$$ wondering ??

[redbenjoe]

do any of us CARE about what our sellers paid $$ for the boxes we
buy or bid on ??
if they got them all for free --does it matter ?
-------------------------------------------------------------------
about 2 months ago --our friend/ member driptip/patron
posted a long list of valuable 'grails' for us to offer on --- remember ???

there was this one grail --that i KNEW he scored at a flea
market for only a tiny $19.

i offered him $550 --
he said NO !!!!!
------------------------------------------------------
last nite --on an ugly sort of thread --
rimmer seemed overly concerned about the
price , place and time of purchase for a box i had for sale ??
seemed WEIRD to me
---------------------------------------------------
as for the world of M90s --
most of saw these two sell to our own members who won them on ebay::
a huge $2000 for nick --and more recently
a $300 score for jeff

in case both these guys wanna sell -
and ask us for offers --
does it matter to us bidders-- what they paid ??
---------------------------------------

i have 'yet another grail' that might get posted here by tomorrow
should i tell all about the time, the place and my cost ??
does that really matter to anybody here (still)

are there any other 'rimmers' here ??
or---- is he now back lurking with a new name (probably)
------------------------------------------------

anyway --
just for the jollies;; (or for rimmer)

i bought this grail from california
it was about 3 years ago
paid $875 plus s/h
came from s2g member POTROKH
all can contact him for 'verification"

in THIS market -- my grail is no longer worth $875 --NFW
:'-(
-------------------------------------------------

anyhow --asking you guys if anyone thinks seller costs really matters??
seriously

 

[Superduper]

Just give me a good deal Ira and I couldn't care less if U picked it outta a gutter.

On the other hand, if you want $3k for something worth $1k, I probably wouldn't buy it even if you paid a zillion dollars for it.

But then again, you aint gonna hear a peep from me raggin you on price neither cause I've seen enough examples where it aint worth it to me, but it is to someone else.

See this example: [ebay]330372748077[/ebay] Didn't make sense to me, I know it isn't all that common but still...

 

[redbenjoe]

with superduper --

unless madonna SAT ON IT !!!

 

[monchito]

sorry but the disco i have was in fact madonnas

 

[blu_fuz]

It is all part of wheeling and dealing. I do it with cars all the time and my Dynasty will never be sold for less than $1k regardless of the $15 I spent on it originally.

 

[monchito]

fuz how much for the wheeley?

 

[Fatdog]

It doesn't matter to me as long as I perceive it as a fair/good deal. It sort of goes back to my question on S2G a long time ago...

If you buy a boombox for $100 and pay $50 to ship it... do you now want $150 for it when you go to sell it?

How many include shipping in the total price they will pay for a box. I know I do it.

 

[monchito]

thats sounds better than anything else we have to remeber that something that cost 100 back in the days is worth more now if you were to buy that same piece in this time

 

[redbenjoe]

shipping counts as huge

i bought the sansui CP7 from australia --
freight = the cost of the box !!

 

[floyd]

the way i see it is ,a box is what it is, if it cost a lot of money so be it, if somebody wants it bad enough they will pay what it cost to get it eventually,now even if you got it for free theres no reason to lose out on money you could have made, its that simple. crazy things bring alot of money on ebay i mean if somebody can pay hundreds of dollars for a corn flake shaper like her home state then i guess a 900 dollar boom box is not so absurd, i mean thats outta my league but if you can afford it then more power to you.

 

[Superduper]

How many include shipping in the total price they will pay for a box. I know I do it.

shipping counts as huge

Well, I ALWAYS look at the total advertised cost WITH shipping. There's been more than a few times I saw a box that I liked, felt the price was reasonable but unless it was an otherwise onobtainable GRAIL, I would NEVER pay $100 shipping when I sell the same box and charge $40 or $50 to ship. Why the difference? I pack myself and buy packing material in bulk AND I have a shipping account. The savings is passed on to my buyers and I've had pretty good luck selling for at or near top $$ over the years so I guess it amounts to something. The surcharge levied by the pack'n'ship outlets just isn't worth it to me. $50 per box times 10 boxes means they make a $500 profit on my10 sales. Also, since the high shipping discourages buyers from bidding high, I put a whole lot less in my pocket by using the shipping outlets. If you do a lot of shipping, self packing is the ONLY way to go. As a matter of fact, $50 buys a lot of packing materials when purchased in bulk.

