Protocol for selling a cue on AZ.

Chicken_Blood

Chicken_Blood

Carpe Poultry
Silver Member
A while back I tried to sell a Joel Hercek players cue that I have on the wanted/for sale forum. This was my 1st attempt at selling online. I was amazed at how angry people got when I did not consider offers well below what I had posted as the asking price. Almost everyone that got angry had made completely unrealistic offers to which I did not respond. Is this normal when selling a cue online. I recently sold a high end cue the old fashioned way "at a pool hall in Dallas". Guy hit with cue, liked cue, bought cue. No drama.
 
Chicken_Blood said:
A while back I tried to sell a Joel Hercek players cue that I have on the wanted/for sale forum. This was my 1st attempt at selling online. I was amazed at how angry people got when I did not consider offers well below what I had posted as the asking price. Almost everyone that got angry had made completely unrealistic offers to which I did not respond. Is this normal when selling a cue online. I recently sold a high end cue the old fashioned way "at a pool hall in Dallas". Guy hit with cue, liked cue, bought cue. No drama.
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First, might we be related? :grin:

Forum rules clearly state that you can not come on someones for sale thread and knock them for what price they are asking. If you disagree with a price, simply move on.

With that said, there are always going to be a few loose cannons who feel compelled, if a price seems out of line, to chime in with their 'valuable' opinions.

And, yes sir, I have seen a notable rise in drama on the wanted/for sale forum.

I have had quite a few good deals there both as a buyer and seller but there have been a few instances where things have gone a little sideways. Luckily, those were able to be put back on track.

I have had approx 1300 all positive eBay transactions involving watches, cars, trucks, boats, tractors, furniture, lots of smaller stuff and of course some cues. Less than a handful of those deals were ever dramatic.

Interestingly, or strangely (you decide), I've had more bs in the less than a hundred deals done here on az. You would think that with us being such a smaller (tighter?) community, there would be much less nonsense but, unfortunately, that has not been my experience at all.

Over time, I've learned some of the many ways there are to safeguard myself from getting had as *both* a buyer and seller.

No one, however, is immume to drama.

best,
brian kc
 
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Selling is always going to be harder than buying IMO.

As a buyer, I make an offer and if it's rejected I move on.

As a seller, you have to deal with multiple potential buyers, some of whom will react as you've described. That's one of the hazards of selling and really, it's a factor regardless of what you're trying to sell. Forums have such an open buying structure compared to sites like ebay and therefore, have more opportunity for friction.

I've only had 2 transactions on here and they are both as a buyer. Both went very well and I'm happy with both of them. I've always found it easier to sell something once you've established a reputation which is why I always try to buy some things, even small things, to build that reputation. This has worked well on the 10 different forums I'm a member of.

I've also noticed that new members will tend to get more flak than longer standing members, that's just the nature of people.
 
Chicken_Blood said:
A while back I tried to sell a Joel Hercek players cue that I have on the wanted/for sale forum. This was my 1st attempt at selling online. I was amazed at how angry people got when I did not consider offers well below what I had posted as the asking price. Almost everyone that got angry had made completely unrealistic offers to which I did not respond. Is this normal when selling a cue online. I recently sold a high end cue the old fashioned way "at a pool hall in Dallas". Guy hit with cue, liked cue, bought cue. No drama.
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Yep I did the same thing by selling a cue locally instead of here. The WFS section can be treacherous to say the least. There is a whole commraderie of flippers incessantly bumping each others items and giving out negative rep and comments rep for any reason they feel suits them. In all likelihood I will get some for stating this. Consider then the rip off creepy thieves that never send payment. Then there are all the questions about the condition of your item. Roll out of a shaft that is miniscule can derail a sale faster than a speeding bullet even though it has little to do with actually using the cue to play pool. Too many reasons to sell locally for me. The one thing I like the WFS section for is seeing the designs of cues.. JMO folks!!
 
There is no protocol per se but some solid advice is:

pics / price / accurate description from nicks and dings to the shaft diameters and weight of butt - shafts / be as accurate as possible DO NOT say "I think these shafts are 13mm" when they aren't.

The more information the better. As to your original offering, since it was your first posting in that section I see there was some confusion on what you posted as a price, etc.. Avoid this in the future. Be clear and concise and I do not think you'll have any issues.

JV


Chicken_Blood said:
A while back I tried to sell a Joel Hercek players cue that I have on the wanted/for sale forum. This was my 1st attempt at selling online. I was amazed at how angry people got when I did not consider offers well below what I had posted as the asking price. Almost everyone that got angry had made completely unrealistic offers to which I did not respond. Is this normal when selling a cue online. I recently sold a high end cue the old fashioned way "at a pool hall in Dallas". Guy hit with cue, liked cue, bought cue. No drama.
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more protocall related . . .

I should have added:

It's always best to include as much info about the item you are selling as possible. That, and good pictures.

If it's a cue, make sure to list length, butt weight, shaft(s) weight, ferrule material, joint type, pin size, and specidic detail on condition including straightness both together and apart.

The more info you provide, the less questions you will have to field about this very basic info.

And last, but not least, try and research what the realistic price would be for the item you are trying to sell. Nothing knocks a sale more than 8 pages of you bumping it back to the first page because of an unrealistic price.

best,
brian kc
 
Slim Limpy said:
I, like Kicken' Chicken, have been selling on Ebay, myself for over 12 years now with between 500 and 700 sales.

I've sold to people on AZ "looking for . . " and since I had that cue, made a deal. Put up one For Sale cue on AZ and since I can't bear the thought of bumping my own threads (unlike some folks who now "moderate" their own threads way beyond their due dates--I can't stand that) I just let it pass and sold it on Ebay for more than I ever would have expected any buyer on AZ to offer me.

