Was I out of line? Sharing Sales Prices from the Exchange ...

3-1-1

3-1-1

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So, I've had an interesting PM conversation with someone today, and wanted to hear what others think. I couldn't find any prior threads on this topic but if someone knows of one please direct me....

Recently, I sold someone a knife in the Exchange. Shortly after I marked it SOLD, I had 3 different people PM me, curious about the sale price. Two of them were people who had contacted me around the same time and tried to work out a deal for it. And the other was a guy who said he had a similar one he is thinking about selling. I saw no reason not to tell them, and thought I'd post what I sold it for to preempt any others who might have been curious, as there were still quite a few others who had expressed an interest in buying/trading for this particular knife. I would always share that information if someone asked privately anyway, and frankly I wish more people would post end-sale prices. Whats the big secret? I think it helps us all to know what market demand and value is. And to me the greatest thing about this forum and some others that I belong to is the open and free sharing of information. I fancy myself an amateur knife maker of sorts, and I wouldn't know 75% of what I know about equipment, techniques, etc., if not for these forums. I truly appreciate peoples willingness to share, and I do my best to contribute if asked.

Anyway, the buyer seemed to think there was some inherent privacy in the transaction or that I had agreed to, and that perhaps I was trying to block or hinder his efforts to resell. And truly, that was never my intent. As I told him, I don't care if you receive a knife I sell you and flip it for more $$ the very next day. Good for you if you do. As long as I am happy with the value I got in cash or exchange, it was a deal I entered into freely. I have no reason or care to block you. I'm not ashamed of making an extra buck from a knife now and then when I got a good deal on one (I certainly take enough hits on the re-sale of others), and I don't begrudge anywone else that ability. To me sharing this info doesn't sap demand. To me, it facilitates sales. I wish there was more of it. I don't know about you, but seeing prior sale prices (when I can find them) makes me confident in what I am entering into, and makes me more willing to plunk down a good hunk of change for some sweet MOP-scaled beauty. Knowing that I can get my money back or something close to it allows me to do so. Plus, I know there are times when I have knowingly paid over fair market price for something because I wanted it that much. In other words, it doesn't stop me buying just because I know someone else is going to profit.

I believe the buyer and I have hashed it out and are cool. I have since removed the "sold at _____" price out of respect to the guy and as an apology for any misunderstanding. But I am curious to know what others are thinking. Why don't more people post final sale prices? It seems like all I ever see is a bunch of "SOLD, SOLD, SOLD." Maybe I am out of line.
 
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I like seeing sold @ prices personally since I miss a lot of new listings
I can understand someone updating with "Sold to ____" and being uncomfortable though
 
Agreed, I would never identify who the buyer is even if privately asked, let alone post it.
 
I say leave the price in and mark it sold.

I don't know why people get their panties in a ruffle over it - it's not their call. The knife is advertised for sale, it sells and that is that.

I am never going to remove a price from anything I sell here.

best

mqqn
 
This is straight out of the site rules.

"You are not required to edit out, or leave in place, the original or final selling price. That is your prerogative."

Basically you can do whatever you want....it was your sale. Share...don't share...it's all up to you. :)
 
I always leave my prices posted on my sale ad's and I agree that it helps others when researching a market price for a certain knife. I know on some other forums it is a rule to leave the price once an item sells and I always wished that would happen here but I still love this place!!!
 
The buyer / seller can remain anonymous, as the identity shouldn't be the focus of the sale.

I think that it is good that prices are shown. It helps facilitate the market. After all, it is willing buyer and willing seller.
 
It's your right to show or not show price, not the buyers.
I see no problem with a buyer showing the price they paid, if the price was fair.
If it becomes a problem for the buyer, maybe they should do whats right because obviously the price they paid wasn't fair or right (whether too high or too low).

I would advise caution as I know for a fact some (few) people here are doing it to flip for profit, those may be people who may have a problem with showing the purchase price since it would reflect on them flipping for profit and may cause inquiry with moderators as to whether or not they should be dealers.
 
ricky85ss said:
I always leave my prices posted on my sale ad's and I agree that it helps others when researching a market price for a certain knife. I know on some other forums it is a rule to leave the price once an item sells and I always wished that would happen here but I still love this place!!!
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This.
I find it very frustrating when I'm going to buy a used knife and I go to look at my favorite forum (yes this one) to check what there selling for and all I see is $OLD $OLD $OLD....still love this forum though!
 
