prowla Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 What's the protocol here for seeing something in the classifieds which is offered at nearly double the price of a new one? Would you keep quiet, or would you give a link to the original? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbayne Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 If its overpriced it wont sell. I wouldnt worry. 10 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ped Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 It’s up to the seller to chose a price they think is fair. If that’s double the original price then that’s up to them however it’s a risky strategy as anyone interested will be able to find the actual value and it’s also not certain the item will sell at that price anyway (obviously it didn’t the previous time...) So the best thing is to PM the seller with your feelings, as I agree it’s not quite cricket to do that here in the same way it would be find on eBay or whatever - and copy in a mod (not admin!) and go from there. As far as the public thread goes - saying nothing usually says it all. Unless you think someone is being scammed, then the seller can ask whatever they want. Whether they get it is another matter... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 We are all connected to the same internet, it is up to people to do their own research before buying. I did once mention to someone in a PM that the speakers that they were selling were £100 cheaper in a GAK sale, so they might not sell so well, which they genuinely didn't know, but ultimately it is up to people what they buy and sell for and not other people to police it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 There does seem to be a lot of overpriced stuff around. Some people try and push prices, some are chancers. It might be frustrating if it's something you are looking for, but I wouldn't worry about it, something better always comes along. 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 I wasn't looking to buy the item myself, so was just asking in the role of a concerned citizen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodinblack Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 9 minutes ago, prowla said: I wasn't looking to buy the item myself, so was just asking in the role of a concerned citizen... Frankly, there are loads of things in the marketplace that are priced well and still not selling, so the chances of selling what I assume you are talking about at the price it is advertised at is so close to zero it is not work worrying about. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 1 hour ago, prowla said: What's the protocol here for seeing something in the classifieds which is offered at nearly double the price of a new one? Would you keep quiet, or would you give a link to the original? I think the protocol is not interfering *publicly*. It's not your business. But feel free to contact the person if you feel they've been misled about the value of their item. However, it is THEIR item and can price it however they feel like it. Contributing to their thread just to say it's overpriced is tacky. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 (edited) - Edited March 4, 2022 by Jus Lukin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 I had a bridge up for sale - wilkinson. I’d paid £15, tried it on a bass and listed for £12 posted: Didnt realise some web stores had them up for £10 posted. Genuine error. Although I did see a bass on eBay for £750 which ended up on here at £1500 a week later. Should've said something. It sold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 The issue with letting things by is that the classified are presented as "An incredibly safe way to shift gear within a tight and trustworthy community.", which sort of goes against the law of the jungle. OTOH, if we encourage "calling out", then things could turn into everyone and their dog conducting a Dutch Auction on behalf of an indeterminate prospective buyer. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prowla Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 Anyway, I've not pooped on his ad, but have messaged with a link to the current AliExpress one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 1 minute ago, prowla said: . . . . . . . . if we encourage "calling out", then things could turn into everyone and their dog conducting a Dutch Auction on behalf of an indeterminate prospective buyer. We don't encourage "calling out" because, as has been said, the price is only the business of the seller, no one else's. Some people seem to think sale threads can be discussion threads. IMO discussing the pro's and con's of the instrument, or picking holes in the sale thread is just bad manners. Always take issues to PM and keep it off the thread. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 (edited) - Edited March 4, 2022 by Jus Lukin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicVibes Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 Depends what people are willing to pay. I sold my Classic Vibe Jazz for £50 more than what I purchased it for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteb Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 20 minutes ago, AndyTravis said: I had a bridge up for sale - wilkinson. I’d paid £15, tried it on a bass and listed for £12 posted: Didnt realise some web stores had them up for £10 posted. Genuine error. Although I did see a bass on eBay for £750 which ended up on here at £1500 a week later. Should've said something. It sold. But is that necessarily an issue? I once got a bass in an eBay auction for not much more than half of what I was expecting to pay for it, gigged it for the best part of ten years then sold it on for between three to four times what I paid for it. I certainly don’t think that there was anything wrong with that. Sometimes that is the way the market works. The main thing is that sellers are honest in their description of the item and not trying to mislead potential buyers. