How to Differentiate Genuine Buyers & Sellers? Lets work it out

[Bobster]

I thought i'd never have to post this up, but i believe its time to have people made AWARE and to actually attempt to change the attitude of some. After talking to a few softies as well..this doesnt just happen to me, but i feel it has to be brought up.

I'm the usual guitarists that has huge amounts of gear and i've used SOFT as my main stepping board to clear out my gear. I've done countless of deals of SOFT and i have to say there are more good deals than bad ones. However, recently i've experienced a huge uprise of bad ones. What do i mean by bad ones? Ranges from just lowballing to standing someone up when you've agreed on a deal, making him wait for hours even (yes i've experienced it).
Just today, i've reserved (i have no idea why i did but the guy seemed genuine) a pedal for a guy for about 3 weeks or more. We were supposed to deal on Saturday but he had an excuse for personal reasons. I bought it, today he says he got turnout by the army - i still bought it. Heres the thing that got me pissed off right away - he decided to negotiate the price after 3-4 Weeks of Reservation! I turned it down right away. I've had so many bad cases and examples to share but i'm only going to point this out because i want to leave a solution. I will not leave names in the public mainly because i do not flame people.

Could we implement a good/bad deals permanent thread just to share our experiences? This would help buyers/sellers greatly in terms of differentiating a good genuine deal from the bad one.

Bob

P.S. True enough, i've met super nice and friendly musicians through this deals, and we even stop to talk about gear in the midst of our transaction. Kudos to them and i'm more inclined to leave out their names here if SOFT extends signature space.

 

[trippyfactory]

Genuine Vs. Bad Traders

Your experience with the long wait and re-negotiating after weeks of delay truly sucks. I empathise you. That person should be ignored. PM me his nick and I'll avoid him too.

However, lowballing is pretty subjective, if you ask me.

The concept of "one man's meat is another man's poison"; if you sincerely feel that you've been low-balled, just reject nicely or perhaps just ignore the pm or sms.

No need to turn verbally abusive and hurl vulgarities. We live in a civilised society, no need to be rude.

 

[vickomaniac]

I don't buy/sell much, but I've had my fair share of both the good and bad.
However it's pretty hard to differentiate from first glance because some people might always try to change things at the last minute, or some who have really shitty attitudes but end up buying from you because both parties are desperate?
And for those who make last minute adjustments, it's definitely an inconvenience to us, but sometimes we have to give the other party the benefit of the doubt.

 

[trippyfactory]

Good point!

[QUOTE=vickomaniac

Good point. Buy and sell only when you are absolutely sure. If you are just testing market and enquiring about the gears or prices, just be honest about it.

 

[Revelt]

I think we should have a rating system beside the user's name (alongside the rep points), and it'll link to a page with user feedbacks. We can rate 1-5, 1 being very bad and 5 being very good, and raters should give a short feedback justifying the rating. The average rating will be displayed.
Is this possible to do?

 

[Bobster]

To clarify, lowballing was never really a main issue for me..They can be sorted out with just a simple reply.

I'm concerned with the major breakdowns.. Like reservations and no reply etc. I've had so many i can't even list them down.. And yes Revelt i agree thats a good suggestion.. Maybe we can all come up with something for James to work on..

The bottomline: We really do need a system or something to differentiate this!

Bob

 

[gothviruz]

revelt, that is like ebay rating system.. haha..

ANyway, some buyers dun talk much, dun sms much, dun ask much either but in the end the deal went thru. Some are the opposite and in the end, never buy.

These are norm, when u sell ur stuffs online. A sure way to make the buyer keep his words is to ask for deposit thru bank transfer. No deposit, no reservation. It may sound harsh but hey, we cant be always nice all the time. And it usually works.

 

[Phil]

I think we should have a rating system beside the user's name (alongside the rep points), and it'll link to a page with user feedbacks. We can rate 1-5, 1 being very bad and 5 being very good, and raters should give a short feedback justifying the rating. The average rating will be displayed.
Is this possible to do?

Possible but not effective. If the fellow had an account full of bad feedback, he'd just simply create a new account. No point in using that tainted account any longer right?

Honestly, I don't see any other way out then to just trust the other party. I buy and sell a lot of gear here as well. And initially, I used the postcount as a gauge of credibility. But as I soon found out, postcount means nothing. I had many good deals with people with very low postcounts, all of them genuine and sincere as hell. I realised that there are many people know own amazing stuff, who are very knowledgeable, but just don't post much here.

So at the end of the day, I will determine if the buyer is genuine through our interactions. If he seems dodgy, then I'd steer clear. But so far, I've been lucky. Have not been stood up before.

