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I think it is mighty rude when someone has something to trade or sell you leave a message and they never get back to you. No wonder things stay unsold here for so long. I am not a regular here but it seems kinda stiff here sometimes. Do you have someone in charge of humor on DAKKA. The site is really nice but? just MHO. thanks

I've never had any problem. Just click on the forums daily to check your PMs and all should be good. If you put something on the trade forum then you should expect to get some kind of response. If you don't get a response after a couple of days then you're either asking for too much or your items aren't desirable.

Bartertown had this problem for a long time too. People learn eventually I think.

I agree, I've now run into two individuals who have agreed to a deal and then stopped responding when it came time to ship. If you want to back out on a deal, at least least have the courtesy to tell the other person.

One of the things you have to remember is that Dakka isn't focused on being a site for trading and that the Swap Shop was added as a feature and extra outlet for people to try to trade. Also, a lot of members who trade here seem to have relatively low post counts (not all, but a lot) which suggests they don't frequent this site that often. Then there are those people who just probably don't notice their PM's or are forgetful (guilty here myself at times).

I think that this may just be an issue with many fledgling Swap/Trade forums if GMM's account of Bartertown can be used as precedence. However, considering that as of yet, Dakka doesn't really have any plans of expanding this section to rival Bartertown or Rogue Market, this may be an issue that we'll have to deal with for some time. Hopefully, though, members posting here will start being a bit more mindful.

All that said, hopefully we can improve things here at the Dakka Swap Shop so that trades/sales can occur quite painlessly and easily for all Dakka members.

Jin

lol wow I completely forgot about the supposed trade I had going in my pms up until now. hmm i think i should respond >.>

I've done a few trades, not recently but they've all been wrapped up within a few days. Never had any problems either. Haven't got anything else to trade right now. The old bitz box is looking kind of dismal. People are usually looking for something really specific, and so you might just have to deal with some false leads until the right deal comes along.

Yeah, some folks never reply. It's a little disheartening, especially if they have something you would really, really like...but it happens. Most of my recent trades have worked out pretty well and fairly fast, with only one exception, so it's all good I guess.

It's happened to me too, but nothing can really be done. Those folks just need a little maturity. I have also had good experiences too, so don't let the minority get you down.

I have received PMs from people I haven't responded to becuase the PM in itself was insulting, or at least the offer was. On another trading forum I had an offer of $25 shipped for 2 imperial tanks.

Often i don't respond because of the old addage if you don't have anythig nice to say... and a ridiculously low offer is a big insult in and of its own.

Unfortunately it goes with the territory. Just gonna have to roll with it.

2000 Volts wrote:I have received PMs from people I haven't responded to becuase the PM in itself was insulting, or at least the offer was. On another trading forum I had an offer of $25 shipped for 2 imperial tanks.

Often i don't respond because of the old addage if you don't have anythig nice to say... and a ridiculously low offer is a big insult in and of its own.

I agree with ^

Alot of my trade threads are very clear on the shippings. And all the time i get questions like " can i get this blister for $10.5 shipped "

its like O-M-G , the shipping itself is costing $10 , and people want atleast 30% off , so lets see the math:

Blister is worth say $15 . 30% off is $10.5 shipping cost $10 so im left with 50 cents.

Im really confused to what or how im supposed to reply to these situations.

That and PM boxes gets SO messy , it really needs option to sort / gather the messages via the sender as a whole.

I know getting those kinds of offers comes with the territory, I just make that point to note there are reasons sometimes why people don't respond to PM's. I also agree with luna, that PMs tend to get cluttered and DakkaDakka could do a better job with tools to organize PMs.

heh the answer would be "Dakka isn't a place to trade"

But we have it.. just as an extra ;P

RogueMarket wrote:heh the answer would be "Dakka isn't a place to trade"

But we have it.. just as an extra ;P

That is sort of the sad truth. But we're trying to improve things! Honest!

Ok I agree with some and disagree with others . As for low offers its not an insult sometimes you might feel its worth one thing and sometimes others dont agree , so a simple sorry but no deal is something that takes a second to reply .

