Help me understand people selling stuff.

DFH65

DFH65

En-Route
Joined
Jun 29, 2013
Messages
2,629
Display Name
Display name:
DFH65
I see people trying to sell items for example headsets (but could be anything) a few years old and used for 100-$200 dollars representing 10-20% off the cost to buy new.

I am as cheap as they come and can make Lincoln scream I pinch my pennies so hard but seriously buying used to save 10% just doesn't make sense to me when for 100 bucks I can get brand new and a full warranty.
 
Doesn't make sense to me either. I would probably want 50% off unless in virtually new, verifiable condx. Of course an item never used in the orignal box might have a transferable warranty so 10% and no tax is a saving on a new item. On something like a used car still under warranty you could probably only get 15% off because in my state incidental sales between private individual pay no sales tax. So 15 % becomes 23%
 
DFH65 said:
I see people trying to sell items for example headsets (but could be anything) a few years old and used for 100-$200 dollars representing 10-20% off the cost to buy new.

I am as cheap as they come and can make Lincoln scream I pinch my pennies so hard but seriously buying used to save 10% just doesn't make sense to me when for 100 bucks I can get brand new and a full warranty.
Click to expand...
The question that interests me is whether they actually get at or close to 10-20% off new. Otherwise, let Darwin the supply-demand curve sort them out.
 
DFH65 said:
I see people trying to sell items for example headsets (but could be anything) a few years old and used for 100-$200 dollars representing 10-20% off the cost to buy new.

I am as cheap as they come and can make Lincoln scream I pinch my pennies so hard but seriously buying used to save 10% just doesn't make sense to me when for 100 bucks I can get brand new and a full warranty.
Click to expand...
Their fishing. For bottom fish. There's a sucker born every minute. Worth a try. If you're' not in a rush to sell, why not give it a go?
 
My stuff is always worth more than I paid for it…this is why we see so many abandoned planes. It’s worth whatever someone will pay
 
I sold a truck last fall (to a dealer), that I had for less than 11 months, for $500 less than I paid for it. That was a 1.7% discount for those of you keeping score.
 
I think it often has a little something to do with people valuing their own stuff more that it's worth.... their s*** don't stink kind of mentality...
I get it for something that is legit "new in the box"....but usually even that stuff has been removed for the box and used....so it's not really new in the box. Most things wouldn't apply to that logic I think....
 
I’m more confused with people selling stuff, that their is no real demand for at high prices. So I assume if it doesn’t sell, they will throw it away or keep it in a closet for another 20 years.
 
Lindberg said:
It's a real thing, called the Endowment effect. And if you don't experience it, you're in the minority.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endowment_effect
Click to expand...

I wonder if this is why I would rather buy a tool than rent one, even if I'm likely to only ever need it one time. I value the potential (if likely never to be realized again) usefulness of having a specialty thing like that.
 
My experience has always been that the baseline price for something used is 50% of the new price. That's the starting point. Specific circumstances such as overall age and condition may move the target up or down a bit.

I share the OP's confusion of why someone would pay $800 for a used Bose A20 headset that they could get for $1000 brand new, with warranty, sans sweat & scratches. If you can afford to spend $1000 for a headset, you can afford to spend $1000. If you're worried about spending $1000 for the Bose, just get a Lightspeed for $850 - new with warranty, rather than someone else's headset with sweat stains and scratches.
 
Life has many stages. People have many psyches. I think I have been a part of most. I like the current "Oh, WTF . . ." stage, where the kids are on the path to established careers, and we have enough assets to live out our life, if only meagerly.

Especially since M'lady is onboard. :blowingkisses:
 
Unit74 said:
Well, at least the ads don’t say “Call for price” and “No tire kickers!”
Click to expand...
I don't think I've ever seen a DA-40 for sale with a listed price. It's always "Call for price." It's not that great of a plane buddy.
 
I’ve noted of late that for sale of items negotiable in price that there’s no such thing anymore as “low ball” offers. Used to be the seller advertised a high price with the full expectation of low offers and eventually met in the middle. Now the item is ignored as though low ball offers are immoral or an insult.
 
I’ve been curious about this too. For bicycles in the $2000-$10,000 range people seem to think 10-20% below new is a good deal. And this has been going on for as long as I’ve been following bikes.

I don’t get it. For that little of a delta, I’m just going to buy a new one. But I guess others feel differently.
 
That’s nothing. Used teslas are going for 105% of new. Makes no sense.
 
I met a fellow at a flea market who had this bit of wisdom, it makes sense when you think about it: "You make your money on the purchase, not the sale." There will always be a spread of buying prices and selling prices, a bell curve. It is easier to find sellers on the left side of the curve when you are buying as time is on your side, you can afford to wait for somebody who needs to sell low. When you are selling, trying to find buyers on the right side of the curve is harder.
 
1 dollar bills for sale at a low low price of 5 dollars.!!

Hurry, these won't last long.!!!

PM credit card....

(apparently there are folks that fall for this...)
 
Beware the expression "testing the waters". I refer to it as reverse tire kicking. If they get any interest they pull the ad and repost later at a higher price.
 
