The Classifieds are horrible right now (is the economy really that bad???)

[Vetmx]

If $5 is a deal breaker, you are absolutely in the wrong hobby. I agree with Leon, this is a luxury hobby. We can all kill pest and other animals by other means. Nobody needs to punch paper with a pokey gun that’s more expensive than a powder burner that will still function perfectly 30 years from now and hold its value. As far as the classifieds go, they are getting a little less entertaining for me. It appears some guys are realistically pricing their items.

 

[Vetmx]

I think I overpaid Yen for something once.

 

[Miami Airgunner]

If $5 is a deal breaker, you are absolutely in the wrong hobby. I agree with Leon, this is a luxury hobby. We can all kill pest and other animals by other means. Nobody needs to punch paper with a pokey gun that’s more expensive than a powder burner that will still function perfectly 30 years from now and hold its value. As far as the classifieds go, they are getting a little less entertaining for me. It appears some guys are realistically pricing their items.

I mean, I did FINE with a cheap springer growing up. Damn fine really.

I'm not dirt poor anymore though, so I can buy the nice stuff - but, yeah, I can NOT argue that it is, in ANY way, required. though... I seriously doubt I could do as well with open sights as I did when I was 9 years old, so I'd probably have to justify an optic as 'required'... ;-)

 

[Harv24]

Haggling is as American as Apple Pie.

The whole POINT of buying used is getting a deal. It's really simple...I make an offer, you either accept or decline or counteroffer and we both move on.

Who's to say the price you selected is the correct price?

The market determines the price. If you can get what you want for price, then good for you. If not, then you have to accept it, change the price or move on.

I will say that I don't give a sob story on my need to offer a lower price. I just make my offer.

I don't get that wrapped in a few bucks' lower offer. If I sell for $75, and they offer me $70, I take it, because I put wiggle room in the price. I get want I wanted, and the buyer feels like they got a good deal.

Everybody wins. See how simple that is?

 

[ctshooter]

Yen - While you say 10-20% retail is really 25-40% when you factor in shipping and taxes I believe your pricing variables are flawed. Of course you are totally free to ask what you want for an item and I am not passing any judgement on your justifications for pricing. However, I don't believe you can pass YOUR tax and shipping fees onto a used buyer and consider that a discount for THEM. Pricing should be based on the market - meaning used condition, age of item, and most importantly demand.

I agree with others that 10% off retail and I'm not even gonna consider making an offer as I feel you're pricing is not realistic and you will not likely be wiling to negotiate for a fair price for both parties. 20% of retail for a used item is really the starting point. Assuming I was the first owner and purchased new I am usually in the 20-30% off retail to start. I include free shipping in my price - which I feel is a gesture of good will to the buyer.

One might want to ignore overstock sites like DVOR because they paid more. Unfortunately DVOR has set the current retail price and it is what it is. I'll take the most current examples I see in the classifieds being the TS Optics 12x. Was grossly overpriced at $550-600 and never sold well. Bought mine brand new from Eurooptic for $299 yet I see people looking to get $400 for a used one because they paid higher - just not going to happen.

In regards to posting an item with a FIRM price - I think you are setting your sale up for failure from the beginning. It puts forth an aggressive negative taste and portrays an unwillingness to negotiate in a used market where negotiation is everything. If you have a price point in mind then go a little higher so you have room to lower the price - completely psychological IMO but if a buyer can get a lower price than asking they just feel better coming out of the deal.

Just my opinion on the whole thing and, as mentioned, a generalization of the market with nothing targeted directly at you.

 

[Firewalker]

I'm happy to see others posting about the market determination for pricing. I've sold my share of items on ebay and Amazon and I have gotten positive and negative feedback on the same items sold for the same price.

There is no way to know from person to person what something is worth to them, I'll hagle and will shut it down if things go south.

Most of the time, people just pay what I'm asking.

 

[Vetmx]

The problem with pricing a little higher for wiggle room on an already overpriced used item is most guys just move on because they think the guy is out of his mind.

 

[beerthief]

Haggling is as American as Apple Pie.

The whole POINT of buying used is getting a deal. It's really simple...I make an offer, you either accept or decline or counteroffer and we both move on.

Who's to say the price you selected is the correct price?

The market determines the price. If you can get what you want for price, then good for you. If not, then you have to accept it, change the price or move on.

I will say that I don't give a sob story on my need to offer a lower price. I just make my offer.

I don't get that wrapped in a few bucks' lower offer. If I sell for $75, and they offer me $70, I take it, because I put wiggle room in the price. I get want I wanted, and the buyer feels like they got a good deal.

Everybody wins. See how simple that is?