An example of the varying cost of shipping: One guy sold me a GF-777 from Canada and it was $65 to ship here. Another guy selling a GF-777 from the mid-east wanted $125 shipping on his GF-777. I asked him to verify shipping cost rather than just guess. He came back 2 days later and told me he checked and that $150 was the exact cost so he raised the shipping. Go figure. Needless to say, I passed.

 

[oldskool69]

Look, some people feel they have to make a mega profit, some don't. I fall in the latter. I sold some boxes recently for basically what I paid for them. No "extra" for shipping material etc. I also calculated the postage using zips that anyone could figure out so they knew it was legit.


My whole view is that if I sell, I want others to enjoy the box. Period. I don't need major league money because I figure I can flip it like a house.

(Disclaimer...if I find and M90 at a flea for $20 bucks, if I were to sell, I'm no idiot either... )

 

[jaetee]

Good topic...

Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. I think I'd ultimately rather not know what you paid for something, especially if its a relatively big transaction and you paid next to nothing. Don't rub it in my face..., know what I mean?

And if you stand to make a profit when you sell it... then good for you. As long as I think I'm getting a fair deal, I'm generally cool with whatever profit you make.

Likewise, if you are losing money on something and willing to take that loss, I'd rather not know about that either... That's your business. And if you're willing to sell a box, or whatever item at a loss, don't make me feel guilty for paying less. Again, as long as I feel I'm getting a fair deal, it really doesn't matter to me.

 

[ViennaSound]

No, the price the seller got it for, does´nt matter.
As long the pre-selling price is fair.

Mabe i was always to good for this world.
All boxes/parts i sold was with a benefit of zero or less.

Examples?

I gave the SONY grail to Kid Sensation for the 10€ i paid at flea.
Ok, the shipping cost was then 20euros, but this box for 30euro…
No discussion. :sin:

Also gave parts of boxes to other members.
Free with free shipping.

Or the ITT that´s on the way to you:
I got it for 20euros.
But not at flea, it was a private seller.
I had to go ~100km (one way) to get it.
When you include the fuel costs, you are at the selling price.
With free repair and cleaning.

Boomboxing should be a hobby, not a profit maker.

But it´s on the buyer how much he is willing to pay for his “grail”…

So enjoy our hobby and let it boooom!

 

[TRC-911]

:

unless madonna SAT ON IT !!!

Suction Cup effect

 

[r o y a l ®]

Well, the way I see it, If I am gonna sell a radio, ideally I would like as much as a can for it.

Now sometimes, you see a member post a request and you think o.k, I'll cut them a deal etc, oddly enough I did this for rimmer once, selling him my beloved rx-52 because he kept banging on about it ! i sold it to him for exactly what I paid for it. I have posted out many parts to members over the years and when they say how much I just say, no it's free. Not even postage needs to be paid. So there it is. If I need money or I am looking to buy another box by selling an old one I go for ebay.

Once I sold a 5p37g sharp t.v box on ebay for a crazy £920. Two U.S guys in a major bidding war. I bought that radio about 3 weeks earlier from ebay.de for about 50 euro. The U.S buyer was very happy and so was I.

I certainly don't care about how much someone paid for a box in relation to how much they sell it for.

 

[redbenjoe]

thanks for all the interesting ideas on this subject --
i thought of one more to add --

TRADES

our trade deals remove the $$ buyer/seller/member/friends dilemma--

and usually ends up in a happy win/win all around--

i always wish us USA members could easily trade with our overseas guys--
BUT --that might involve as much as $3-400 in freight alone

other than that --
and since boxes are cooler than cash..................
trades are the bomb

 

[Boom Shaka Laka]

quote="jaetee"]Good topic...
Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. I think I'd ultimately rather not know what you paid for something, especially if its a relatively big transaction and you paid next to nothing. Don't rub it in my face..., know what I mean?
And if you stand to make a profit when you sell it... then good for you. As long as I think I'm getting a fair deal, I'm generally cool with whatever profit you make.
Likewise, if you are losing money on something and willing to take that loss, I'd rather not know about that either... That's your business. And if you're willing to sell a box, or whatever item at a loss, don't make me feel guilty for paying less. Again, as long as I feel I'm getting a fair deal, it really doesn't matter to me.[/quote]
JT, I think you put it all together for me. First, this is a good topic. Something we ought to discuss. Second, I'm in the middle about profit. If a seller paid a little and wants a lot, that's his business. Like you said, JT, just don't rub it in my face... or make it easy for me to find out (like by leaving the flea market price on the item... which happened to me lately) I'm human. I'm going to feel bad/stupid when I find out I overpaid (I would say, "I've been soaked") for something. And I'm going to get jealous/angry when/if I find out that I've been dealing with someone who regularly "flips" items... especially boomboxes. It bothers me (rightly or wrongly) when someone uses something I love to make obscene profits. Because it means that seller is taking advantage of a buyer's (my) love for the item. I know people "out in the world" do it all the time. It just hurts when I discover "one of us" is doing it.

