[Azure]

I've noticed in the past couple weeks that people are buying gear for relatively low prices here and end up selling them for more than how much they bought them. It's pretty obvious if you frequently visit the marketplace daily and closely follow certain sales. I won't specifically mention which sales/users I'm talking about, but this is really bugging me. However, I'm not sure if it should be bugging me. What do you guys think about this? I'm sure that it happens all the time, but witnessing it is particularly irritating.

(For clarification, I'm not talking about special, limited edition gear like HF-1, HeadFive, etc.)

 

[Purgatos]

Sounds great to me.

If people know enough about that stuff to make money then that's their prerogative. It may be annoying to know that someone bought something you wanted just to sell it again, but hey, that's capitalism!

 

[PhilS]

It's a good thing. The seller makes money. He/she is happy. The buyer gets something equal or greater in value than what they gave up, otherwise they would not do it. He/she is also happy. A free economy makes everyone better off.

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

If someone is willing to sell something to me for less than it's worth, and I decide not to keep it, I will sell it for what I feel it's worth. Simple as that. I know I would have a much worse rig had I not followed that axiom, since I am not loaded.

 

[nfusion770]

What the market will bear. If I sell an item for a little less in order to facilitate a quick sale, and my buyer makes a few extra dollars because he is more patient, more power to him. If everyone wasnt happy with the relative price they wouldnt buy- as I see all the time when sellers price their nicked, 6 month old headphones $5 less than the new price at pricegrabber.

 

[nibiyabi]

I don't see much of a problem with it unless it's a close friend giving you a deal. For instance, one of my friends is giving me a pretty sweet deal on the Micro stack. If I end up selling them down the road for more than he sold them to me for, I'd give him the difference. Otherwise it's fair game. Viva capitalista!

 

[nikongod]

at some point, it is a1 obvious that a problem exists with people using the boards to sell gear at a profit. some of it clearly resold even before it reaches the resellers hands. this should be dealt with.

for the odd guy who buys a pair of hp2's for $125, and someday (years later) wants to sell them for what the market will pay in 1day on the boards: go for it.

 

[kramer5150]

free market enterprise... buy low sell high.

 

[Jmmmmm]

There is nothing legally wrong with it, no. And I know that if someone's willing to buy it, then blah blah blah.

But you know what? I think the practice is a bit sleazy. I am here to learn about and explore music and headphones, not to make money. I guess I just have respect for my fellow headfiers, and if given the chance, I want to help them out, not screw them over. Whenever I sell something, I sell it below what I think it's worth. If I can give a head-fier a deal, maybe give them a chance to get a headphone that they wouldn't have been able to afford otherwise, that's great. Sure, you can sell something above what you paid for it; it's not illegal. But to me, it's a bit of a dick move.

 

[creyc]

sounds good to me. rock on!

 

[spaceconvoy]

No, this practice is actually against head-fi forum rules. Free trade is good and all, but this isn't the USA, this is Jude's forum and there are special rules. Read this thread for the gory details, but we've been over this before:

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbriant Just a reminder that the FREE For Sale forums are here to offer head-fiers a an easy, no-cost means to buy/sell/trade their personal equipment to each other. Anyone appearing to be buying and flipping products for profit on a regular basis will be deemed to be operating a business and will receive an MOT ( Member of Trade) designation, meaning from that point on they would be bound by MOT rules.

 

[RedLeader]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nibiyabi I don't see much of a problem with it unless it's a close friend giving you a deal.

Precisesly. Say "hypothetically" a buddy of mine offered me a VDA for ~100 below the FS asking price, if I decided in a month I didnt really like it (and we were still friends of course

) I would give him the extra. Other than that? Forget it, I'll take what I can get so I can actually afford gear. Poor college student has to listen SOMEhow!

 

[PhilS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spaceconvoy No, this practice is actually against head-fi forum rules. Free trade is good and all, but this isn't the USA, this is Jude's forum and there are special rules.

You make a valid point, but since we don't know any of the relevant facts regarding the sales in question, it is hard to tell whether the sales run afoul of forum rules or not.

 

[nfusion770]

I'm confused- is this discussion about people who are more or less sniping things specifically for resale (that seems pretty shady in a forum like this)? Or are you talking about people with good intentions who buy at a good price, try the equipment for a while and then sell it for $10-$20 more because that is the going rate? I often price things a little cheaper than the presumed going rate because I want to flip it fast rather than bump my thread for a month. I recently bought a pair of 650's for $235 and re-sold them a few weeks later for $225. My 2 week use probably didnt warrant a $10 discount, but I sold them in a matter of minutes which was my aim. I think if that buyer re- sells he should be able to charge what he see's fit. Is that against the rules?

 

[mulveling]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod at some point, it is a1 obvious that a problem exists with people using the boards to sell gear at a profit. some of it clearly resold even before it reaches the resellers hands. this should be dealt with. for the odd guy who buys a pair of hp2's for $125, and someday (years later) wants to sell them for what the market will pay in 1day on the boards: go for it.

Totally agree