Only reason the guy was pissed is he wants to hike up the price and resell it.. Which dips into "are you a dealer" type of issue. I buy and sell knives.. I don't do it for profit. In fact, of the 50+ knives I've bought then sold, I've only made money on 2. I've kept over 50 of the knives I've purchased...

To those that get mad that the price is still listed, get a dealer membership or don't try to make money off a quick buy sell scenario.
 
There's a big difference between sharing the actual selling price and leaving the original posted price to see. Leaving the posted price up doesn't hurt anyone and is helpful information for potential sellers whereas some might consider it a breach of privacy to give the actual selling price.
 
It seems like the only people who get mad about leaving the price up are those who want to flip for profit. Prices fluctuate over time. Having a record of what knives are selling for is incredibly helpful. It's certainly helpful for collectors to have an idea of what the going rate is for a knife and it's helpful for buyers so they can get a ballpark figure for what to expect to pay for a knife in similar condition. I wish everyone would leave the prices up, but of course the site rule is do whatever you want, so do whatever you want.
 
sloth357 said:
Only reason the guy was pissed is he wants to hike up the price and resell it.. Which dips into "are you a dealer" type of issue. I buy and sell knives.. I don't do it for profit. In fact, of the 50+ knives I've bought then sold, I've only made money on 2. I've kept over 50 of the knives I've purchased...

To those that get mad that the price is still listed, get a dealer membership or don't try to make money off a quick buy sell scenario.
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Couldn't agree more. If they don't like it then they could always just return the knife for a refund and let somebody else have a chance at the deal that would actually appreciate the knife and not the chance at making some cash off reselling it.
 
GronK said:
There's a big difference between sharing the actual selling price and leaving the original posted price to see. Leaving the posted price up doesn't hurt anyone and is helpful information for potential sellers whereas some might consider it a breach of privacy to give the actual selling price.
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Agreed...+1!!
 
Morrow said:
This is straight out of the site rules.

"You are not required to edit out, or leave in place, the original or final selling price. That is your prerogative."

Basically you can do whatever you want....it was your sale. Share...don't share...it's all up to you. :)
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Well I guess if it is actually in the written rules, I feel very much vindicated in my position. Thanks for pointing out, I didn't recall reading that before. But still it begs the question, whay aren't more people sharing? Sounds like the majority of folks thus far responding do want the info.
 
GronK said:
There's a big difference between sharing the actual selling price and leaving the original posted price to see. Leaving the posted price up doesn't hurt anyone and is helpful information for potential sellers whereas some might consider it a breach of privacy to give the actual selling price.
Click to expand...

The thing is, if you leave the original asking price up there and also mark it SOLD, when you actually accepted less, aren't you putting erroneous/false information out there? You are creating the impression it sold at the asking price you left up there. Maybe there is a middle ground of just marking it "sold for less" or "best offer accepted."
 
People sometimes seem to lose sight of the fact that they are transacting business here on a public internet message board. You can ask the seller if they'd remove the price but it's their call and no implicit understanding should ever be assumed.
 
ricky85ss said:
I always leave my prices posted on my sale ad's and I agree that it helps others when researching a market price for a certain knife. I know on some other forums it is a rule to leave the price once an item sells and I always wished that would happen here but I still love this place!!!
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I'm with you on this, I like to see prices left. I'm also on other forums where they ask sellers to leave prices to help the next guy. As for listing who bought it, that's usually pretty obvious...

Seller said:
......................
First I'll take it gets it.....
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Buyer said:
I'll take it. PM sent.
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Seller said:
SPF to Buyer.
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At least that's how threads I buy and sell in tend to go.
 
I think that it's a private transaction, if he asks you not to tell, I would just honor his/her request.
It's just like at a lot of workplaces, you are not suppoe to discuss how much you get paid with co-workers. That should be between you and your manager/boss. What is to be gained by sharing that info vs. how you may upset the buyers. It's your call since you are the one that posted it for sale.
 
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