Why?

[strangerthings]

Why don't we create a for sale section? Just curious....

Jeff

 

[Steven Thornberry]

I have moved this from the Want to Buy forum where others could not have replied.

 

[Jim Haney]

Jeff,
We had a sales mart for many years and the reason we discontinued it was lack of use.

It was the same people putting things up at twice the price you could buy it online,eBay, whatever, and they would leave junk up for years, so when you looked at things it was the same old items that never sold.

That is just peoples nature and you can't do anything about it. You see the same thing on eBay when people run items with a BIN at ridiculous price for a years.

The only way I see it working is start for $1 and let it go for whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

We tried to do this with the 4$Sale site for several years around 2005. The operation took a great deal of labor and has been noted by Jim generated a very modest number of sales. It was managed by the NAWCC professional staff and could not cover its expenses.

There is nothing to prevent anyone from starting a conversation with someone who seems to have something they would like to sell. Some of those ask for help in the Value forums at the bottom of the forum list. These forums are by their nature and purpose not private, but conversations are private and may have multiple participants.

If anyone feels they are being abused in a conversation, they may notify the moderation team by reporting the conversation.

We also sell ad space here on the Message Board. Participation is open to NAWCC Members. My AWCo ad and Dave Coatsworth's ad are both visible on the Forum Home page. The advertising function is at the bottom of the screen. If you are interested you need to apply and be vetted before posting ads.

 

[Dick C]

Jeff,
We had a sales mart for many years and the reason we discontinued it was lack of use.

It was the same people putting things up at twice the price you could buy it online,eBay, whatever, and they would leave junk up for years, so when you looked at things it was the same old items that never sold.

That is just peoples nature and you can't do anything about it. You see the same thing on eBay when people run items with a BIN at ridiculous price for a years.

The only way I see it working is start for $1 and let it go for whatever someone is willing to pay for it.

Perhaps it also failed because some of the items that were put up for sale were for NAWCC members only to purchase.

One could solve the aging problem of items by limiting the number of days that it would be put on sale to some number, 7 days, 14 days, ...

You might also limit the number of items that one could put up for sale.

 

[strangerthings]

I agree, it may be worth another shot if you create some rules up front. Minimum post before posting in the section, limit bumping, and after so many days it gets taken down.

 

[shutterbug]

One issue is that there are two types of buyers. Those who buy to sell are looking for items that sell at about 1/2 their actual value. Those who collect may be willing to pay closer to retail prices. You would probably want more of the latter if you are the seller, and less if you are the buyer. I'm not sure what the mix might be here. There are already many options for auctioning off horological items. One more would make little difference in my opinion.

 

[Tom McIntyre]

One issue is that there are two types of buyers. Those who buy to sell are looking for items that sell at about 1/2 their actual value. Those who collect may be willing to pay closer to retail prices. You would probably want more of the latter if you are the seller, and less if you are the buyer. I'm not sure what the mix might be here. There are already many options for auctioning off horological items. One more would make little difference in my opinion.

I think this topic comes up from time to time because there is an assumption that it will be free or at least any modest fees will go to the NAWCC.

My inclination would be more toward opening our discussions to a bit more commercial content. All sales are eventually between a buyer and seller, but promoters and brokers earn their money also and that is why they get a cut. Some active traders do not like transparency because they think their "edge" comes from special knowledge of either the market or the merchandise. Others favor transparency because of the likelihood of uncovering other examples of interesting items.

 

[strangerthings]

How about you have to be a donor to be apart of the for sale forum?