Good place to post "For Sale" ads

[Beemermark]

I've posted a lot of ads on this forum with good results but it is simply too difficult. Just did it again, spent maybe 15 minutes creating an ad only to have it go "poof" at the end. Ad remain current (and visible) only until replaced by newer ads, the search feature does not work if you're looking for a specific item.

I've posted a lot of ads on ebay in the past but hate using that for all the various reasons. I have 30 (+) years of gear to sell.

Any suggestions?

 

[Ljós]

Beemermark, I hear you. I also think that the Classifieds leave quite a bit of room for improvement. (Visibility of the ads, the feedback system need to be made more accessible, and having two separate systems for PMs is a bad idea, in my opinion.)

I had ads that I spent lots of time preparing vanish on me, too, so this is what I do, and maybe you wanna give it a try before you seek other pastures for your gear: type the text for the ad in a word editor etc. and save it. Copy and paste into the ad-template at RFF when you are done. That way, when the ad vanishes the first time around, it is a just a matter of copy and paste again. (Granted the pics need to be selected and uploaded again, that is a hassle. But it sure beats starting from scratch.)

As a seller, I feel that one can fetch higher prices elsewhere (ok, the fees here being flat and not percentage it is debatable how much higher the net difference is. On the other hand I have "lost" quite a bit of fees here through re-listing etc.).
But I am a bit sentimental about selling here, I like how the gear circulates between the users and continents and I never had one bit of serious trouble buying and selling here. So there you have it.

 

[Corran]

Send it all to KEH if your time is more valuable than the premium of selling it direct.

Or find someone to sell everything on eBay for you for a flat fee/percentage. I do this for folks all the time (locally usually) for a 15% commission on the net sale price.

 

[CameraQuest]

I've posted a lot of ads on this forum with good results but it is simply too difficult. Just did it again, spent maybe 15 minutes creating an ad only to have it go "poof" at the end. Ad remain current (and visible) only until replaced by newer ads, the search feature does not work if you're looking for a specific item.

I've posted a lot of ads on ebay in the past but hate using that for all the various reasons. I have 30 (+) years of gear to sell.

Any suggestions?

Saving the text in a word editor is a good idea. Later it also gives you a record of what you said in the ad.

RFF as well as the classifieds work best with FireFox, and worst with Explorer.

Do you have popup windows enabled for RFF in your browser?

Recently a new member was having trouble with an ad, not being able to place it. it turned out that he was not filling out all the required info - and so the ad never got to the submit and pay stage.

Try the above, and let me know how it goes.

Best,
Stephen

 

[Ljós]

I use Firefox and think I had filled everything in, and yet lost all the input, I think because of this scenario:

I was logged in when I started creating the ad (at least I thought so/it showed me as logged in), then after hitting submit the next screen was the login screen. After logging in I was, well.... logged in. But all previous input was gone and could not be retrieved. All in all this happened several times and it is the main reason I use the wordeditor-method.

Greetings, and thanks to the bartender and photomoof for chiming in - Ljós

 

[daveleo]

Yeh, this happens (the time-out thing logs you out and you're ad is lost). Happened to me a few times.
I write the ad into a text file. Get all the pictures lined up in one folder. Then spend minimal time filling in the ad form. Has worked fine for the last few ads.
Would be SUPER if the time-out feature were disabled during ad write-up.

 

[Brian Legge]

For entirely selfish reasons, I hope people can help Beemermark figure out how to post here productively. I purchased an M4 from him a few years ago and it remains one of the smoothest, most fair transactions I've had on the site. I'd buy again from him in a heartbeat.

One approach for selling here would be to include only a list of the fear and prices. Link to an album on flickr or elsewhere with a list of images. It would minimize the amount of information you have to get up here and would allow you to refer people to the gear from other sites if you don't get much interest on RFF.

 

[Ljós]

Yeh, this happens (the time-out thing logs you out and you're ad is lost). Happened to me a few times.
I write the ad into a text file. Get all the pictures lined up in one folder. Then spend minimal time filling in the ad form. Has worked fine for the last few ads.
Would be SUPER if the time-out feature were disabled during ad write-up.

+ 1!
I suspected this had to be related to a time-out feature. I can imagine this must has caused frustration to others as well.

