When you sell something..

[ray1970]

I’ve been looking daily for about three months for a decent deal on another motorcycle. Zero luck so far. I have actually seen better prices on used bikes at local dealers than I have from individuals lately.

[CS1983]

While we are complaining, I'd like to thank ya'll as a forum for being cool about payment methods and such as I have experienced both as a seller and buyer here.

I've been spending more time on archerytalk lately to scour for good deals. Their forum exchange rules are quite strict and selling there is a pain because paypal has to be regular, not friends/family. A lot of guys are basically giving things away once paypal takes their cut, shipping is factored, and tire kickers have done their rounds.

[Irving]

How can they tell what method you use?

[CS1983]

If nothing goes wrong, they can't. But if you never receive an item and bring it up to the mods, or a buyer states you sent a damaged product and didn't, etc. they apparently will not help mediate if it was a paypal friends/family method.

I haven't experienced any issues on there, but it's definitely much less laid back than transactions here.

[Hummer]

It's good to know a realistic value for what you're selling and buying. My practice is to look for the bargains and offer honest good deals for things I want to pass on. I personally think it's a waste of time to price something higher than the going price unless there's something special about the item.

My wife's Camry and Corolla were both high mileage but brought 2.5 & 3 times dealer book value because of their condition. People are willing to pay for honest value and the Toyota brand is value.

In the past few years I've made many fairly major purchases off Craigslist, a pottery studio, orchard and winery equipment, and Danish/Scandinavian furniture, appliances. Most were like new for 10-15 cents on the dollar. I've also sold a lot of older furniture for cheap just to get it out the door, and it adds to the net gain. Used furniture is worth about as much as used underwear. I don't care if Madonna designed the stains. Why waste time on a $20 or $100 item? I usually pay asking price for things priced fairly, and seldom dicker because I don't bother with people who price items unrealistically. In the past 18 mo., I've replaced much of the old furniture in our cabin in 17 separate buys for about $1500 net. Nice Scandinavian furniture that originally sold for ~$20K+.

Recently sold a cider mill and wine press for $650, half it's new price. But 12 years ago I bought it off CL for a cord of apple wood.

On this forum I've sold one item and bought six. I've been pleased with every transaction. Good people here.

[Erni]

Honestly I too have trouble valueing things properly. But a good indicator is when things just dont move, and then I just drop the price until it sells. A few items sold way too fast, meaning I underpriced them, like my old fridges.

Oh, and BUMP!

[Irving]

I thought of that exact scene, but didn't have the heart to post it, especially since he might not watch the show and understand the relationship dynamic between the characters.

[SouthPaw]

I was hesitant to post this thread but I am glad to see that everyone kept a usually touchy/grey area, from going off the deep end. Thanks to everyone who has shared their opinions and comments.

[Fentonite]

Seems like the FMV always works against me - I take a loss every time I sell. I just took a huge loss selling a motorcycle. It doesn’t matter what KBB / NADA lists as the value if nobody is knocking down your door to pay it. So I kept lowering the price until the right guy came along and got a really good deal. I’ve accepted that I’ll never make money selling stuff, I’m just not good at it.

[BPTactical]

One thing I learned on CL- if your item doesn't sell in a reasonable time at your asking price delete the post. Relist it 2 days later at the original price but mark the title as "Price Reduced".
Works damn near every time.