First off most stuff can be purchased new for %20 off from online stores like warstore and only charge flate rate of 6.00 for shipping . This should be kept in mind .

And please Iam a seller for the most part and I find this insulting Stop trying to make an extra few bucks off shipping I hate when I see people do that . most stuff shipped in the US with a tracking number is not as pricey as alot of people come up with . For out of country thats something defferent

And yes if your trading pease be mindful to respond to your PMs more so if your the one to start the trade .

Just my .2 but take it with grain of salt .

All in all - its something that cant be forced, or enforced.

Its just.. good practice to follow through.

It happens everywhere - beyond dakka.


heh.




We just gotta deal with it.

2000 Volts wrote:I have received PMs from people I haven't responded to becuase the PM in itself was insulting, or at least the offer was. On another trading forum I had an offer of $25 shipped for 2 imperial tanks.

Often i don't respond because of the old addage if you don't have anythig nice to say... and a ridiculously low offer is a big insult in and of its own.

It's not an insult. Lowball offers are put out there to see if the seller is really motivated. If anything, the seller always has a better understanding of the value of his items. I don't expect replies to low balls, but there's a simple rule I follow when making an offer: "if the seller knew what he wanted to sell for, he'd ask for it." If you ask people to make offers, you're gonna get some low ones.

I don't think asking someone to make an offer is generally done as a result of not knowing what your item is worth. In my experience, it's done more often in an attempt to get someone to offer you a price higher than what you would have given as a flat price. There's nothing wrong with that, that's just part of bartering. People are trying to get the most money they can from a sale; it isn't charity.

Likewise, lowballing is just as much a part of bartering. In the same sense that you want to get as much as possible from the sale, the buyer wants to spend as little as possible. There's no reason for the buyer to act otherwise because, again, bartering isn't charity. You asked for an offer, if you think that a potential buyer is going to be looking out for your best interests, you're just being naive. Lowballing isn't an insult, it's just part of the game. What is insulting is when you just won't reply to someone because they're lowballing you. Is it so hard to just say "No deal" or "Look, that barely even covers shipping. I'll only go as low as ____" ? There's no reason to become indignant because someone offers you much lower than what you expected. It's bad form and poor business strategy, I don't understand it at all. Obviously common sense plays a role; if you ask $500 and they offer you $5, then yeah, the guy is probably just being a jerk.

I think a lot of it comes from the fact that many of us don't live in countries where haggling plays a large role; you can just go to a store and expect to buy whatever you want for the listed price. However, if you barter in good faith, everyone comes out ahead; getting angry because someone offered you a low starting price is not the correct response, and you're doing yourself a disservice by taking it as an insult.

The only times I don't respond to people is when they don't bother to read the post which they're asking about. If it says "make an offer" and you send a PM saying "how much for X?" then prepare to be ignored.

If you want to lowball that's fine I'll just say no, but if someone isn't serious enough to even read the ad then they probably aren't serious enough to go through with the trade.

Dolemite wrote:I don't think asking someone to make an offer is generally done as a result of not knowing what your item is worth. In my experience, it's done more often in an attempt to get someone to offer you a price higher than what you would have given as a flat price. There's nothing wrong with that, that's just part of bartering. People are trying to get the most money they can from a sale; it isn't charity.

Likewise, lowballing is just as much a part of bartering. In the same sense that you want to get as much as possible from the sale, the buyer wants to spend as little as possible.

There's no reason for the buyer to act otherwise because, again, bartering isn't charity. You asked for an offer, if you think that a potential buyer is going to be looking out for your best interests, you're just being naive. Lowballing isn't an insult, it's just part of the game. What is insulting is when you just won't reply to someone because they're lowballing you. Is it so hard to just say "No deal" or "Look, that barely even covers shipping. I'll only go as low as ____" ? There's no reason to become indignant because someone offers you much lower than what you expected. It's bad form and poor business strategy, I don't understand it at all. Obviously common sense plays a role; if you ask $500 and they offer you $5, then yeah, the guy is probably just being a jerk.