 

[Bobster]

Hmm, but surely the rating system would give genuine sellers and buyers a huge advantage in this area, give and take a few pranksters etc.

We dun even need a rating system, as i mentioned. Possibly a thread on this would do.

 

[Revelt]

Goth: AH ! THAT'S WHERE I GOT IT FROM !! Haha.

Phil: I think even if a new account is made, the person would have to build up his reputation anyway.

 

[guitarsan]

- Serious buyers only need enquire
- Strictly no trades, cash deal
- Lowballers will be totally ignored
- No reservation, first come first serve
- Time and place to deal/test at my own discretion

I sometimes include the above conditions to save time, effort and headache as a seller. To some, it may appear too "cold", but it does weed out the non-genuine buyers, window-shoppers, and trying-their-luck-lowballers. However, some clowns still do not read it, or choose not to comprehend it......and they still lowball you or ask you to reserve for them.

As a buyer, I usually avoid buying/enquiring from those who post "MWTS". It appears to me the seller is just testing market and not genuinely interested in selling. So I rather not waste each other's time.

 

[Bobster]

Sounds like in essence, one has to be really tough and focused.. Hmm no more mr nice guy?

 

[shinobi]

mr nice guy succeeds in attracting all the shit buyers

there is no nice or nasty guy. there are only serious and anyhow buyers and sellers.

SOFT should adopt some of simple rules that the bigger, less cockup forums do to great effect;

extracted from another, larger forum;

Mark Sold Items If your item sells, close your thread

we have no control over the thread

Excessive Bumping of Ads is not permitted. Bumping of an ad threads is allowed under the following conditions; Delete all prior bumps, and only bump once per 24 hours. A bump is not just a post that says “bump” or “Monday morning bump” or “bumpaboo”, but ANY POST that does not feed the thread with relevant information. Adding of pictures is a valid reason to bump your forsale thread, as long as it falls within the above rules - no more than once per 24 hours and delete prior bumps beforehand.

this is good bump management. bumping is totally banned in SOFT.

If you post a "feeler" ad, you MUST post a price with it. This is not an auction site - If you want people to "bid" on your item, take it to ebay. Trade feeler threads are allowed, but if it turns into a FS thread, seller MUST post a price or the thread will be immediately closed or deleted.

aren't we all too familiar with the "quote me a price" thread followed by flame c_um dirty laundry post in the music kopitiam?

If you are selling multiple instruments concurrently, or if you have several threads posted, please consider consolidating your items into one thread ("Fender XyZ and Warwick AbC FOR SALE!").

prevents other threads from being flooded out

 

[Damo]

why not just ask for a reference from a buyer or seller to be added within your profile. You can then refer new or potential buyers and sellers to your references if they are worried.

 

[shinobi]

why not we just allow people to post bad references, with no way of being able to verify their truth or validity

i think making the buy/sell open to donating accounts is also a good idea. then people wont make clone accounts. but small donation amounts please :mrgreen:

 

[superpotato_30]

True even if we have an area put up for bad deals, whos to verify the stories made?

Sometimes its a misunderstanding. Both sides of the story must be heard. Anyone got suggestions to such?

 

[Bobster]

i think shinobi has got it right, looks like the only way is to play as the no-nonsense seller. I'll probably adopt this approach in my future sale. Although i'm a fan of good bump management as well.

 

[fgl]

Donno about you guys but my policy is very simple..

SELLING
1. I offer very attractive prices - more often than not at a loss on my part coz the way I look at it my gigs sorta fund my gear anyways. Items I sell are in either very good or good condition and if it's anything less.. I clearly state so.

2. First come first serve basis - if an item is in good condition and popular or rare enough - bound to be multiple parties interested .... FIRST PERSON TO SHOW ME THE MONEY - not first person to SMS or PM me .. seals the deal ... with buyer number 2 next in line etc etc ...

3. My prices would have been very attractive already but in the event of counter offer by the buyer, we both agree on the price before the meet. This also brings back point No 1 - Items stated in ad as very good condition better be so or they cud be further disputes upon meeting the buyer.


BUYING
1. I ascertain the condition (as best or as honestly as the seller says it is).

2. Agree on price (taking into consideration condition again and any problems that can only be found upon viewing or testing the item).

3. Cash & carry - fast easy deals / convinient meet point for both parties.


Just my 2 cents

 

[steviegfc]

Buying/Selling should be done at Ebay

Not in S.O.F.T.

People aint know what is gd Shiit what aint because S.O.F.T doesnt provide users, items ratings as such.

 

[Dime]

Its all about offer and acceptance.Offer a price and given a counter-offer its your choice to reject the counter-offer.Having reject it means the deal is off.Why bother about the price given by the counter-offer?Just reject or ignore.