WHy write "sold" over your asking price

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kees /img/forum/go_quote.gif It is not objective. It can't be and never will be. It is essentially allways "what any fool wants to pay for it". 1$ has a different value to different people, depending on their circumstances.

The point of an open market is that every fool has a shot at it, though. Just because one or two sales might be outliers doesn't skew basic economic principles - something is only worth how much someone else, anyone else, is willing to pay for it. If you can't find anyone to buy your KSC75 for $30, could you still assert that they were worth that? You might, but that would be absolutely wrong.

Money is a storehouse of value, and its own value is constantly shifting. That's why we use it as a medium of exchange, because it has the same relative value to everyone all the time, regardless of there "circumstances". Don't pollute this already murky thread with misunderstanding of basic economics.

 

[Edwood]

Bludgeoning an equine carcass is simply not enough.

 

[Samgotit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nfusion770 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't care one way or the other, but it certainly can be annoying to be confronted about your selling price based on what you paid. I once purchased a pair of Senns with an extra cable. I decided to keep the cable for a while and re-sell the headphones stock at their going rate. I had an emailer break down my costs, and tell me how much he was going to pay me. I know such an email could be construed as typically low-balling, but this seemed a step beyond.

That would've infuriated me. He would have been told where to go and what to do.

I say we set the horse on fire and drag it through the streets as well.

 

[Arainach]

At the end of the day, if you want to know how much something is worth, watch the FST forums for a month and see how much people are charging. There's no inherent "right' to be able to search past threads and try and gauge the going price.

Prices change over time. Would it be OK for me to go back and tell my Gas Station that "hey, you only charged $2.89 a month ago, so I want it for that price"? No. Same goes to Headphones.

 

[Gnus]

Like someone already mentioned, I do it as an act of courtesy to the buyer.

The best example of this would be the prices of HF-1 around here. Say you decide to sell them for $600 and someone actually paid for it, would you want that person to be subject to mocking or be seen as dumb for overpaying? If it's worth that much to him, he/she should be entitled to however they want to spend their money.

That's what I thought the whole "SOLD" thing was, an act of courtesy. That each transaction is in and off itself, not to be compared to one another.

People are complaining that the "SOLD" takes away from having established "market" prices for each item around here. Well, is there some rule that says that there should be a market around here?
I mean, who dictates that for example, an HD650 should have a market value of $250, which is what they go for around here? Just because someone decided to sell his for that much, should you have to sell yours for that much as well or be seen as "greedy"? Remember, not everyone is the same financially...

Honestly, the whole thing is really a double-edged sword. If prices were available for all to see, then it would be easy to compare prices and get a good deal. However, when you start selling things, then you realize that it doesn't really work in your favor because people can dig up old threads and PM you with offers of "so and so sold his for this much, that's what the value is" and you would not sell your item until you dropped the price to what is the "market" value.

I'm not really for or against the "SOLD" idea. I do it for my sales, but it is also a pain when I'm looking to buy something and can't find a price to compare it to besides retail.

So basically, it's a decision for the mods here and if they want a "market" or not.

 

[Gnus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firevortex /img/forum/go_quote.gif i see items with "sold" replacing the final selling price done generally by members who trade a lot on those forums. i dont see any other reason for this practice other then proping the price up or ripping some poor newbie off. i take this practice negatively as "human greed".

OK, anyone who just joins and buys without proper research beforehand is asking to get ripped off, and unfortunately that's not the fault of the seller. No one twists your arm to buy the item at that price, you make that choice.

As for your second comment, of course it's "greed", why else would there be a selling forum? People want to make some money off something they have no use for. If you aren't greedy yourself, then why don't you donate your headphones to someone here when you're done with them?

 

[MusicJunkie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gnus /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK, anyone who just joins and buys without proper research beforehand is asking to get ripped off, and unfortunately that's not the fault of the seller. No one twists your arm to buy the item at that price, you make that choice.

But that's kind of the point of this thread. How is a newcomer going to be able to do research or know if a price is reasonable if there are no prices listed in the FS forum.

 

[virometal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gnus /img/forum/go_quote.gif Like someone already mentioned, I do it as an act of courtesy to the buyer.

x3 or x4.

