Why are sellers removing sale price?

[mani]

I've noticed a tendency over the last few days which I've never noticed before (I've been mostly away from the forum for a couple months travelling, so this might've been happening for longer) - that is, sellers on the classifieds immediately removing the asking (and, presumably, selling) price on an item as soon as it is sold, and replacing it simply with 'SOLD'.

I'm wondering what the motivation is, and I'd also favor some sort of rule to stop it happening.

For the less initiated, the buy/sell value of an item they may already have or want to buy is quite difficult to come by, and the classifieds on a reputable forum like this are an invaluable source of information. Much better to look over recent ads here than on the bay, where prices often fail to show any sort of pattern or consistency.

The irony is that these sellers will presumably have used other people's sell-price to determine the value of their own equipment, but they can get quite annoyed if anyone asks them to keep the prices visible.

 

[nobbylon]

I always remove my sale price as a courtesy to the buyer. I just think it's polite. After all, what business is it of yours or anyone else what price a buyer and seller agree on? It's between them and them alone unless they wish to divulge the info to a 3rd party. If you sell a house or a car or anything for that matter, is the final sale price disclosed to 3rd parties? NO

 

[Disaster_Area]

I'm on the fence on this one... as a buyer... yes I'd like to be able to keep an eye on the selling prices of stuff I'm interested in so I know what's a "good deal" when I want to pick one up.... on the other hand I don't like it for the same reason as a seller. If say an item is worth $600 but someone in desperate need or cash (or for any other reason) posts and sells that item for $300... the next person who wants to sell that item posts it for $300 or even less because he saw that price.... now I want to sell my copy of that item and no one wants to pay $600 because the last couple people paid way less for theirs. This type of artificial deflation of prices can be worse here because on the whole we deal with a lot of semi to very rare items... so that one really low selling price might be the only example of a sale of that item that month or even year... you don't get this kind of problem on say fredmiranda buy/sell forums because they deal with mostly DSLR gear and there's 30-40 70-200L's sold a month and the average selling price is more meaningful... aberrant data from one guy selling really cheap gets absorbed into the average over a lot of sales of that item.

In the end I think it's the sellers right to either keep or remove the selling price... because really once the deal is off the table it's no one else's business besides the buyer and the seller... so it's up to the individual. In the end... a piece of gear only has two values... how much you're willing to part with it for... and how much someone's willing to pay for it... everything in between is just time; how long do you want to wait for a cheaper one....and how long you want to wait for a buyer that will meet your price 🙂

 

[ampguy]

dude, please

dude, please

let the paying people placing ads run them the way they wish to. Thanks.

I've noticed a tendency over the last few days which I've never noticed before (I've been mostly away from the forum for a couple months travelling, so this might've been happening for longer) - that is, sellers on the classifieds immediately removing the asking (and, presumably, selling) price on an item as soon as it is sold, and replacing it simply with 'SOLD'.

I'm wondering what the motivation is, and I'd also favor some sort of rule to stop it happening.

For the less initiated, the buy/sell value of an item they may already have or want to buy is quite difficult to come by, and the classifieds on a reputable forum like this are an invaluable source of information. Much better to look over recent ads here than on the bay, where prices often fail to show any sort of pattern or consistency.

The irony is that these sellers will presumably have used other people's sell-price to determine the value of their own equipment, but they can get quite annoyed if anyone asks them to keep the prices visible.

 

[thetooth]

i recently sold a few items here . quite a few of the items i sold went for the an agreed upon price . once the individual pm'ed me we worked out a price that was comfortable for both of us , so i deleted the sale price and just put sold .

for instance i sold a m6 to a guy from the forum locally so i knocked off some money for the convenience / cash .


some thing is only worth what another person will pay for it .

i say let the seller do what he/she wants with their ad and i am sure if someone post a ad where the price is to high we are vocal enough on this forum to let them know :angel:

 

[Disaster_Area]

i am sure if someone post a ad where the price is to high we are vocal enough on this forum to let them know :angel:

I think this is the ONLY part of the buy/sell forum here (and other places) I don't like... if I want to post something for more than the "average" price that's my business... no one is forcing anyone to pay that price... if someone's in desperate need of the item and is willing to pay my price because there isn't one posted at the average price right then... that's their business. If they don't want to pay the price I'm asking and can wait for a cheaper one to come around... no skin off my back... that's their choice.

Like I said... there's only two values to an item... what I'm willing to part with it for... and what someone's willing to buy it for. Sometimes I price low because I need the cash or just want to get rid of the item... sometimes I price high because I'm on the fence about selling it and I'm willing to wait for someone willing to pay my asking price.

Really I think there's only four valid types of responses on classifieds, questions about the item or:

"I've dealt with this seller and he's a great guy to deal with"
"I've dealt with this guy and he ripped me off" (only if it's true)
"I'll take it"

Price is between the buyer and the seller and should stay that way.

