Buying selling for profit..

[ThomBassmonkey]

Tell ya what then, I'll put up a thread now, it's a little late (I bought the bass months ago) but I guess better late than never.

[Chris2112]

Where is it going up? The feedback forum?

[Beedster]

[quote name='ThomBassmonkey' post='1037213' date='Nov 26 2010, 12:38 AM']Tell ya what then, I'll put up a thread now, it's a little late (I bought the bass months ago) but I guess better late than never. [/quote]

Good, a few months back I bought some 'new' strings (£40, not the end of the world, but a lot for strings you'll agree), and when they arrived they were f****d. The seller, a well known guy back in the day, did a bunk. I left negative feedback and guess what, I received PMs from other guys saying "Hey, he did that to me as well". Not one of them had left any negative feedback. Had they done so, only one of them would have been ripped off, not the five or six who eventually were.

C

[ThomBassmonkey]

Yeah it's up, it was jmanfunk.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='Chris2112' post='1037196' date='Nov 26 2010, 12:25 AM']I'd like to think if we get a good deal here, we can keep it "in the family", so to speak.

I got hold of my Alembic Epic 5 string for £600 off the boards. I sold it on for the same price, to a buyer who had indicated interest to me early on when I was offering it for trade. I had offers that were higher than the asking price when I sold it, but not monumentally so. Suffice to say, I could have put a little bit of cash back in my pocket, but I didn't. I kept my word to the buyer and sold it for what I paid for it.

Whats a few quid at the end of the day when this forum has given me so many good deals and so many awesome basses I would never buy new? It's all about karma...[/quote]
Absolutely - just a couple of weeks back I got a GK700RB 1x15 combo for an absolute steal, considering how much the heads alone go for. In the unlikely event I go off it & want to sell it, it will be offered at what I paid. If it doesn't sell for that, I'll accept a good offer.

However, my theoretical MIJ P - if I sold it here for the £25 I paid for it, it would be sort of hard to shrug off when it turned up on Ebay - or back here - for £400. A couple of years back, I spotted a lovely Ibanez ATK on Ebay - one of the early versions, not a reissue - up for £99 BIN. Would have liked to go for it myself but for various reasons I couldn't, so I flagged it up on here & unsurprisingly a BCer nabbed it. He thanked me for pointing it out & told me if he decided to sell, I'd get first shout. He was as good as his word, and a couple of weeks later I got an invitation to buy it. For £300. Well what the f@ck exactly do you say?

J.

Edited November 26, 2010 by Bassassin

[P-T-P]

It's one thing to sell something you've bought locally for a bargain from somewhere where there was limited bass playing custom and then sell it on at reasonable market value on here or eBay, it's something else entirely to buy something from a national/international source, well known to bass players - like here or eBay for example - and then try to take advantage of the nature of this community and turn a substantial profit on it a few days or so later.

[ThomBassmonkey]

I think the underlying thing is that stuff is worth what people pay for it. So long as people aren't being ripped off (to be honest, I'm all for people being able to publically post "isn't that a bit much?" so long as it's politely written and not "wow, that's a rip off" or otherwise rudely put, I've PM'd one person tonight myself saying his asking price is a bit high) then I don't see the problem.

If you bought your MIJ P for £25 and I wanted one, I'd happily pay a fair price for it. If I found out that you'd only payed £25 for it, I'd be frustrated that I missed out on it but fair's fair. If it's a fair price you can't really argue about it.

I think if someone bought something off here absurdly cheap then re-posted it soon after at an inflated price, people would (and have in the past) notice.

Ideally instruments that are sold cheap stay within the community and good deals get passed on, but it's the real world and especially in the current situation, it's not always practical. I wouldn't begrudge anyway making a profit, but it would make me less likely to buy the item in question, though it wouldn't stop me if the price was right and it was something I was after.

[Ou7shined]

I'm a rubbish businessman, for some reason I'd rather see a smile on the buyers face than a profit in my pocket.
I'm a great believer in karma ye see.

