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a garage sale is not ebay

Wrap your noodles around this.

Billy looks up his his precious GS-420000 stereo on fleabay and sees it sells from a low of 200.00 and a high or 937.00. He then says well mine "looks" as nice as the 937.00 one and prices his accordingly. So far all is right as rain correct ?

Wrong !!!!

What little Billy failed to take into account was that the 937.00 one had every capacitor replaced along with a full medical workup and repair. Now billy has absofreakinglutely now idea what any of this means and says "who cares mine looks as nice"

This scenario has been prevalent in my neck of the woods for years and I always told little billy to POUND SAND MORON !

Two other quick points.

One Ebay is a global market. Selling there opens your sale up to what 100 million people ? Little billy is attempting to sell to maybe a couple of hundred locals tops. If Billy wants top dollar then sell it on line NOT locally in a garage or any other type of sale. Greed is what motivates his sale and has blinded his judgment plain and simple.

My other point is I despise garage sales that have ebay print outs on all their items. The minute i seen them I walked away calling the owner an imbecile. Hey its my prerogative !

With all this said I could give a rats ass what anyone sells their items for anymore. I am out of the game and leave it up to others to play with greed. :thumbsdn:

Grumpy
 
gyusher said:
Most likely I could count on 1 finger how many members of this forum would not puke when I mention how much I would take for these speakers. . .
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Hmmmm, I wonder who that might be..... :scratch2:



Retro
 
Yeah,I went to giant yard sale once,but they werent selling the yard,either,the guy wasnt a giant,and yard wasnt all that big,either.And i didnt see Barry Bonds anywhere.
Jimmy
 
Finally! Some posts I like!

Thank you to pustelniakr, pahtcenter77, and 2dualsnotenough.

I'm kind of going off "mod mode" and just speaking my mind here, so be gentle! I'm just kind of amazed at what gets folks panties in a knot. First, Rich is absolutely right, there are garage sales, yard sales, block sales, city sales (craigslist), and global sales (eBay), but other then how many people see each one, the pricing structure is the same; there are only three possibilities, and these three possibilities have absolutely nothing to do with whether 10 buyers or 10 million buyers see the items.

1. The seller knows what his stuff is worth, and asks what it's worth.

2. The seller knows what his stuff is worth, and asks less, because he either doesn't care, or just wants to get rid of it.

3. The seller doesn't know what it's worth, and because of his ignorance, the price will either be a.) too high, or b.) too low, or c.) just right.

If it's too high, make him an offer. If he says no, smile, tell him, "Have a nice day", and go home.

Everybody is hoping it's going to be 3b, but if it isn't, why are you so angry???
 
Only components I know of required of any sort of sale: Seller, Buyer, Agreed upon price.
 
Fast_Eddie said:
That would differ from everything else we've posted here how exactly?
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Well said, nobody can accurately determine the value of anything unless they own it.

Example;

Recent Ebay sales determine that my Mission Argonauts are worth between £150 to £250, I wouldn't sell them at all unless I was offered at least 5x that price, which makes them far more valuable to me, which is my prerogative as the owner.

The bottom line is, If the seller can't accept your offer and you can't accept his price, there is no sale and nobody has lost anything.
Whether this takes place on Ebay or elsewhere is irrelevant.
 
This topic is like road rage....a big hue and cry however most incidents of road rage could be prevented: "Slower Traffic Keep Right".

Yard sale and Ebay: "Price too high, move along".

In my old age I have found that patience pays off. I lurk C/L, and I lurk Ebay.
Over the past few years I've been able to acquire a good quantity of fun audio toys, all of which will recover their initial investment, not to mention the priceless enjoyment of the visual and auditory.

If your hobby pisses you off pricewise, it is no longer a hobby. :smoke:
Hobbies are fun, not for pricing pissing contests. :no: :D

Best,

Paul :thmbsp:
 
Skinley said:
...nobody can accurately determine the value of anything unless they own it...
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I'm not sure I can agree with that. I've got a pretty good idea what a 1964 Ferrari Berlinetta Lusso is worth, and I don't have one yet.

Skinley said:
...Example;

Recent Ebay sales determine that my Mission Argonauts are worth between £150 to £250, I wouldn't sell them at all unless I was offered at least 5x that price, which makes them far more valuable to me, which is my prerogative as the owner...
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Absolutely agree, with a point of clarification. When you say that your speakers are worth 5x the fair market value to you, that does NOT mean that's what they're worth. That means that's the minimum you would sell yours for. Which, as you said, is definitely your prerogative.

The fair market value is "the agreed-upon price between a willing and educated buyer and seller". All of those adjectives must be present. If you're selling something because you need the money to buy medicine for a sick child, you're not a willing seller. If someone is selling a Yorx all-in-one for $500, and someone buys it, that does not mean that's the fair market value. It means it was sold to an uneducated buyer.

As you mentioned, the best way to determine the current fair market value for anything is to research sale prices over time. eBay provides a good method for doing that. One sale means nothing. Condition matters a lot. If you want to know what your item is worth, do the research. You might not agree with what you find, but it will be valid.

Naturally, if you find out that the current fair market value is less than what that item means to you, then you'll be keeping it!
 
FisherDude, Good points but we'll have to agree to differ, you could tell me what A Ferrari is worth but you can't tell me what MY Ferrari is worth, as the owner I can set the price and if you want it that is what you pay. If you don't buy it, I don't value it any less.