 

[peter_n]

Seems to be a storm in a teacup. I think sellers should be left to maintain their ads, over the years it seems to me when something is sold here the price comes off or the ad just disappears. On photo.net if the ad remains (seller can delete it at any time) in general the price does too even though the seller can easily delete it. Just a different way of doing things over there. If you're looking for prices you need to be proactive and check out all the forums as well as eBay, if you plan ahead eBay can be very useful.

 

[__hh]

What the item actually went for is up to the seller/buyer to disclose, no one else's business.

Asking price can be anything, and there's plenty to base your guess on (e.g antiquecameras.net, fleabay, etc).

 

[thetooth]

here is a okay source for prices and it gives you ebay ads as well

http://www.antiquecameras.net/home.html

 

[back alley]

"i say let the seller do what he/she wants with their ad and i am sure if someone post a ad where the price is to high we are vocal enough on this forum to let them know "

and this is against the rules and will be deleted.

the ad belongs to the buyer and they can do what they want within the confines of the few rules that stephen has set.

 

[thetooth]

"i say let the seller do what he/she wants with their ad and i am sure if someone post a ad where the price is to high we are vocal enough on this forum to let them know "

and this is against the rules and will be deleted.

the ad belongs to the buyer and they can do what they want within the confines of the few rules that stephen has set.

i didn't know that and i was being a smart @ss hence the angel .
just meant we have a very vocal forum .
no harm

 

[pagpow]

Looks like the handwriting is on the wall here -- but two points may be worth making:

1) I did not read the OP to be requesting that the final price be posted, only that the asking price not be removed after a sale.

2) I'm a little confused by the strength of the privacy argument (tho I definitely hear it) about a price that was, after all, posted publicly.

This seems to be a little at odds with the otherwise incredible generosity wrt info on this forum.

That said, I'm certainly not willing to push this and jeopardize that generosity or the availability of screened gear.

 

[nobbylon]

Call me suspicious if you like but what is the motive behind needing to know other peoples financial dealings anyway? Do your own research, find out from many sources what you think an item is worth and sell or buy at a price you are comfortable and happy with. If someone is wanting to know how much something is worth to someone else, watch said item at the time of posting the ad and see if it sells or not. I've posted on the forum before about people actually having the nerve to ask me what I sold something for! I just think it's a bl@@@y cheek. Do your own homework!

 

[enochRoot]

yeah, i have an ad running now where someone tried to chime in and tell me not to replace prices with "SOLD". it kinda pissed me off. i paid for the ad and i'll run it as i see fit. i'm not trying to be part of a sales aggregate for pricing purposes. i'm selling some extra gear. glad to hear that other people are with me on this one!

and thanks to the OP for kindly linking to my ad to use me as an example.

 

[photobizzz]

If I pay the $5 to list MY item for sale, how is it anyone else's business if I leave the selling price or replace it with "SOLD" If someone were to ask politely I would be happy to let them know how much I paid for an item, but the buyer should have the final say. If I pay more than the present norm for the item that is my business.

Anyway if you just look on eBay at he completed auctions for the specific item and decide on a median asking price. Also take what I paid originally and subtract some for "use" of the item...too easy.

 

[Disaster_Area]

Anyway if you just look on eBay at he completed auctions for the specific item and decide on a median asking price.

This is a feature I actually just found out about recently... and it's VERY revealing... I can't remember what it was I was looking at recently... I think a Contax G1 kit... but the completed listings search was FULL of adds around $700-1000 for kits with the 45mm that didn't sell, and ALL the auctions that actually sold were down around the $300-400 mark... still a bit more than what they seem to go for on this forum, but a much better indicator of what people are actually willing to pay for them. It's a really good way to weed out the overly hopeful people posting "collectors" prices (EVERYTHING seems to be rare and hard to find nowadays 🙂

 

[back alley]

i didn't know that and i was being a smart @ss hence the angel .
just meant we have a very vocal forum .
no harm

no foul


.

 

[enochRoot]

Lol.......

 

[ampguy]

Mike

Mike

That version is the "Boke King"!! I would have easily gone 30,000 !!!

Stop leaving money on the table!!

Hi mani, thanks for pointing this out. Due to your needs, I've included the price that I sold the 35mm summicron for in my recent ad.

They must be getting rare! Link to ad

 

[coelacanth]

Hi mani, thanks for pointing this out. Due to your needs, I've included the price that I sold the 35mm summicron for in my recent ad.

They must be getting rare! Link to ad

Saw your fantastic price of the Cron and figured you were responding to this debate before seeing your last comment here. LOL.

Of course as a buyer, there are times I want to see the sold price, but there are so many other ways to get the ballpark pricing. When I sell stuff, I usually take off the price, especially relatively major item like cameras and lenses. I have left the price on cheaper items like filters and adapters before, but would have taken them out if buyer would mind.

How to run PAID ad should be up to the seller as long as he/she follows the guideline, and the seller can respect the actual buyer and hide the price. That's their business.

In the past, I've got Private messages, not comments on ad, asking what the final price was. If they ask nicely and price was really good (I believe all of my items were so far) I don't mind telling the price PRIVATELY, and decision should be mine, the seller while respecting my buyer.