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Time Wasters.


bubinga5

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This is not aimed at BC members, but other advertising platforms. I have a Jazz for sale, and ive had.

What nut width is it.? Im used to 38mm Jazz neck width. Me.... its 36mm.. Buyer... oh no that's 2mm too thin for my liking. 

Whats the weight.? Me.... It's 4.2kg.. Buyer.... Sorry thats 2 pounds over my preferred weight.  

The bass is £485.  Buyer.... Is this a Skyline or a USA Lakland.? 

 "Ive been after a Jazz for ages, love the look and sound". Me... Ok, do you want to come and play it?... Buyer. (2 days later) "Ive decided I dont like Jazz Basses" 

 

I can go on. 

 

Its staggering how many idiotic time wasters are out there.

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I think that's the joy of the internet. You used to have to put work into buying an instrument privately, first buy a paper or whatever it was advertised in, then make a phone call with one of those things connected to the wall and have an actual conversation to discuss and arrange a viewing. Now you can just sit on your sofa, see an ad that takes your fancy and send a quick message, before really thinking about whether you actually want it. Then decline on a whim without having to speak to the seller. 

The upside is, obviously your ad reaches a far wider audience though. 

Yes there are lots of numpties out there, but it's still better selling today than in the days of FreeAds. 

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A mate of mine used to sell on evilbay but stopped due to such types.

For example he would advertise a red 2 litre kettle. 

An enquiry would come in asking how many litres the kettle would hold.

His response was to send the ad to the enquirer but with the font in very large type, and add that he’d made the ad easier for them to read.

After a while, when this didn’t yield the results wanted he just used to reply to them stating he refused to sell to them on the basis that they were too stoopid to enter into a business transaction with.

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Sellers can be freaks as well, I had a right one on a Facebook selling page. I wanted to buy a VCR to convert some old videos of the kids to DVD. I work in Plymouth and saw one for sale in Plymouth, ideal I'll swing by one the way home from work. 

"Is it still for sale?" "Yes." 

'I'll have it, I'll pick it this evening at half five." "Yes." 

“Can I have you address please?“ “Yes."

After about an hour, " Can I have your address please so I can pick it up this evening?“ “Yes."

Another half an hour goes by, “Address?“ “I'm not giving out my address over Facebook, here's my mobile number, if you text when you're five minutes away, I'll give it to you then". 

"How the feck will I know when I'm five minutes away, five minutes away from where? This is too difficult, you can keep it!“

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I had a bloke drive forty minutes to buy a knackered old vaccuum cleaner for twelve pounds. It was only thirty new many years earlier. He then complained that I didn't make it clear in the ad that occasionally the chord wind in button sticks (if it does you just wiggle it a bit, it's no biggy). Sold for a few quid some very old AstroTurf trainers that I wore once then had in a shed for years: "the tread wore out after six months can i  return to you for a refund?" Errr no, complain to the manufacturer if you want to.  "I'm not paying over a pound for postage on a bass neck plate!!" Well, if you aren't collecting you aren't having it. I even had eBay feedback of "seller insisted on recorded delivery which added cost and was completely unreasonable" yeah, 75p extra to give everyone peace of mind... I often find it's the cheapest stuff that attracts the most idiots.

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12 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

I had a bloke drive forty minutes to buy a knackered old vaccuum cleaner for twelve pounds. It was only thirty new many years earlier. He then complained that I didn't make it clear in the ad that occasionally the chord wind in button sticks (if it does you just wiggle it a bit, it's no biggy). Sold for a few quid some very old AstroTurf trainers that I wore once then had in a shed for years: "the tread wore out after six months can i  return to you for a refund?" Errr no, complain to the manufacturer if you want to.  "I'm not paying over a pound for postage on a bass neck plate!!" Well, if you aren't collecting you aren't having it. I even had eBay feedback of "seller insisted on recorded delivery which added cost and was completely unreasonable" yeah, 75p extra to give everyone peace of mind... I often find it's the cheapest stuff that attracts the most idiots.

Sounds like that car boot sale mentality. Years ago when my daughter was about eight, we did a car boot to sell some stuff we’d accumulated. Whilst I was busy , someone came up to her and tried to haggle over some of her books she was selling, for 20 p each! Unbelievable.

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There is a particular site over here in Ireland which is notorious for attracting tyre kickers and lowballers. I dread putting something up because, more often than not, you’ll be bombarded with bizarre trade offers, even if you clearly specify no trades, and derisory sums of money which would make Trump blush. You usually have to price items expecting most offers you receive to be about 60% or less of your asking price. Recent offers I have received include:

- trade three crap, cheap guitars for my single, good and expensive guitar

- motorcycle parts as trade for a bass (I don’t have a motorcycle, never mind the particular model these were for)

- a tattoo for a bass

- I was recently offered €325 for a USA G&L L2000

There are great buyers and sellers on there, too, but it’s heartbreaking at times. Such is the fun of trying to sell, regardless of the platform.

Edited by Doctor J
Typo
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If it makes you feel any better, I bought a brand new guitar through Reverb from China,  paid 28 pounds import duty to get my hands on it, it was So poorly  built.     Paid 118 pounds to send it back for a refund, all the time the seller acting nice as pie.  Tracking has stopped once back in China,   seller gone quiet,  Reverb site not functioning  for complaints, I'll try again later today. At least the Portsmouth  idiot was just round the corner  !

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Years ago my soon to be wife and I moved in together and consolidated 2 large dvd collections and had many duplicates. We put some up for sale on evil bay. One guy bought a film then left really bad feedback as the dvd had bought for £1 with £1 carriage had a cracked case. Some people are total fktards..... evil bay tends to attract the really special ones...

