Advise needed for trading & selling

A

aj1985

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Hey guy how are yah

I have never traded or sold anything before, but might be doing it in the near future.

Is it possible you could share with me any advise that you have & also regarding selling and payment options.

I have read the stickies, but want to learn a bit more before I dive into selling or trading.

thank you for all your help

take care
aj
 
I suppose the primary piece of advice I'd give is to lay out all of your terms for sale/trade up front, or if you're the one inquiring to make sure you ask the seller any and all relevant questions up front. Better to sort it out beforehand and avoid, or work around, a possible problem than have acrimonious feelings later because someone thought or assumed something that wasn't the case.

Also, utilize the GB&U to read up on the deals folks have done here, it can be very helpful.

Lastly, don't put up with stuff like crazy lowball offers or pressure from folks to go ahead with a deal that you aren't confident in. If feel that you need to turn someone down, just go ahead and do it, politely and, if necessary, firmly. There are too many good people here you can buy/sell/trade with to waste time with those who would use such tactics.
 
1. Upgrade your membership to Gold so you can sell and use the search function. :D
2. Never make an offer on a knife you want to buy, or accept an offer on a knife your selling, without searching GB&U to check the feedbacks of the other party.
3. Trust your gut, if someones feedbacks or behavior gives you the "hinks", don't deal with them.
4. When selling, always remember it's YOUR knife until it's paid for, sell it to whoever you choose to, and that may not always be who yells "I'll take it" first. (which is why you should NEVER put "first I'll take it gets it" in your sales post).
5. If you place something for sale, check your sale thread at least once every 24 hours, don't make potential buyers wait days to here from you.
6. Communicate throughout the deal, let folks know when their payment arrives and when you ship.
7. Save all postal receipts until they get the knife and the deal is done.

And most important of all, "It ain't a deal until both folks are satisfied"
 
Thanks a lot for the advise it is aprreciated.

I wanted to ask is paypal confirmed the best way to accept a payment.

People that do not have feedback or are quite new is it bad manners to ask them to send their items first in a trade. Have you guys every asked for the other party to send their item first, before you send your.

thank again

aj
 
LC has really summed it up for you very well - treat folks as though you'd treat them in real life versus as a couple characters on the monitor and you'll be fine.

Assume the best, plan/ prepare for the worst. If it feels funny, don't.

I like paypal, it's easy and really, the bitch about the fees is ludicrous. 3% is what you will pay to accept credit cards and so be it. I have to ask you to send your knife first, I have no business trading with you - see the last bit about if it feels funny.

I'll add one more that I ALWAYS live by. If you cannot afford to take the money you are about the spend out on the sidewalk, pour kerosene on it and set it afire, you have no business doing this transaction. What if it goes bad and that is some sort of weird fubar'd deal you are working for the mortgage or the car note money you are short?

We expect it will go well and I'm trying to recall if I've ever had a bad deal at BFC - I do not think so. Keep in mind your idea of New may be different than someone else's, and so forth, so always be as honest and up front as you are capable of being, and always be prepared to undo the deal.

I did have one trade a while back, back in 1999 or so, which I made a mistake on. I was called on it, and it was simply a lack of understanding on my part - as a result, I'm very careful to make sure to be as up-front as possible when I put a knife up for sale.

One other thing - IT'S JUST KNIVES! Nothing here is worth a heart condition. Or a bad rap. No piece of steel is so important it's worth screwing yourself to the floor over.

And have fun - we've all become better for the experience, and I have a really cool knife collection as a result.

Welcome to the "real forums" :D and I look forward to swapping steel if we can find something we simply cannot live without in the other guy's sock drawer.
 
aj1985 said:
I wanted to ask is paypal confirmed the best way to accept a payment.
Click to expand...

I know some folks hate PayPal, but I've never had a problem with them, I like the convenience.

I also will take United States Postal Service Money Orders, but hate taking money orders from other places, USPS ones are harder to fake and MUCH easier to cash/deposit in my experience.

I am not big on taking personal checks, and have only done it once on BF, but the member that asked me if I would take one, had a very long standing solid reputation on here, so I won't say never do it, but be careful.

aj1985 said:
People that do not have feedback or are quite new is it bad manners to ask them to send their items first in a trade. Have you guys every asked for the other party to send their item first, before you send your.

aj
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it was totally out of line, especially if they are a brand new member with no history, but I'd probably be reluctant to trade with them on that alone. Unless it's agreed to ahead of time, most trades with me have been where both parties agree to a certain day to ship the knives, and agree to what method, i.e. First Class or Priority Mail, and to have insurance, delivery confirmation or signature confirmation.

To me it's important that both parties in a trade take equal steps to cover each other.

And I can't stress enough how important it is to communicate before, during and after a deal. Nothing makes a buyer/seller more nervous than to send a payment/knife and the other person just go silent.


At the same time, if you don't hear back right away, don't panic. Life/Computer problems happen and can keep folks offline for a few days.

Didn't mean to ramble on so much! :D
 
All good points. But I'd like to add that if you're selling, give an accurate description of the knife. Terms such as NIB or Like New may mean something completely different to different people. Describe the condition the best you can, and offer pics if needed.
 
SPXTrader makes a great point, recent, clear quality pictures probably will help sell an item better than just about anything.
 
AJ, I notice you're in Canada.... although Paypal does work, if you sell to another person in Canada, you can use the Interac money transfer system (same system that debit cards run on). Costs depend on the institution, but are usually around $2; instant transfer of money from account to account which can't be reversed or contested. I sold two knives a little while back, used the transfer on both of them, and it worked like a charm.

Read more here...

http://www.interac.ca/consumers/productsandservices_ol_emt.php
 
Trading for me rarely works out.
I will do it FTF sometimes but not long distance.

If you want to get rid of something, sell it,
then go buy want you want.

Pictures are a must, and put all the info in the post that you can think of.
If someone asks a question that is not in your post, go back and modify the post.
The only response to a well written post will be " I will take it".
That is assuming you have a good price.
If you do not know what to sell an item for start out with a higher price,
and then drop it a little bit every few days until you get it sold.
Remember you can not get retail when you sell something as an individual.


:cool:
 
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