I think a lot of it comes from the fact that many of us don't live in countries where haggling plays a large role; you can just go to a store and expect to buy whatever you want for the listed price. However, if you barter in good faith, everyone comes out ahead; getting angry because someone offered you a low starting price is not the correct response, and you're doing yourself a disservice by taking it as an insult.

hah, I figured if I waited a few hours someone would post what I was thinking as I read the thread. Where's that thumbs up button for dolemite...

Lowballing is also a way to work around the advantage gained by not revealing what you want. When one party says, "make an offer" they are opening negotiations without actually revealing anything. let's say Seller is selling a Landraider. He figured he'll take $30, but he wants $35. Obviously if he lets one that he'll take $30 that's what he's going to get. Now, a buyer doesn't know those values, they might 30/35, they might be 35/40, they might be 20/25. The smart opening move for a buyer is to undercut the lowest possible price, particularly if you don't really need the item. So, I offer the guy $20. is that really low? Of course. But, if he gets other offers, they're probably from guys that want it more anyway. If I really wanted the thing, I'd make an offer based on what I was willing to pay.

Lowball offers are like telemarketing or trying to score a threesome: it rarely works, but the cost is so low and the payoff so high there's no real reason not to.

with an iron fist wrote:

Dolemite wrote:I don't think asking someone to make an offer is generally done as a result of not knowing what your item is worth. In my experience, it's done more often in an attempt to get someone to offer you a price higher than what you would have given as a flat price. There's nothing wrong with that, that's just part of bartering. People are trying to get the most money they can from a sale; it isn't charity.

Likewise, lowballing is just as much a part of bartering. In the same sense that you want to get as much as possible from the sale, the buyer wants to spend as little as possible.

There's no reason for the buyer to act otherwise because, again, bartering isn't charity. You asked for an offer, if you think that a potential buyer is going to be looking out for your best interests, you're just being naive. Lowballing isn't an insult, it's just part of the game. What is insulting is when you just won't reply to someone because they're lowballing you. Is it so hard to just say "No deal" or "Look, that barely even covers shipping. I'll only go as low as ____" ? There's no reason to become indignant because someone offers you much lower than what you expected. It's bad form and poor business strategy, I don't understand it at all. Obviously common sense plays a role; if you ask $500 and they offer you $5, then yeah, the guy is probably just being a jerk.

I think a lot of it comes from the fact that many of us don't live in countries where haggling plays a large role; you can just go to a store and expect to buy whatever you want for the listed price. However, if you barter in good faith, everyone comes out ahead; getting angry because someone offered you a low starting price is not the correct response, and you're doing yourself a disservice by taking it as an insult.

hah, I figured if I waited a few hours someone would post what I was thinking as I read the thread. Where's that thumbs up button for dolemite...

Ok, I guess you both have it right... Thank you Mr. Dolemite for this analysis, you made the point!!!
People should definitely read this post...

Cheers,

Raphaël

I always respond to offers. It is part of gaining respect as a seller. If I don't want to accept an offer, it only takes me 5 seconds to say so. No loss.

What annoys me is when a potential buyer PMs me and says they want to buy an item, then they never PM again. Or when someone wants to buy something but says they need a couple extra days to get the money, I say "OK," I hold the item, then the buyer never comes through and eventually just stops PMing. Once I had a guy who wanted to buy something from me, he put it off, then backed out saying he didn't have any money, then he was back on the Dakka Swap Shop same day saying he was in the market to buy something else. I think that sort of thing is really rude. And wastes time for everyone.

I think what I would want from all buyers/sellers/traders is communication, ideally prompt. I am not afraid to be patient with people, but I prefer directness rather than games. When I offer a trade, I am content with a PM that says, "no thanks" over dead air. When I am selling, I am content when a buyer keeps in touch, keeps communication open, and follows through on promises. Even though I am sad when people drop out before a deal is finished, well, that's life, and it is a person's right to do so at any time. But once the deal is made, I expect others to follow through - don't we all? - especially when I take the time to pack, ship, plan, and so on.

Thanks for listening, all, just wanted to mention also that I have had MANY great experiences on the Swap Shop. In fact, have made lots of great deals, sold off plenty of items, and obtained lots of books and models for my collection, too. Thanks everyone for that, I like to end on a positive note.

Dakka is good,
Solorg