I just passed on 10 items with make offer/inter. trades

[fitterpete]

I just passed on ten different things I was interested in.Why? Because people don't know what they want for their stuff.It's yours ,dont you know what you want for it? Put a price on it! Why should I have to tell you what it's worth?
OK Rant over
Seriously do people know how many potential trades and sales they miss out on cause
A Some people are like me and don't think they should set the price on someones stuff for them
B Some guys won't do it cause they are afraid they will pay too much or offend you by offering too little.
Pete
PS I'm not going to argue which is right or wrong but it is a FACT that someone (actually 10 someones) missed out on potential trades or sales just TODAY.

[MEDEVL]

I agree whole-heartedly. I see a TON of stuff I'm interested in but I just don't have the time to waste inquiring as to what people want for it. Plus, I basically quit sending offers on stuff as I'm clearly a lowballer and have been so many times. I guess I just don't think people's semi-assembled, semi-painted, 6 year old minis are worth as much as they think they are.

[JohnHwangBT]

Given that I hardly ever buy now, "make offer" means "don't bother".

But I can tell this: When I was selling on Btown, I put prices on everything, and that stuff moved pretty well. Very few hassles with lowball offers, either. And I was selling with a <50 rating.

Best of all, I got my money back on pretty much everything, minus a bit for transaction costs. So basically, my unbuilt minis stash was about the same as banking my hobby spend. Not bad, really.

[mrrshann618]

Well to take a slightly different look at things.
I am one of those people who do not really put a price on things for two reasons

1. I'm more intrested in trading than selling, however if you want to put forth the effort to buy, then I'm willing to negotiate.
I do state this plain as day in my ads and expect people to read that. - that leads to an entirely different rant - I have no "local" game store and so have to rely on either ordering online or driving 65-70 miles to get to the nearest store that has not had a decent stock upgrade for roughly a year or more.

2. I do not NEED to move things. I trade/sell becuase I want to or have lost intrest in those items. I know for a fact that all of a particular army will not sell/trade. I use elements that many people simply do not like/are not part of an ubernetlist. Since I know for a fact that I will have leftovers that I'm going to have to store what is another unit, 2, or even 15 since I've been storing them for a while anyway.

On a related note, Things are valued based upon who values them. It is of no concern to me that you have to strip things, if you want it you want it. If you wanted a stripped item they sell them for, an average, of 20% off in various stores. I strip things and generally do not value those things any less as it is still the figure I'm after. As far as Semi-assembled/assembled, heck if it is done nicely all you did was save me some time. There is not way that I'm selling those assembled metal Items (which many times is simply attaching a base) for 50% off. Especially since places like Chaosorc can sell those same items for only 30% off.

[Imaginos]

I found a LOT more success selling items when I put prices on them instead of asking people to make an offer. What it comes down to is the same as successful ebaying (on the purchase side). Set a price you want and mark it as $xx firm. Unless you are willing to haggle, in which case put your list price a bit higher than your firm price. If someone doesn't want to pay that, you can reconsider your pricing and decide where to go. If someone does want to pay it, you got your money. Before I started pricing my items, my line of thought was "I'll see how much people will offer" and hope to get a high offer instead of a low. This was very nonconducive to selling.

[Captain_Obvious]

As a new trader, Im actually quite interested in this post. What makes buyers/traders more likely to contact me? Im trying to move my Eldar stuff because I really want to start up my Legion army and dont have the funds to do so, but Ive gotten very few offers. Its a large lot, and I basically stated my case as willing to sell the stuff as low as 30% of cost if you could make a case that it deserved such a treatment. However, I only posted a listed price on the Lot as opposed to a per-model basis(I did say I would be willing to split the lot though).
Is that the kind of thing that people are looking for? I could easily do that, but I figured my little intro would explain it all.

[AJCarrington]

Interesting post. Depending on my level of interest, I have no problems asking/offering a deal/sale, regardless of what is stated in the ad. I tend to be of the mindsets "one never knows unless one asks" and "the worst they can say is no". I know that this bothers some, but I've never had a problem having a person ask - I can always say "no thanks"...

AJC

[Shottglazz]

Haven't done any trades here, but on other minis boards I've almost always passed on the "make me an offer" posts...would much rather see an amount or items wanted...

[Imaginos]

Haven't done any trades here, but on other minis boards I've almost always passed on the "make me an offer" posts...would much rather see an amount or items wanted...

Kind of funny how you have a reference in Nov 2009 if you haven't done any trades here. LOL

[cjsimchick]

It looks like it was a purchase, not a trade...

