Marketplace - Price Check Interest

It seems to be getting more and more common that people are registering interest in a Price Check thread.

Is there any way that people could do this anonymously so that the seller knows that there are interested parties, but doesn't know who? As people who are interested in an item generally don't post, because if it goes for sale at that price they may be seen to be cheating/deliberately low-balling to get a deal.

I was thinking, there is the thread rating option, could it be suggested in the MP rules/repurposed within the marketplace?

Apologies for the rambling

 

If price checks allow anonymous estimates, just watch all the low-ballers come creeping out of the woodwork. It might be speculative, but they will eventually benefit if they do it often enough, so what do they have to lose?

Why does a seller need to know there are interest parties? If people are interested, it will sell!

 

Would it make more sense to have separate forum for price checking? People can start a for sale thread in a for sale forum if they want to afterwards.

It would create a separation between the two steps and would encourage people to obey the rules a bit more.

 

no no no! Wrong end of the stick

People would still have to post to suggest a price.

But people who are interested and don't want to post a price, (say, for fear of low-balling), could "vote/rank" the post to show the seller that there is interest for the item without registering named interest, even if no-one is able/willing to suggest a price.

 

Again, why does the seller need to know there are interested parties before he/she posts a For Sale thread?

 

Because they might not bother if its a low value item? or if no-one responds in anyway and just chuck it not realising that it is worth something?

Anyways, it was just a suggestion to try and avoid the bans that are being handed out...

 

In my personal opinion and from other forums over the years (so don't shoot me) I think an interest option of a sort could end up annoying someone who registers an interest if the seller starts a new thread and its' sold to the first person, they might assume because they showed interest they should get first refusal.

I was glad when we did away with allowing to show interest

 

I like to provide an explanation when pricing, for example a rival product is x price new or Y price second hand. When pricing I approach from the point of view, how much is this worth and how much would I pay? Even if I don't intend to buy the object many prices are quoted based on that fact which will always introduce bias. At the end of the day the user still has to decide what price to go for and if provided with reasons for the persons pricing can adjust depending if they want to get the most or a quick sale. Prices can be adjust depending on interest so it doesn't hurt to price higher than the quotes to gauge interest.

 

I think that anonymous dealing of any sort goes against what we're trying to achieve on the forum marketplace: transparency and fairness. With that in mind, interest checks should be made publicly in For Sale threads; price check threads aren't always for things that will be sold on the forum, so I see no reason to make any changes to the status quo.

...are making a choice; it's not a rule. I've posted in price check threads when I have an interest in the item. Why does it matter if people think I'm low-balling? Surely that's up to the seller to decide.

If there are bans being handed out, maybe the best suggestion would be for people to read and respect the chuffing rules!

 

Yes! This!

In terms of an 'interest check' madginga - I get where you're coming from but I don't personally see the point - threads take a few minutes to put together and are free so nothing lost if the item doesn't sell. If you were paying to list an item (like the ebay of old) and it didn't sell that would be much more of a pita.

 

What might help Price Check threads is an "upvote" system like reddit. If individual posts can be voted up or down then that might give a better indication of which prices people think are reasonable. (Although I don't want reddit-style threading based on votes, where the replies with the most upvotes float to the top - I like the replies as they are)

As for registering interest in a price check... LennyRhys said it: it's against the rules, so don't chuffing do it!

 

I will give a price in an check thread even if I am interested if I am CERTAIN of the price. If I am not, I wouldn't offer an opinion. If I have no interest I would offer a guesstimate if I wasn't certain but make it clear irs a guesstimate.

If people can't respect a simple rule of no interest in a price check thread then they deserve a short holiday from the MP. Let's face it that only usually happens if you have done it more than once anyway.