The last bass I sold on here I sold for roughly the same as what I'd paid for it... only while it had been with me I'd fixed a couple of inherent issues, completely shielded it out, fitted a Badass, put on some very expensive strings and set it up to perfection.

I agree with Bubinga's sentiments but I feel those days are dwindling. With the increased membership we have now it's more of a lottery. I'm continually buying in wee bits and bobs and each time before clicking the pay button I stress and check that the condition of the item I'm about to buy is good, nearly all the time (unless it has come from any of the usual suspects on here ) there turns out to be some small undisclosed problem or obvious blemish or outright lie. I recently bought some used strings which were advertised as having the silks in untouched condtion... guess what? .... I mean why even mention it when it's obviously not true.

I've been stung twice by a guy on here whose idea of "excellent condition" would be closer to my "has seen better days" category. But what I'm very guilty of is not leaving bad feedback. I love it when a deal goes great and always leave rave reviews but when I'm dissatisfied I tend to just not speak to that person again. I think in light of what Beedster mentioned above that [b]for the community's sake[/b] I need to bite the bullet and speak up.

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1037112' date='Nov 25 2010, 11:03 PM']Best thing to do if you don't like people flipping stuff on BC for profit is to leave the price in your sold thread, and just mark the title as sold. That way it is easy to gauge the going rate on BC for particular items.[/quote]
This ^ with bells on.
It should be made forum law. Not just to avoid "flippers" and the like but so we all have something tangible on site to reasearch when buying or selling.

Also "[i]sold - mods please remove[/i]" offenders should be waterboarded until they can tell us why.

[nobodysprefect]

[quote name='P-T-P' post='1037273' date='Nov 26 2010, 03:24 AM']It's one thing to sell something you've bought locally for a bargain from somewhere where there was limited bass playing custom and then sell it on at reasonable market value on here or eBay, it's something else entirely to buy something from a national/international source, well known to bass players - like here or eBay for example - and then try to take advantage of the nature of this community and turn a substantial profit on it a few days or so later.[/quote]

I've done the reverse a few times. As you brits may have noticed, I much of the time offer a nice trade value for Stingrays, as finns pay more for them. I always figured it was kosher trading or buying a bass off a forumite for a value he hadn't gotten at this forum yet (or in the case of valuing a used Stingray at a thousand pounds, would never get) and make a little profit on the side. I learned a few things about EBMM basses and desirability on the side, too! Didn't nearly pay for all the beatings my recurring GAS has given me though!

[LukeFRC]

if you did buy somewhere cheaper and sell for more isn't that what the wee donate button is for?


last bass i sold i had advertised for 200, 180 odd, once i heard the guy who wanted to buy's playing... wow, it seemed daft to not lower the price before he asked!

Edited November 26, 2010 by LukeFRC

[Lozz196]

Whilst Basschat is a kindof community, where we should all hopefully treat each other with respect, I always look at items I`m buying in this way:

Is it worth the asking price to me? if yes, I really don`t care how much the seller paid for it - that`s really not of consequence to me as the buyer. If I`d previously seen something go for, say £250, that I wanted, but didn`t get there in time, now being sold for £400, provided the £400 was either a good, or fair price, it`s just my tough luck for not being quick enough when it was £250. That`s life - it`s not always fair.

Another thing to consider maybe, when someone is selling something ridiculously low on here, does anyone point out that the market value is much higher, so the seller should maybe raise the price?

[lojo]

[quote name='Lozz196' post='1037330' date='Nov 26 2010, 07:36 AM']Whilst Basschat is a kindof community, where we should all hopefully treat each other with respect, I always look at items I`m buying in this way:

Is it worth the asking price to me? if yes, I really don`t care how much the seller paid for it - that`s really not of consequence to me as the buyer. If I`d previously seen something go for, say £250, that I wanted, but didn`t get there in time, now being sold for £400, provided the £400 was either a good, or fair price, it`s just my tough luck for not being quick enough when it was £250. That`s life - it`s not always fair.

