My recent classifieds experience.

[Paul T.]

've had fantastic experiences buying and selling on here. David Murphy, as mentioned, was excellent; I've had repeat buyers who tell me how they're getting on with the previous gear, and in general I've found this a far better place than eBay.

As someone else mentioned, though, I've had the runaround at least twice in the last year from new members - in future I might hang on replying to their PMs, in case someone whose name I recognise makes an offer.

 

[Beemermark]

I just want to say I have the same problem with people not answering at photo.net. The one I find really frustrating is when someone is looking (WTB) for a specific piece of equipment and never replies.

There has been a Dell 19" monitor up for sale (twice I think) that I have used every means available to contact the buyer, multiple times over multiple days. Finally just bought a new one.

 

[nobbylon]

It can be frustrating at times, that's why when i'm selling high value items I prefer established members only. I do reply to offer pm's as long as it's sensible.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

I think in my case the new member only made an offer because he lived nearby and wanted to say 'Hello'.

When I accepted his offer of cash and local pick up he realized that I really was selling at this time, and not at a drinks party to meet people.

 

[SergioGuerra]

Although the fact that I had good prices, my recent experience with classifieds was very good.
I sold my Minolta CLE and my 40mm Summicron-C on the same day I put the adverts online 🙂
And one strange thing was that both items were sold to members within Portugal, that is quite odd since there aint that many Portuguese members on RFF 🙂

 

[M like Leica M6]

Thanks to all, I just tried that and offer two cameras in the classifieds now... response is amazing, I will put in a lot more during the weekend... see list above... 🙂

 

[Beemermark]

with Ducky on the lack of communication, in some cases, when sellers list an item for sale and don't respond to questions. I recently asked some questions about a camera which was up for sale here on RFF. The seller answered my question and asked a question of his own, I answered; no reply was forthcoming for several days. When I asked what was up with my answer and his camera, he indicated that the camera had sold to another buyer who (apparently) didn't ask any questions. I said a reply would have been nice; he said I was rude for asking what was up...I offer this ONE example, but I've had other inquiries go unanswered as well. The successful transactions always happen because the seller took the time to communicate with me. Ducky was one of those sellers.

Mary in SW Florida

I had a camera for sale, and I may be the person Mary refers to, then again I may not. Anyway when you put a camera up for sale sometimes you get you get quite a few people asking question, I do my best to answer them. Between answering questions for one person another person bought it with Paypal. The gal asking all the questions seemed to get upset that I did not ask her permission before I sold it.

Point is you can ask all the questions you want. But the first buyer, my the official time my email recieves it, gets it. My point is if you think you really want the item you should send an email saying I'll take if it has these features I'm looking for and I'm willing to pay your asking price.

 

[M like Leica M6]

Now as I put eight ads into the classifieds I have my own experience.
One TLR with some accessories was sold. Not too much after two weeks.
One Leica equipment was viewed more than 3,100 times, several people asked questions, but nobody bought it. Same or similar with a Linhof Press 70, a Canon 2/100, a Zenza Bronica, a Canon VT deluxe, a Summicron and a Zeiss Biogon. Actually, all these goods are popular with photographers or collectors.
Maybe the crisis hits this market, too.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

One Leica equipment was viewed more than 3,100 times...

I think the counter is broken.

When I put a camera in the classifieds I got something like 300 viewings in the first few minutes, and there were only about five people there.

 

[M like Leica M6]

Price it right and it will sell. Easy as that. That said, I've had far better luck selling elsewhere lately.

I followed your advice and changed the prices... quite significantly. :bang: