• The rules for The Exchange can be found here. Please read and follow them. Stop using Paypal Friends & Family and follow our best practices to prevent getting ripped off or having a bad deal.

How To Suggestions on "How a deal ought to go down"

PeteyTwoPointOne

Platinum Member
Feedback: 660 / 0 / 0
Joined
Jun 10, 2014
Messages
7,685
Many, many BladeForums brethren adhere to these humble suggestions instinctively-- in fact, I'm mindful of my past VERY POSITIVE :thumbsup: transactions with them in the past in creating this thread because the way we consummated our dealings usually followed this exact path.

To them, and many others, some of this may seem like..."Well, duhhh...tell us something we didn't already know!" :rolleyes:

However, I've noticed an influx of new blood on the Exchange recently and <maybe> they need <a little> guidance on "how a deal ought to go down." :cool:

This is in no way intended to be exhaustive, one size fits all, dogmatic, or preachy on my behalf. Just a starting point. A sort of checklist for Exchange pilgrims. :)

Please add to/subtract from/offer suggestions as your experience moves you to.

I like to think of a successful DEAL as a series of 7 "turns" between the two parties:

1. SELLER: posts sales thread with concise & accurate written description, simple & clearly stated terms, clear photos of crucial areas <pivot, spine, edge, blade centering, lock-up, blemishes, etc.>, and all-inclusive prices.
2. BUYER: posts an "I'll take it!" in thread and starts Conversation <what used to be Private Messages a.k.a. PM's> with SELLER requesting PayPal <or similar> info.
3. SELLER: responds to Conversation with payment info. <Goods & Services ONLY, if PayPal is your favored medium of exchange!!!>
4. BUYER: sends funds immediately and confirms that his/her shipping address is accurate and up to date via Conversation.
5. SELLER: immediately confirms receipt of funds and provides BUYER with notification of actual shipping date and tracking info via Conversation, and then ships item, with tracking, promptly on date promised.
6. BUYER: takes delivery of item and notifies SELLER that everything was kosher by means of Conversation or leaving positive feedback on the Exchange <preferably BOTH>.
7. SELLER: reciprocates with positive feedback-- and additionally, a personal Conversation is also ideal.

DEAL IS DONE! :thumbsup: ...at this point, if both parties are satisfied, the SELLER can close the thread.

As I said, post up any suggestions-- thanks for your time and my wish is that this may help a few members make an already GREAT place even GREATER! :):):)
 
Last edited:
Under #5, I would add "immediately confirm receipt of funds". I always do this and have found that it helps the buyer to know for certain that the $ was sent to the right place. I think it also helps them to feel like I am on top of it rather than falling asleep in the back of the class.
 
Under #5, I would add "immediately confirm receipt of funds". I always do this and have found that it helps the buyer to know for certain that the $ was sent to the right place. I think it also helps them to feel like I am on top of it rather than falling asleep in the back of the class.

Agreed.

As the seller, I would also include when I plan to ship. I would generally suggest that should be mentioned when payment info is sent to the buyer.

Trading and negotiating a sales price will have more back and forth conversation but it should still go in a similar fashion.

Offer a price that you feel is fair to both you and the seller. They will either accept, negotiate or decline. Asking for the "best price" a seller will do is not an offer.

When trading, offer what you have to trade and what you are looking to trade for in the first private contact. Include descriptions of the condition and photos. Ask any deal breaking questions in the first contact as well.

It's pretty annoying when someone asks a bunch of questions about a knife you have and then after about 5 emails back and forth offers something you have no interest in. Get that out of the way first to save both of your time.
 
Last edited:
Under #5, I would add "immediately confirm receipt of funds". I always do this and have found that it helps the buyer to know for certain that the $ was sent to the right place. I think it also helps them to feel like I am on top of it rather than falling asleep in the back of the class.

Thank you...

amended.
 
I've sold hundreds of knives through bladeforums, without a hitch. The players need to focus on the deal, and agree on a number. Don't get personal until a number of successful transactions have been attained. The expert player wants to get inside your head. Keep it sterile, until a level of confidence is reached.
 
Last edited:
ALso, make sure to make a post in the sales thread of "I'll take it" so that you can leave a feedback score for the seller and the seller can reciprocate. If you lock the sales thread and the buyer has not posted in said sales thread, there is no way for them to leave feedback. The new software tracks posting in sales threads as a means to validate warranted feedback instead of randomly hitting someone with FU negative. It will work out really well when people get used to it and when it becomes common knowledge. Carry on knife knuts.
 
I can only speak as a buyer & lurker.

In 1, I would include a concise but thorough written description of the knife, as pictures (even good ones) don't always show the whole story. Things like lockup & centering can be fairly well portrayed in pics, but blades are harder to photograph. Knowing up-front that a knife needs a bit of wrist-flip saves time and frustration.

It sounds intuitive, but it's often missing.

As for folder pics, I like to see lockup, centering, blade and scale (both sides). A spine pic is nice too. Be sure to crop and zoom.