If some one is willing to buy, it's the right price. If it's more than you are willing to pay, it still is the right price for the seller, if some one else buys.
 
The pandemic created a supply dynamic to this. Prior to the pandemic, I would randomly sell an item or two. As an example, I was selling a car at below KBB value so that i could sell it quick and be done as I didn't really have room for it and i find the selling process to be annoying. I was getting offers for less than half of asking. I expected offers to be less than asking but, not that much. So, I raised the price to above KBB and end up getting what I wanted for it. During the pandemic, I had about 80 feet of #6 wire left over from a project. I listed if for half of what it cost in the store, I still had people offering half of asking price. So now, if i see something that is priced appropriately, I assume that its got something significantly wrong with it.
 
People are cheap. In my business we lost customers to other businesses because they were a few dollars cheaper. Even though their product was much lower quality.
 
Kinda like driving across town and sitting in line for 20 minutes to save a nickel a gallon on gas when your car holds 12 gallons. :dunno:
 
Daleandee said:
Kinda like driving across town and sitting in line for 20 minutes to save a nickel a gallon on gas when your car holds 12 gallons. :dunno:
Click to expand...

When we used to have a gas station in town they would have a gas "sale" on Tuesdays where they cut the price by a nickle. My wife would nearly run her car empty waiting for Tuesdays sale. I explained to her that if she saved .05 on 20 gallons it wasn't worth the dollar to run out and make me come get her.
 
DaleB said:
Maybe they’ve recently sold a house and figured they could get multiple offers at 10% over their asking price for a used headset too.
Click to expand...
Which would make sense if the supply ratio of available headsets to buyers was similar to the supply of available houses to home buyers (i.e. wickedly out of equilibrium).

Thing is, headset manufacturers have plenty of headsets ready to ship.
 
Back when I sold race gas and methonal, I added t-shirts. I wanted to get the name out to the general public, so I tried selling at cost. These were quality beefy-t shirts, not cheap ones. After a month I only sold a few. So next time at the track I raised the price up to the same price the track was selling their t shirts for. I sold out my entire stock that weekend...

I once found a XXXXXXXL t shirt, so I bought it and had the fuel name silk screened on it. I mean this thing was large.!! I was using it as advertising. I think it could have covered a refrigerator all the way to the floor. One night a guy came by and saw it. He asked the size, and I told him 7XL. He asked if he could try it on, and it fit. He asked how much and I told him I will sell it at my cost of 56 bucks.He handed my three 20s and said keep the change....because he can never find a race t shirt that fits.... :lol::lol:


upload_2022-4-11_17-46-15.jpeg​
 
Lot of fun with how you can price things. A lot has to do with Behavioral Economics.

Offer for sale a widget for $5.00, and you'll get some response. Sell the same widget in a different name/different box for $10, and sell the original widget for $7.00. You'll sell so many at $10, and a lot more at $7 vs only selling it at $5. Context.

Then there are those that think a higher price = higher quality, and you'll sell based on that.

Years ago I consulted for Mercury Marine outboard motors. They had three brands, Force, Mariner, and Mercury. Mariner and Mercury were absolutely identical. Same parts, same factory, etc. Mercury was priced higher for those that wanted a higher quality outboard. And they gladly paid.
 
Zeldman said:
I once found a XXXXXXXL t shirt, so I bought it and had the fuel name silk screened on it. I mean this thing was large.!! I was using it as advertising. I think it could have covered a refrigerator all the way to the floor. One night a guy came by and saw it. He asked the size, and I told him 7XL. He asked if he could try it on, and it fit. He asked how much and I told him I will sell it at my cost of 56 bucks.He handed my three 20s and said keep the change....because he can never find a race t shirt that fits.... :lol::lol:
Click to expand...
I take it he was not a driver? Otherwise, that seems like a pretty serious weight penalty.
 
I think it comes down to the product and discount cycles. When I was big into buying new tech (apple), apple would rarely if ever discount their equipment. But you could get a gently used maybe couple month old piece 10-20% off because someone didn’t want it anymore.
 
WDD said:
Lot of fun with how you can price things. A lot has to do with Behavioral Economics.
Click to expand...

Many moons ago as a boy I learned that lesson in a store. Canned goods could be stacked up and priced at .25 cents each and they sold modestly. Put up a bargain sale sign price of four for $1.00 and they would fly off the shelves.

In the auto parts world the parts for a Lincoln were higher priced than an identical Ford part. Even today the Suburban and Escalade share many parts but the part numbers and prices for them may not be same although the part is. Many OMC boat engines share parts with thier GMC counter parts but again prices won't be the same.
 
I worked in a photo lab in the 90's. A vendor gave us a couple huge boxes of little camera bags/pouches for free. We put them out in baskets as freebees ro any customer that wanted one. They sat. For months. The owner stored them in back for a couple weeks then put them back out front with a price tag $3.50 each. They sold out promptly. "Percieved value" the owner said. Free stuff isn't worth anything but $3.50 is a good deal. We people are strange animals.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top