Classifieds Pricing

[Nil Else]

Most of my cycling stuff I've sold, out of what little I have actually sold, are through Serotta Forum Classifieds. I've never sold anything prior to late last year...I used to simply keep everything in my parts bin/stash whether I need them or not... With possible relocation looming etc I've been trying to reduce and shrink my sorta bloated cycling gears.

Anyhow what I dread the most when I'm listing things up for sale here is the pricing. As most people replace their price with "SOLD" it is generally difficult to search and find the price the same item you're trying to sell may have sold recently; thus I attempt to *collect* listed/sold prices by copy/paste whenever I see items that I have... but I find that they don't always quite match or give me enough data to come up with a price. So what I end up doing is check eBay prices. I try to put items in my watch list even the "buy-it-now" ones. When the auction is over not only do I still have the access to the winning bid price but also a bunch of similar current listings. The only con is eBay seems to clean up the items from my watch list so I can't go back far enough/have reliable archived data.

What I do now is I scan mostly thru the prices of eBay BIN and certain online retailers that I know to have non-inflated prices + some winning bid prices (I don't consider any ongoing auction price since they are ongoing and from my experience often they end up far different) and SOLD prices from the classified here. To come up with my idea of *Serotta Forum price* I generally pick out the lowest BIN/retailer price (including shipping) of the same item in same condition and, depending on the perceived level of demand that I'm aware of such as encroaching CX season or Spring especially when the item is brand NEW, take more or less 15-20% off (my price including shipping & paypal fee). Often I can't find enough matching item listed so I fudge; this is one of the dreadful part. Of course I take some recently sold prices here and elsewhere that I'm aware of into account however I'm can't consistently keep tabs on everything that goes on in the classifieds as well as generally I can't/won't/not-in-the-circumstance-to match all the once-in-a-blue-moon-incredibly-generous-near-giveaway-deal prices that come up; I sometimes see these near give away prices in certain site (even closer community than Serotta...!?) and here too. And of course I'm off by a mile sometimes mostly because I don't have enough time to invest in complicated number crunching analysis and not particularly wanting to give away the item especially 'I don't really want to let go but should' items. Had it been a couple of years back I'd've been continuing the amassing of cycling gears and never had enough time to devote to putting thing up on classifieds or ebay. My price mostly does okay with many here but not all. Sometimes there is negotiation and sometimes simply dead silence...which I'd venture to take as I was waaaay off...sometimes I feel like an a$$ and sometimes not...sometimes I lower my price sometimes I simply keep em for myself....

Is my formula off? What is the general consensus? What is your formula? What is the Serotta Forum pricing that you perceive as? What is fair price? As I'm making another list and going through another dreaded complicated number crunching analysis deal again....:crap: Is this faux pas to even ask question like this, ie, 'to each his own' sorta thing? Me dense. :bike: Grow a thick skin and be proud or be super nice and sell things dirt cheap? I figured it would help me be within what's norm here/make less a$$ of myself as well as others like me who just can't seem to come up with good-sensible-acceptable-compromise-price for their sale items and for people who's just starting to list on the classifieds for the first time.

Hopefully I posted this thread in the right forum since this is about Classifieds but not a classifieds sales ad.

[1centaur]

I think you are overthinking it.

This forum is not a liquid market like the stock market, so there may be no bid even if an item is priced fairly. Figure out what you'd be willing to sell it for at the least (like an e-Bay minimum), offer it out there somewhat higher, make price cuts periodically to get it back up the stack of classifieds, and if it does not sell move on to another venue. Don't beat yourself up if you see a similar item sell elsewhere for more than you sold it for here.

Big ballpark - starting offer should be at least 40% off retail when you bought it.

[93legendti]

I agree about overthinking. It shouldn't be hard.

Sizing and timing are everything and sometimes the listing doesn't coincide with a buyer looking for your item, particularly if it's a bike that isn't 56cm.

I've sold bikes for my price 1 year after I first posted the thread.

I like to sell, so I try to ask a price that is a tad lower than market.

The only "research" I do is scan threads for items similar to ones I have so I know what THIS market's prices are for future reference.

