Additional policy for Gear Swap forum?

[Herbert Sitz]

I've noticed that some sellers in Gear Swap forum tend to remove the prices when they mark an item sold. Not sure why they do this, maybe they think it's supposed to be part of the policy that says to mark an item "sold".

I think it would be helpful to both other sellers and other buyers to not delete the price when marking as "sold", rather edit the price (if necessary) to reflect the actual sales price. That way when people do searches in Gear Swap forum they can get better idea of what prices are reasonable. Not perfect, but better than taking away pricing information that happens now.

Simple sentence like, "When an item is sold, in addition to editing post to indicate 'SOLD' please indicate the actual selling price of the item." would be fine.

[Ken Thompson]

This subject has been rehashed several times as of late.

As a seller I find it easiest just to remove all text and photos.

The asking price many times is not the sale price. Then there is condition of the used item to consider. Also how popular is an item. Is there a wait time to get said item from the manufacturer? Too many variables when dealing with used gear to make what someone else asked for relevant a lot of the time.

And what I sold something for is my and the purchasers business, no one elses.

[Ken Thompson]

Who would enforce such policy?

You can't get people to follow the directions that are there half the time.

[Herbert Sitz]

I figured it might have been suggested before, couldn't find in archives and have no idea why it hasn't been done.

The idea would be to suggest that, as a policy, sellers revise to indicate the actual selling price (not the original price, though they could leave that in if they wanted). They're already supposed to edit to indicate 'SOLD', how much harder can it be to edit the selling price? (Seems easier than deleting stuff.)

Of course it's not foolproof, there are widely varying conditions of gear (some which may or may not be reflected in sales text), but just because it's not foolproof doesn't mean it's not valuable.

Why would it need to be enforced? Just put some instructions in to indicate that this is the preferred way to do it. That way at least some people will start doing it, which is better than none.

[Nate Boyer]

I 100% agree with the OP. This is general policy on other gear swap forums.

It is important to leave item descriptions and pricing so market value for the item is clear to everyone.

[Cayenne Redmonk]

Sellers should post every lowball PM offer too, so people can be aware of the fun of selling on gear swap.

We used to do this with cattle in the old days. I would buy a couple hundred head, and then mark them all with the price paid, so other cowboys I encountered would know the fair market value. Of course when horses went out of style we did it with our cars too. We used to leave the price paid in big letters on the windshield so other potential buyers could know what cars were selling for. If one wanted to be a real nice guy, they would leave the sticker on the window listing the options.

–G.B.–

[Justin Baker]

It shouldn't be an official policy, but it's nice when photos and prices are left. There is no real reason to remove them.

[Bob Gross]

I see that the identity thief has shown up again.

–B.G.–

[Gary Dunckel]

Bob, maybe it's the Idester, or T-funk, or maybe Ken being tricky with the avatars again? You have to watch those silly boys, you really do…

[Bob Gross]

No, Gary, it is Cameron Kennedy trying to be cute.

–B.G.–

[Ed Biermann]

Are you sure?

–B.G.–

[Kattt]

Funny

[Travis Leanna]

I agree with Snap Thompson. What an item sells for is between the buyer and seller.

Just because a similar item sold for $30 less two weeks ago doesn't mean its a crime for the price to be higher this time. If someone is willing to pay, then the price is right for someone. Just maybe not you.

–B.G.–

[brian H]

This fun venue for buying/selling gear would be GREATLY improved if sellers left prices up. The main reason is it helps Everyone "appraise" the value of any given item, by seeing what the "market bears". Look at the last 3 that have sold, average the prices [holding certain variables constant] and you have a general idea.

Without this, sellers often list used gear at 90+% of new retail, which makes me laugh, and buyers lack the ability to appraise. This is where we can learn from eBay's success. There you have a much greater ability to establish fair market value based on appraising sold items, and the transparency benefits all.

At minimum I suggest: sellers leave their last price up, and if it matters to them, they can indicate 'SLAP' – Sold Lower than Asking Price.

In the end, the transparency would improve our venue overall, as sellers will always highball, and buyers will always lowball, but what things "are selling for" will always define reality.

[Dena Kelley]

I would much prefer the price be left on the post instead of edited out. I often will search Gear Swap for historical sales to see if something is a good price or if I should wait a while longer. It's useless to me for that function when people delete the prices. I don't care if they put the actual sell price down (although that would be truly ideal) but at least leave the asking price on there.

[Tad Englund]

I purchased some items recently and they were listed at what would seem an exceptionally good price given the description of the items. When they arrived they were in a different condition then what was listed. The price paid was much higher then I would/should have paid given the "real" condition of the items and it will cost me and large additional amount of money to get them in usable order ($80 worth.)
The price paid doesn't always reflect the real value/cost.

Though this doesn't happen often (the first time for me), but for someone looking at the original post, after the sale, would get a false value of the items and thus lower the value of any other post for the same item.

Each transaction has its own distinct characteristics and things seem to be working well as they are (other then this last costly transaction).

[Cayenne Redmonk]

Certainly adding the happiness with the sale, the price paid, and the condition of the gear would be a good idea too.

And the zip code, because $5 here is $3 there, and the local value of goods plays a big role in perceived value.

And age, income, days since last and until next paycheck, and savings should be posted too, so it's easier to compare sales between people with similar resources.

We might need to make a new database.

–G.B.–

[Dustin Short]

Clearly people don't know how markets work. A market value is little more than a mean of a probability distribution for a certain good. Knowing the prior sale values helps you appropriately price an item to sell it efficiently (ie quickly since time wasting affects everyone) and maximize revenue at the same time.

This helps everyone involved. There are a bare minimum of "privacy" concerns that I'm seeing expressed in this thread. If you want your privacy, don't join a community.

Sure even more info would be "better" but everyone has different criteria for setting a price or buying an item, convenience and time probably being the biggest two and most highly variable factors. So having a rough idea of how much your identical item sells for used lets you know how to appropriately price the item based on condition and how fast you want to sell it (such as the case for impending rent). This helps those looking for a bargain as well as those using the sight to supplement income to overcome financial hardship (more and more frequent I'm noticing, unfortunately).

To all those crotchety old folks making complaints about kids on their lawns asking too many questions…well this isn't solely your lawn. Stay at home if you don't like it.

[Nick Gatel]

Buy from retailers. Problem solved and over 50% of BPL server space saved.

[Bob Gross]

"Buy from retailers. Problem solved and over 50% of BPL server space saved."

Nick, I agree. The whole Gear Swap thing has turned into one big rummage sale.

–B.G.–

[BlackHatGuy]

"To all those crotchety old folks making complaints about kids on their lawns asking too many questions…well this isn't solely your lawn. Stay at home if you don't like it."

Well now, enjoyed the post up until this point. Because, you see, I can just as easily say to all those upstart young 'uns who want to dictate how everyone's lawn should be kept … well this isn't solely your lawn. Stay at home if you don't like us crotchety old folks giving our opinions.

See how that works?

[Nick Gatel]

I think the important lawn question should be whether it is environmentally acceptable to water a lawn in the southwest, where there is a water shortage.

[Dena Kelley]

Tad Englund stated, "The price paid doesn't always reflect the real value/cost."

This is true, but I tend to ask to see photos of the actual item. I will not buy based on stock photos from the manufacturer unless the item is billed as "new with tags, never used".

I find value in Gear Swap, I've scored a good item, I've seen some really nice scores that other people have made, and I like that it's recycling items instead of just letting them sit in someone's closet.

[Richard Mock]

I would prefer that the price stay up and I think a 'sold for' entry is a good idea that I would include if I sold an item.

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