Time Wasters.

[taunton-hobbit 1,350]

24 minutes ago, dave_bass5 said:

Reminds me of the Karl Pilkington sitcom

So one of my neighbours asked if I could find her a two seater sofa (for free) - I had a word around & someone dropped one off in to my outside porch - the blagger came round & decided she didn't want it, which left me with said object in my porch (open to the weather) eventually the dustmen kindly took it away - never, ever again.....

😎

[EliasMooseblaster 825]

1 hour ago, Muzz said:

I'd agree that the very worst communications I've had are from the lowest value items, the absolute nadir being when I offered two pretty good sofas for free, the only condition being they were picked up. The number of 'Will you deliver?' messages was in equal parts annoying and depressing. Other than one protracted conversation, the gist of which went:

Funnily enough I recently found myself on the other end of the problem. We don't have a car (living close to London and all that jazz), so we contacted a number of people in a similar position to you - got a sofa to shift, free as long as you pick it up - and told them that we'd arrange a man-and-van to come and collect it and a time that was convenient to them. A rather alarming people seemed to take fright at this idea, and I received a curt:

"No, sorry, collection in person only."

I don't understand the objection - we're saving them the hassle and expense of transporting the thing, the only difference is that the derrière that sits in the driver's seat won't be the same one that sits on the sofa. And surely, it's not as if your average car owner has a big enough vehicle to take a three-seater sofa bed as it is?

[jazzmanb 135]

I'm a great buyer and a poor seller 

 

if I see one ,one or two messages securing price and getting it and its a done deal 

selling,as I am ,I've had lot of message tennis asking this that and the other ,non of which I would so I get a bit bored to the point i'll probably withdraw the ads .

I tend to like basses aesthetically ,someone said on here its crazy not to know what pick ups etc ,why ? If I did It wouldn't be a deal breaker .Buy wisely and if it isn't to your taste sell it is my experience 

[FDC484950 363]

3 hours ago, Bassislife16 said:

I wouldn’t call £150 a “give it away” type of transaction. £150 is a lot of money to some people.

Say a bass had been for sale for 6 months for £300, and someone offered £150, that’s a perfectly fair offer considering it’s half of the asking price and lack there of a sale.

Personally, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. I’ve took losses on basses & guitars in the past and also made offers which have successfully been accepted. 

My Fodera YYS was for sale at £3000 for nearing a year, sold for £2300 in the end. But if you want something sold, you have to compromise, all the idiots on eBay with basses for sale high above their price tag think they’ll get what they’re asking, but they wont. Which is why they stay for sale for two or three years until being withdrawn. 

Hardly a like for like comparison, is it? £1 is a lot to some people, but it’s not really relevant when we’re talking lowball offers, compared to the asking price. I guess it depends how much you value something. If someone offered me 50% of my asking price I’d politely ask them to F.R.O.  

[dave_bass5 1,958]

19 hours ago, FDC484950 said:

Hardly a like for like comparison, is it? £1 is a lot to some people, but it’s not really relevant when we’re talking lowball offers, compared to the asking price. I guess it depends how much you value something. If someone offered me 50% of my asking price I’d politely ask them to F.R.O.  

50% of asking price for a bass? Id ask if they wanted the neck or the body 🙂

[edstraker123 389]

23 hours ago, Bassislife16 said:

Personally, if you don’t ask, you don’t get. I’ve took losses on basses & guitars in the past and also made offers which have successfully been accepted.

Completely agree with this comment. I don't know why there is criticism in some quarters of making a modest profit on some sales which offsets the losses made on others or why it's perfectly o.k. for multi million pound businesses to sell gear at a profit and not an individual. At the end of the day an item is worth what the buyer is willing to pay and the seller is willing to accept.

I've just been offered £650 for a brand new Stingray 5  in a part ex deal with a well known music company  - I didn't take them up on it ! 

[Stub Mandrel 6,449]

Try giving away a piano on gumtree...

"You do realise you will need at least two and probably three people to move it?"

"No, it won't fit in a car."

 

 

[BassTractor 2,612]

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

"No, it won't fit in a car."

Ah, but then that is a reasonable answer to a not unreasonable question. Point in case: When we bought a piano, we were offered transportation by the shop, but I said: "No thanks, I'll just take it in the Sierra", and I did.

(Yes: short strings.)

[Stub Mandrel 6,449]

20 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

Ah, but then that is a reasonable answer to a not unreasonable question. Point in case: When we bought a piano, we were offered transportation by the shop, but I said: "No thanks, I'll just take it in the Sierra", and I did.

(Yes: short strings.)

Or Fender Rhodes...

[Quilly 249]

People trying to make straight trade with items that are of less value than what you’re selling 😡

[Meddle 393]

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

Has anyone noticed it's all going a bit slow these days? 

It is why I stopped paying my Basschat ransom subscription to be honest. I would spend ages taking photos, included detailed photos of any damage, corrosion or aftermarket parts. Lots of detailed description thrown in as well. Barely anything actually sold. Lots of guys suddenly had car or boiler troubles. Funny that.

I've sold basses on Facebook marketplace, and everything seems to move pretty quickly. I can tell I'm struggling to keep buyers focused on the basses though. Maybe there is too much choice? 

Any bass would sell, it just depends on how much of a bath you're willing to take on it. Conversely I'm sick of seeing rubbish, overpriced basses on Facebook...