By the way I don't and almost certainly never will own a Ferrari, but you know what I mean.
And I hope I don't sound rude because I don't intend to.

Fisherdude said:
Naturally, if you find out that the current fair market value is less than what that item means to you, then you'll be keeping it!
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Exactly, I like my socks, I guess the market value must be between 0 - 1c, but I wouldn't sell them if someone suddenly offered me 50c, OK thats a nice profit but I don't want to walk home with bare feet.
 
Ebay is a great sellers market with lots of buyers. It is a buyers market for hard to find items but at a competitive market price plus shipping.

Garage sales can vary by location. In small population areas it can be a good buyers market for price but hard to locate. It can be a good sellers market in large population areas. But to be a bargain for the buyer you must have seller that is ignorant of value or price and just want to get rid of it.

A patient garage sale buyer can take advantage of the low price often found at garage sales. Some sellers just want to get rid of their excess stuff and will donate what is left from a garage sale to the Salvation Army on Monday.

Lucky, for now there are still many folks are still getting rid of vintage stereo and upgrading to 7.1 surround sound or what ever and many are ignorant of the higher prices being paid by some for the old stuff. If a garage seller can get ebay prices without the hassle of listing and shipping, good for him. I will pass. I still find lots of cheap vintage stereo at garage sales and at Goodwill and SA too for now.

I have been a Lionel train operator / collector for over 30 years. I have never found better quality trains (vintage stuff from 40's and 50's) at garage sales or SA, even in the 70's. The vintage stereo stuff is heading higher and will be getting rarer as time goes on.

Charlie
 
Ebay is a great sellers market with lots of buyers. It is a buyers market for hard to find items but at a competitive market price plus shipping.

Garage sales can vary by location. In small population areas it can be a good buyers market for price but hard to locate. It can be a good sellers market in large population areas. But to be a bargain for the buyer you must have seller that is ignorant of value or price and just want to get rid of it.

A patient garage sale buyer can take advantage of the low price often found at garage sales. Some sellers just want to get rid of their excess stuff and will donate what is left from a garage sale to the Salvation Army on Monday.

Lucky, for now there are still many folks are still getting rid of vintage stereo and upgrading to 7.1 surround sound or what ever and many are ignorant of the higher prices being paid by some for the old stuff. If a garage seller can get ebay prices without the hassle of listing and shipping, good for him. I will pass. I still find lots of cheap vintage stereo at garage sales and at Goodwill and SA too for now.

I have been a Lionel train operator / collector for over 30 years. I have never found better quality trains (vintage stuff from 40's and 50's) at garage sales or SA, even in the 70's. The vintage stereo stuff is heading higher and will be getting rarer as time goes on.

Charlie
 
Fisherdude said:
I'm not sure I can agree with that. I've got a pretty good idea what a 1964 Ferrari Berlinetta Lusso is worth, and I don't have one yet.
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Yet. I love that, FD. You da man.

For me things are a little different. I live in what you might call "rural America". If I have a yardsale chances are the 3 people that drive by here in a day know me and don't want what I have to sell. We just don't get much in the way of yard/garage sales out thisaway. I hear lots of folks talking about hitting "the usual haunts". I don't have any haunts. There is a pawn shop about 30 miles away that mostly deals in guns and cheesy furniture. That's pretty much it.

The nearest CL is Carbondale, roughly 75 miles away. I guess that's not too far but I usually see 1 ad every 2 days or so for some video game system. So I'm a ebay lurker and just keep my eyes open for that odd moment in time when it all comes together.

I walked into 1 major (for me) score where I picked up a vintage Denon amp and tuner, a couple of CD players (one a Nakamichi), couple of cassette decks, an EQ, a TT, and some B&W speakers for $300. When I caught that one I figured I'd have to rest my mojo for 20 or so years before I found another.

My point? Hmmmm....I guess that ebay is the only price I'm likely to find so I don't see any point in wrestling with the issue of pricing. If it's higher than I like I let it go and search for the next one.

Ray
 
The person putting an ''ebay' price on items at his garage sale is probably trying to counter the numerous posts that he has read online where people are bragging at how cheaply they managed to 'snag' a piece of equipment at a garage sale. ;)

You know the type of thing, 'Snagged a Linn Sondek turntable at a garage sale for $16.50', followed by a chorus of digital whooping and slapping of backs.

Sellers revenge.

Forster
 
I'm reading this and wandering: why are we trying to set up rules for other people? If you're the seller and prefer to sell your stuff at a garage sale and not on eBay or CL it's your choice. So is the price you put on your stuff. If you're buying - it's your call to buy it or walk away.
Nobody can argue that find something like Luxman L-480 plus other stuff for $40 on a tag sale would be great (like I found last Saturday)! But you can't expect it every time. Sure it's a huge upset when some dude asking $550 for Pioneer SX-1250 at the tag sale. But it's a free country last time I checked. Please don't make assumptions "Garage sale=cheap" or "eBay=market price" or whatever. And BTW all great finds we all bragging about here in AK would be impossible if everyone will be an "educated seller". So in my opinion a garage sale is not ebay but who said it can't be sometimes?
Going back to the original posting: yeah, price was not a steal, but there is nobody to blame and honestly nothing to blame for! Suck it up and move on! May be there is a pair of HPM-100 for ten bucks around the corner? You'll never know.
Oh, and I think angry people don't collect vintage stereo!
 
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