The past few weeks I’ve been on the hunt for several second hand items. I’m currently on the lookout for a food processor, a chess set and some pre-finished hardwood floor remnants (for a tiny hallway area and small room). Lately I have been extremely amazed at the total lack of price awareness some of these sellers have. In the hardwood example, I’d say the majority of sellers are trying to sell the extra boxes they bought for close to the same price as they purchased it in the store. Just because an item is still new in the box, does not mean that you can charge the new pricing. I’d say most people don’t do any research before hand to check current market pricing.
Craig’s List: Buyer Expectations
You see, as a buyer in the second hand market, I expect a discount for the following reasons:
- You are not a store and you don’t have a return policy.
- I am taking a risk and don’t know how the item has been stored or misused while it was in your possession.
- You likely don’t have exactly what I need, so I don’t get to be as selective with my color/finish/brand, etc.
- If you’re selling something by the quantity, like flooring, it’s likely you’re not selling the exact quantity I need. Plus, if you only have a small quantity, there is going to be a very limited amount of buyers who can find a use for your product.
- I’m not comparing your product to the exact same brand/model that you bought in the store, but the cheapest version of that product that I can buy brand new. Ie, should I buy a new low end X or a higher end used version of X?
- Your product is old and if it is still around in the new retail market, it’s usually been heavily discounted and more often than not costs a lot less than what you paid (especially when it comes to electronics).
If I used the flooring as an example, I want a cheap pre-finished hardwood floor. I am willing to compromise on species, width, color, etc. I know in the store I can get that for about $2.50/ft for oak. I really don’t care if you paid $6/ft or $12/ft for your cherry floors. I’m not comparing this to the new price, but to the generic brand’s price because it’s easier for me to just buy exactly what I need direct. I have 3 small rooms to do and if I were to buy the new floor, I’d just get the same wood for all 3 rooms. If I’m going to take an aesthetic hit by having a hodge podge of flooring, I expect it to be less than $2.50/ft.
The I-Pad Example
Apparently I’m not the only one who’s experienced this of late. Here’s a hilarious ad I found this week posted on my local craigslist entitled: “To all You I-Pad Sellers”
A refurbished 1st generation iPad 16gb wifi costs $349 direct from Apple, shiny and perfect, with warranty and a new battery. A brand new iPad 2 with the same specs costs $499 at Best Buy.
It would probably be good if you fine CL sellers priced your 16gb iPads for, you know, LESS than that. Because those are new, have warranties, can be returned if they don’t work, etc. Got it?
When I looked at the I-Pad prices, sure enough, they were all in the $400-$450 range. I wasn’t shopping for one, I was just curious to see how far down the prices dropped on the Gen 1 version…apparently not very much just yet. I’m generally not an early adopter but I do like technology, so I watch prices on this type of stuff.
The Chess Set
Here’s another example. My son’s birthday is coming up and I want to get him a new chess set. We have a tiny 6″ travel one that I can’t even tell which pieces are which but he loves playing. Anyway, there’s a person selling a wooden set on Craig’s for $30. Right now, there are at least 5 pages of wooden chess sets on Amazon.com from $12.99 to $29.99 (and over $25 is free shipping). I decided to email the guy anyway and let him know there’s a similar set at the same price on Amazon and would he go down on his price. Here is part of his response:
$30 is really the best i can do and I’m already losing money on this.
He also said his set is nicer, bigger, and still new. But dude, are you really thinking you are giving me a deal on this? You’re not. Just because you paid more than $30 for this set doesn’t mean I think it’s a bargain when there are eleventy million other ones for that price or lower that are brand new and returnable.
Money Perceptions
In my follow up email, I was so tempted to give him some unsolicited advice but I didn’t. Instead I’ll save it for this forum. So here’s my lecture. If you perceive that selling your stuff on the second hand market is “losing money” then you’ll inevitably end up disappointed and bitter with the whole second hand experience. If that’s what I thought about all the kid stuff that I re-sell for pennies on the dollar, then I would have never sold a thing. I would still be tripping over all of it in my house and I’d be over $1600 poorer.
I think it’s a kind of second hand karma. Sometimes, I’m the one getting a bargain on an item someone else paid full price for and other times I’m the one giving the bargain. In the end, it all comes out in the wash.
I really didn’t know if it was going to be worth my time selling the kid stuff, but the stupid lead testing paint law (which prevented donations to many charities) made me want to sell my stuff instead of it going to a landfill. I kept track of my earnings out of curiosity’s sake. Plus, the longer you hold onto an item because of your resistance to lose money, the less that item is worth. If you’re going to be selling second hand stuff, do yourself a favor and keep a little spreadsheet. You’ll be surprised how much those $1 items add up. (For me, I made at least $500 on $1-3 books and cd’s alone.)
Lastly, think of selling your crap as “earning money” not “losing money.” You lost the money long ago when you made that bad decision to buy the item you’re not using. The sooner you realize your mistake and resell it, the more money you’ll be able to re-coup. I remember buying the PX90 videos after my second child. After two months of sitting on my bookshelf and not being used, I ended up reselling them. Luckily I bought them off craigs at a discount and I could just go back and sell them for the same price. If I tried selling them now, they’d probably be worth next to nothing.
Do I sound like a total tightwad, or does my pricing logic make sense?
PS. I found a Cuisinart Food Processor at a Tag Sale this weekend. Hurray, I can make my pie crust again.
PSS. Isn’t it always the case when you give up your search for a second hand item and buy a new one, you then start seeing it everywhere? This recently happened to me with a booster seat I bought. I’ve since seen 2 of them at tag sales after not seeing a single one for over a year. Grr.
I try not to rant too often but this one I think was worth a post. Thanks for listening.
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