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Facebook Marketplace v BC v eBay


lownote

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Hi Ped,

I completely understand what you are saying but I can only judge it on my own experience relative to the other marketplaces. I did leave feedback of course , but in the instances I mentioned, the issue was with the buyer or seller and not something you could have resolved other than by imposing sanctions after the fact and I do appreciate this would in turn bring its own difficulties. Would there be any mileage in having buyer and seller ratings similar to the the feedback scores on ebay, rather than just text based comments requiring a search ? In statistical terms it would be interesting to know how sales are going relative to increased listings but then the site is about basses not market trends !

PS Hope the new job is going well

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3 minutes ago, edstraker123 said:

Hi Ped,

I completely understand what you are saying but I can only judge it on my own experience relative to the other marketplaces. I did leave feedback of course , but in the instances I mentioned, the issue was with the buyer or seller and not something you could have resolved other than by imposing sanctions after the fact and I do appreciate this would in turn bring its own difficulties. Would there be any mileage in having buyer and seller ratings similar to the the feedback scores on ebay, rather than just text based comments requiring a search ? In statistical terms it would be interesting to know how sales are going relative to increased listings but then the site is about basses not market trends !

PS Hope the new job is going well

Yes it’s difficult to have a feedback system with any value when it comes down to it - these transactions happen separately from the site and we get no detail about them and can only go on what we’re told. I feel a star rating would end up meaning the mods would constantly be roped into disputes and it’s also difficult to implement on a software level. The text based system is ok and can provide context when things didn’t go well but I agree it could be better integrated. Unfortunately I don’t think our software allows for that at this stage and coding it in ourselves would be very tricky! 

Loving the new job, thanks for asking. I’ll make an update on the thread. Two weeks in and I haven’t been sacked yet!! 

Cheers

ped

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1 hour ago, edstraker123 said:

I've found the marketplace on here to be dead even with ridiculously low priced items ( admittedly collection only does not help)

 

I'd have had that green Maruszyck off you a long time ago if you shipped. Having to travel internationally to collect a bass was a complete deal-breaker 🙂

My last few purchases have been from either here or ebay. As it's a specialist community, the pricing tends to be about right here. Ebay shares both fantatically low and stupidly high pricing, so there are stlll great bargains to be had there, occasionally.

Edited by Doctor J
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Shame these things happen anywhere but i've had the opposite on BC where @muydeemer travelled up by train from London to pick up a bass at Glasgow. I drove into Glasgow about 50miles for me but unfortunately he was held up due to flooding at that time which was on the news. He contacted me several times with updates and fortunately i was able to wait in Glasgow, get a late lunch /early dinner with my wife until he arrived. Guy was brilliant, liked the bass handed over the cash with absolutely no issues. He jumped back on the train that was just about to leave and all done in 10mins.

I've had some great deals with both BC and FB to be honest but generally i find BC deals go a bit smoother. No idea why but maybe its because most of us are all doing the same thing when it comes to GAS and we just like being treated the same way we would treat others.

We are a lovely bunch of people on BC. :drinks:

Dave

 

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Pretty much every bass I’ve listed on here has been like tumbleweed across a dusty track, Even if I drop the price to an amount I really wouldn’t part with elsewhere - and still zero interest other than the odd tyre kicker.

IMHO the issue is that there are a lot of basses for scale, Including a sizeable amount from European sellers which personally I wouldn’t be interested in (due to them being too exotic/fugly/expensive/far away basses). Bumping your sale thread finds it down to page 5 within 6-8 hours. Unless someone’s searching for your specific bass it’ll probably be missed. I’ve missed out on basses I wanted to buy as I missed them and found them on page 40 or whatever a month later ;)

Then there’s the courier business for selling as it’s likely many interested buyers are too far away - so without the time/packaging to post then you’ll get far fewer buyers. A shop can always post and as a business there is naturally more trust.

I’ve sold basses via Bass Direct and got far more either in part ex or commission sale than I got advertising here as a private sale. I have a bass for sale here at the moment for cheap Indonesian/Korean bass money - again naff all interest (appreciating the fact that it’s mid-January and many people are short on funds). It’s going on commission sale soon as it makes space and I fully expect it to sell in a few weeks.

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I prefer to use BC as it feels more trustworthy to me as it's a community of likeminded people. There seem to be a lot more manners and keeping things above board.

Having said that, about 90% of what I have sold has been through Ebay on their sell anything for £1 listings, maybe 4% Bumtree and the remainder here

I find that the prices on BC are higher than what I would expect so I feel that I have to raise my price to match - is that why things hang around for a while? I would never quote listings but there are a few members in particular who price their items really high. Conversely there are a few basses that have been sitting for a while that seem really good value but are collection only. A bass located Birmingham with collection only may as well be located on the moon for me.

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23 minutes ago, Delberthot said:

As a test I've listed my Jazz bass here, Facebook (first time for me) and Bumtree. Once Ebay do their sell for £1 then I'll fire it on there and see how I get on.