Another thing to consider maybe, when someone is selling something ridiculously low on here, does anyone point out that the market value is much higher, so the seller should maybe raise the price?[/quote]


Fair enough, but if the guy who brought it quickly for £250 is just constantly scanning the site all day to snap up, just to re list at a higher price, then that to me is abusing the community spirit of the forum

If someone does sell something low to get a quick sale, to pay a car repair bill or the like, then it would be nice to see the instrument go to a grateful home, and perhaps even sold later again at the same price (original owner may be able to buy back) and not to someone who can let it sit longer to wait for a better price, who has no intention of using or seeing how they get on with the instrument

I wonder if the said people who are abusing the for sale section (if indeed there are any) ever "donate" to the site after the sale?

Edited November 26, 2010 by lojo

[simon1964]

I've bought and sold loads of stuff on here and, so far, I've only had good experiences. But I do rely on the feedback threads, and wouldn't buy anything expensive from someone who didn't have a positive feedback thread. I also don't buy from members who only post in the sale forum.

Back to the OP's point, I'm actually fairly relaxed about people selling stuff on at a profit. I can only think of one bass which I've sold on for more than I paid (and that was because I'd added a £200 pre-amp to it!), but IMO once I've sold a bass, its up to the new owner what they sell it on for.

I've just sold a Jazz on here which I put up for sale at what I regarded as a low price. I did that because I wanted a quick sale to raise funds quickly for another purchase. Priced low, it sold within a day or two. I could probably have got 10% higher if I'd been prepared to wait, but it was my choice to price it competitvely. If the new buyer decides he wants to move it on, but is prepared to wait for a higher price, or for the market to improve, why shouldn't he?

Edited November 26, 2010 by simon1964

[JTUK]

[quote name='Pete Academy' post='1036945' date='Nov 25 2010, 09:05 PM']I think it's fairly obvious that many people join BC just to buy and sell. It's been brought up before, hasn't it?

I can see Bubinga's view. It's a shame to see your instrument sold, thinking it's going to a good home, only to see it for sale again at an inflated price.[/quote]


I have only read the first few posts but I haven't decided ..yet...to market a bass here as I would hate to see it traded on like a few seem to.
I am only attached to this particular bass as it was made for me and I don't like the thought of it being traded..possibly..like a piece of meat through more than a few pair of hands.

I think I would rather send it to the Gallery and not have to know what happens thereafter.

Having said all that..I have been thinking about selling it for over a year..and still can't quite do it.

As to the general process of buying and selling..well, in an ideal world, you wouldn't have traders on here, but if there are, and they are also good contributers, then I can live with that, I guess.

[JTUK]

I would add that the flip side of this is that this is a good place to buy...and so therefore attractive to both parties.

All the deals..( buys) I have done have worked out well so I hope the ethos stays pretty much as is, personally.

[Bassassin]

[quote name='JTUK' post='1037455' date='Nov 26 2010, 09:46 AM']I would add that the flip side of this is that this is a good place to buy...and so therefore attractive to both parties.

All the deals..( buys) I have done have worked out well so I hope the ethos stays pretty much as is, personally.[/quote]
+1 to this - I have been very happy with everything I've bought through BC, and I hope those who have bought from me feel the same.

J.

[Toasted]

[quote name='neepheid' post='1036925' date='Nov 25 2010, 08:57 PM']I've sold stuff on here at a profit, I've broken even, I've sold at a loss, I've given stuff away. It's no-one's business but mine, frankly, and anyone who wants to stick their oar in will be robustly rebuffed. You don't like the price of something I'm selling - don't buy it![/quote]

+1.

It's my money, and I'll spend it on exactly what I please. Equally, it's my stuff and I'll charge exactly what I want for it.