[Louis]

My only concern / issue with the folks who put something out there then proceed to reduce the price by 5% every other day is that by doing so they give the impression that they're trying to milk the forum for every last dollar they can possibly get. IMO that should not be spirit of the place.

Louis

[PacNW2Ford]

No kidding, I spent more time reading your post than I spend pricing my items.

[rugbysecondrow]

Search the completed listings, subtract 10-20% then move go for it.

Sometimes I wait for the WTB threads as those folks are pretty easy to deal with and we can quickly come to terms with a fair price.

Hope this helps.


Paul

[Nil Else]

No kidding, I spent more time reading your post than I spend pricing my items.

:D U think I covered pretty much every aspects of Classifiedzing? ;)

It's Sunday afternoon and though a bit nippy it's beautifully sunny outside but I'm stuck inside working... I'm doing everything but working on the thing that's keeping me inside... a professional procrastinator that I'm. Apologies. :p

[dave thompson]

Nil: When I sell something here on the forum, I price it at what I consider a 'bro' price which is usually well under whatever other prices for the same item might be around. I've gotten my use from the item, I no longer want/need it and I figure that someone can use it much more than I.

The consequence of above action is that someone gets something they can use at a greatly reduced price, or even on occasion free. It's happened me more than a few times and I was able to get something that would make my bicycling experience even better. Heck, my first 'real 'bike was a Serotta frameset sold to me by a nice guy from 'Tornado Alley that really got me started in cycling 10 years ago. So I figure my actions in the classifieds are a payback to the forum members here, because they have given so much to me.

[hookookadoo]

Yeah, I think you might be over stressing your noggin on this one. If you had a distribution warehouse in your backyard I would suggest you are on the right path but if not...just focus on recouping some green and spend the time you save on the bike. :D

[sc53]

Put a price on it but indicate offers accepted. If it sells in one minute or less, and you receive 10 emails/PMs, you priced it too low.

[weisan]

When I sell something here on the forum, I price it at what I consider a 'bro' price ...I figure my actions in the classifieds are a payback to the forum members here, because they have given so much to me.

Dave-pal is true to his words, so are a few blessed others like Thwart, Ken Robb, BruceK, Jack Brunk. You can almost count on it when their names appeared on the classifieds, one needs to act FAST! :D And then there are others who are more concerned with their "bottomline", not that there's anything wrong with that, except one needs to differentiate between the "real" deal and the ones that only appear to be so. It's pretty obvious, once you are around for a while, you will be able to tell. :p

[GuyGadois]

I didn't read your post because it was too long :) but I agree that it is a bummer when researching and people replace the price with sold. I have no idea why this is the case unless the price they sold it for is some secret or the buyer doesn't want it revealed. I try to always leave the price on there and adjust it for the price it actually sold for.

Guy

[dogdriver]

+1 on bro pricing.

If I have something to sell in good condition, I usually Google the item for the lowest price from a real seller, cut it in half, add an estimate for shipping, and post it for $XXX shipped. Maybe 60% if its perfect, 40% if its a little beat.

Have had some good deals here, want to give good deals too.

[Dekonick]

Nil: When I sell something here on the forum, I price it at what I consider a 'bro' price which is usually well under whatever other prices for the same item might be around. I've gotten my use from the item, I no longer want/need it and I figure that someone can use it much more than I.

The consequence of above action is that someone gets something they can use at a greatly reduced price, or even on occasion free. It's happened me more than a few times and I was able to get something that would make my bicycling experience even better. Heck, my first 'real 'bike was a Serotta frameset sold to me by a nice guy from 'Tornado Alley that really got me started in cycling 10 years ago. So I figure my actions in the classifieds are a payback to the forum members here, because they have given so much to me.

And - DT's Bro pricing is awesome! I am the happy owner of several of his offerings. Great guy to deal with - and I consider him a 'bro' :)

Yeah... I do the same. When I sell, I sell a la cheap (ie - help a bro out...)

[avalonracing]

I either do "bro" pricing, price a part at what I might pay for it if I was looking for it or just make it a really sweet deal because there is no easy way to price them (like my 7/8 speed MTB and road box o' parts sales).

It's good karma to pass cycling parts along.