<<...Bottom line, selling things can be very frustrating regardless of the selling venue (e.g., eBay, CR list, retail bike shop, etc......). >>
Indeed. So true, so true!
There are a few "musts" though if you want successful sales/auctions: ? 1.) Always include, in the most nauseating detail, every possibly aspect of goods you are selling. parts, teeth on cogs, make of everything, widths, length, yada yada...Of course, idiots will still ask questions that are plainly apparent in the auction description, but at least you can just tell them that. And it is a matter of record that you DID supply every possible piece of info.
2.) Clean and detail the darn bike/part! Don't put nasty greasy, dirty, tatty and grungy stuff in pictures and expect any kind of respect! Geez, would you show your house with dirty underwear on the floor of the bathroom? Laziness in preparation equals poor results in sales.
3.) Supply many many very good pictures of every nauseating detail, and both sides of same! Don't say 'pictures on request', just get them out there first so you don't have to answer more email.
4.) State your terms of sale, i.e., if you will OR WILL NOT sell parts & pieces, change things or whatever.? Be firm up frontand reduce silly requests. ? Now, if you don't do the above, you are going to be made miserable
Dale Brown cycles de ORO Bike Shop 1410 Mill Street Greensboro, North Carolina 27408 USA 336-274-5959 http://cyclesdeoro.com http://www.classicrendezvous.com http://www.carolinacup.com http://www.greensborovelo.com http://www.bikegso.org http://nbda.com
-----Original Message----- From: Kevin Kruger <ktk1_7_0_2_8@yahoo.com> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org; crumpy6204@aol.com Sent: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 1:42 pm Subject: [CR] Selling Woes,,,,,eBay vs. CR List,,,it's all the same to me!
John,
While I share your frustrations on eBay selling, I must say that I have exp
erienced the same frustrations offering items to CR list members prior to l
isting on eBay.
For example, I offered a very nice bike to the list recently, received an i
nterest from a a couple list members/lurkers, and after answering quite a f
ew questions, was offered substantially $450 less for the bike!!!!? Now s
ome of his questions were legitimate, but others were a bit ridiculous, as
my tons of photos were self explanatory as to the component group on the bi
ke (that is unless you are vision impaired).? I even offered to make simp
le gearing ratio and wheel/rim rebuild changes at no additional cost.? Am
going to part this bike out, and await the stone throwers bashing me for d
oing so.
I have also had list members tell me they would take an item offered for sa
le, only to never be heard from again.? Assume I am not the only one to h
ave experienced this situation.? Granted, you can have the same thing hap
pen to you on eBay, but in my personal case, the deadbeat buyer ratio is hi
gher on the list versus eBay.
As for eBay watchers, they have nothing to do with the saleability of your
item,,,,trust me on that.? You can have a ton of eBay watchers, who simpl
y are interested in seeing what your item sells or doesn't sell for = I'm
always prepared for the bottom feeders who were watching the item, only to
make a low ball offer outside of the eBay system (as recently experienced
with a pair of AKRONT rims).? I also have a NOS Cinelli 1R stem bolt for
sale on eBay currently for a starting price of $8.99 with FREE shipping, an
d eleven (11) people are watching the auction = now why would you watch s
uch a cheap item if you were truly interested in it and not simply place a
bid?!?!?!? If an item fails to sell the first time around, that is not an
indicator of it being priced too high, as many times it sells for much mor
e on a relist.
Bottom line, selling things can be very frustrating regardless of the selli
ng venue (e.g., eBay, CR list, retail bike shop, etc......).
For what it's worth, or not worth!
Kevin Kruger = Grantville, PA
=0A=0A=0A