[Paul S]

My own personal take is pretty much what has been said by others - I firmly believe that you reap what you sow in this life, without wanting to get all mystical - and if I get a decent deal on something I would generally rather pass that on to someone else than profit from it when the time comes to move it on. In the, perhaps naive hope that I will get treated the same. If I have spent a lot of time and money on something getting it fixed, that is a different matter.

But that is me. We all have different values and go about our daily business in different ways. What is acceptable to some is sharp practice to others - it is like this in the rest of the world, no reason why bass players should be any different. Ultimately no-one has a gun to your head when you are looking to buy something - caveat emptor and all that - so do the necessary research and make your own judgements. I bought a pretty dud bass from someone on here once but I genuinely don't think he knew it so I didn't leave any negative feedback. My own tough luck.

[Machines]

I freely admit i've made money (in terms of value of instruments) by using this forum. I've gone from a bass bought 2nd hand for £250 (from a store) to one worth nearly £3k new in 4 years - without spending a penny.

Have I ripped anyone off ? Not once, they all made me offers that I accepted. Am I immoral ?

[janmaat]

It is that easy to search the forum, and that easy to compare prices - how can anyone make a profit or a loss? without it being the person's own fault?

Another thing is selling stuff that then don't work - in which case, blame, and return money / goods, usual businezz practise too!

Oh and by the way, selling is an activity - no wonder most shops need to charge say 50% more than they pay for the stuff. I think it is fair enough that there is a little reward for somebody who's providing goods to the market. You got to cover your p&p, your Internet bill and the bag of crisps you munch while comparing prices... Nothing wrong with a profit, bless them i'd say, as long as the stuff is quality and can be re-sold.

Agree that if a price is too LOW people should be made aware of that rather than ripped of by buying it too cheaply. If the price is too high, it won't become realised, bottom line full stop. But if somebody insists on giving stuff away much under market value - hey, bless them too!

[tom1946]

I have bought bought and sold quite a bit of stuff in the year or so that I've been here.
I have been done a couple of times but it's my fault for not asking enough questions, and as has been already said, one person's idea of mint usually isn't mine but you take that chance. I am very very fussy about my stuff as folks that have bought from me will testify.
Still trying to find the perfect bass for me and am close with the G&L. However as I'm 64 time is running out and there are sooo many basses out there

Profit wise I have lost money on just about everything but I'm retired now and can afford to lose small amounts, usually the carriage.
I sold one member a 51 reissue bass for £500 and it was on ebay the following week for £750. I don't really care about that because I don't own it anymore and if he can get that for it then good luck! I'm more concerned about people realising that I'm spending good money on their bass and ALL marks and dings and neck problems should be hilighted, I'd never buy a bass off anyone using sh*t camera phone pics.
and yes I make a donation every time I sell something without fail.

I love the ethos of the majority of members, it's very friendly and people are extremely helpful too, we just need to be discerning about who we deal with.

Just my twopenneth

Edited November 26, 2010 by tom1946

[Ou7shined]

[quote name='Machines' post='1037535' date='Nov 26 2010, 10:56 AM']... I've gone from a bass bought 2nd hand for £250 (from a store) to one worth nearly £3k new in 4 years - [b]without spending a penny[/b]....[/quote]
You should see a doctor about that mate.

[wateroftyne]

My own feeling is that people can charge what they like for stuff, but if it's blatant (as was the case with a CS Jazz here a while ago), you should be prepared to take a little stick.

[Krysbass]

I've moved on a couple of amps on Basschat in the past - on one of them I took a significant loss and the other came to me free, so I actually gave it away for free.

However, I have no beef over anyone asking for (or getting) an inflated price for gear* because it's a buyer's market and no-one is forcing anyone to hand over any cash. Whether on Basschat or anywhere else, buyers can always vote with their feet.

*Edit - as long as said gear has been honestly and accurately advertised.

Edited November 26, 2010 by Krysbass