Craigslist camera shoppers... *shakes head*

hepcat

hepcat

Former PH, USN
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I am realistic about the perils of buying and selling from anonymous strangers in various venues, but I have successfully bought and sold many things on Craigslist over the years, both locally and long-distance and never had any issues at all.

I have an M8 anti-panda of which I am quite fond, but I also have an M9-P and I've just re-acquired a full Hasselblad kit for film shooting, so I decided that perhaps I'd fund some of the Hasselblad gear by selling my M8 if someone decided they wanted it more than I do. I've tried listing it in a couple of venues, and I'm decidedly high on the price. I don't want to give it away, and frankly I'm not sure I want to sell it at all, but if someone gave me my asking price or close to it, I'd let it go. I see things for sale that I think are over-priced every day. If I'm interested, I'll make an offer... but I digress...

So... This morning I checked my email and there's an anonymous reply to my ad. I open it expecting it to be a scam reply, and find this:

"I think you must be suffering from extreme delusion to think you will get that for that camera. Does the camera have some magical intrinsic value added to it because you have owned it ? I would be thrilled if got a grand for it. Good luck"

Now, I'm used to getting the "I'm buying this for my cousin... I'm busy and can't come see it... I'll have my shipper... blah blah blah" but this is the first time I've had someone tell me I'm delusional. Perhaps I am, but I'm having a ball anyway! I had to laugh at this response, but what in the world would cause someone to have so much angst over the price of a camera that they'd be compelled to write something like that? Perhaps I should start marketing things I own at even higher prices because I'm a legend in my own mind? <grin>

I was amused and just had to share this reply.
 
When I want to tell someone that they're a loon, I usually like to send a handwritten note, anonymous of course, since it's so much more personnal.😉
 
frustration would be my guess.
there are times that i have to refrain from doing much the same thing.
people ask insane prices for used gear at times, especially older film gear where a camera that most are asking 25 bucks for and then someone is asking 350!, a few percent off the new price that he paid for it in 1966!
 
In today's world, there are many people who suffer from the dreaded affliction known as RPD*. It sounds as if Craig's List is popular place for many of them to congregate. 🙄
 
that's great! It's because even if it were at a price he thinks it should be, he still can't afford it and so must vent his angst.
I see stuff all the time that I think is overpriced and never sells. I've listed stuff myself and been way off.
What I really dislike is people commenting on peoples ads about pricing here. If you don't like the pricing then don't buy it and it's certainly not polite to comment!
Anonymous says it all in the end. The internet makes people very brave. Hiding behind their monitors, sad......
 
I used to do quite a bit of buying and selling of motion picture equipment about ten years ago for different clients. I regularly got emails like the one you posted. I always thought they were from people trying to guilt me into lowering the price. Never worked. But maybe some folks get embarrassed by the email and lower the price of the item they're selling because they think they over-priced it.
 
back alley said:
frustration would be my guess.
there are times that i have to refrain from doing much the same thing.
people ask insane prices for used gear at times, especially older film gear where a camera that most are asking 25 bucks for and then someone is asking 350!, a few percent off the new price that he paid for it in 1966!
Click to expand...

Joe, in this case, obviously, I know I'm high... and I have a lens listed here that I know I'm priced high on as well. But I also know that both items are unusual and were issued in limited quantities. I don't have to sell them, I'm just throwing them out there. If they sell at asking, great; if not no worries, I'll keep them. When I have something I really want to move, I price it attractively. Such are the demands of the market place.

I recognize that there are other folks out there who have the same perspective about their items as I do about these two I currently have for sale. When I find something priced over current market, I'll usually send a note asking if the seller is willing to negotiate, and if there's a price that might leave us both walking away smiling. If there's a conversation to be started that seems to be a good ice-breaker. If not, certainly there's no harm done and there's no need to offend anyone.

But, I really like that idea of pricing things high because I owned them. I need to work harder at becoming a legend in my own mind so I can make that happen and do it with a straight face. 😀
 
I fully support you tossing . . . err . . . selling your M8.
Good luck!

Concerning Craiglist, I've generally found it full of looy-loue's and lots of over priced junk as a whole.
Do sellers ever look at the prices they ask for before posting them?

I'd rather epay it these days as a seller and even part of the time as buyer.
 
I basically bought most of my film cameras through sites like that. Sure, some people are downright delusional, but I don't bother sending someone a message in that case.

I figure they either have a reason or are just clueless, in either case I probably wouldn't be able to convince them anyway. Some people see one camera listed on Ebay for X amount, then straight away think they'll get the same price…

I certainly do bid lower prices for all of second hand gear, but nothing unreasonable. Found some great deals like that, especially when you find a fellow photography nut. I often find including a little information about your collection, wants for certain cameras, etc. that people readily take a lower offer. I basically try to be that proverbial 'good home'.
 
I'll have to admit. Occasionally I've been tempted to let folks know they're way off base with pricing gear (on craigslist or elsewhere). However, I always abstain and chuckle to myself.

It is a bit frustrating when I see an ad for a nice piece, say a Canon IVSB rangefinder in rough but treatable shape that's local to me. While I need another Canon rangefinder like a hole in the head, I'd be game to add to the collection. Then I see the asking price. $1000 firm. Ummm. I can't imagine what the polite suggestion for negotiation would sound like. I doubt there's much room to get down to actual realistic value. So, in this case I'm saved by the delusional seller. I don't need another Canon rangefinder. True story by the way.
 
I've had the opposite occure. Nicely priced user condition M3. Get their and suddenly they want twice the amount as just looked up and blah blah blah. Thanks for making drive across the bay and taking 2 hours out of life to waste my time.

rfaspen said:
It is a bit frustrating when I see an ad for a nice piece, say a Canon IVSB rangefinder in rough but treatable shape that's local to me. While I need another Canon rangefinder like a hole in the head, I'd be game to add to the collection. Then I see the asking price. $1000 firm. Ummm. I can't imagine what the polite suggestion for negotiation would sound like. I doubt there's much room to get down to actual realistic value. So, in this case I'm saved by the delusional seller. I don't need another Canon rangefinder. True story by the way.
Click to expand...
 
You know there is the great American tradition scholars call "the moral economy." Call it the underside of American capitalism--rooted in the way of thinking before capitalism got established. The basic principle is not market exchange, but fair exchange (sometimes caed the "primitive market"). Maybe some of these people felt your price violated this principle--just saying.
 
rfaspen said:
I'll have to admit. Occasionally I've been tempted to let folks know they're way off base with pricing gear (on craigslist or elsewhere). However, I always abstain and chuckle to myself.

It is a bit frustrating when I see an ad for a nice piece, say a Canon IVSB rangefinder in rough but treatable shape that's local to me. While I need another Canon rangefinder like a hole in the head, I'd be game to add to the collection. Then I see the asking price. $1000 firm. Ummm. I can't imagine what the polite suggestion for negotiation would sound like. I doubt there's much room to get down to actual realistic value. So, in this case I'm saved by the delusional seller. I don't need another Canon rangefinder. True story by the way.
Click to expand...

Same exact thing for me. There was a guy on my local CL who had a Pentax 67 and 105 for sale for like $2000. Obviously, no one bought it, but the guy kept bumping the listing every two days for about 10 months. Annoying 🙂

Anyway, I've also been tempted to call people out, but figure it's not worth it.
 
When prices are insanely far off the mark, I don't even bother to contact them.
Same goes for camera shows. I sometimes wonder if it'd work if I put in my offer which is half the asking price, but is a fair market price.
 
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