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OT: Ebay Rant


vonnor

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So I have an item up for sale on eBay (not linking to adhere to forum rules) for $499 or Best Offer. Another ebayer sends me a message politely informing me that the average selling price for these items has been around $429, and offered me $300. I dropped the listing BIN to $399 and countered him at $349.

 

Never heard back.

 

Last night I get an offer from another ebayer for $170 which I promptly decline.

 

This morning I get a message from this person with aggressive overtones saying they had put in another offer for $200 (half of the recently reduced BIN) which I did not get a notice for, and asking what my lowest price is. Less than two hours later I get ANOTHER message from this person getting all nasty saying why haven't I gotten back to them and why haven't I responded to their $200 offer and once again asking what is my absolute lowest price.

 

WT actual F is wrong with people??? I don't even have access to eBay from work (web sites are blacklisted/blocked on the network).

 

Now I'm trying to think how to respond.

 

MY lowest price is the posted Buy-It-Now (BIN) price. If YOU want to make an offer then make a bloody offer! If I decline it that means IT'S NOT A HIGH ENOUGH OFFER!!! If you really want the item, offer more and take your chances!

 

Holy hell... these people!

 

~ vonnor

Gear:

Hardware: Nord Stage3, Korg Kronos 2, Novation Summit

Software: Cantabile 3, Halion Sonic 3 and assorted VST plug-ins.

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I may just counter their $200 offer with $700 just to send them flying into a rage. :P

 

 

One time I let my temper get the better of me and I did something like this. I agreed one evening to buy a keyboard from a local guy for $800. We agreed to meet the next day -- specific time/location to meet up. Re-arranged my schedule to make it work. I then found out he was continuing to try to sell the keyboard to others for more money before our scheduled meet up time. I told him, "I hope you find a buyer for what you're asking because my price is now $500."

 

I didn't end up getting that keyboard.

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This isn't so much an eBay rant as an observation that people suck. I cannot argue in favor of humans, you win.

 

First thing I'll mention is that Reverb has much lower rates on everything except guitars, at least the last time I checked. You might do better with a keyboard selling on Reverb. This does not make one immune from imbeciles.

 

Next, if I post a Buy It Now price on an item and include a Best Offer option, I leave the price where I started it for at least 2 spins through the cycle. Then I slowly lower it until somebody buys it or makes an offer I can accept.

I never respond at all to low-ballers, they can die in a fire.

 

And I always give craigslist a go first, if I can sell it on craigslist I don't have to ship it, I get cash and the buyer can check it out, take it and go away - no returns. I'm willing to sell at a little lower price on craigslist to spare myself the packing and shipping and the possibility of a return.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I've been having similar experiences with eBay, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace.

 

I was selling my Nord C2, and started at $2300. That was the number I saw of the last sold C2 on eBay I think. I figured folks would haggle me down to around $2k. Fair `nuff.

 

On Craigslist...several times...I got people who would just send a mesage saying "$1000"...nothing else. Not a "hello!" not a "I happened to see this same organ elsewhere for a thousand."

 

On Facebook, I got one guy who's says, "I'll give you $1200" to which I responded, "Sorry, but I'll meet you in the middle at $1900." He said, "$1200 is all I can afford." Well, I guess this isn't the organ for you!

 

What's super weird is I got like four or five people who ONLY said, "What's your best price?" And I would say "$2000" thinking they would come back with $1900 (which would have been okay with me). But nope. Nothing. They didn't respond.

 

It's like people forgot how to negotiate.

 

Also, everyone just wants to steal the thing from you.

 

Eventually, when they asked "what's your best price?" I responded "Well, how about YOU make me a REASONABLE offer?" And that sort of worked...I got a few decent offers, though mostly people would randomly stop communicating with me while working out logistics ("So where should we meet up?")

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I usually do use Reverb, however this item was not music related.

 

It did, however sell for the full BIN price just as I was composing my response to mister low-baller. I sadly had to let him know that the item just sold for the full $399 asking price, and wished him best of luck with his ebay shopping.

 

Karma.

 

~ vonnor

Gear:

Hardware: Nord Stage3, Korg Kronos 2, Novation Summit

Software: Cantabile 3, Halion Sonic 3 and assorted VST plug-ins.

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Tire kickers have always been around. Salespeople know how to spot and deal with them accordingly.

 

Of course, we're musicians who happen to sell gear every now and then or more often. :D

 

Develop a thick skin when putting your gear in the marketplace. You're competing with legitimate sellers and shady characters too.