I think the thing you have to recognize here is that AZ Sales are more of a swap meet atmospere than a storefront atmospere. I mainly deal in mid priced reconditioned vintage Singer sewing machines on Ebay, but my other obcession is vinyl records which I don't sell on Ebay because the effort involved doesn't justify the profit for me. Anyway, I go to record and CD swap meets to dump the 500 extra records I build up every few years. Nobody at swap meets offers to buy at anywhere near reasonable resale prices--so why would AZ'ers do otherwise? Just let it roll off your shoulders--all they want is a good deal--nothin' wrong with that. If I got mad at every doofus who sent me a lowball buy-it-now offer on Ebay, I'd already have had three heart attacks--besides, I find low-ballers and their offers rather funny, and because the rep system here is rediculous to say the least, I'd be whipping out a comical response in return for the low-ball offers and have fun with it.

I don't care how mean they get, the average person doesn't have the magical capacity to send their fist through the internet.

My advice is to just learn to sell on the Bay--that's where the real money, market, and national visability is for selling. There are quite a few sellers who even over the few years I've been reading AZ have switched the majority of their cue sales to Ebay and don't mess with AZ anymore for selling.
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Sound advice (eBay). Thanks for the clarity Think I will put one up in a few days and see what happens.
 
Chicken_Blood said:
A while back I tried to sell a Joel Hercek players cue that I have on the wanted/for sale forum. This was my 1st attempt at selling online. I was amazed at how angry people got when I did not consider offers well below what I had posted as the asking price. Almost everyone that got angry had made completely unrealistic offers to which I did not respond. Is this normal when selling a cue online. I recently sold a high end cue the old fashioned way "at a pool hall in Dallas". Guy hit with cue, liked cue, bought cue. No drama.
Click to expand...

Here's the protocol for selling a cue on AZ:

1) List it at a reasonable price.

2) accept multiple low offers, cash only, western union.

3) Get a new screenname.

Repeat the above.
 
Chicken_Blood said:
Yup that's it. Said I paid $3500 and was asking $4000. Anyway I am wiser now.
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Probably as a general rule of thumb I wouldn't post the price you paid for the cue. Most sales have the selling price removed from the thread once the sale has gone through. This confused me at first but now I understand. If the cue is sold again in the future the asking price may change and having the original asking price from another seller for the same cue can have a negative impact on the current sale.
 
TheNewSharkster said:
Probably as a general rule of thumb I wouldn't post the price you paid for the cue. Most sales have the selling price removed from the thread once the sale has gone through. This confused me at first but now I understand. If the cue is sold again in the future the asking price may change and having the original asking price from another seller for the same cue can have a negative impact on the current sale.
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Newbie mistake.
 
TATE said:
Here's the protocol for selling a cue on AZ:

1) List it at a reasonable price.

2) accept multiple low offers, cash only, western union.

3) Get a new screenname.

Repeat the above.
Click to expand...
1). What's reasonable?
2). Good idea.
3). Not gonna happen.
 
Chicken_Blood said:
Newbie mistake.
Click to expand...

Don't take this the wrong way but your original post didn't include much information given the value of the cue being sold. The more information you provide and better response you will get from potential buyers. I would make sure you have the following next time you post something for sale:

1. Specs
2. Pictures

I would also suggest using a Escrow service.
 
Kickin' Chicken said:
First, might we be related? :grin:

Forum rules clearly state that you can not come on someones for sale thread and knock them for what price they are asking. If you disagree with a price, simply move on.

With that said, there are always going to be a few loose cannons who feel compelled, if a price seems out of line, to chime in with their 'valuable' opinions.

And, yes sir, I have seen a notable rise in drama on the wanted/for sale forum.

I have had quite a few good deals there both as a buyer and seller but there have been a few instances where things have gone a little sideways. Luckily, those were able to be put back on track.

I have had approx 1300 all positive eBay transactions involving watches, cars, trucks, boats, tractors, furniture, lots of smaller stuff and of course some cues. Less than a handful of those deals were ever dramatic.

Interestingly, or strangely (you decide), I've had more bs in the less than a hundred deals done here on az. You would think that with us being such a smaller (tighter?) community, there would be much less nonsense but, unfortunately, that has not been my experience at all.

Over time, I've learned some of the many ways there are to safeguard myself from getting had as *both* a buyer and seller.

No one, however, is immume to drama.

best,
brian kc
Click to expand...

A friend of mine (skier lawyer) thought I was you for awhile.
 
TheNewSharkster said:
Don't take this the wrong way but your original post didn't include much information given the value of the cue being sold. The more information you provide and better response you will get from potential buyers. I would make sure you have the following next time you post something for sale:

1. Specs
2. Pictures

I would also suggest using a Escrow service.
Click to expand...

No it's cool I had no idea how this worked. It's all good.
 
Chicken_Blood said:
A while back I tried to sell a Joel Hercek players cue that I have on the wanted/for sale forum. This was my 1st attempt at selling online. I was amazed at how angry people got when I did not consider offers well below what I had posted as the asking price. Almost everyone that got angry had made completely unrealistic offers to which I did not respond. Is this normal when selling a cue online. I recently sold a high end cue the old fashioned way "at a pool hall in Dallas". Guy hit with cue, liked cue, bought cue. No drama.
Click to expand...

Here are the issues after looking at the post.

You listed the cue as New when it was not exactly.

You did not reply to many of the messages.

Did not post or email the pics people were looking for to see what the cue looked like.

Some had confusion about what you were asking for it (not exactly your fault there though).
 
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