Agree with you 100%. A lot of times I search the Buy & Sell forums to do my research for price points before I can price an item I am trying to sell or to bid on an item on Flea Bay.
I agree that the seller should leave the price of the item up after it has sold. The problem is though that potential buyers tend NOT to read the entire posts saying the item has been sold and continue to message the seller anyway. Removing the price cuts down on this.
I suspect a good percentage of items are sold at sustantial discounts from the advertised price. Would the seller leave the original price posted or would he reveal the actual selling price and acquire a reputation for being a pushover?
In other words, posted prices are often misleading and fairly useless information; eBay is much more reliable for gauging real selling prices.
bobjames wrote:
In other words, posted prices are often misleading and fairly useless information; eBay is much more reliable for gauging real selling prices.
I would disagree with Ebay being more reliable. I have seen items go for much higher than average due to bidding wars and the gamsmenship of Ebay.
On the flip side there have been items that have sold for less than fair market value as well.
A better gauge may be places like KEH, B&H & Adorama for used pricing.
Leave the prices up but clearly mark the item(s) as sold as well. This can be done with additional text and changing the font colour. There is no "good" reason to remove prices. Leaving pricing intact after a sale improves the marketplace. Even sellers who tend to price high will gain when the roles are reversed and they become buyers.
The laws of supply and demand will ultimately prevail. If a buyer wants something badly enough he/she will likely be willing to pay a bit more than a more casual buyer. If a seller really want to clear some equipment he/she will likely have "softer" pricing.
Maybe this could even go a step further. Perhaps it would be useful to post the actual selling or purchase prices for items as well? If sellers forget to do it, buyers could add the details in the respective thread. This a controversial one as it invades the private details of negotiation.....but it's just a thought
im another one who always thought the prices should be kept up even with the previous message feature. i guess scott or someone should add it to the B&S rules.
Of course, if the seller marks the item SOLD in the header, the item gets greyed out (Fred did a great job here) but most don't do that. If the suggested practice was followed, then there would be no need to overwrite the price...or read the entire post to see the item was sold.
I agree. On the flip side of the coin, if you see an item hanging around on a for sale board like this one for more than a couple of days, the price is probably too high. Knock off 5-10% from that and you'll make a quick sale.