 

Stolen items will sell for less. Same goes items being sold by drug abusers and disgruntled significant others.

 

Buyers know all this so they'll "fish" by throwing out a lowball offer.

 

Don't take it personal. Stand your ground. Remain firm on your price.

 

Personally, I prefer selling on Reverb because it feels like a musician-oriented marketplace. Folks know what they want. Less BS. :cool:

PD

 

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy"

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If I post a piece of gear on Craigslist or Sweetwater's used gear site, there are typically a flurry of emails/texts like this: " I want to buy your ________. I'm not in town at the moment, but will mail you a cashiers check for $50 over for you to hold the______ - until my courier can pick it up"...

 

I have a response which I have copied and pasted many times now: "Sorry. Paypal, Zelle, CashApp, etc. only, and for exact amount. I will also accept cash for in-person purchase - item/cash to be exchanged at my local law enforcement office". Funny, I never hear back from them.

 

Most of my gear sales over the past several year have been completed on reverb.com. Other than some typical, initial low-ball offers it's been fairly smooth sailing.

'Someday, we'll look back on these days and laugh; likely a maniacal laugh from our padded cells, but a laugh nonetheless' - Mr. Boffo.

 

We need a barfing cat emoticon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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You are oh so correct with your rant.

 

I have my Les Paul guitar listed and despite listing the highest rejected offer on the page there have been five other bids, all much lower.

 

This is the text on my listing

.

.

PLEASE NOTE

 

Auto rejection is enabled.

 

Highest auto rejected offer so far is a very low £750

.

.

So what do punter think they are going to achieve when they offer less than an already rejected offer?

 

Obviously my terminology â¦â¦ a very lowâ¦â¦ is too many confusing words for a guitar player.

Col

 

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Someone is always thinking you are desperate to sell, so they try to lowball. On Reverb I do set the low limit, so I never see the ridiculous offers. Anything otherwise insulting I just ignore. If they really want it bad enough, they will keep trying, just be patient and stand your ground. Another thing is people offering a trade of some sort; on Reverb I put Not Interested in Trades in the description, in the hope that they might get the idea. Overall, Reverb has been a good experience, I haven't done any eBay selling in quite awhile. I will also offer stuff here and on Gearspace, and usually do ok there. Haven't tried Craigslist in years.
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Haven't tried Craigslist in years.

 

Craigslist has it's fair share of scammers and then some. Once I started adding "Local cash sale only, this item is in (name of city), you must come here to pick up. No shipping, I will not meet you elsewhere." to all of my postings there, the scamming more or less stopped entirely.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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On very rare occasions, I sell on reverb.com and set what I regard as a reasonable price, with a reasonable lowball limit. I have never yet been hit up by one of these assholes, even though it does take my listings longer to sell.

 

When I make offers, I don't lowball: usually I ask for just enough of a deduction to cover shipping and insurance costs, and the buyer often goes for it or just flat-out offers to pack and ship for me. Builds good karma.

 

Whenever possible, I sell to friends and colleagues. It saves SO much hassle and sweat, and it builds even more good karma.

 

Anything else, I don't bother with. I rarely try to buy or sell anything other than music gear, so avoiding ebay and craigslist doesn't lower my chances any.

 

YMMV but I find those platforms to be insulting to my intelligence and my integrity.

Dr. Mike Metlay (PhD in nuclear physics, golly gosh) :D

Musician, Author, Editor, Educator, Impresario, Online Radio Guy, Cut-Rate Polymath, and Kindly Pedant

Editor-in-Chief, Bjooks ~ Author of SYNTH GEMS 1

 

clicky!:  more about me ~ my radio station (and my fam) ~ my local tribe ~ my day job ~ my bookmy music

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If I post a piece of gear on Craigslist or Sweetwater's used gear site, there are typically a flurry of emails/texts like this: " I want to buy your ________. I'm not in town at the moment, but will mail you a cashiers check for $50 over for you to hold the______ - until my courier can pick it up"...

 

I typically reply to those with this:

"Does your mother know you make a living trying to cheat people?"

 

Weird, but I never get a response either...

Custom Music, Audio Post Production, Location Audio

www.gmma.biz

https://www.facebook.com/gmmamusic/

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I have my Les Paul guitar listed and despite listing the highest rejected offer on the page there have been five other bids, all much lower.

 

So what do punter think they are going to achieve when they offer less than an already rejected offer?

 

Obviously my terminology â¦â¦ a very lowâ¦â¦ is too many confusing words for a guitar player.

Note: More Paul than you know what to do with, this is a Les Paul not a Less Paul.

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