CL listing

[Blue Shadow]

I have seen numerous mentions of the dislike of the 'best offer' mention in many craigslist ads. For example the one for the Hill Plasmatronics speakers recently posted to the Phila list. These two words make the ad more of an auction in which I do not participate as there is a place for that.

Because there are so much in the way of electronics and speakers we like on the list, people mention when there is an auction atmosphere on a listing. Many say it is against the rules but I have not seen that as a violation of the terms of use, a reason for flagging an auction.

CL does say to Please post a price, avoid soliciting a bidding contest...and avoid an auction link. but no where does it say this is against the term of use.

I just avoid those ads and let others get the deals they may contain.

Any comments?

 

[sheltie dave]

Say the Hill Plasmatronics speakers should sell for $4K. List them for $4K ONO - or nearest offer. If the seller wants to get the max, do what normal people do every day - list them on EBay and hope for the best. When a seller doesn't list an asking price on Craigslist, he definitely is soliciting bids - and Craigslist is NOT about that.

People grouse all the time here about a good deal they are going to get, and then have the seller withdraw from the agreement when a bidding war erupts over the good deal. Just like AK and the various rules, Craigslist would function well if the rules everyone agrees to follow are actually followed; ie no auctions, no bait and switch tatics, no swindlers and especially no white van speaker ads!

 

[Blue Shadow]

But my point is the comment from CL is "Please post a price and avoid solicitation of a bidding contest" these are NOT rules.

I see what you mean, and I used the Hill example to keep on topic.

To add to this, I agree that any seller should honor any price set at the time of discussion with the buying party. Not necessarily the asking price. The seller has a right to be educated and ask a fair price up to the point that he agrees to sell and a prospective buyer is in route to the transaction.

 

[stuwee]

Lot's test the waters to get an idea if they have none themselves, the Hill's are a perfect example of this, the seller did put them up on an auction site, and since he is not about to ship them, and probably no shipping company would knowingly do it anyway. Put them on CL for getting an Idea of what is what. I know every time a pair of these goes up for grabs, all the audio sites are buzzing about them, as I said before, very few things have burned into my memory as these were/are. Something like these are similair to the lost Bugatti Royale Chassis. You really can't put a price on it, though you would like to know if not for insurance then for asking $$. That is why Dave is posting his first post on the thread on these.
Craig

 

[sheltie dave]

The seller bought these off EBay a year ago, IIRC, and has owned them for twelve months. This pretty much qualifies him to be an expert on these speakers - he knows how to set them up, how to fire up the helium supply, how to run the crossover network, and what they are supposed to sound. He also knows what he originally paid for them, and whether he dropped any more money on maintenance and upkeep.

He probably is the most knowledgable person in the world(outside the first and previous owner) on the value of these speakers, so be bold and throw out a price. Sometimes being coy ensures you triple the amount of work you invest when selling stereo gear. If you establish your bona fides early in a transaction, it offers the real interested parties a chance to step up to the plate and make a qualified offer.

If the seller noted the last four sets of these sold for $3195, $4300, $3700, and $3000, and he has had the woofer refoamed, a $300 recap job on the crossovers, and the electrode points on the plasma generators are factory original with an estimated 85% left, and he has two sets of replacement tubes; shoot, there goes many of the worries in the transaction. Buying it as is, no real hard information, no previous history, no basement price, and no glimpse into how he used them and whether he even likes them at first blush create the image of a clever gold digging seller, rather than an enthusiast who bought something that wasn't his cup'a'tea.

 

[Blue Shadow]

We can talk about the Hills, but my post is about the nature of CL and the fact that some think it is against the Terms of Use to post a 'make offer' request. It is not mentioned in the terms of use, but elsewhere, and it a request, saying please. So I don't think this is out-of-bounds and worthy of flagging. I just don't get involved with those listings.

As to the Hills as we are talking about them in this thread, too, I went to pick up a free Tice Power Block and Bart the fellow listing the Hills, threw in a Furman crossover. Bart is an audiophile and likes the esoteric. We talked about his Magneplanar 10.1 in the HT setup, his past MG-IIIa-Tympani system and a bunch of other stuff. He does know his Hills. He has modified the input to them as they are tri-amped. He will sell these to interested parties what want to have them moved or can move them themselves. He is not going to give them away.

I indicated that I would like to hear them again (I saw them at the 79 CES as others here did), but he said he does not get much time to listen with work, kids and such. So since they were not on and I was not coming to buy them, maybe another time. He lives a few miles away. I understood, Saturday was a day to do stuff outside not power up tube equipment and spend the day listening...did I just type that?.

For anyone wanting a pair of these unusual speakers and one of the best pairs available, these would be a great addition. Talking to Bart, the extra equipment used for the tri-amping would be available so you would be able to duplicate the performance of them as they are now, except for the helium bottles and the room.

I had a nice conversation with Bart and enjoyed discussing different esoteric components we have had the pleasure of using.

But Craigslist does not dis-allow 'make offer' listing, they just ask that folks Please don't. They do not allow links to auctions.

As for my stance on this CL listing and its 'make offer' pricing, I am fine with it. This speaker is rare and just finding a pair is unusual. Since they are pricey, the owner knows the value and many folks making offers will to, then this should get reasonable offers if folks are looking for these in this area.

The listings I don't like with the 'make offer' are the common vintage electronics many of us like, the Pioneer's big silver, Marantz, ADS, and on and on. These values can be found all over the web and should be part of a CL listing. If the seller gets a better offer, until he has struck a deal with someone coming to pick them up he can take it. But why do we bid these pieces up on a CL listing if the unit is priced as it should be from proper research? When is the seller going to stop taking a higher offer, after you start your drive to get them only to find out the item is already sold to a higher offer? Like I said, I don't participate in CL 'make offer' listings.

 

[hammr7]

If the "supposed" pricing in this post is anywhere near real, I don't know if I'll be able to afford them. But if anyone needs a place to store them in the Philly area until they can figure out how to ship them, just let me know!

Seriously, I can understand that many people (like me) hate auction style CL postings. And we can choose not to participate. I have seen greedy sellers yank an offer from me for "more money", only to come back and offer the item at the original price when the better offer went away.

And yet there are rare occasions when a seller is trying to be fair, but really doesn't know what an item or system is worth. In one case last year, the seller put in a price, but it was obvious from the description that he was clueless about value and about CL. I worked with him, offered a conservative price based upon his descriptions (not the highest he received, but the highest local offer), and was rewarded with perhaps the best audiophile deal of my entire life. His gear was impeccable (I priced it assuming refurb of everything was necessary), and there was a ton of extra stuff that he tossed in.