For offer sales poll

Hello,

ASSEMbler once had rules set up for sales with a set price only! However due to some of the moderators not knowing this (me included) and the fact we dint moderate the marketplace as much as other forums meant that this rule has been lost in the move between forums.

We are now interested in bringing back some rules to this forum and will be actively moderating it. However seeing as theres been a big change in posts we would like to give you guys some choices.

We want to find out what you lot think! So vote!

Should we allow posts with "For Offer" prices. Or should we only have sales with set prices.

 

I don't think people should have to set a price but it would be nice for them to post the price range they are looking to get for the item.

 

I chose moderator approved because the seller as well as this community might not know the general value of such a product, but give that person a time limit to actually sell the item so that the seller won't take too long to make item more than what its worth to make a sick profit. After that time limit, make him sell it at a set price.

Just an idea.

 

vote placed

 

try no.2 first didn't reg' for some reason.

 

Offers are fine I think, but should not necesarily have to be viewable in the thread (pm's work just fine).

 

No it doesnt hence we have now moved towards these choices.

 

Why not?

 

To quote one moderator who supports the idea of set prices

"Because it stops sellers doing the shady deal of selling something they've promised to another just because they've been offered more cash for it."

Secondly leaving offers via e-mail and pms leave buyers open to abuse. e.g. "ah your offers only $60 but ive had one for $65 offer me $70 and its yours..."

When a seller did not have any offer and just wanted more cash. Look at what happened with Prop arena. The only reason that sold for so much is because the price was gazumped between hidden offers on 2 or 3 forums.

Open offers leave buyers in control.

 

Set price is always best 'cos you know where you are, if you want it you must pay for it, if not then walk away, they'll always be another, if the seller then reduces the price at a later date because the item didn't sell, everyones happy.

 

I prefer set prices, but that just won't work for some items. In that case, I prefer to see what's being offered...so I know what I have to do to compete. All in all, offers are just frustrating.

 

Set prices where item's value is known, offers on rarer ones, once approved by mods. Also Visible offers in threads, and set time limit (Seller choses time limit, but there is a maximum of, say, 2 weeks) where max offer wins. Also, possibly a buy it now style option. So I say I'll take offers on my OMG 1337 H4rdc0r3 w4r3z but you can buy it outright for 50p. This buy it now does not expire when a bid is placed, unlike ebay, and is optional.

If either seller or buyer can be proven to have been buggering around with this then they are both banned from selling and blacklisted for buying (probably for a set period, i.e. 6 weeks or something along those lines)

 

People please note your vote is not binding and is just for the moderators to see what people think.

 

If you are going to a set price how do you handle trades? Over this last year assembler has had a number of post for have this item want to trade not knowing what will be offered for it.

In my opinion leave alone. Over regulation can hurt more than help. Offers can work in some instances and by not allowing it you can end up hurting the board more than helping since some sellers will just choose to go other places and sale their items thus members of assemblers board miss out on what could be a good opportunity.

 

i don't think ''normal'' items should have offers. But some item cannot be priced easily. Rare things, Rare sealed things and Prototypes, such as the Sonic Demo on Saturn, cannot be priced like a used game you can see anywhere you go. That's why i voted For offer sales. But it's not a reason to turn the place into some kind of ebay. Only certain type of items, like the ones mentioned earlier, should be able to have offers, IMO.

How would you price that Sonic X-trem CD if you were the seller anyway? Mmmm...


EDIT: Woops! wanted to vote for The moderator option.

 

I voted for "Set Prices Only"

 

Haha

go check the sonic thread now.... come back to me and tell me what you think...

 

Fuck it, ban the offer threads.

 

I voted for set prices, and that position has been strengthened with what just happened.

In general, it's horrible to be "bidding" on an object when you don't know who else is bidding. For all we know someone could just be pretending there's someone else. Or gets a friend to register and up the offers on the item artificially. At least with eBay you can see the bid history and see who else is out there.

I'm not talking about the Sonic thread in particular because I've had offer conversations with both macwest and ASSEMbler, and I didn't have a problem with either of them because they are trustworthy. I'm just saying in general that the forum is a FOR SALE or WTB forum, not a "Let's bid or take offers on items"

The seller should have a rough idea how much an item is worth, they either know what they paid, or current valuation. If they don't, then they need to do some research.

Just my two cents on the issue.

 

Perhaps only fixed price but a valuation thread too?