[stevenkelby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by afireinside /img/forum/go_quote.gif At many of the computer forums I post at, you HAVE to leave the sold price for security purposes. A few times I've seen prices changed to "SOLD!" and they had an admin telling them to put the price back or have their account permanently banned from the classified sections.

Sounds fair and helps prevent rip offs to buyers who don't know what a common item is worth, if a seller wants to make a profit on the item in future, thats for the buyer to research and make an informed decision. And the actual selling price could be put up as a courtesy to the community. What are the reasons people don't want to share the sale price? Embarrassment? Pride? Shame? Greed? Arrogance? Or am I seeing it in the wrong way? Any ideas?

 

[afireinside]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nebby /img/forum/go_quote.gif The difference between computer used sales and audio gear used sales is rather large IMHO. You don't see too many people buying 3 different video cards and selling off the two that they didn't like I would say that IMO the turnover rate of audio gear is much higher than computer gear, so people would like to keep the resale value of gear stable. To me, it makes it difficult to judge the market value of parts, but I do think that it's the seller's and the buyer's right to remove the price from the listing. Would I prefer it that people leave the price in the post? Yes, but I still think the choice should be left to those involved in the deal.

Turn around? No. But there are a handfull of people who will have 3 video cards or a hand full or CPUs to dump because they don't OC well.

I agree with sherwood also

 

[Sherwood]

Quote:

Originally Posted by afireinside /img/forum/go_quote.gif I agree with sherwood also

Hell yeah. Thanks for the ups.

 

[Nebby]

I agree....cottoning bad economics is simply unacceptable

 

[FooTemps]

Wow, whoever said "pipe down" to OP should take the stick out of their collective asses.

I agree that keeping prices up instead of deleting them is more beneficial to the community as a whole. Not only does it give a good view of the market, it allows a better record of all transactions of the seller if a potential buyer wants to research the seller. Leaving threads unaltered allows a buyer to research selling habits, pricing habits, and how the seller carries him/her self in a business sense. Edits are nice but whenever I see a big fatty "SOLD" editing out the price, it's an annoying roadblock into proper research on the seller.

And to cover the "What if someone sells low and some buyers try to lowball others?" argument. One person selling low doesn't change market trends. If no seller accepts a lowball price, no buyer is going to offer a lowball price. That simple. The moment 25% or more of sellers give in and start selling low, the price will definitely drop. But outside of desperation and new technology, prices don't tend to change in the audio world. I mean, when was the last time you saw HF1 going for anything near its original market price? Prices tend to stay rock freaking solid unless you give it good reason to change. I mean, I picked up some SR225s for 150 and sold them at 200 (more like 160 + shipping. stupid international shipping costs) and SR225s STILL go for those prices. The headphone market isn't like paintball or computers with a new "OMGTHISISDEFINITELYTHEBESTBY200%" product every 8 months. We're lucky to find good headphones every few years.

And to cover the "I do this for privacy" argument. Why the hell are you posting on a public forum that is funded and run by members and sponsors? There is no freaking privacy on the internet anymore. If a buyer doesn't want people to know how much he/she bought it for tell him/her "tough luck, there's no reason for you to be embarrassed about prices". Hell, if you really want to protect the buyer's self respect, just change the price to the average market price! Don't just plaster SOLD all over your post. If you do that, why not delete the damn thread since it's almost useless anyway.

/yes, i've been pissed off by this many times
//no, I never asked why because I assumed too many people would have said 'pipe down' or 'gb2noobland' or 'you're an idiot and i'm elitist'

 

[Firevortex]

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".

 

[Filburt]

I agree with Sherwood. Pricing trends and former pricing are very much part of what generates the effective market value. I've seen plenty of threads where a seller justifies his price based on looking at eBay or other sales. That statement only carries authority precisely because that information is relevant to market value. The practice or replacing the price with "SOLD" essentially tacitly condones price inflation based in trying to limit relevant information to consumers. I'm not sure what the solution would be, though. I guess someone who has the time and resources could set up a database to log pricing and track trends.

I do understand that some are concerned with privacy for their customers, which is something that I think is of paramount concern in online transactions. However, I think the aforementioned macro effect is of substantial concern and I'm not sure that there is a compelling privacy interest present in and of itself; e.g. it may be derivative of other concerns such as avoiding infelicitous impact on the market price should the buyer become a seller...in which case we may be back to the other problem at hand.

