Market Research in the Classifieds

[Miatamaniac92]

I was trying do some market research to sell a roll bar and a project miata in the future but many of the classified ads don't have a final as Sold Price.

Can we get as sold prices listed in the future on ads, at the discretion of the Buyer or Seller, before they are locked up? This should also help other future buyers and sellers in having a more realistic valuation for future purchases.

Chris

[Dave04]

What are you looking for here? People already have the option to mention what they sold the item for when they declare the item sold. Mods don't lock a thread until the seller says it's gone.

[OZMDD]

[Miatamaniac92]

What are you looking for here? People already have the option to mention what they sold the item for when they declare the item sold. Mods don't lock a thread until the seller says it's gone.

I don't understand the confusion. Many transactions using classifieds ads end up with a higher asking price than the actual sale price; it would be helpful to see the actual sold price to be able to better to determine an accurate market picture. This is an example where eBay really shines, you can view Closed Auctions for items that have recently been sold (though many things including hard-to-ship items like roll bars, engines and trannies don't get sold in high enough volumes on eBay for a complete picture). I always get a kick out of how many items don't sell due to crazy reserve prices.

Chris

[trickyrix]

I don't see what the problem is... I always put OBO on anything I sell. If my original asking price is too steep for the cheap bastards here, then I drop it a little. Rinse and repeat.

[POS Racing]

Miatamaniac92 is wanting us to post our final price on what we sold.

Honestly I'm not going to do it, I will do the customary "Sold" with dancing lock for our crack pipe team of moderators so they can lock down my classified ad but that's about it.

[Dave04]

I don't understand the confusion. Many transactions using classifieds ads end up with a higher asking price than the actual sale price; it would be helpful to see the actual sold price to be able to better to determine an accurate market picture. This is an example where eBay really shines, you can view Closed Auctions for items that have recently been sold (though many things including hard-to-ship items like roll bars, engines and trannies don't get sold in high enough volumes on eBay for a complete picture). I always get a kick out of how many items don't sell due to crazy reserve prices.

Chris

I was trying to figure out if you were wanting some change to the board or policy to encourage people to state the final sales price or what... as I said, people have always had the ability to disclose what you are wanting to know already and, clearly, they aren't doing that in most of the cases. Hence the question...

[Miatamaniac92]

It wasn't a request for a specific rule change more of a policy change to request buyers and/or sellers add to or edit the post to reflect the sold price as opposed to "sold, lock it up", which has little value when conducting market research.

I don't really understand why either the buyer or seller would Not want to list the final sold price. What's the big secret?

Or, why is it better for the community to not have the final prices listed? Take it a step further, should the ads just be deleted so there's never a record of it in the first place? I've sold things in the past and have a hard time understanding the opposition.

Chris

[Rob®]

Since we seem to be getting hypothetical here: From a sales perspective, having the final prices listed is a bad idea - it could bring market pricing down. I'm in telecom sales, and if I went and announced what I sold XX card at, I could screw over a lot of other companies, my own included, for future sales. God forbid a major end user see that price too - the market would be next to nothing in short order.

To semi-bring it back to dfwmiata.com terms, I sold an unused RB rear sway bar and some rear mudflaps for what I would consider decently cheap. The final prices I sold for are shown publicly here, so if someone else tries to sell either in the same condition (or even worse), the most recent price history is mine. Which is lower than I would think most people would agree to, but that would be the only recent view of market pricing. Is that fair to other sellers? What if soandso put something for sale here and ended up selling it to a good friend of his instead of a complete newbie? That lower price would then be worth anything in terms of market research? Hardly.

Also, say hypothetically, someone were to get a fully dressed motor for free. If the seller/giver posted that here, the new owner would be a bit screwed if s/he went to sell any of the parts here, no? "Hey, I got $200+ worth of parts completely free...but I'll sell you that CAS for $50, the alternator for $50, the valve cover for $25, and the intake manifold for $20." Seems pretty dick to me, even if the prices are considered to be under market value individually. But, on the other hand, since the individual prices are cheaper than "normal" market, it's a good deal...it's just seeing that entire assembly selling for $0 at first that skews market prices of the individual pieces for some people.

I would never go back to a post to edit in the final sales price, but that's more laziness than trying to keep a secret. If someone asked me what I sold whatever part I'd tell them. But I can definitely see why some people don't want final prices being public knowledge.

[Jiggerachi]

^Agreed. Also to add... The few things I sell here I usually sell at a slight discount to anyone on the board, somewhat as an appreciation of the help I get here, or to move something out of my garage (or I just gouge the price for some sucker on CL, however you want to look at it). I have seen others do the same. In these cases the prices don't necessarily reflect the market value of the item, and wouldn't be fair to impose the 'help the community' notion on everyone else here that may want to make a profit on something really nice.

Seems like either way, most people around here tend to sell left over parts taking up space, they're not necessarily trying to make a profit but pricing the item to move (see above). I usually see a lot of OBO prices here or lower asking prices than like I do on say Ebay, CR or Miata.net. Basically I think we're a small community here and most people know each other in one way or another; as such this place wouldn't very well reflect market values anyway.

[SixAce]

It's a private sale between 2 parties. I prefer my business, whether selling or buying, to be kept private for the most part.

[OZMDD]

Sorry, but this is a dumb socialist idea. Its not your business what I buy or sell things for.

Some examples:

1)I haggle your down from $350 and buy your wheels for $200 because they seem like a good deal. I decide to flip them two months later. Since buyers know what I paid, I may not be able to realize a profit that is worth my trouble. I die peniless.

2) You are a moron and pay $1500 for an old hardtop. The "going rate" for HT's is now inflated because everyone sees what I managed to sell mine for to you. Civilization fails.

Seriously, if you want to know what something sold for, ask the buyer/seller.

BTW - your poll allowed multiple choices, so its kinda worthless.

[Miatamaniac92]

I find it amusing that pricing information is somehow a socialist idea, plus you can like cheese and agree with one or both of the poll options. It would be more efficient to be able to rank your choices and then to have a run-off, but now we're just getting a bit too complex (and really, who doesn't like cheese?). https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Voting_paradox

The most efficient markets are the ones with the most transparency, it's not exactly a new or extreme concept (actually a cornerstone for many economic and financial theories). I didn't mean to step on any toes or to insinuate that any member here sells or has sold items with intent of ripping off other forum members. In fact, I can remember specific occurrences where the exact opposite occurs.

It's not wrong to want as much as you can (monetarily or some other form of value such as camaraderie) from a transaction as either the buyer or the seller.

Slightly related to pricing, Some Fun with economics:

via: http://www.economistsdoitwithmodels....y-to-show-you/


Chris

[OZMDD]

The socialist component was the idea of mandating that all transactions be posted. A free market system operates best on supply/demand-driven pricing. What's next, a pre-determined price list? :)

[Miatamaniac92]

There was no mention of mandate in any of my posts.

"at the discretion of the Buyer or Seller"

"It wasn't a request for a specific rule change more of a policy change to request buyers and/or sellers add to or edit the post to reflect the sold price as opposed to "sold, lock it up", which has little value when conducting market research."

Chris

[tailchaser]

This really should only happen when buyer AND seller agree upon posting the info... I'm sure there are plenty of buyers of used gear who aren't proud of the price they paid and many sellers who don't want to start a trend... the marketplace is the marketplace. eBayisms aren't going to appear in the real world anytime soon.