RBJ, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it was this issue that caused you lots of anxiety concerning DM4U on S2G. He looked up on eBay and posted the amount you paid for an item you were selling. My thoughts were these: you had the right to sell at whatever price you wanted, but he had the right to post what you had paid for it, since it was still available on eBay. Public information, and all that. I don't remember if you were trying to make a huge profit or not. Knowing you, probably not. But human nature makes folks want to find out if they're being bilked. He no doubt felt he was doing buyers (probably himself included) a service.

I've never sold any of my boomboxes, so I'm probably not one to weigh in on this issue. But I have given a few away, when it looked to me like the buyer had a real love/need for one I had, couldn't afford to buy it, and I didn't especially love it anymore. So far, at least, I haven't used my hobby to make money. Maybe it's because I haven't needed to. But I'd like to think it's because, even though it's capitalism at its finest, I don't enjoy making a "killing" at someone else's expense... since that "someone else" could just as easily be me. "Do unto others as you..." Well, you know the saying. My personal style is to sell things basically for the price I paid, maybe adding in anything I've put into the item and perhaps the cost of acquiring the item (postage, fuel, hours of work). Boomboxes are my hobby, not my business. As are toys, records, and a few other things. In fact, one of the toy sellers I deal with on eBay regularly starts his auctions at way under the "book" value for things. I like that. Sometimes (most times) they get bid way up, and once in a while they stay low. I respect him, because he's willing to accept a little if all he gets is a little... but he'll take the big bucks if that's what the bidding public feels is the value of one of his items. So... he often makes a killing, but at least he doesn't set out to. He lets buyers decide that. That seems fair to me.

Not too long ago, I paid about $350 plus shipping on eBay for a Panasonic 2200 shortwave radio new-in-box from Australia. The seller confessed after I won it (he actually gave me a chance to back out of the deal) that he thought I'd paid too much, because he'd found it at a garage sale for $20. I told him it was worth the extra $330 + shipping to me to own it, since it would've cost me a lot more to come to Austraila and start going to garage sales. As an international "finder's fee," $350 wasn't too much.

But, if I buy a boombox from you and then look up your buying record on eBay, only to find out that you routinely "flip" items you buy for cheap, I'm going to get upset, because I'm going to feel my ignorance/naïveté was being taken advantage of. Same way I feel when a furnace guy comes over to fix a sqeak in my motor and tells me I need to replace the entire furnace. Of course, I expect that kind of behavior from a heating and cooling contractor. I expect better from fellow boombox collectors

 

[redbenjoe]

thanks boomaruba --
i share lots of the same thought as you and jaetee --
especially you last example re the australian $330 'extra'

i never get anything cheap --
our local thrifts and fleas have nothing -ever -!!
plus --i got so discouraged about trying to find a 'score in the wild'
that i gave up --have not even went out to visit a thrift in 3 months

so -- i admire all of you guys who NEVER give up -
and - as a reward --i have no problem paying $500 for a great box
that i know --was scored for 5 bucks !!
our guys -- that are 'out there' every chance they get --
deserve to find great stuff--
and if/when they want to sell it --
the $$ market rate = fine

as far as me the the decent doofis
'thats another story'
its sort of funny in a very sick way-
will tell it in some other off-topic thread--SOON

IF --someone here asks ??

 

[blu_fuz]

fuz how much for the wheeley?

$15 - purchase price
$25 - round trip gasoline
$45 - power supply
$15 - batteries
$30 - two knobs
$20 - battery door
$30 - electrical bits
$820 - for cleaning, researching, troubleshooting, and repair labor

Total = $1,000

I am so attached to this boomer even though it is not 100% yet. For me to sell it for the $180 would be dumb. $180 gets me nothing in return for all the stress I have poured into this Wheely. To really feel good about the deal, I would need $1,000 (shipping might be included) to find something else worth it that could give me the same feeling that this boombox does...... So, to me priceless is worth $1,000 witch only nets me $820-shipping and then all the effort I have in was for nothing. Many hours looking for any information about my box, just down the drain.