 

[Sherwood]

So, to continue the utility of this obviously necessary thread, is there any sort of standing policy asking members to replace their price with SOLD? I'm perfectly willing to edit my previous posts with the selling price, but I want to be certain I'm not violating some arcane head-fi law by doing so.

Any ruling on the legality of leaving the selling price?

 

[Filburt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif So, to continue the utility of this obviously necessary thread, is there any sort of standing policy asking members to replace their price with SOLD? I'm perfectly willing to edit my previous posts with the selling price, but I want to be certain I'm not violating some arcane head-fi law by doing so. Any ruling on the legality of leaving the selling price?

At one time I was under the impression that this was required as well, but then it seemed it wasn't, so I stopped doing it if I ever did put SOLD in any sale I made (I don't recall). It seems like it's considered voluntary, but somehow is custom here.

 

[brn80]

That's why I used to put SOLD in my past transactions, simply because I thought it was the status quo. I've since refrained from doing so.

 

[Spaceage]

Same here. I was only putting "SOLD" in because I saw so many other people doing it.

 

[jp11801]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grawk /img/forum/go_quote.gif I erase prices in for sale posts as a courtesy to buyers. That way, it's not generally known what they paid, if they resell. After all, price paid isnt' part of what something is worth.

Quote:

Originally Posted by [AK]Zip /img/forum/go_quote.gif Agreed. It's a private deal and money related things I prefer to keep private. -Alex-

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".

I'm not sure how a public posting. followed by a public YGPM, followed by public feedback makes our transactions private. Having data on current selling price protects both the seller and buyer.

Firevortex, that is nothing but pure paranoia. The practice of replacing the price with sold is to stop the flow of pms about an item you have already sold. It also let's the buyer know the transaction is closed and reassures them. If anything I have seen some pretty generous people here with pricing on headphones. There is no secret cabal of headfiers who meet by candlelight colluding to fix pricing on headphones.

I am in favor of leaving the price and generally do so by placing sold before or after the asking price. When I sell something or buy all I want is fair market value. Also generally if I got a good deal I give the next guy a good deal.

 

[jdimitri]

It used to *slightly* bother me..
But it's a lot more annoying that people send me PMs for things that's been sold even when it says sold somewhere in the thread

 

[stevenkelby]

All good points, but I do want to point out that:

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp11801 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The practice of replacing the price with sold is to stop the flow of pms about an item you have already sold. It also let's the buyer know the transaction is closed and reassures them.

It is exactly as much effort for the seller, and more easily spotted and read from the main forum page, to put a [size=x-large]SOLD![/size] at the top of the first post. This also leaves the asking price un-obliterated!

Quote:

Originally Posted by jp11801 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If anything I have seen some pretty generous people here with pricing on headphones. There is no secret cabal of headfiers who meet by candlelight colluding to fix pricing on headphones.

Absolutely I agree, most people don't want to rip any one off or collude to raise prices. Surely they don't have any reason to hide the asking price then?

 

[rhythmicmoose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sherwood /img/forum/go_quote.gif I could not possibly agree less. Price paid is the ONLY measure of what something is worth in a free market economy, which head-fi is. There is no other objective measure of value available. That's the whole purpose of money. I know, I know, "geezpipedown", but this is bad economics and I cannot cotton it.

From an economic standpoint, there are a lot of things wrong with this assertion. Here are a few examples where the above logic doesn't hold.

1. I snag a near perfect AKG K340 on eBay for $75. They routinely sell here for over twice that. Does the fact that I got a good deal make them worth less?

2. I've got an old pair of Sony earbuds lying around. I could sell them on eBay for close to their retail price, but I'd rather sell them here because it's more convenient. Would it be wise for me to charge the going eBay rate here? Probably not, since there's far less interest for Sony buds around Head-Fi than there is in the real world.

3. I buy a DT-770 from the Guitar Center for $200 because I didn't know that they would price-match down to $150. Are they now worth $200 to me just because I overpaid? What if I tried to sell them here for that price? I'd get laughed at.

So to say that price paid is the only measure of value is somewhat erroneous. Value has more to do with what the item is worth to both parties. That's how we account for an item's age, condition, rarity, etc. All of those factors affect value more than the price the item was actually purchased for.

I blank out my prices for privacy reasons, but I'd definitely be willing to tell anyone the price if they PMed me asking about it. If you want a reference for the going price of an item, just look at others that are currently for sale. I don't see why an archive of every sale price would be necessary.