Why do people delete the asking price in BST?

[e-man]

Is the reason sellers delete the asking price after an item sells because they may sell similar items in the future and don’t want prospective buyers look as their previous listings for similar items to see what the asking price was for those items?

 

[bubbagump]

LOTS of assumptions in this, and you know what they say about those. Your'e looking for an answer, when there really isn't one required or needed and you don't seem willing to take any answer that experienced buyers/sellers that have been here for years are telling you because it doesn't align with your baseless suspicions.

Ive had near 200 flawless transactions here, and always strike through my listing when sold and mark the price out as SOLD, why? Because when I started thats what I noticed senior members doing, and then just kept the habit. Apologies that triggers you, and you think im salaciously flipping or doing something else but youre wrong AF.

 

 

[e-man]

I'm sorry, but yet another reason??? I'm doing it this way because that's how everyone else has always down it??? Guys, come on, it's not that we don't accept your reasons, it's that they don't make sense. So far we've heard that sellers delete the asking price and replace it with $SOLD because:

(1) they don't want to get contacted by other members asking if the item is still for sale;

(2) they don't want other members to benefit from the legwork they had to do in figuring out what to price the item at; and

(3) this is the way that it's always been done, so that's the way it will continue to be done.

I may have missed a reason, but at some point, it feels like you're just piling on reasons in the hopes that something will stick. And don't give me "you don't know any better because you have a low feedback rating, haven't been on here very long, are a newbie, etc." Give me a break. I've been on the site for over 10 years, I've posted a lot, and just because I haven't bought and sold a lot of items doesn't mean I don't know what makes sense and what doesn't make sense.

If a member is going to contact you to ask whether an item is sold because your listing says "SOLD $100 SOLD," then they are also going to contact you if the same listing says $SOLD. And in either case, you are free to ignore their message if you choose to do so. And does it really take that much effort to determine what to price an item that it warrants affirmatively deleting the asking price after an item sells so that no one else can know this information? As for the last reason -- I'm doing it this way because it has always been done this way -- sheesh, what, are we lemmings?

I said it earlier in this thread, the only logical reason I can think of to delete an asking price, especially for all of your sellers that are selling hundreds of items on the BST, is because you don't want prospective buyers of similar items that you list to look back and see the asking price for your previous items and ask you why you are selling something for more today than you did yesterday.

 

 

 

[cardia10]

As a 14 year member with over 200 feedback, I have always deleted the asking price and replaced it with SOLD as it prevents questions about "is this still available" and it is also not the business of anyone but me and the buyer once a price is agreed upon. My selling price, listed price, details and description shouldn't be of anyone's concern after the sale. I am someone that will share this info by PM if asked though. The internet has just made everyone lazy.

[bubbagump]

Im sorry too bruh, you can complain all ya want, surmise left field "hypothesis" all ya want, be triggered all ya want but, it means zilch lol. Every answer told to you, hasnt been acceptable and more tin foil assumptions just keep popping up because you cant fathom whats said. The level of responses why should show you how little this matters in the grand scheme of things, and that you guys whining are blowing this out of proportion. Feel free to disagree and keep your prices up, but that doesnt mean the opposite approach is wrong or people are shady. I put about as much thought into putting SOLD, as I do what leg goes in my drawers first....

Again for you, my first couple sales after watching for a while seeing senior members and highly positive members when this site was legit do it and checking the rules I figured they were good to mold after on my sale ads. 200+ later, never had an issue, never flipped anything, never had a pm asking for price or sales range, and never cared once about doing it.

 

 

[clinkinfo]

I am an experienced seller on here, since 2005 and I don't delete the asking price. But I'm not in the golf business, so I don't have 100 transactions a day, but I've been here a long time. Been a buyer too, so no, there's not that many assumptions going on. The flipping thing is pretty obvious. In fact, I just looked at the history of a seller that keeps selling new shirts and guess what that history shows...? New shirts, new shirts, new shirts. So either this person has THE WORST luck when they bring those new shirts home, or they are flipping stuff out of an outlet. When I asked one of the moderators about it, they acknowledge, they know it's happening. And look, Ebay has been a better place to sell and buy lately, that's just the way it is. You can read through the other BST threads out there with complaints.

No one is asking for an "answer", I don't know what you're referring too. We want asking prices to be mandatory in the archive. it's not complicated.

Now you're answer to why you delete the asking price is: "always strike through my listing when sold and mark the price out as SOLD, why? Because when I started thats what I noticed senior members doing, and then just kept the habit."

Does that sound like a good answer reading it back? Is that how a sales transaction should go? Based on Habit and copying what other members have started to do?

And where are the other answers to that specific question in this thread? There are no good answers listed above, that's why the conversation continues. That's why the conversation comes up again and again (which I did not know until it was pointed out here). Because they shouldn't be deleted. It's how almost every other forum I belong to works (not golf . There should be a record that users can go through to see what stuff has been going for. We know if you're asking $200 you PROBABLY didn't take $50, you PROBABLY took $160-$200. That's good enough.

Like I said, I give up. The site is PERFECT. and you're right, it's WAY too hard to keep ads as listed when they were bought. And it's WAY too much work to LEAVE the asking price....much easier and much less work to go in and delete it (instead of just leaving it).

Lets see.....$ 4 0 0 is 4 characters, and I have to hit delete 4 times to erase it. So no, I guess it's the exact same amount of effort when an item is priced in the hundreds.

So since it's the same amount of effort, I agree, it's better to delete everything and keep it private, after it was already public. Makes perfect sense. Carry on deleting. I'll keep leaving the naked asking prices for all to see. Oh the humanity....