 

[ray*j*gun]

I know this sounds snobby but I dont mean it that way but I am so careful and selective about what I buy when i do sell something I like to sell to people I feel will appreciate the gear. Plus I think its worth the extra effort to use this site since when you do sell you arent creamed with complicated and expensive fees.

BTW I always print my own ads so I know what I said later.... I have to try using a word doc then copy and pasting that sounds like a good idea!

Need more PM space and need to make feedback easier to access.

Thanks

 

[Timmyjoe]

It does take some time to post an ad, but I feel it is worth it in that the response I get from ads here are more positive than ads placed on other forums, and especially Craigslist and the big auction site. Here, folks that respond to my ads are serious about purchasing and fair to deal with. Just my personal experience.

Good luck. Would love to see a list of your 30 years of gear you're selling.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Beemermark]

posting

posting

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Some one could have a nice business venture making a web site like evilbay solely for cameras. When evilbay blacked balled firearms a number of web sites that look like evilbay where started and do quite well. They sell on a very low flat fee. I've looked into it but until I quit my full time (full time and a half?) job I just don't have time.

My ad was a very short one, 4 items under $50. Written in Word and it had NO pictures. Firefox is current. When I hit submit it sent me back to the log in page (even though I was logged in) Must be a very short timeout.

 

[burancap]

The key is definitely the copy & paste ... and not just here! That is good practice for anything, anywhere, that you have spent a lot of time on. Too many things can go wrong to not do this.

As far as where else? I would definitely revisit listing here. It may not have the audience numbers, but this is a situation where I will always take quality over quantity! My experiences here have been very positive, and when not, were always worked out amicably. How easy life would be if all families got along this well.

 

[CameraQuest]

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Some one could have a nice business venture making a web site like evilbay solely for cameras. When evilbay blacked balled firearms a number of web sites that look like evilbay where started and do quite well. They sell on a very low flat fee. I've looked into it but until I quit my full time (full time and a half?) job I just don't have time.

Actually, its been done. About two years ago Jorge Torralba and I created a camera selling site. It died for lack of ads.

Stephen

 

[hamradio]

I've said this before and I'll say it again. Some one could have a nice business venture making a web site like evilbay solely for cameras. When evilbay blacked balled firearms a number of web sites that look like evilbay where started and do quite well. They sell on a very low flat fee. I've looked into it but until I quit my full time (full time and a half?) job I just don't have time.

I've been thinking about this, myself. I move a bit of stuff on eBay, and the fees are awful. I'd really rather not give eBay $100/month. The classifieds here are OK, but few around here would have interest in most things I sell (low end 35mm slr gear, cine lenses, etc.). If only some type of used-only gear exchange site existed...

 

[daveleo]

................

My ad was a very short one, 4 items under $50. Written in Word and it had NO pictures. Firefox is current. When I hit submit it sent me back to the log in page (even though I was logged in) Must be a very short timeout.

I am going to speculate a little. If you wrote the ad in a word processor, then it has (invisible) tags embeded in it. Possibly ? that choked the ad form ?? Even a cut & paste would be copying the tags (I think).

I use a plain text editor (like Notepad), and that works fine.

 

[Beemermark]

I've been thinking about this, myself. I move a bit of stuff on eBay, and the fees are awful. I'd really rather not give eBay $100/month. The classifieds here are OK, but few around here would have interest in most things I sell (low end 35mm slr gear, cine lenses, etc.). If only some type of used-only gear exchange site existed...

I see Stephan gave it a try and it died from lack of interest. Depressing.

Now that I'm over my morning frustration I'll give it another shot.

 

[CameraQuest]

I see Stephan gave it a try and it died from lack of interest. Depressing.

Now that I'm over my morning frustration I'll give it another shot.

I'm in the office most of today.
if you have more problems, try calling me and we can go step by step after you have entered your ad info.

818-879-1968

Best, Stephen

 

[Solinar]

RFF as well as the classifieds work best with FireFox, and worst with Explorer.

Do you have popup windows enabled for RFF in your browser?

Best,
Stephen

Another Firefox user here - on a PC, not a phone and I haven't had any issues placing my recent ads, even though I'm very klutzy.

Best Regards from: