Leave the sale price on sold threads

[Morrow]

As always, a well thought out, reasonable post.

Since the folks here should do their own policing, set their own trends and take care of themselves this seems to be an easy solution that requires almost no effort. Management has said it is solely up to the sellers to leave or remove the transaction history making it easy enough to keep prices up if the sellers want to. And if it is popular enough BF will change with the trend. Problem solved.

Robert

Esav is the moderator equivalent of Yoda.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

I'm getting old and scruffy but I'm not that ugly!

 

[james terrio]

Moderators have time to police threads for "foul language" but there isn't time to look at sales threads?

People can even use the report post feature to alert moderators to threads violating the rules!

Moderators generally don't "police" anything. Maybe if they see a thread that's obviously going to be a hot-button issue... I don't really know how often that even happens.

As you mentioned, it's usually up to members/users to report violations by clicking on the little triangle of an offensive post. Then mods will take a look at it and decide if it requires a warning or whatever.

How on earth would they have time to go through every closed sales thread and see if someone deleted a price? Or deal with some disgruntled character going through and reporting them all? That's crazy. Most mods have jobs, families, hobbies outside of BFC, y'know... lives. And they're not paid to babysit us.

FWIW I generally don't delete my prices in old sales threads. In fact, I don't think I ever have (but I almost never say "never" because if I do, surely I'll have to eat my words )...

... but I'm not terribly concerned about other professional makers, dealers, or just "regular folks moving a few knives a year" deleting theirs. With the vast resources available outside this forum for comparison purposes, I fail to see why it's such a big deal. I think the mods do a pretty darn good job of letting the Exchange more or less run itself.

You can vote with your wallet. :thumbup:

Bingo... and here's a good example of letting the market decide:

I've noticed a lot of members have stopped requesting the "Gift" option lately. Some that would exclusively ask for it have begun asking for a single price, shipped, put the door, to your home, everything included. Threads look much better and it looks like those conversations worked. I hope this in particular stays as it is.

:thumbup:

What about our knifemakers? Should they be required to leave sales prices listed after a sale? The obvious answer is NO they should not. The same model knife sold by a maker 2 years ago could very easily be more refined or presented with better materials now. Should the knifemakers have their feet held to the fire by a potential buyer using a price from an old listing?

There's also the unfortunate fact that steel, belts, electricity, etc never seem to get any cheaper year after year. Even disregarding increased quality and demand... If someone asks to me to make 'em a knife for the same price it sold for 1 or 2 or 5 years ago, I will happily advise them to try the same tactic at the gas station or grocery store, and let me know how that works out for 'em

 

[CapitalizedLiving]

I erase prices and pics as a general rule. Historical prices mean nothing - makers often raise their prices and I often sell knives for below current market price as I generally have a higher time preference. I don't see what knowing the price of something from a month ago would mean today, other than to use that price to determine if something is "fair" today. This of course is a fallacy, unless prices are highly stable AND the old price reflected fair market value and not a higher or lower price based on market demand and the time preference of the seller.

I get that this is a highly opinionated issue and my opinion is just one more in the bucket. I'm pretty sure this will remain a contentious issue as there is no right answer, which is why I'm grateful that there is no rule requiring prices stay posted.

 

[Joe Watson]

What about our knifemakers? Should they be required to leave sales prices listed after a sale? The obvious answer is NO they should not. The same model knife sold by a maker 2 years ago could very easily be more refined or presented with better materials now. Should the knifemakers have their feet held to the fire by a potential buyer using a price from an old listing?

Thank you!

 

[Guyon]

Some folks may not want their dealings and/or income to be public record. You can always PM or email a seller and ask how much a knife sold for.

 

[Fanglekai]

Moderators generally don't "police" anything. Maybe if they see a thread that's obviously going to be a hot-button issue... I don't really know how often that even happens.

As you mentioned, it's usually up to members/users to report violations by clicking on the little triangle of an offensive post. Then mods will take a look at it and decide if it requires a warning or whatever.

