A bit cheeky.

[Franklin]

Some of you may have noticed that over the last month or so I've sold some my Vixen kit. One of those sales was an A62SS with accessories and I sold the lot for £200 plus postage, good deal, fair enough. Not particularly to my surprise I now see my old scope and accessories up for sale again on ABS for £385. Are times really that hard? 🤣

[Alan White]

Some folks churn kit rather quickly, I think your buyer perhaps may be in that group of folk.

Turning a profit, well that’s a personal choice, but wow, that’s quite an up tick.

[JeremyS]

19 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Some of you may have noticed that over the last month or so I've sold some my Vixen kit. One of those sales was an A62SS with accessories and I sold the lot for £200 plus postage, good deal, fair enough. Not particularly to my surprise I now see my old scope and accessories up for sale again on ABS for £385. Are times really that hard? 🤣

I was under the impression from your other thread that you were accumulating Vixen kit, not selling it 🤔

[markse68]

I always wondered what “kit tester” meant

[JeremyS]

6 minutes ago, markse68 said:

I always wondered what “kit tester” meant

Euphemism for trader, often.

[Franklin]

8 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I was under the impression from your other thread that you were accumulating Vixen kit, not selling it 🤔

No, I've been having a right good clear out Jeremy, the kit in the other thread is what's left and what I'm keeping. I've even sold my lovely GP2 which I never thought I would! Had a tear in my eye as I waved goodbye with my handkerchief😘.

[CraigT82]

3 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Euphemism for trader, often.

Yes I’ve seen this before… I previously reported a user as a dealer to the ABS webmaster after something very similar occurred with my sold kit, but nothing happened as far as I could make out. 
 

Guess the only thing to do is always sell at slightly above full market price, or maybe only sell to users you know/recognise, but that’s be a sorry state of affairs.

Edited March 5, 2023 by CraigT82

[JeremyS]

5 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

Yes I’ve seen this before… I previously reported a user as a dealer to the ABS webmaster after something very similar occurred with my sold kit, but nothing happened as far as I could make out. 
 

Guess the only thing to do is always sell at slightly above full market price, or maybe only sell to users you know/recognise, but that’s be a sorry state of affairs.

Not had any of my kit sold on this way, but there are clearly some traders on there that I have reported to ABS too without effect.

I hasten to add that there are some genuine kit testers. I might actually be one, but I can never bring myself to sell the kit I’ve tested 🤣

[Alan White]

From earlier post by me "Turning a profit, well that’s a personal choice"

Adding to the above from my first comment, a profit is only one once realised of course.
The market supports what the market supports.

[Franklin]

I've nothing against people trying to make a bit of money, but when I move kit on I always sell at a very fair price because I'm in favor of helping others to be able to afford decent gear. Even if an item is almost new I would sell for 66% retail max and if something is secondhand I'd move it for less than I paid. Also, if an item was damaged in some way or not working correctly I would offer complete transparency and price up accordingly.

[JeremyS]

I remember the late Handlemaster, Johninderby, late of this parish, was one of the most generous in the terms he used when selling on kit.

[markse68]

There’s not much that can be done about it but it’s a shame i think as it has a knock-on effect with people less inclined to offer good deals- why would they if they think someone will just flip it for profit  

Mark

[CraigT82]

6 minutes ago, Alan White said:

From earlier post by me "Turning a profit, well that’s a personal choice"

Adding to the above from my first comment, a profit is only one once realised of course.
The market supports what the market supports.

I’ve also nothing against someone turning a profit, but if the person profiting is a trader who is posing as a normal punter then that’s crossed a line.

[Peter Drew]

3 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I remember the late Handlemaster, Johninderby, late of this parish, was one of the most generous in the terms he used when selling on kit.

I can add a + to that as I benefitted on a few occasions.     🙂

[Franklin]

5 minutes ago, CraigT82 said:

but if the person profiting is a trader who is posing as a normal punter then that’s crossed a line.

Nail on head Craig.

[iantaylor2uk]

I think the key is to price your unwanted goods correctly. 

There are loads of traders on ebay who pick up second hand goods if they are priced too low. 

Similarly, I use MPB for buying and selling old camera equipment, and it is fairly obvious they are in the business of making a profit on anything they buy from you. 

I know people say price at around 2/3 of new, but now inflation is high, retail prices are going up, so you could argue why is my second hand telescope now worth more than a year before. 