 

 

[clinkinfo]

Oh no, e-man, TON's of assumptions in:

"I said it earlier in this thread, the only logical reason I can think of to delete an asking price, especially for all of your sellers that are selling hundreds of items on the BST, is because you don't want prospective buyers of similar items that you list to look back and see the asking price for your previous items and ask you why you are selling something for more today than you did yesterday."

Can you prove that? lol

This conversation is ridiculous, you would think leaving the asking price in was like asking people to murder their families. The best part, this is the price they already showed the public when the ad went live!

The strange part is, the asking prices used to ALWAYS be left in the listings. Then, like bubagump pointed out, some people started to delete them. Next thing you knew, everyone was copying them and deleting, especially the people who were new. And suddenly there were no asking prices (plus, descriptions were missing, photos are not saved anymore, etc...)

For those of us who were around when asking prices were left, it was WAY better and WAY easier to use the BST effectively and exclusively.

[dcmidnight]

I'll wrap this up by saying this - its not going to change. Sorry/not sorry.

Your constant refrain of "this is easier" or "this is better" or WAY better or WAY whatever, thats your opinion. Those aren't facts. And you seem to be wrapping up 8 different BST complaints into your last two posts. But lets call it what it is, you have a feedback of 24 in 15 years of being on the forum so I have to wonder how much you are just enjoying being just another DND pot stirrer - because its clear you are not even a heavy BST user.

Thanks for the PMs I got, appreciate the notes from a couple of you. Look the BST is a free forum that is free to join, free to use, free to search and a free place to buy and sell - that is a subset of a completely free website. The mods do our best to make it as good as we possibly can given the software limitations and the time limitations we are under given that we all have real jobs.

So, use it or dont. Sorry if that sentiment hurts peoples feelings.

 

 

[Troutfly]

Consider a PM to the seller and ask?

I've done it and have returned the favor..

Sorry if this has been mentioned..

BST should be a friendly/helpful feature, just my 2, but carry on...

 

[chris975d]

I'm not sure I have an answer or solution to this "issue", but I can say that the thread makes for some entertaining reading! There's some worked up posters here over something that's pretty insignificant. I can maybe add that I've been a member at several forums where we B/S/T things A LOT more expensive and more rare than golf clubs (luxury watches/Rolex/Panerai/Patek/etc, high end pocket knives...think $1000 to $10,000+), and in each of those forums, removing the selling price from the thread is common/standard practice. If we are doing research on prices/price checking, we can easily PM a fellow member that's sold the same/similar item, or in a forum or two we have dedicated threads for "price checks". We also follow this practice on a few Facebook B/S/T groups I'm in for these same type items/hobbies.

[cardia10]

The best part about it is that this topic will come up again on 30 days and we will come to the same conclusion. Leaving your price up is your decision, not what a handful of people searching for info “require” you to do.

[e-man]

Isn’t it possible that the reason this issue keeps coming up is because it’s not resolved? And what’s the basis for claiming that it’s just a “handful” of people? Because just a few people on this thread are requesting that asking price not be deleted? Are these the same people that asked last time this topic came up, and the time before that? Do most members even know that there is a deal or no deal forum and that’s where these types of issues are discussed?

And it’s not that we’re not listening to your reasons, it’s that they don’t add up. Some of you have said that the asking price is no one’s business except the seller and the buyer. Huh??? The asking price is PUBLIC. You put it in there when you listed the item. And it’s now private information because the item has sold? Come on guys, do you really r think that makes any sense?

Anyway, it’s clear to me that this won’t change and we’re kind of going around in circles now. I’m out for now . . . until this issue comes up again.

 

[stimpmeterp]

Ditto - 13 year member here and I do the same thing.

[Payton1020]

Deleting pprices don't bother me, deleting pictures directly after a sale does. Should have to wait for the items to be delivered anyway. I bought a set of iron heads here once and the guy deleted pics right after I paid him. The iron heads I received were not in the condition shown in the pics. His response when I called him out on it was, "don't worry about it, you got a good deal".

[SheriffBooth]

We had to care about and create a rule regarding the contents of people's BST listings because they were deleting items as a way of skirting the 30-day relisting rules.

Pricing is different. List pricing is the Seller's call, and final pricing is between the Buyer and Seller. We are not going to add a new rule requiring members to leave up pricing, for the simple reason that we are not going to use moderator time and resources to chase a policy whose only purpose is to make market research more convenient for others. As we've said many times before, whether a member wants to leave a price up in their closed ad or not is entirely their prerogative.

[cardia10]

I'm all for leaving photos up and try to as long as possible, usually a few years, but I agree with others that pricing is a personal decision. Description and photos should probably stay until everyone (that was a buyer or a seller) is happy with a deal.

[squishyy]

If sellers retain the list price it creates havoc in the marketplace.

Buyers will use this to their advantage and "Hey, this guy was selling it for X, could you do lower?"Buyers will use this to their advantage and also ask "These are the same items that sold at X and you have yours listed for above X. Could you come down on your price?"Buyers will use this to their advantage and ask "I PM'd multiple sellers asking to buy this at less than X because it was the previous listing price 6 months ago. Since this item is now a collectible and the value has appreciated, could you sell for less than X (so that I can flip it)"Bottom line, do your own research. Understand market demand and market price. How much something is worth to you may be worth more or less for others. Lastly, eBay does not list the actual price of items sold at Best Offers for a reason...because it doesn't involve you!

[Russ757]

Soooooo. Two mods at least have chimed in. Can we officially kill this till August?

[SheriffBooth]

Agreed. /thread