How on earth would they have time to go through every closed sales thread and see if someone deleted a price? Or deal with some disgruntled character going through and reporting them all? That's crazy. Most mods have jobs, families, hobbies outside of BFC, y'know... lives. And they're not paid to babysit us.

FWIW I generally don't delete my prices in old sales threads. In fact, I don't think I ever have (but I almost never say "never" because if I do, surely I'll have to eat my words )...

... but I'm not terribly concerned about other professional makers, dealers, or just "regular folks moving a few knives a year" deleting theirs. With the vast resources available outside this forum for comparison purposes, I fail to see why it's such a big deal. I think the mods do a pretty darn good job of letting the Exchange more or less run itself.



Bingo... and here's a good example of letting the market decide:



:thumbup:



There's also the unfortunate fact that steel, belts, electricity, etc never seem to get any cheaper year after year. Even disregarding increased quality and demand... If someone asks to me to make 'em a knife for the same price it sold for 1 or 2 or 5 years ago, I will happily advise them to try the same tactic at the gas station or grocery store, and let me know how that works out for 'em

If a rule is made it's not hard for people to report threads. If people get infractions for foul language why not give infractions for removing the sales price in a thread? These types of things snowball and it doesn't take long for people to get in line with the new rule.

Since Spark isn't going to make it a rule there really isn't any point pursuing the issue or even wasting time offering constructive feedback. Nothing will change.

Why is there an expectation for the Exchange to be a historical record of sale prices? Spark has made his position on this issue clear. It is the seller's prerogative to leave or remove the price.

Yeah I'd like to get a Michael Walker for what it went for 15 years ago.......not gonna happen. I think most people realize that as makers get more experience and more exposure/popularity (not to mention cost of inflation and rising costs of everything) their prices go up. Having a record gives people a ballpark figure of what a specific knife cost at a specific point in time. There is no denying that it is useful.

 

[Fanglekai]

Some folks may not want their dealings and/or income to be public record. You can always PM or email a seller and ask how much a knife sold for.

If they don't want it public then why post on a forum that is visible to anyone with an internet connection?

 

[Karda]

If they don't want it public then why post on a forum that is visible to anyone with an internet connection?

Obviously because that is how they make a sale to make money. It doesn't mean they are obligated to provide free appraisal service after the sale for unconcerned parties.

 

[james terrio]

If a rule is made it's not hard for people to report threads. If people get infractions for foul language why not give infractions for removing the sales price in a thread?

Because A) I think that would be a stupid and ultimately pointless rule, and B) the mods have enough on their plates as it is. Also, C) it's really none of your business.

The more I consider this "controversy", the more completely laughable it seems. Really, now... people can't look at a knife for sale for $XXX and decide on their own, "Hey, that's worth it to me! I'm gonna buy it!" or "Naw, that seems like too much money for that. I'll pass." ...without scouring through threads from a month or five years ago?

 

[james terrio]

Disclaimer for the sake of clarity:

My name shows up in red only because I ponied up for a knifemaker membership, and Spark has allowed me to have my own subforum to peddle my wares. I'm only a moderator there. Everywhere else, I'm just a normal regular forum member like anyone

So when I "stick up" for the real mods who have to deal with stuff in the Exchange and/or the entire forum, it's not based on my own self-interest... just common sense.

 

[Karda]

Esav is the moderator equivalent of Yoda.

May the Shwartz be with You!

[video=youtube_share;ebJ-4hjNZRM]http://youtu.be/ebJ-4hjNZRM[/video]

 

[Ken44]

I leave my price up, and would like for all to do it, but we sure don't need a rule to force people to do it.

The seller has the right to take it down if they choose, and thats the way it should be. Their sale, and they can do as they wish with the price.

Its been happening since I got here(before LK started doing it), and it will always happen here.
While it did bother me in the past, it doesn't bother me in the least anymore.

