Why is the sales section on here so disappointing at present?

[Rapidnick]

As title. I really want to know. I have been a member on here for a long time and have contributed to many shooting related debates as well as having used the sales and wanted sections to buy and sell items to refine my collection to where I want it to be. Recently I have noticed a real reluctance to buy items on here unless the prices are, frankly, at giveaway levels. There are clearly exceptions to this where a particular highly sought after item is offered but in the general run it is really tricky.
What prompts this post is my recent offering of 3 Bushnell Legend scopes and 1 -rare-version of a Nikon scope imported from the USA. I believed that all of my asking prices were at or very near the 'right price bearing in mind their condition and recent sales of similar items. They were intentionally priced 'to go-but they didn't 'go' -on here at any rate. In all cases any communication I received from members either on the sales thread or via email have resulted in either nothing or offers that were just too low. And after that experience I found myself able to sell the items elsewhere at or very near my asking price. This genuinely concerns me as having regarded the bbs as the best place to buy and sell shooting gear I am now fearful that this is no longer the case.
Am I wrong or alone in my views here? I really do try and price everything accurately and rarely stubbornly stick to my asking price if it is unreasonable. Please note that I am not disputing the right of any member to ignore an offering from me but I do have quite a lot of experience in buying and selling on here and feel that I must be getting something badly wrong. To me there is no such thing as a 'silly offer'-there are only two types of offer-acceptable or unacceptable but my recent experiences have led me to think that I have lost my touch.
How do others feel about this?.

[mikebbikes]

Agree 100%
Unless its something rare, people seem to want things for nothing.

[guy]

don't think the time of the year helps, most people are on hols or have the kids off and have to entertain or find the cash for child care so cash is thin on the ground for toys.

[Shed tuner]

don't think the time of the year helps, most people are on hols or have the kids off and have to entertain or find the cash for child care so cash is thin on the ground for toys.

That was my thinking also...

[MrChipShoulder]

You can hear an excuse not to buy something at every point in the year, I hear it all the time in my job.
If somebody wants something, they will buy it no matter what time of the year.
Those that have to pay for family hols and child care right now are probably not a customer for SH guns anyway.

[oldskoolzzz]

I have a few thoughts about this;

Most of us that have been on this forum for sometime remember the older bbs sales days where sales threads were on page 3 after 30 mins

Sales were fast and frequent you had to be quick to say I’ll take it and there used to be loads of items floating around.

I guess it was a sign of the times as more choice started to appear from the other outlets which started to gather momentum eg freeads, gunstar, guntrader, other shooting forums etc so we started to reach saturation point which in turn obviously predictably slowed the sales on the bbs.

I don’t do Facebook but have heard there’s also dedicated sales sections on there so as above more choice perhaps.

Another thought is maybe we are at a point where perhaps new shooters requiring used items just isn’t as popular as it once was

I come from a motortrade background which is rife with going through sales slumps and seasonal sales etc

Possibly the gun trade is starting to get more noticeable peaks and troughs perhaps.

[barrel]

Have to agree with both Rapidnick and Sunbeam. The BBS used to be a great place to sell and if something was priced right or you were prepared to be flexible items would sell relatively quickly.

Sadly this is not the case anymore. It seems sometimes unless items are given away they end up unsold. I used to almost exclusively advertise on the BBS but that's not been the case of late, quite a lot of items have sold elsewhere for more than I had them for on the BBS.

I do watch the sales section quite a lot and I don't know if it's my imagination or not but there does seem to be more tyre kickers of late, this combined with the posting of "bad deal" threads on a seemingly more frequent basis may deter some members from posting in sales all together.

The BBS still remains a great forum with some top draw members but with regard to the sales section I don't know what can be done to reinvigorate it and return it to what it once was.

Kindest regards

Barrel

[Shed tuner]

Those that have to pay for family hols and child care right now are probably not a customer for SH guns anyway.

Don't agree with that assumption - my not-so-little ankle biters have really depleted the toy fund

[Drake267]

I think it's just the present climate. A lot of people don't have the disposable income so look for items as cheaply as possible. Myself I have to sell before I can buy. My rapid bits I had surplus went within a day or two. Had a scope on 3 sites now for over 3 weeks. Priced according to me asking for a fair valuation. Nothing happening. It's a buyers market and there are plenty of options out there. Possibly not the same quality on some items but the market is flooded with used air rifles and scopes. An item is worth what someone is willing to pay. I wouldn't let it put you off.

[don1971]

It seems to be the nature of forums- people want stuff for a song. It’s a shame really, as for the most I have found forums to be the safest place to buy and sell, assuming the person you are dealing with has a bit of posting history.

[piggy589]

It's a mystery to me,I've bought several guns sight unseen from the sales section,and without exception they've all been better than the sellers described them.

Or maybe my standards are just lower than theirs

[MrChipShoulder]

It's actually worse than you think.

I made some triggers that I priced at a low but still 'doable' price for me, they didn't sell.
I then slashed the price in half, then they sold, but I was losing money!
Once quite a few were out the door and people knew they were good, I put the price back to the 'doable' price, almost nothing again!
I'm now giving up and will no longer make them or any other versions for any other guns, it's just not worth it.

So in summary to the OP question, people want stuff for literally nothing, and if they can't have it for nothing, they will simply leave it there, even if it means the item or product will cease to exist! I really do think some people deeply resent others getting money for anything and will go out their way not to give it, even if it's a bargain. If bargain does not equal give away, it will not sell!

I've found over the years that forums are the worst place to sell anything relating to the forum, guns on BBS, Trains on RMweb etc etc. BUT list it on Fleabay and BINGO, you get the proper value or close to it (forget the fees, buys don't factor that in!) The big problem here is you can't sell guns on Fleabay. You'd have thought the specialist forums would have been the best and safest place to sell our stuff, but no, they are the worst place to sell!!

[BRYAN3]

I don't know about the pricing thing so much.
What annoys me is folks going direct to pm without showing interest in post first.
There is nothing worse than answering post and also doing the pm before going to work and coming home and logging on to find a sniedy/stealth buyer took the deal, even though I probably responded 1st.

[lensman57]

Agree 100%
Unless its something rare, people seem to want things for nothing.

I agree. It is just not this forum, I think it is the problem with air rifle related material in general. I once mentioned that I wanted to sell my S400 .22 Carbine in our club and right away I got told stories about how this guy and that guy were selling theirs with scope for £250.00 and all that. For £250.00 I keep it and just play with it .

A.G

[aris]

All down to supply and demand. Also, other forums have stricter rules about selling to make it fairer and less likely to be scammed - perhaps sales gave migrated to these venues. Buyers want a bargain for sure, but also have to weigh the risk of buying used against buying new. Poor pictures and descriptions, no posting, etc, etc.

Facebook have banned all gun sales. Kempton is a great venue for sales, though it does tend to be dominated be dealers with minimal numbers of private sellers. Still, for a fiver entrance fee, it is worth a visit even if you don't buy anything.