Ultimately, if you set a price and someone pays it, and you were happy with the deal, the goods are no longer yours, and if they then try and sell it on for a profit later on, the lesson is you probably priced it too low.

It's hard enough to sell astro gear at the best of times, so if you restrict who you sell to, you're only going to shoot yourself in the foot.

[Mr Magoo]

Kit sold on SGL should be sold for the benefit of a members observing experience, not their bank balance. If you don't need it once you've bought it, put it back up for sale on the same site for the same price.

[Second Time Around]

1 minute ago, iantaylor2uk said:

 

I know people say price at around 2/3 of new, but now inflation is high, retail prices are going up, so you could argue why is my second hand telescope now worth more than a year before. 

 

 

3 minutes ago, Mr Magoo said:

Kit sold on SGL should be sold for the benefit of a members observing experience, not their bank balance. If you don't need it once you've bought it, put it back up for sale on the same site for the same price.

I price my kit at about 2/3rds if in good condition, less if it's not. Most of my items sell pretty quickly at that level.

However, this is 2/3rds of the current price. 

I consider what I paid to be immaterial.  I often don't remember anyway. However, I never buy to trade but to use.  

Inflation does has to be taken into account. After all, nobody would sell a house for what they paid for it 25 years ago!

So it's replacement cost that's relevant.

We can lose as well.  For instance my fishing book collection has crashed in value in line with its replacement cost.  As I need the space, I'm currently selling a lot of fishing books for a small fraction of what I paid for them.

 

 

[CraigT82]

31 minutes ago, iantaylor2uk said:

I think the key is to price your unwanted goods correctly. 

There are loads of traders on ebay who pick up second hand goods if they are priced too low. 

Similarly, I use MPB for buying and selling old camera equipment, and it is fairly obvious they are in the business of making a profit on anything they buy from you. 

I know people say price at around 2/3 of new, but now inflation is high, retail prices are going up, so you could argue why is my second hand telescope now worth more than a year before. 

Ultimately, if you set a price and someone pays it, and you were happy with the deal, the goods are no longer yours, and if they then try and sell it on for a profit later on, the lesson is you probably priced it too low.

It's hard enough to sell astro gear at the best of times, so if you restrict who you sell to, you're only going to shoot yourself in the foot.

Yes agree with all this, however my main issue is with the dealers then selling it on and pretending not to be a dealer. If they are doing this ‘professionally’ they should be up front about it with their buyers and should abide by distance selling regulations like any online trader, and offer things like returns/warranty on the things they sell. 

[Stu]

I think the answer (which may have already been given) is just to price at a level where you are happy with what you are getting then anything that happens to it after it has left your hands has to be considered irrelevant. Perhaps you were a little too generous with your price, it looks a very nice little scope. Trouble is, in trying to pass stuff on a good value you always run the risk of this happening.

I do wonder however if a certain person may find that items for sale have already been taken now when they enquire….

[Sunshine]

This post reminds me of a conversation I had with my wife a few weeks ago, one of those odd conversations about death we can have with someone we have been with for 300 oops, 30 years. She saw me tending to my dobsonian and refractor and as she walked past me in the basement she said " if something were to happen to you what will should I do with these toys?" I said just sell them, to which she replied "ok I guess I'll just make up the prices" I decided to have some fun and asked how much she would sell my 102 for. She did this cute thing where she put the tip of her index finger to her mouth as she examined it and said " it looks well kept and shiny so maybe I would sell this one for $500?" while looking at me with a smile, just waiting for my approval, I was torn between giving her a hug or start crying. 🤣

[bosun21]

8 hours ago, Franklin said:

Some of you may have noticed that over the last month or so I've sold some my Vixen kit. One of those sales was an A62SS with accessories and I sold the lot for £200 plus postage, good deal, fair enough. Not particularly to my surprise I now see my old scope and accessories up for sale again on ABS for £385. Are times really that hard? 🤣

I remember that as I just missed it!

[Andy ES]

I remember always saying to my contractors that I wanted them,

“To make a reasonable profit”

The good news was that I always controlled how reasonable it was😁

[Franklin]

1 hour ago, Sunshine said:

I said just sell them, to which she replied "ok I guess I'll just make up the prices"

Lol. She was just trying to find out how much you've actually spent!😄

[Sunshine]

8 minutes ago, Franklin said:

Lol. She was just trying to find out how much you've actually spent!😄

Oh she knew at the time I bought it, but because she has no interest and also considering the many other scopes which have come and gone, she has no chance of remembering.