Cheers!
 
I can only speak as a buyer & lurker.

In 1, I would include a concise but thorough written description of the knife, as pictures (even good ones) don't always show the whole story. ....
It sounds intuitive, but it's often missing.

Cheers!

good point...added
 
BladeForums brethren

^ Thanks for taking your time to try and improve this forum P2.1! :thumbsup: :)


I can only speak as a buyer & lurker.

In 1, I would include a concise but thorough written description of the knife, as pictures (even good ones) don't always show the whole story. Things like lockup & centering can be fairly well portrayed in pics, but blades are harder to photograph. Knowing up-front that a knife needs a bit of wrist-flip saves time and frustration.

It sounds intuitive, but it's often missing.

As for folder pics, I like to see lockup, centering, blade and scale (both sides). A spine pic is nice too. Be sure to crop and zoom.

Cheers!

^ :thumbsup::thumbsup: Excellent! +1 on this!

These simple F&F disclosures, are important/necessary information for every sales ad. Unfortunately, I'm seeing more and more, seemingly lazy, rushed sales ad's, with literally no basic information needed to pull the trigger and post an "I'll take it!" :thumbsdown:
 
One thing I don't understand, and maybe y'all can enlighten me, is the "don't ask questions in the sales thread" request from sellers. I abide by it but it is pretty damn stupid if you ask me. People generally don't ask pointless questions. The answers to the questions I sometimes have for a seller, for instance, would benefit anyone interested in buying the knife.

What are you "no questions" people up to? It comes across as shady to me.
 
One thing I don't understand, and maybe y'all can enlighten me, is the "don't ask questions in the sales thread" request from sellers. I abide by it but it is pretty damn stupid if you ask me. People generally don't ask pointless questions. The answers to the questions I sometimes have for a seller, for instance, would benefit anyone interested in buying the knife.

What are you "no questions" people up to? It comes across as shady to me.

I'm not one of those guys and sometimes I think serious questions can help out a sales thread, especially if the SELLER forgot to include crucial info.

I'm guessing they just want to avoid clutter, avoid nonsensical queries, and pre-emptively avoid questions that they may deem "too personal" that they don't want to even address for the sake of looking LIKE THEY MAY HAVE something to hide.

Think about it...you can post just about anything you want in a SELLER's thread and they have no control over what you write. It could be helpful to their ends :) or it could be harmful :(.
 
One thing I don't understand, and maybe y'all can enlighten me, is the "don't ask questions in the sales thread" request from sellers. I abide by it but it is pretty damn stupid if you ask me. People generally don't ask pointless questions. The answers to the questions I sometimes have for a seller, for instance, would benefit anyone interested in buying the knife.

What are you "no questions" people up to? It comes across as shady to me.

Your questions are OK but then there is the DA who wants to know if you will take $....... (lower) than your asking price rather then sending an email or PM. Ties up the thread until you can properly reply and then gives others the idea that you are open to negotiations. :mad: (Well, I might be but ask me quietly please.)

ALSO - regarding photos - PLEASE don't ask me to go to another sight to look at photos or ask me to email you as a "serious buyer" to see the knife. :poop: :thumbsdown:

Otherwise I thank the OP for this detailed thread. Can only make things better if the folks take the time to read.

Ray
 
ALSO - regarding photos - PLEASE don't ask me to go to another sight to look at photos or ask me to email you as a "serious buyer" to see the knife.

This x 100. If you want buyers to give your listing serious consideration, take the time to post quality pictures in the thread. Also, IMO full images are the way to go - thumbnail photos should be avoided.
 
As suggested, I really wish more buyers would acknowledge receipt of the knife and that the deal went well (or didn't). I send a knife off with PayPal goods payment and have to sit here wondering if I'm going to get a surprise complaint or an email weeks down the line.
 
Last edited:
One thing I don't understand, and maybe y'all can enlighten me, is the "don't ask questions in the sales thread" request from sellers. I abide by it but it is pretty damn stupid if you ask me. People generally don't ask pointless questions. The answers to the questions I sometimes have for a seller, for instance, would benefit anyone interested in buying the knife.

What are you "no questions" people up to? It comes across as shady to me.
I'm worse than a "no question" person - I don't want ANY posts made in my ads. There are a number of reasons for that, but I will address the "questions" aspect here (because it was specifically asked).
The biggest reason for me is that too many people do not have the common sense to keep negotiations private. I don't want offers - dollar figures or trades - posted in (my) sales threads. If a legitimate question about the item itself is asked privately, I will update my ad to include the information/pictures; thereby making the information available to everybody. Also, since my stated preference for communication is PM or email, posts to the thread would require that I repeatedly check my ads for those posts...my time is valuable to me, and I don't care to do that. (I leave post notifications turned off, and have since I figured out how to do that years ago - the majority of my posts are not in the classifieds, and I don't want my inbox blown up because I happen to post in a popular thread.)
 
Back
Top