For me the convenience of the F/S forums far outweighs a little problem like marked out prices. These threads always ring of looking a gift horse in the mouth to me.

If one is unsure, price it high (80% of retail) and open an OBO. You'll get to the market rate.

 

[Oistrakh]

I agree with the OP... I get really frustrated to see threads (of items that I want to buy or sell) with the SOLD thing on top of the price... I want to know how much/good I should sell/buy something...

 

[kg21]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gz76 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is that different to a down pipe?

LOL good one, huge difference a downpipe is a car part, a very important one for certain turbocharged cars.

I don't think it's a big deal, I usually just mark the whole original post as sold so there is no confusion, sometimes people have pmed me asking if something has been sold if I don't edit the whole post, some people only read for keywords or maybe they are just bad at reading

. As for how are new people gonna know a good/fair market price, you gotta learn how to research it yourselves. Check on ebay, check currently selling prices on what you are looking for or just use the basic strategy of offering a price you think is really low and work your way up. Not everything should be spoon fed to you. Sometimes you get ripped off, sometimes you get a good deal, thats how life works...

 

[Azure]

If you can't figure out how much something is worth after checking the entire history of that item being sold on Head-Fi (seriously, it doesn't take that long), then either ASK some of the sellers or ASK in a thread if you have no luck with the sellers. I replace the selling price with "SOLD" to make the transaction more private between myself and the buyer. However, and I think a lot of people who replace the price with "SOLD" would agree with me here, I'm not so concerned about ensuring that the transaction is private that I wouldn't tell the price to someone who PMs me to gauge market value, or at the very least wouldn't help guide the asker in gauging the market value.

[size=xx-large]OKAY!? [/size]

Quote:

Originally Posted by n_maher /img/forum/go_quote.gif

 

[daveDerek]

leaving the price in there is of benefit to both buyers and sellers so each can get a feel for what the general market value is. yes, these prices can vary with both time and depending on certain variables, eg. condition, accessories, newer/older etc. i still think that's it's generally beneficial to the community to leave that info in place. and the market forums are meant as a service, not for financial opportunism, though that occurs too.

 

[Sherwood]

It baffles me that people are upset over a policy discussion in the general discussion forum. Many people seem to feel that it's helpful to know the history of the selling price of items. The open market is always helpful, as the success of open markets around the world has demonstrated. The only benefits to disguising the selling price is
A) to preserve some modicum of privacy between the buyer and seller -- I find it illogical but that's the buyer and seller's prerogative

OR

B) To prevent future auction prices from being influenced by the price of your auction. Many people find this necessary, I think it's detrimental to establishing a fair market value for items.

We've already established that there is no firm policy at head-fi dictating which of these to practice, so i will show all my prices from here on out, unless the other party insists I not. The for sale forum is not a "gift horse", it's a voluntary transaction. We forego the security of ebay to save on transaction costs and build a sense of community. This is all voluntary, the only person giving a gift is the one donating money for their membership here.

 

[Samgotit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveDerek /img/forum/go_quote.gif and the market forums are meant as a service, not for financial opportunism, though that occurs too.

Who says and why not?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif It baffles me that people are upset over a policy discussion in the general discussion forum.

It baffles me that it's brought up once a week.

Quote:

We've already established that there is no firm policy at head-fi dictating which of these to practice...

Right.. so why the hoopla?

Quote:

The for sale forum is not a "gift horse", it's a voluntary transaction.

What's the difference?

Quote:

We forego the security of ebay to save on transaction costs and build a sense of community. This is all voluntary, the only person giving a gift is the one donating money for their membership here.

Oxymoron underlined.

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Please, enough with the community rhetoric when it comes to the market place. People who sell low, at cost, high, remove prices, leave prices, are all part of the community in my eyes.

Please don't guilt those who wish to make a profit with your community altruism. It's naive and silly.

 

[Gnus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MusicJunkie /img/forum/go_quote.gif But that's kind of the point of this thread. How is a newcomer going to be able to do research or know if a price is reasonable if there are no prices listed in the FS forum.

But that's the thing, the prices in the FS section ISN'T what the item retails for, it's just what people decide to sell it for.

The can find the retail value easily, then go from there to decide if the price decided by the user is acceptable to them.