leica camera, worth a few thousand pounds and knew the shotgun was worth a few bob but that was all. So they advertised for a swap and someone did the deal by buying a brand new Leica. Financially, the shotgun was potentially worth far more than the camera but both parties agreed the deal and both were very happy, so it could be judged that it was a fair deal. And that's the main thing isn't it? If both parties are happy with the deal then all is well.
[/quote]


Absolutely.

[mcnach]

[quote name='luckydog' timestamp='1472205121' post='3119386']
Exactly this ^ happened to a mate of mine, and 40 years later he still plays the same amazing guitar (it isn't a bass). A lifetime of playing excellence versus turning a (albeit hefty) swift buck............ there's more to life than profit !?

LD
[/quote]


of course there is more than profit! I'm not sure anybody here is arguing that!

But If I had that Jazz myself, and I ended up in dire straits... I can see myself selling that, and not for $100, and turning to using a Squier instead. If you *need* the cash, for whatever reason... material things don't matter. Or would you hold on to that 62 Jazz, or sell it for $100, whilst missing mortgage payments, for instance? Of course not

[mcnach]

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1472210971' post='3119455']
Only ever made a profit on a handful of gear I've purchased through the many years I've been playing. Given the amount of gear I've gone through, the profit is an insignificant amount compared to the losses. Though the biggest loss to date was 50% on an L2000 Tribute. Best profit was on my old 4003.
[/quote]

That's it. Overall I I have probably made a loss even if sometimes I made a profit. BassChat is a terrible place... it makes you want shiny things!

[mcnach]

[quote name='zero9' timestamp='1472234822' post='3119741']
On a similar note:
1. Don't pay the asking price.
2. Don't accept the buyers lower offer
[/quote]

It depends on how badly you want to buy/sell, right?

I was looking for a white EBMM SUB for months. Then one appeared, a very early one (2003) which I favoured (different pickup wiring). It was in great condition... and seller asked for more than they usually sell for. But I really wanted it, and I wasn't going to take the risk of somebody making a slightly better offer and not getting the bass I wanted for what? for maybe £40-50? A bass I was likely to own for years?
I offered full asking price immediately and I still have that delicious bass.

[mcnach]

[quote name='luckydog' timestamp='1472236121' post='3119755']
Hmmmm are so many peeps here in the habit of buying/selling basses regularly enough to get excited about?

How many peeps here look upon trading basses as a source of income ? I am curious, and suspect it's more than I first thought.......

LD
[/quote]

That's a good question. I doubt there are many at all. And those who do... good luck to them. I see nothing wrong.

[mcnach]

[quote name='luckydog' timestamp='1472243749' post='3119834']
So roughly how many basses/gear items per year qualifies as a trader, and is it OK not to identify oneself as such ?

In the last decade I've bought no basses, 2 amps, and sold no basses and 1 amp. None on BC. So that's def not me ! Curious what volume of gear other peeps buy/sell yearly, what is normal here?

LD
[/quote]


I don't care, personally.
If you have a bass for sale that I want, I don't care how many more you sold that month. What does it matter?

[Grangur]

[quote name='luckydog' timestamp='1472236121' post='3119755']
Hmmmm are so many peeps here in the habit of buying/selling basses regularly enough to get excited about?

How many peeps here look upon trading basses as a source of income ? I am curious, and suspect it's more than I first thought.......

LD
[/quote]

I wouldn't call what I make as "income". But over all, if I ignore the couple that I've lost money on, I've built a modest bass fund. To do this I've bought and sold a lot of budget basses. I normally make a modest profit. I've sometimes made over £100 on a bass (not on those bought/sold on BC).

[mcnach]

[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1472393481' post='3120760']
I wouldn't call what I make as "income". But over all, if I ignore the couple that I've lost money on, I've built a modest bass fund. To do this I've bought and sold a lot of budget basses. I normally make a modest profit. I've sometimes made over £100 on a bass[b] (not on those bought/sold on BC)[/b].
[/quote]

there would be nothing wrong with that...

[Grangur]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1472395186' post='3120771']


there would be nothing wrong with that...
[/quote]

It only comes out of careful buying and an eye for something I can improve or re-market better.
(+ Luck)

[gareth]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1472144683' post='3118880']
Funny how no one complains if the market drops out the bottom for an item after they've sold it isn't it? Has anyone received some compensation from the seller after buying a used Warwick after they crashed years ago?
[/quote]interesting point Pete

I bought a bass on this forum and said to the seller if ever I sold it I would give him first refusal. Several years later I wanted to sell the bass. The market had gone up and he was annoyed with me when I kept my word and gave him first refusal but at the market rate. I always wondered, would he have complained had the market gone down and I offered him the bass at a price which was less than I had paid him?