Shopsmith Forums

pieceseeker wrote:I guess I shouldn't have expected anymore from someone who is going to put zero effort into selling something. I did think the response was hilarious though.

Effort was my point earlier. Sometimes its not worth it, especially if you don't need to make a quick sale. I always ask a fair price for the condition, and because I can be patient I usually get very close to what I ask. If I were highballing people and trying to make more money, yes I would put in extra effort. But there really isn't a whole lot more money to be made, and I'm not a fan of having more strangers at my house than is necessary.

In this case, he knew you weren't a serious buyer. It's a good filter to not dealing with looky-loos who use up all your time. If I were him, and someone asked a relevant question about accessories or for a pic of a specific part I would give them my time and effort. If someone replied "can I see pics" with nothing more specific then it depends on how busy I am that day. Trust me, I've had people waste LOTS of my time and in hindsight they were never going to buy anything. You sell enough, you learn how to weed them out.

First impressions are a big factor in how I feel about an item for sale. When somebody says don't waste my time and I won't waste you time and don't post at least 1 photo I'm out of there.

How's this for a great CL listing picture?




http://batonrouge.craigslist.org/tls/3595418731.html

fredsheldon wrote:First impressions are a big factor in how I feel about an item for sale. When somebody says don't waste my time and I won't waste you time and don't post at least 1 photo I'm out of there.

Exactly!! I feel the same way. I will even look at 10er's if they have a picture. 9 times out of 10, any 10er's for sale are always a piece of rusted junk, would not even consider one at any price, but I still like to see them. Even if they are only selling for $100,at least they took time to take a pic.

frank81 wrote:Effort was my point earlier. Sometimes its not worth it, especially if you don't need to make a quick sale. I always ask a fair price for the condition, and because I can be patient I usually get very close to what I ask. If I were highballing people and trying to make more money, yes I would put in extra effort. But there really isn't a whole lot more money to be made, and I'm not a fan of having more strangers at my house than is necessary.

In this case, he knew you weren't a serious buyer. It's a good filter to not dealing with looky-loos who use up all your time. If I were him, and someone asked a relevant question about accessories or for a pic of a specific part I would give them my time and effort. If someone replied "can I see pics" with nothing more specific then it depends on how busy I am that day. Trust me, I've had people waste LOTS of my time and in hindsight they were never going to buy anything. You sell enough, you learn how to weed them out.

You know, I think that if a person puts enough detail in description and plenty of pictures and a reasonable price, that in itself should limit the number of questions you have to answer and or send pics.

When I come to a listing without pics, yes, I am turned off. For that listing, I move on to others. I don't want to contact the seller unless I am interested in buying. The only way I'm going to be interested in a purchase is if I can see it first. Why should I waste my time asking for pics?

Guarantee if you overprice, you probably won't get any traffic. I can't imagine a lot of people beating anyones door down for a ShopSmith anyway.

pieceseeker wrote:You know, I think that if a person puts enough detail in description and plenty of pictures and a reasonable price, that in itself should limit the number of questions you have to answer and or send pics.

You would think, but more often than not that doesn't work. Some people are just high maintenance and/or have too much time on their hands. Sadly, other people have no clue what they are looking at but don't want to admit it.

I always make detailed descriptions, a checklist of what work I've done, a checklist of any work needed now or in the near future, and sometimes points of reference for where I got my price to head off the guys that always offer half. I post at least one good overview photo, and closeups of any of the problems if they are visual. I will still get questions on vehicles like "Can I get more pictures" and when pressed for specifics they respond "the inside and the outside."

The last thing I sold was an old Porsche I rebuilt the drivetrain and brake system on, and specifically said it needs a paintjob (I hate painting and don't have the space) and included clear pics of the original paint flaking in large patches and molding strip coming apart. Still got over a dozen emails asking for more pics of the paint, like you're going to buy that car and decide "eh good enough."

Once I took the pics down I only got serious lookers. In the end, I sold the car plus a ratty donor motor and spare parts for $300 more than my list price and didn't have to deliver (no plates). Took 8 months but I didn't NEED it gone so wasn't a big deal.

Well Frank, you may have a point there.... ... ... for a car. You have to think that there are a lot more people looking for cars, no matter what kind.

Everybody has a car, needs a car, looking for a car, many times over during their lifetime. How many people need or want a ShopSmith?

If you presented a pie chart of the % of people looking for a car compared to people looking for a ShopSmith, who's the bigger crowd. You would just naturally have more lookers to deal with when selling a car.

Not only that, you have people (my best friend no less) flying across country to drive back a car they bought on Ebay. Would somebody drive or fly across country, or just 2 states for that matter, because of a deal they couldn't pass up on a ShopSmith?

So, I think when you're selling things, you're not always comparing apples to apples.

What I have found after looking for weeks and weeks at the CL ads, for the amount of money initially invested in a ShopSmith, if you ever hope to sell that ShopSmith quickly or at all, is to sell it dirt cheap or really bend over backwards to make it look good and well cared for and have plenty of answers and pictures.......if you are lucky enough to get any lookers that contact you.

Just a difference of opinion.

Several weeks ago I drove several miles to look at a ER10 which was advertised as complete and a collectors item, no pictures in the craigs list ad. The ER10 was nothing more than incomplete junk. Thus still for sale. I offered the fellow more than it was worth and insulted him. For me No Pictures in ad, I won't bother looking further. Jim

fjimp wrote:Several weeks ago I drove several miles to look at a ER10 which was advertised as complete and a collectors item, no pictures in the craigs list ad. The ER10 was nothing more than incomplete junk. Thus still for sale. I offered the fellow more than it was worth and insulted him. For me No Pictures in ad, I won't bother looking further. Jim

Again I repeat.....Exactly my feelings.

pieceseeker wrote: What I have found after looking for weeks and weeks at the CL ads, for the amount of money initially invested in a ShopSmith, if you ever hope to sell that ShopSmith quickly or at all, is to sell it dirt cheap or really bend over backwards to make it look good and well cared for and have plenty of answers and pictures.......if you are lucky enough to get any lookers that contact you.

You hit the nail on the head! I'd guess at least 75% or more of those looking know what it is and how it works. They want it cheap and to get more for their money with accessories. I wouldn't be surprise if most are looking to add on pieces to their collection and are looking for the highly sought items, i.e. belt sanders and such that make the main machine pretty much a freebie thrown in.

I have more main machines than I need, but I'm always on the lookout for the missing pieces or a project machine for cheap or a cheap 520 to take the place of my 510. If I was to buy more I would only pay what I thought would allow me to sell it quickly too.

Cars have more mass appeal. We're talking about a machine, which while great reaches a subset of a hobby. I like the blurry picture, wonder why it have a 2010 date?