New Rules for the Exchange forum - Feedback thread.

I agree that the old system worked much better for all dealers posting in the FS by Individual exchange forums.

 

nominated for post of the year!!!:thumbup:

 

Dont care for new system , hard to sell a knife on the 8th page , i have 120 hits put the same knife on another site at the same time it has 530 hits not to hard to figure out which is more effective , john

 

That's says a lot right there!

 

I like the new system. I check the Sales forums daily and I no longer have to sift through countless bumped threads. All of the new threads are displayed right on the first page. If I have an interest in a particular item and I want to watch it, I simply subscribe to the thread.

 

So does over 20 active sale threads that would not be tolerated if the old rules were still intact.

 

+1. As a buyer, I Love it. As a seller, I get 2x the amount of views on the first day than I did with the old system. Granted, over time, the mass views will not be there. Oh well, guess I need to price my stuff better if I really wanna sell it quick, otherwise, I wait 2 weeks (12-13 days actually) I can live with that.

 

I like the new system, easier to check in quick and see new postings

 

I like the new system as a buyer for all the reasons others have said.

As a seller I don't think it makes a difference. If you have a desirable knife and/or a desirable price then it will sell within minutes or hours. If not then it will languish unsold under either system. Don't believe me? Post a NIB Paramilitary 2 S90V for $140 and see how long it takes to sell. Price the same knife at $400 and see how many months it remains unsold.

Market forces remain constant regardless of how you view the pages.

 

If you were to post the Para at $400 and then reduced it with a corresponding bump until it hit an attractive price, it would sell regardless of the starting price.

It might be relatively easy to determine the going market price on a production knife, but when it is a custom, it is not as cut and dried. You don't know what the market will support in price-especially during this economic time. You have to "ballpark" the price and then reduce it. You also have to be able to get prospective buyers to see it.

 

Yes, but then everyone who visits the exchange has to suffer through seeing the same knife pop to the top of the page 20 times until you finally hit that price point. I've been forced to incrementally drop the price when selling a knife and I always thought of it as sort of a 'reverse eBay' where I was self-bidding my price down to find the market level.

 

I agree with this. It also applies to productions knives sometimes. They only way we know what the market value is is to aim high and walk it down. I've seen market value change based on demand in one week, and sometimes it can swing 50% in that amount of time. The old system allowed you to determine the new market value of a knife by maintaining exposure to the full pool of buyers until the knife sold. Under the new system, you have to guess what the market price might be because you're worried if it doesn't sell in the first 2 days alot less people will be seeing it. In short, it makes other forums more attractive because you can determine the real market value.

It's not a big complaint; surprisingly, I am warming up to the new system. But I think regular sellers got the shaft more than anyone. As a buyer, it's nice, clean and simple. As a seller, you have to do alot of research, try to price the knife right at previous selling points (not always the new market value) or under, and go for a fast sale rather than take 1 -2 weeks. Hopefully there will still be some sellers that don't mind taking 3 months to sell a knife and will start their sales at very high prices, because that's the only way to track the movement of market value for some knives. But under the new system, it is less likely anyone would do that, because then it would take 3 months as opposed to two weeks to sell a knife at its top market rate.

 

That is not the purpose of gold/platinum memberships and the 'for sale by individual' fora. If you are selling with the intent to make money, and not just change up your collection - then you need a maker or dealer membership, your own sub-forum, or a retail website.

This would be a good part about the lack of bumping. This should slow down volatility in pricing. Removing speculators from the pool is also a good thing imo, Spark apparently has zero intent to cater to them. Making the seller do some work is not a bad thing, especially if their intent is to profit. If people aren't going to invest time, effort, or money, then they shouldn't profit. Maybe they can break even or reduce a loss, which is what the overwhelming majority do when they sell their personal stuff in every other venue.

 

Well Said, lock and load.
JMHO

 

I'll keep my mind open and see how it goes, Spark. The one area that people seem to consistently take issue with is the two-week rule, because if you don't price correctly and you end up on page three, good luck getting any visibility until 2 weeks later. Just my two cents. The new system works better in other ways, so I'm open to evaluating it over a longer period of time.

 

Like some have mentioned I like the new system except for the 2-week rule. But...thats more "just because" I'm thinking. No one likes to be restricted in doing something. I'd like 1-week better.

But as Spark asked for, I have moved a few knives recently and they went just as fast as with the old format. The key is appropriate pricing. I think the vast majority with any research at all know what our knives are gonna go for.(Customs excluded) The speculators who list a D2 para for $180 MAY get a bite but dont cry if it drowns to page 8 and you have to wait 2 weeks to re-do it.

For those who list their knives to actually move them I think the chances aer pretty darn close with either system.

Your knife...priced right...will move. Do the research to find out that price before you list it.
:thumbup:

 

Alright - i'm confused...

I got an infraction as well as a warning in a thread in which I answered a question on a blade I have for sale as well as bumped it with a price drop. My thread is listed in Customs for sale and I'm seeing the same behavior happen in other threads both in custom as well as the other FS threads. What gives? What am I missing??

Here's my thread
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=783366

I originally thought I understood why I got the warning and infraction but now am confused based on the other threads I see.