Advice/Experience on classifieds

[KCJones]

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.

Good point. I suppose it all washes out in the mix (e.g. there may be -buyers- who think $225 is a good price because they live in the same area/aren't willing to travel/buy online)

I guess the market rules: If the post is sitting there forever bump-bump-bump that pretty much says it all.

[KCJones]

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.

Yeah, I made the mistake of saying I'd ship ammo once (once!)...

Tend to agree about letting noobs/low-post-count sell. The purchases and sales I've made here have almost entirely been from/to those with low-to-none post counts.

[Hawk]

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.

My point was to have a new guy establish some history on this site to give fellow members some idea of his personality, credibility, and firearm knowledge. Secondly, this forum is not just a place to buy and sell your stuff, that's a secondary benefit.
I think becoming a contributing member to the PAFOA community is beneficial. An educated established member is more likely to price items fairly and is far safer to deal with than a "Johnny come lately". BTW, I vet all buyers and sellers that I do business with unless I know them personally.

[ViperHummel]

I've had stuff listed for months on end (a few might have been over a year). At the time, they were fair market value. Not panic priced, but a what I felt was a good value based on condition and what came with it. Some stuff I'm still sitting on and other stuff sold. The market changed after the election and now retail places are dumping inventory. Such is life. I can't compete with that nor will I try.

I've accepted reasonable offers, I've respectfully declined what I felt was unreasonable, and I've also offered advice or a location to a member in which I feel they could get what they wanted at their offer or better. I understand $XXXX today could very well be better than $XXX tomorrow. I've passed up rather reasonable offers b/c I wasn't in a situation to be able lose that much at the time. After the fact, I may kick myself b/c my current income can only cover bills and not get ahead of the debt that two years of being out of work (with no UC) have amounted to.

As it was said, it costs you nothing to make an offer. Worrying about a negative response (not saying you do) is something a "snow flake" would do. You might be pleasantly surprised dealing with some members on here. To those that feel they have resist urges to send inflammatory messages to members about their ads need to relax. I've had a few come my way over the years and it makes one look bad. One person stated that I was making him sick from being forced to login and see something I listed be bumped again. Poor me had no safe space to retreat to b/c I thought I was already in one.

[KCJones]

I've had stuff listed for months on end (a few might have been over a year). At the time, they were fair market value. Not panic priced, but a what I felt was a good value based on condition and what came with it. Some stuff I'm still sitting on and other stuff sold. The market changed after the election and now retail places are dumping inventory. Such is life. I can't compete with that nor will I try.

Fair enough. But legit question/curiousity: why keep bumping if you recognize it's uncompetitively priced and you're not willing to go lower?

I've accepted reasonable offers, I've respectfully declined what I felt was unreasonable

Yep, only thing you can do.

As it was said, it costs you nothing to make an offer. Worrying about a negative response (not saying you do) is something a "snow flake" would do. You might be pleasantly surprised dealing with some members on here.

Yeah, what's the worst that can happen. A 'mean' email? If you can't stomach that thought, then you should probably go buy retail.

To those that feel they have resist urges to send inflammatory messages to members about their ads need to relax. I've had a few come my way over the years and it makes one look bad. One person stated that I was making him sick from being forced to login and see something I listed be bumped again. Poor me had no safe space to retreat to b/c I thought I was already in one.

Yeah, I don't see much point in 'unsolicited' advice to sellers. I MIGHT - only if actually making an offer - provide some insight as to why I felt it was a fair one, e.g. "I can buy this at ______ brand new with warranty, etc. for what you're asking"... (I do also sell, both here and non-gun items elsewhere and I would not react negatively to that if I received it. "I'm offering you ____ because..." is fine.)

[Emptymag]

I know where Viper is coming from and if I post something up for sale it's most likely because I NEED to sell it for the money to pay bills or something.
I may be willing to let something go quickly for less than I'd like, or I may have a set price in mind that I'm hoping to get and if I don't I'm just not parting with it. It took me a long time to accumulate what I do have and I'm not willing to just give them away.

Just because I need money doesn't mean I'm willing to take a huge loss. If someone buys it - great, I needed the money. "THANK YOU." If not, "oh well".

If I have something posted for a year, so what? If seeing it bumped repeatedly bothers you, I suggest seeing someone about that. Maybe lying on a sofa and "getting it all out" will help with other deep seated issues you may have as well! LOL


ETA: "you" is used in general - not directed at the OP

[KCJones]

I know where Viper is coming from and if I post something up for sale it's most likely because I NEED to sell it for the money to pay bills or something.
I may be willing to let something go quickly for less than I'd like, or I may have a set price in mind that I'm hoping to get and if I don't I'm just not parting with it. It took me a long time to accumulate what I do have and I'm not willing to just give them away.

Just because I need money doesn't mean I'm willing to take a huge loss. If someone buys it - great, I needed the money. "THANK YOU." If not, "oh well".

If I have something posted for a year, so what? If seeing it bumped repeatedly bothers you, I suggest seeing someone about that. Maybe lying on a sofa and "getting it all out" will help with other deep seated issues you may have as well! LOL

I think it's a two-edged sword, Emptymag...

If seeing something bumped for a year 'bugs' you overmuch, yeah, get over it. The microsecond it takes you to mentally say "oh that again" and move on ain't a thang.

But if you've been bumping something for a year and it's not selling... Clue. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. Maybe you need to also seek the couch?

[KCJones]

Worrying about a negative response (not saying you do) is something a "snow flake" would do.

PS - Best practical answer to my actual OP question... Thanks!

[Emptymag]

Maybe, or maybe I'm waiting for someone who will pay what I want. That isn't so crazy.

Dunham's sells guns daily that are overpriced.
Why? Because someone (lots of someones actually) WILL buy them. Not everyone price shops.

Taking the ad down certainly won't help sell it, so why would I do that?
Sooner or later it will sell. Or not - what difference does it make? It's my sale or non-sale - why are others so concerned about it?

[ViperHummel]

Fair enough. But legit question/curiousity: why keep bumping if you recognize it's uncompetitively priced and you're not willing to go lower?

It's not that I'm not willing to go lower, but after I reach my final price drop of what I can acceptably ask IMO, my continued bumps are to maintain it's availability. I have accepted lower offers than what was posted, especially to established members or those that I have dealt with in one form in the past. I won't bump every three days, but once a week or less is what I will maintain. I don't think what I have is noncompetitive based on features, specs, etc, but based off of what people can or will spend these days is the competition. I can't compete with an Anderson or Radical rifle for the price, but true specs are where it separates itself. This only speaks to the AR world mind you, because that is what is a majority of what I have to sell from my collection. As for my Mosin post, I knew that was a long shot (to put it lightly) since 99.9999% of people would just want a rifle and some ammo, not the whole shebang with stuff they won't use, i.e the tools.

My feedback that I've built here, ARFCOM, and FB (before they dove into anti-2A land), has allowed me to continue to make the occasional sale if a similar item was cheaper elsewhere. Repeat buyers and new buyers know I'm a no BS guy that will communicate quickly, ship quickly (if need be), and stand behind what I sold. Some may even note the freebies they end up with. Of course, the new buyers would have to read the feedback first lol.