After a couple of hours I've already had a trade offer on Bumtree but not what I am looking for

I was playing up your way in Camelon Ochiltree Social club on 28th Dec. Was a pretty good night.

Dave

Edited by dmccombe7
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7 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

One problem i'm finding on BC at the moment is that every bass i really like seems to be from outside the UK. There seems to an awful lot of basses for sale from outside UK.

I'm not brave enough to buy from outside the UK.

Dave

Use PayPal and nothing can go wrong :)

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1 hour ago, ped said:

Use PayPal and nothing can go wrong :)

I'm too old and too wise to be taking risks buying things from outside UK @ped

I know it limits my choices but i'll wait until something comes along nearer hand that i can try out.

No idea what i'm gonna do if the Indy#2 goes thru up here and we build the wall again. England will be a foreign country :laugh1: 

It'll be me and a few others swapping bass stories between us. :laugh1:

Edited by dmccombe7
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6 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

No idea what i'm gonna do if the Indy#2 goes thru up here and we build the wall again. England will be a foreign country

Can you translate that phrase please? I didn't study "jock" in school or elsewhere!!

Just a wee sassenach blowing up your doedelzak 😃

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2 hours ago, Delberthot said:

As a test I've listed my Jazz bass here, Facebook (first time for me) and Bumtree. Once Ebay do their sell for £1 then I'll fire it on there and see how I get on.

After a couple of hours I've already had a trade offer on Bumtree but not what I am looking for

2 hours on and I've agreed a trade with another forum member for my Jazz bass - Basschat wins :hi:

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11 hours ago, lownote12 said:

I see no end of reasonably priced bass items that stay on BC so long they become like familiar faces.

I suspect that an amp ad of mine falls into that category.
But, similarly to  @Doctor J above, for me there is nothing that would merit signing up on Facebook.

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It seems a lot of those commenting above who aren't particularly happy with the Marketplace may be trade or semi-trade sellers. A number refer to multiple items not moving. Given that most of us who are members on here are players/enthusiasts who only buy and sell occasionally, it is hardly surprising that those with a lot of stuff for sale are not going to get dozens of takers. I have bought and sold two or three things on here over the years and everything has been fine. I suspect that most are in the same position as me. If you are a dealer or have a shop/room full of kit for sale, perhaps you'd be better off advertising on eBay, FB or in a more commercial arena.

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26 minutes ago, Dan Dare said:

It seems a lot of those commenting above who aren't particularly happy with the Marketplace may be trade or semi-trade sellers. A number refer to multiple items not moving. Given that most of us who are members on here are players/enthusiasts who only buy and sell occasionally, it is hardly surprising that those with a lot of stuff for sale are not going to get dozens of takers. I have bought and sold two or three things on here over the years and everything has been fine. I suspect that most are in the same position as me. If you are a dealer or have a shop/room full of kit for sale, perhaps you'd be better off advertising on eBay, FB or in a more commercial arena.

Not at all. I am a player and nothing more. I currently have two basses and a rig to sell which are the product of GAS over two years.  I have had four calls and one sale TODAY ALONE alone from FB.  Nothing from BC in weeks.  BC may have many strengths but marketplace clearly isn't one of them

Edited by lownote12
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I always had trouble selling outside of basschat....

if I wanna sell bass equipment there isn't a better place then basschat to do it.

I ve seen advert with no specs photos or description here on the chat

if you are selling something try to be more specific and list properly like you would do on ebsy only cause you scared they will say the item is not as described 

Put some effort in the listing, real effort and yiy will see that everything sells

I ve sold and bought here and not only bass gear, I bought a camera lens last week and BTW the was a overwater 6 string that sold in minites of being advertised

Be specific in your listing and be patient some items take longer then other

a shitty Korean bass of £50 might take longer than a 3k bass to sale

it's all about what the market is required that time

I ve sold a bass on Facebook 2 weeks ago and was returned to me within 5 days and a new dent on it!!!! So I vr, decided I will only sell here on the chat where I actually feel like I know everyone even if we never met and  also made some great friends over the year.

then no to talk fees

ebay 10% (which is deducted from your postage too) plus 3.5%paypal

Facebook no garantee unless you meet in person

(would you buy a 3k bass from Facebook and ask the guy to post it? No thank you

basschat £20 a year with no limitations of how many items you sell

I think its a great deal

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4 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

One problem i'm finding on BC at the moment is that every bass i really like seems to be from outside the UK. There seems to an awful lot of basses for sale from outside UK.

I'm not brave enough to buy from outside the UK.

Dave


I can understand that. I like to try instruments before I buy them. I’ve also found that my idea of mint condition, can often be at odds with another person's idea of what mint condition means. There’s also the postal and insurance thing.

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The one slight issue I have (particulalry when using mobile), is the sheer quantity for equipment for sale from outside the UK. At the risk of suggesting some sort of BCexit, how do people feel about a seperate topic for equpiment for sale outside the UK? Or am I just being stupid?

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