Advice/Experience on classifieds

[Marcus99]

I've often had to "bite my tongue" when looking at some classifieds. Sometimes I just want to say "is this a joke?" but I guess it's better to just leave well enough alone. Having previously worked at a gun shop it's my experience that almost every gun only ever has a box or two of shells through it. I'll generally consider going 5-10% above what a gun shop would give you as a reasonable offer. I agree that no one wants accessories unless it's a good quality scope it usually doesn't make a bit of difference to me.

[mpan72]

Same as other places. Some will be receptive to offers, some will politely decline and some will be rude. Many will just ignore your message.
I had one user ask for oral pleasures when I offered a lower price. He has since been banned I believe or maybe he has just stopped posting.
You really won't know until you try. I will say if something has over 100 bumps the seller is probably firm on price.

[KCJones]

Same as other places. Some will be receptive to offers, some will politely decline and some will be rude. Many will just ignore your message.
I had one user ask for oral pleasures when I offered a lower price. He has since been banned I believe or maybe he has just stopped posting.
You really won't know until you try. I will say if something has over 100 bumps the seller is probably firm on price.

100 bumps? Yeah, I'd not only say firm on price but price is unreasonable (or item is undesirable at any price)...

[mpan72]

One thing that stands out to me is the disparity in retail prices based on where you live. A prime example is that Tanners has the Taurus pt11 gen2 for $209. There have recently been a few adds asking between $200 and I believe $250 for the same gun "nib unfired". I have seen it for sale in excess of $300 in the Philadelphia area.

[KCJones]

One thing that stands out to me is the disparity in retail prices based on where you live. A prime example is that Tanners has the Taurus pt11 gen2 for $209. There have recently been a few adds asking between $200 and I believe $250 for the same gun "nib unfired". I have seen it for sale in excess of $300 in the Philadelphia area.

Yeah, but online is the great leveler there (though you gotta figure in shipping, if any, and FFL fees)

[gghbi]

One thing that stands out to me is the disparity in retail prices based on where you live. A prime example is that Tanners has the Taurus pt11 gen2 for $209. There have recently been a few adds asking between $200 and I believe $250 for the same gun "nib unfired". I have seen it for sale in excess of $300 in the Philadelphia area.

Yeah, but online is the great leveler there (though you gotta figure in shipping, if any, and FFL fees)

Also travel expense to figure in if it is any significant distance. Then there are those who should really appreciate having a LGC like Tanners with a reasonable distance. They are the blessed ones.

[FrankHKP7]

I've both bought and sold a few guns here. I've found nearly every transaction went well both ways.

Here's my take: The person listing an item should reduce the price 10% weekly until they either decide to pull the listing or actually sell it. So if I was selling something for $1000, if I don't have a taker at 1K, I would update the pricing the following week to $900. I would continue to relist at a 10% reduction in price until I reach the point I don't want to reduce the price any further and pull the listing and then repost again in a couple months.

I've seen stuff on here that's been listed for three years that hasn't sold... I don't know how much server space 25 pages of bumps use, but I would think every byte costs the owner of the forum real money.

[mpan72]

Yeah, but online is the great leveler there (though you gotta figure in shipping, if any, and FFL fees)

Also travel expense to figure in if it is any significant distance. Then there are those who should really appreciate having a LGC like Tanners with a reasonable distance. They are the blessed ones.

That is my point. When someone thinks a requested price on a gun in the classifieds is at or above retail, it is relative. If a seller paid $300 last month he may believe $225 is a good discount but the buyer thinks $175 would be more in line because they are in an area that generaly has cheaper retail prices. It gets a bit confusing in some cases.

I completely agree that people trying to get value back on personal customization creates an unrealistic price in most cases.

[Hawk]

Personally, I'd like to see a waiting period for new members before they can sell (3-6 months) and a minimum post count (20-50). I see way to many people join the site only to sell something. Most of the time the add is a one-liner with no pictures. I'd also like to see it mandatory to post pictures. No excuse with todays technology (cell phones).

[Emptymag]

Personally, I'd like to see a waiting period for new members before they can sell (3-6 months) and a minimum post count (20-50). I see way to many people join the site only to sell something. Most of the time the add is a one-liner with no pictures. I'd also like to see it mandatory to post pictures. No excuse with todays technology (cell phones).

Any objections to a new member BUYING what you are selling?

I didn't think so. LOL

I've seen that proposed several times. I don't see the need and you'd be prohibiting potential deals from happening.
If a noob wants to sell me a gun or accessory at a great price, who am I to say he can't?

Photos are mandatory from a common sense standpoint. Too dumb to add a photo? You won't be selling it very fast.



On the topic of "mandatory", it would be nice to see a geographic location in the headline for AMMO being sold.
Nobody ships ammo due to the restrictions (although many clearly don't understand that from the looks of the ads I see), so it's a pain in teh ass to open an ammo for sale ad only to see that it's nowhere near enough for a FTF sale.