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There is a guy round my way that every time I put a bass up for sale on Gumtree he will give you a lowball offer. If you are asking £300 he will say something like "I know you are looking for £300 but I have £150 and can come over and collect the bass today." 

After 2 or 3 of these offers, I sent him back a mail congratulating him on giving a stupid offer on every bass I have put up for sale. Haven`t heard back from him since.

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22 hours ago, bubinga5 said:

This is not aimed at BC members, but other advertising platforms. I have a Jazz for sale, and ive had.

What nut width is it.? Im used to 38mm Jazz neck width. Me.... its 36mm.. Buyer... oh no that's 2mm too thin for my liking. 

Whats the weight.? Me.... It's 4.2kg.. Buyer.... Sorry thats 2 pounds over my preferred weight.  

The bass is £485.  Buyer.... Is this a Skyline or a USA Lakland.? 

 "Ive been after a Jazz for ages, love the look and sound". Me... Ok, do you want to come and play it?... Buyer. (2 days later) "Ive decided I dont like Jazz Basses" 

 

I can go on. 

 

Its staggering how many idiotic time wasters are out there.

Reasonable questions IMHO. Hardly idiotic time wasting. 

I've had far, far worse 😆

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Has anyone noticed it's all going a bit slow these days? Loads of stuff on E bay,not much selling. Gone are the £10 starting prices right enough,everyone coming on with buy now,or best offers. Not much in the way of bargains. In saying that,I tried in vain to sell my Tokai Hardpuncher bass recently. Bought it for £400 about 5 years ago,not interest at £450 I was asking. Dropped to £399,but nothing so far. I guess that's what they call a keeper now...

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18 minutes ago, theplumber said:

Has anyone noticed it's all going a bit slow these days? Loads of stuff on E bay,not much selling. Gone are the £10 starting prices right enough,everyone coming on with buy now,or best offers. Not much in the way of bargains. In saying that,I tried in vain to sell my Tokai Hardpuncher bass recently. Bought it for £400 about 5 years ago,not interest at £450 I was asking. Dropped to £399,but nothing so far. I guess that's what they call a keeper now...

think I saw that one, with a J in the bridge? Looked like a tidy bass. Nice price too

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I just sold a load of old football kits my parents had had in their loft from when I was young.
So I sell a 30 year old kit in Kids sizes.... 

Buyer: Hi mate, got the kit, the elastic has gone in the shorts, but I don't want to return it.
Me: Ok, Im really sorry, they seemed fine when I checked them .
Buyer: Leaves negative feedback.
Buyer: can I return them as the elastic has gone... 
Me: yes of course

If I had noticed his negative feedback I would have been less inclined to say yes mind

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15 hours ago, theplumber said:

Has anyone noticed it's all going a bit slow these days? Loads of stuff on E bay,not much selling. Gone are the £10 starting prices right enough,everyone coming on with buy now,or best offers. Not much in the way of bargains. In saying that,I tried in vain to sell my Tokai Hardpuncher bass recently. Bought it for £400 about 5 years ago,not interest at £450 I was asking. Dropped to £399,but nothing so far. I guess that's what they call a keeper now...

That's more to do with the psychology of buying/selling. eBay is an auction site, not a shop window with price tags on the items. Plenty of stuff selling in my experience. If you set a buy it now price on eBay, people are unable to think they could get a bargain and are unlikely to bid. If that's the way you prefer to sell, you're better off putting it in the Marketplace on here. If using an auction site, you need to start the price low and let the market determine the value. You often end up with more than you expected, especially if you have something desirable and several bidders get into a bidding war over it.

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On 19/05/2019 at 19:47, theplumber said:

Has anyone noticed it's all going a bit slow these days? Loads of stuff on E bay,not much selling. Gone are the £10 starting prices right enough,everyone coming on with buy now,or best offers. Not much in the way of bargains. In saying that,I tried in vain to sell my Tokai Hardpuncher bass recently. Bought it for £400 about 5 years ago,not interest at £450 I was asking. Dropped to £399,but nothing so far. I guess that's what they call a keeper now...

I managed to sell mine Hardpuncher on Facebook. Took a couple of weeks.

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Re the time wasters, I'm afraid it's just a part of selling. Reminds me it's a LOT easier to add to the basses and gear than it is to deplete. I do find FB the best of them at the moment though - I've had fast easy results several times recently - just so long as you are pricing sensibly. Also I am certain that decent pics and a detailed description help.

I've been on the lookout for a second cab recently and hardly anyone bothers to put dimensions or approx weight. Usually you can go look it up but it's basic stuff. Generally I reckon a bit of effort on the part of seller makes for a better price quicker.

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On ‎19‎/‎05‎/‎2019 at 02:11, bubinga5 said:

This is not aimed at BC members, but other advertising platforms. I have a Jazz for sale, and ive had.

What nut width is it.? Im used to 38mm Jazz neck width. Me.... its 36mm.. Buyer... oh no that's 2mm too thin for my liking. 

Whats the weight.? Me.... It's 4.2kg.. Buyer.... Sorry thats 2 pounds over my preferred weight.  

The bass is £485.  Buyer.... Is this a Skyline or a USA Lakland.? 

 "Ive been after a Jazz for ages, love the look and sound". Me... Ok, do you want to come and play it?... Buyer. (2 days later) "Ive decided I dont like Jazz Basses" 

 

I can go on. 

 

Its staggering how many idiotic time wasters are out there.

asking the nut width, weight and model of the bass seems totally reasonable and would be what I would want to know too.

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