[Aidan63 200]

there's over a 1000 used basses on ebay in the UK alone from 99p start to many thousands of pounds 

[jezzaboy 519]

On 23/05/2019 at 12:28, Bassislife16 said:

Gotta respect the dude, worth a try. At a bass up for £300, someone desperately in need of the cash would take the £150, I wouldn’t say that’s a ridiculous offer, £50 however would be!

So you don`t think that offering half the advertised price of a bass that`s at a very good price to start with is a ridiculous offer?

Please give me a shout the next time you have a bass for sale 😊

[PaulWarning 1,156]

30 minutes ago, Meddle said:

It is why I stopped paying my Basschat ransom subscription to be honest. I would spend ages taking photos, included detailed photos of any damage, corrosion or aftermarket parts. Lots of detailed description thrown in as well. Barely anything actually sold. Lots of guys suddenly had car or boiler troubles. Funny that.

I've sold basses on Facebook marketplace, and everything seems to move pretty quickly. I can tell I'm struggling to keep buyers focused on the basses though. Maybe there is too much choice? 

Any bass would sell, it just depends on how much of a bath you're willing to take on it. Conversely I'm sick of seeing rubbish, overpriced basses on Facebook...

for all it's faults I've found E bay is still the best place to shift stuff, and I find you don't get so many daft questions or time wasters, I try Gumtree and FB first if I'm not in a hurry, but usually finish up on E bay.

Trouble with Basschat is it's the only one you have to pay for if you don't sell, and I don't like selling anything that's less than perfect to fellow basssists, and there's usually something that's not quite right otherwise I wouldn't sell it would I? "best bass I've ever owned" yeah yeah that's why you're selling it

[Quilly 249]

35 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

for all it's faults I've found E bay is still the best place to shift stuff, and I find you don't get so many daft questions or time wasters, I try Gumtree and FB first if I'm not in a hurry, but usually finish up on E bay.

Trouble with Basschat is it's the only one you have to pay for if you don't sell, and I don't like selling anything that's less than perfect to fellow basssists, and there's usually something that's not quite right otherwise I wouldn't sell it would I? "best bass I've ever owned" yeah yeah that's why you're selling it

I haven’t used eBay in a long time but I might return to it. So sick of the lowball offers, trade offers and requests for driving half way across the country even though your advert read ‘pick up only’. basschat is one of the better sites .

[Quilly 249]

The hassle of selling items you bought on a whim for half what you paid for it has really made me think twice about GAS. At present I think I’m approaching ‘just enough’ gear . Everything I have gets used (more or less) and I’ve only 1-2 white elephants left. The internet is literally infested with unused gear for sale.

[ead 866]

The last three or four basses I have sold have been on ebay.  I have mostly got more for them than they were advertised on here even after fees.  I just wait for the £1 selling fees offers to come around.

[Quilly 249]

24 minutes ago, ead said:

The last three or four basses I have sold have been on ebay.  I have mostly got more for them than they were advertised on here even after fees.  I just wait for the £1 selling fees offers to come around.

At least with eBay you have to put your money where your mouth is , no messing around or you’ll just lose the item .

[ead 866]

Yeah, I clocked this too.  But if you do the research on selling prices and list according then it's normally OK.

[Bassislife16 134]

2 hours ago, jezzaboy said:

So you don`t think that offering half the advertised price of a bass that`s at a very good price to start with is a ridiculous offer?

Please give me a shout the next time you have a bass for sale 😊

I will, I’m currently selling brand new condition RRP £850 PJB Suitcase Compact for a ridiculous £550. But as with the market these days I know if you want something sold, YOU HAVE TO COMPROMISE. Otherwise it just point blank doesn’t sell.

[Woodinblack 3,145]

On 24/05/2019 at 21:32, BassTractor said:

 "No thanks, I'll just take it in the Sierra", and I did.

I'm guessing that isn't actually a euphemism? 

[Woodinblack 3,145]

On 23/05/2019 at 18:20, FDC484950 said:

. If someone offered me 50% of my asking price I’d politely ask them to F.R.O.  

As is your option, but that doesn't make it necessarily a bad offer, in that you aren't interested but you haven't lost anything. When i was young I had to sell things for way below their value because I had no money and would have been homeless otherwise. Yes, it hurt to sell things too cheap, but not as much as sitting in the street with a nice guitar would have.

 

Edited May 27, 2019 by Woodinblack

[BassTractor 2,612]

8 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

I'm guessing that isn't actually a euphemism? 

Indeed it's what really happened. It was an older upright piano, but was built so its height was low. Thus the piano fitted in a Ford Sierra estate - just.

[uk_lefty 895]

11 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

for all it's faults I've found E bay is still the best place to shift stuff, and I find you don't get so many daft questions or time wasters, I try Gumtree and FB first if I'm not in a hurry, but usually finish up on E bay.

Trouble with Basschat is it's the only one you have to pay for if you don't sell, and I don't like selling anything that's less than perfect to fellow basssists, and there's usually something that's not quite right otherwise I wouldn't sell it would I? "best bass I've ever owned" yeah yeah that's why you're selling it

I find selling pedals takes just days on BC and also through other channels but shifting a bass isn't easy. There's some amazing deals in the lefty bass section but we are a very small market and we've probably all got what we need / can justify paying for. At any one point in time I'll be "watching" five or six basses on eBay and here but I'm not going to buy them unless a crazy deal comes up for the right bass, but it has to be a very special deal. 

[taunton-hobbit 1,350]

If I'm selling on EBay I make allowance for their full fees and paypal costs, no nasty shocks that way.

😎