OT - I prefer prices too. The listings with "No How Much PMS!!" get passed by 99% of the time.

I'm guessing the folks who do not post prices want you to or expect that you know the retail price and expect an offer based on that, or want to trade. This may not be a problem, but if I'm trading into a game I'm not familiar with for a starter army, I'm not comfortable sending an offer.

Cole

[JohnHwangBT]

What makes buyers/traders more likely to contact me?

However, I only posted a listed price on the Lot as opposed to a per-model basis(I did say I would be willing to split the lot though).

Keep it simple. List individual prices for items that you're willing to sell individually. Include domestic shipping. Refuse to do any international deals - for the extra cost, delay and risk, it's just not worth the extra time or effort.

Don't waste your time with lot pricing - if someone wants to trade or buy a bunch, you can negotiate an extra discount. If you want to force a lot sale, go with a fire sale price, say 20% of retail.

[blackspade]

I usually will do a mix.
Most of the time I will put a price, but sometimes I have no Idea what someone would want to pay for some of the really old junk I'm trying to move.
Honestly, if I don't have a price, I'm just looking for anything reasonable. In many cases I'm just looking for others who might actually do something with the stuff I'm offering.

Fitterpete: If I'm one of your targets, I'm more than willing to shoot you a price, Just LMK what you are looking at.

[MagickalMemories]

What makes buyers/traders more likely to contact me?

However, I only posted a listed price on the Lot as opposed to a per-model basis(I did say I would be willing to split the lot though).

Keep it simple. List individual prices for items that you're willing to sell individually. Include domestic shipping. Refuse to do any international deals - for the extra cost, delay and risk, it's just not worth the extra time or effort.

Don't waste your time with lot pricing - if someone wants to trade or buy a bunch, you can negotiate an extra discount. If you want to force a lot sale, go with a fire sale price, say 20% of retail.

@everyone
I can't totally get behind this statement, re: international trades.
It might not be worth it to do one or 2 small items over the pond, but larger international trades can be viable. Canadian trades don't cost much more than within the US.
As with any trade within your own country, you needs to assess all the factors to decide whether or not it's a good idea for you to do the trade, personally. If you're dealing with someo like Norseman or s_o_r_r_o_w (Yes. they're both staff, but they're the only Canadians I could think of off hand) who have good solid ratings, a cross-border trade should be fine. The biggest risk you have is not using international tracking on your packages so, if your box is among the infinitessimal (by comparison) number of packages with problems, you need to be concerned. It really doesn't happen often enough to throw away ALL international trades, though, IMO.

@JHBT
Remember that most people here are far more casual traders than you. Not many have the "2-day turn around" requirement. Heck. I can't think of any, in fact. For the most part, we're casual, and the extra time doesn't bother us.

Eric

[JohnHwangBT]

Refuse to do any international deals - for the extra cost, delay and risk, it's just not worth the extra time or effort.

@everyone
I can't totally get behind this statement, re: international trades.
It might not be worth it to do one or 2 small items over the pond, but larger international trades can be viable.

@JHBT
Remember that most people here are far more casual traders than you. Not many have the "2-day turn around" requirement. Heck. I can't think of any, in fact. For the most part, we're casual, and the extra time doesn't bother us.

Eric

For a new trader, the last thing they need is the extra complexity of an international trade. For an established trader, I could see large international trades being somewhat viable. Sure, it's a small problem rate. But for a n00b, how are they to know or protect? I stand by my recommendation to avoid international trades wherever possible.

From what I see, people are "casual" right up until the moment that they post a BTR / backout report. At that point, all hell breaks loose with immediate Negs and so on. Total lack of process. OTOH, if there is process and clarity, the trades tend to go a lot smoother.

Lastly, that 2-day TAT is something that *I* generally am held to, given that I usually ship second. This helps my trade partner know that I'm on a clock, and they're going to get their stuff with some predictability.

/John

[HarlequinZero]

For a new trader, the last thing they need is the extra complexity of an international trade. For an established trader, I could see large international trades being somewhat viable. Sure, it's a small problem rate. But for a n00b, how are they to know or protect? I stand by my recommendation to avoid international trades wherever possible.

/John

If I was a new trader I'd be insulted by this. You make it sound like somehow a person's status as a new trader leads to a diminished mental capacity. For some reason only established traders can work through the complexity of a customs form. Obviously, living in Japan, 98% of my trades are international and I don't feel the need for an advanced degree in postal procedures to send a package to the states.