Exactly !
"Haggling is as American as Apple Pie."
I was at a show and a seller and I got into "the Haggle " WE haggled on and off for the whole show. Started out at $2 difference on an $8 item ended up at a $0.25 difference and then he won at $0.20 HAHAHAHAH one of the fun times i ever had .

 

[stony30]

Again, I'm not talking about stuff you can readily find on Amazon with free Prime Shipping. Most airgun shops do NOT have free shipping and the ones that do, require a minimum purchase to qualify for free shipping because their overhead/margin aren't enough to justify free shipping when you're not spending above some minimum. In fact, I hardly ever recall getting free shipping on a $2,000+ rifle so, no, most airgun places don't do free shipping across the board.

So when you go to buy that $80 accessory and it doesn't qualify for free shipping, you're going to have to pay for shipping because it's not on Amazon. As for the sales tax - MOST of us do have to pay it because only the lucky few in a couple of outlier states don't have it.

Just price your items $5 higher than what you would normally list them for and just save the potential customer the $5. Be a hero for $5 and move on. The positive feedback and overall good karma will benefit you in the long run. I too work in sales and time is money. Slash the $5 and move on. You'll be saving yourself unnecessary aggravation.

 

[davidsng]

Yes, I noticed the same thing. Generally, in the fall people do sell off what their old stock and then buy new stock in the spring. Although, I believe this is a lot worse that past years. Our forum may be the "canary in the coal mine" to what is coming.

 

[beerthief]

Maybe it is "time" ? We buy a gun and have the opportunity to shoot much more than the PB crowd . SO a one year old gun is "as NEW in the PB world , but in the airgun world this same age gun has let us say one tin a week usage . That is 26,000 shots ! (500 x 52 weeks ) Hardly new "as new"

P.S. 500 x 12 = 6000 ( one tin a month )

 

[rcs9250]

I understand the op exactly, I have not sold or bought much here, but the same thing has happened to me on the knife forums. Low ball offers are fine, i do not have to say yes, but when i am selling a knife for $150 that costs $240 new, and someone tells me they can do $125 and I respond with lets meet close to the middle at $135, and they tell me. that have to ask their wife if they can spend the extra $10. I am blown away, because it seems like the"wife"says no because they never get back.

Asking the wife is just a sheepish cop out trying to blame his wife rather than reaching in his pocket and seeing if he has the man thing or the girl thing. I generally reply with “Thank you for your generous offer but at this time I’m going to have to decline”. Or sometimes I will advise that a lower selling price isn’t worth my time and will just throw it in the trash ( on low $$ items).

 

[d3vnull]

I personally hate haggling. Set a price. I either think the price is right for me or I wait.

Renewing the post 6 times at the same price won't convince me the price is right. If the seller instead lowers the price on renewals to the price I am willing to pay I'll purchase at that price.

That is just how I purchase items here.

 

[Mycapt65]

You're the seller. You're in control. Just stand your ground and tell the tire kickers to pound salt if they start to nickel and dime you. Selling anything is never easy when you're asking for top dollar. Get accustomed to people looking for a bargain on used equipment or lower your prices. That or avoid the aggravation and have a shop sell them on consignment. I hate selling anything used because the same reasons you mentioned. My hw97 has been up for sale a few times and evertime I decided the process was more trouble than it was worth. What's your sanity worth?

 

[ChRiSiS]

Some people just have to save that $5. It’s a psychology issue. I spent much of my career negotiating large transactions internationally. Especially in the USA you would find these people who thought that the negotiation was a competitive sport and their goal was to “WIN”, not to get a good deal done. This was quite stupid when you consider that in most cases we were negotiating a collaboration which would last for many years.

I see the same thing here in the Classifieds. I should say that I have al seen it on both sides of the transactions here. - Sellers who price thing ridiculously high (IMHO) and buyers who haggle over peanuts. I typically do not sell small, low cost items because its not worth the hassle to list a $30 item, monitor it, talk to pe who have dozen questions about said $30 item, and who then want to offer $5 less. Then I have to pack it up, go mail it, watch the tracking to make sure it gets there, etc. etc. I’ll do it for an airgun, obviously, and I am always open to a reasonable offer. However I will not waste time with the low ballers who rate offering 50% of my asking price. I price my stuff at least 20% below the new retail price, sometimes less (and that’s the price before shipping and tax). I know what other stuff has sold for, and I know what I am prepared to take for the item. If you make me an offer I will either say “yes”, make a counter, or “No” depending on the item and my mood. And No means NO.

Maybe I’ve been lucky, but I have never failed to sell an item that I have put up for sale here. I do not understand the people who will have an item up for sale since June, and keep refreshing the ad with no change to the price. I mean, its November. Maybe you should pay attention to the fact that the market is sending you a loud signal. Equally, there are ads for things where the slightest amount of research will tell you that you can buy new for less than the used asking price. Perhaps the most egregious ones (In my view) are those where they list the new price of a bundle of items, then proceed to list their selling price as essentially the sum of those new item costs… Sigh.