Its not going to change, so it would be best to just accept it.

We should be more worried about sellers doing dishonest things such as using the PP Gift option and asking for PP fee's. That one still bothers me

 

[338375]

I've noticed a lot of members have stopped requesting the "Gift" option lately. Some that would exclusively ask for it have begun asking for a single price, shipped, put the door, to your home, everything included. Threads look much better and it looks like those conversations worked. I hope this in particular stays as it is.

I've noticed that as well... It's actually made surfing the exchange much more pleasant, because that issue has always been a personal pet peeve, and it has increased the number of knives that I will consider buying.

We foster more of a sense of community by persuading others to follow good practice than by ordering them to do so.

^^^This.
I was guilty of wanting a new policy implemented concerning PP fees, but with enough conversation about the subject, it seems to have self-regulated. :thumbup:

If a rule is made it's not hard for people to report threads. If people get infractions for foul language why not give infractions for removing the sales price in a thread? These types of things snowball and it doesn't take long for people to get in line with the new rule.

It's a totally different issue...
Infractions for foul language are issued, when the language is used in an inappropriate sub-forum...
If foul language was allowed in General, Traditional or other sub-forums that are accessible to younger members, not only does it look bad, it also has the potential to drive people away from BF's.

I like seeing prices left up after a knife has sold. But, it really isn't that important. As others have stated, it doesn't mean that is what the knife actually sold for, and it can fluctuate from time to time. It also depends on the venue used to sell. I've seen knives that bring ridiculous prices on the big auction site, and the same knife listed here may not sell for anything close, or sell at all.

 

[RevDevil]

I'm glad you noticed the difference Mike. Took a while, but the conversation did educate a good amount of people. Some folks still add the old "net to me, Gift or add 3.5%"; but it is way down. I'm all for self regulation, besides almost everyone around here has knives. It can get dangerous in a hurry.

 

[338375]

I'm glad you noticed the difference Mike. Took a while, but the conversation did educate a good amount of people. Some folks still add the old "net to me, Gift or add 3.5%"; but it is way down. I'm all for self regulation, besides almost everyone around here has knives. It can get dangerous in a hurry.

It did take awhile to get it rolling Charlie, but once it started, it really seemed to catch on.

Good point about the knives

 

[FLymon]

One of the most valuable services that Bladeforums can provide to its member is the hosting of a transparent marketplace. When sellers remove prices -- or even the entire posting -- from sales threads after a sale, it diminishes the service of a transparent marketplace.

If people want to sell knives here, they should be required -- since they don't do this on their own -- to leave the sales price in the completed thread after the sale so that members can get an honest sense of the true market value of the knives they want to sell or buy. Even Ebay gives you a chance to see what the knife sold for. Bladeforums should exceed the expectations of Ebay.

Any buyer who wants to preserve the sale price can simply do what I did with your post, quote it.
No matter what the seller does to the listing after that, the asking price will remain preserved for all to see.

 

[Turborocket]

For what it's worth, I'll put in my "vote"

I'm for leaving the prices up, but it is ultimately up to mods what rules to make or not make.

Just to draw a loose comparison, a popular forum centered around civilian variants of the M-16 rifle has this as a rule - granted that this site is not that site, and that site might have a ton more traffic, more advertising revenue, and more man-power to moderate and write forum code for automation... it works quite well on that other site. I like using old prices just for research and reference, if I am buying something on the secondary market.

As others have mentioned, an easy "fix" is just to quote the OP if you are a buyer.

 

[Thomason]

Sometimes I go back to my sold threads and jack up the price to some outrageous amount. Sometimes I change the price on my sold threads to a mere wisp of the actual sold price.

 

[midnight flyer]

Sometimes I go back to my sold threads and jack up the price to some outrageous amount. Sometimes I change the price on my sold threads to a mere wisp of the actual sold price.

Not sure what the point of that is, but you are quite the rascal!

Robert