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trueno Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 I once put a Mark Bass cab on ebay for what I regarded to be a reasonable price. Someone messaged me that he had seen a similar (but not the same) item brand new in a sale. I suggested he should therefore buy the sale item and save himself some money. He wouldn't let it go... kept bothering me with messages. I was tempted to tell him to "take himself hence"... but ebay is bad enough without making yourself a deadly enemy. I sold the cab to a decent guy... he came and picked it up from the house and paid with a fistful of tenners. We were both happy. Luckily, if you sell on BC most members are good eggs and feedbacked up to the nines. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyTravis Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 8 minutes ago, peteb said: But is that necessarily an issue? I once got a bass in an eBay auction for not much more than half of what I was expecting to pay for it, gigged it for the best part of ten years then sold it on for between three to four times what I paid for it. I certainly don’t think that there was anything wrong with that. Sometimes that is the way the market works. The main thing is that sellers are honest in their description of the item and not trying to mislead potential buyers. No. I suppose it’s not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maude Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 The thing is, as I see it, buying from ali-express is an unknown minefield, who knows what you're buying, or who made it. Stories of good builders/sellers, and stories of bad. The agro of dealing with returns or partial refunds then rectifications are way out of a lot of people's comfort zones, so buying one already in the country that you can try out first (maybe not now obviously) is very appealing and something that some folks will be happy to pay a little extra for. If the seller is not being deceitful, which he doesn't appear to be, then I can't see a problem. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FDC484950 Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 It does make me laugh when people feel it necessary to call such stuff out. As I understand it, questioning the price directly on a thread is against the rules (unless it’s a pretty cut and dried fake old Fender). The fact is, unless you are exceptionally lazy, anyone can find the likely new/good used estimate price for anything; some unintentionally post something for sale when there’s a shop or seller somewhere doing it cheaper new. But even if they were doing it intentionally, what’s the problem? Virtually nothing on here that I would class as overpriced actually sells - look at all the exotica in low to mid four figures that’s hung around for months or even years. I’ve got no problem with wanting to find a bargain but we don’t need the Price Police. Basschat is so much better in this regard than other forums I’m a member of, that end up in long slanging matches between the aforementioned Price Police (who incidentally have no interest in buying the item), the original seller and other helpful comments about something which isn’t the same item they’ve spotted in a shop in Darlington that’s £1.62 cheaper. Some people just need to mind their own business and get a life 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ead Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 ^ Well said that man/woman/non-binary gender person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiram.k.hackenbacker Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 Agreed with pretty much all that has been said. There are a couple of overpriced basses I can think of here that get listed over and over again with a new thread every time. Also, there are a couple of sellers that can barely string a couple of decent sentences together to encourage a sale. Basschat's general answer to this is they get ignored and quite rightly so. It's not exclusive to Basschat by any stretch either. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mep Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 If you look at Support/ Site Rules then at the bottom if the page are guidelines for buyers which tell you how to act in such circumstances. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewblack Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 As has been pointed out the rules and guidelines are clear, but it is still an interesting topic nonetheless. Part of me feels like helping someone selling something with a price tag greater than it can be bought new, part of me feels drawn to wanting to protect unsuspecting buyers from paying over the odds. The former because if I were the seller I would like to know I would never achieve the price I was asking, the latter because I don't know enough about second hand values and can't always find the new price online and I come away from deals having overpaid. I discover this, by the way, when I come to sell stuff on and cannot get remotely close to the price I paid. Ultimately I stay out of it not because of the rules but because its none of my business. It would be great to have a place where people could advise on a rough idea of a fair second hand price, then prospective sellers who really don't know could be helped. Doubtless there would be suspicions raised over the suggested prices if they came from potential buyers, and it could easily descend into argument. All in all we have the best of a difficult situation here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 Although I don’t do either, I would prefer to post publicly if I knew the item was way overpriced (or had known issues) I would feel like I’m sticking my nose in if I questioned a seller privately, especially if I had no intention of buying the time anyway. Why bother, seller would probably know what they are doing, and still go ahead with it. Posting in the thread would be the same, but would at least alert anyone thinking of buying it to the fact that it can be brought a lot cheaper. Then it’s down to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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