However, for all that, I do tend to feel that the quality of the Classifieds has declined in the last few months. I don’t know if I am just not looking for much stuff anymore, but I see far fewer high end guns, optics, etc. in the last 3-6 months than before. Similarly pricing seems to have become a little less reasonable. But Winter is Coming…

Chris

 

[Ricochet]

You're the seller. You're in control. Just stand your ground and tell the tire kickers to pound salt if they start to nickel and dime you. Selling anything is never easy when you're asking for top dollar. Get accustomed to people looking for a bargain on used equipment or lower your prices. That or avoid the aggravation and have a shop sell them on consignment. I hate selling anything used because the same reasons you mentioned. My hw97 has been up for sale a few times and evertime I decided the process was more trouble than it was worth. What's your sanity worth?

Very sound advice. I ended up selling my Texan on consignment, and got close to what I wanted... Not even a nibble on here. Only airgun i ever let get away, and i don't miss it at all.

 

[Dr. Kralenstein]

What I have been noticing is people asking for pretty much retail prices on used items. I don't care if it's a day old or not, you can't ask full price for a used item. Also, I see that alot... "only a couple weeks old". Then return it for a full refund or whatever, unless there is something shady going on. No one is going to pay a premium after it has passed through someone else's hands already. Maybe on firearms, only because they're through the roof nowadays.

 

[Mycapt65]

What I have been noticing is people asking for pretty much retail prices on used items. I don't care if it's a day old or not, you can't ask full price for a used item. Also, I see that alot... "only a couple weeks old". Then return it for a full refund or whatever, unless there is something shady going on. No one is going to pay a premium after it has passed through someone else's hands already. Maybe on firearms, only because they're through the roof nowadays.

This is true both firearms and airgun prices are at a all time high. The prices I see quality springers bring now are ridiculous. Thus there's a lot of sellers selling off anything they can at ridiculously high asking prices. I don't blame them for maximizing their profits but for them to whine about people who try to bring their prices down to more reasonable levels is retarded. Some people I know do well with used guns. I never have. The few times I have bought used guns I've always been disappointed and stuck with someone's headache. Thus I understand people trying not to pay top dollar for used guns.

 

[Mycapt65]

Asking the wife is just a sheepish cop out trying to blame his wife rather than reaching in his pocket and seeing if he has the man thing or the girl thing. I generally reply with “Thank you for your generous offer but at this time I’m going to have to decline”. Or sometimes I will advise that a lower selling price isn’t worth my time and will just throw it in the trash ( on low $$ items).

In some cases it is a cop out as you say. There's a lot of "men" that can't spend ten extra dollars without their wives permission. They're either really broke or they are complete jellyfish. I won't ever sell anything to someone like that.

I've learned there's always unrealistic expectations when people stretch their budget. As an ex BMW tech the most demanding pain in the ass customers were always the ghetto and white trash wannabes buying the 318Tis. They bought the cheapest model in the line up to impress people. Then they'd scream that their AM radio had static. Somehow they expected that exhausting their discretionary income on a BMW would somehow change the nature of AM band radio. The customers with 80k 740iLs had static on their AM radios too but they had larger thought processes.
Bottom line don't gouge, blame people for wanting a bargain and run away from people who can't afford what you're selling. The latter will be more trouble than they're worth

 

[Harv24]

You're the seller. You're in control. Just stand your ground and tell the tire kickers to pound salt if they start to nickel and dime you. Selling anything is never easy when you're asking for top dollar. Get accustomed to people looking for a bargain on used equipment or lower your prices. That or avoid the aggravation and have a shop sell them on consignment. I hate selling anything used because the same reasons you mentioned. My hw97 has been up for sale a few times and evertime I decided the process was more trouble than it was worth. What's your sanity worth?

I would disagree and tell you that is an allusion. The Market is in control. How you determine your price is something that is pulled out of thin air.

Reminds me of the Heddy days of gun shows. The same guys selling the same old poop at an elevated price. And this was years after the Assault weapons ban ended and you could by the exact same thing. Even when you told them there priced out of the market, they would not budge.

They would rather pack it up and cart it from show to show, then lower their price. yea, they were in control all right.....


I watched a poster on another forum sell a Marmot Winter Jacket for $300. He literally had it on their Exchange board for over a year. Once every couple of months he would repost...for $300 and that was before the economy went south.

I won't feel sad for all the guys who bought $70K Brodozers and then try to sell them for 10% less than what they paid.

As always, the Market will determine the value, not the seller.