How to NOT sell your machines

Deadly

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I have come to the conclusion that trying to sell anything nice on Craigslist is painful and possibly impossible (oxy moron?) unless you want to practically give it away. Even with it being tax return season – epic fail. I would like to say I'm not one of those poor saps that got sweet talked into buying something at major retail markup and now screwed because of it. I simply want "Fair market value" Against my better judgment (and what I normally preach) I listed a bunch of machines for sale asking for offers. I chose this route because no matter what price I ever ask l still end up with low ball offers and/or "what will you take for it" emails so why not head the problem off at the pass right? When in Rome ........
My attempt to sell some of my machines has fallen nothing short of disappointing. I normally don't like to throw up numbers but at this point I also feel it's worthwhile to list a couple examples to show you guys what the market (at least local) appears to yield these days and the caliber of people I've dealt with. I love emails stating "I've been saving" or "it's all I can afford." If I sprout a damn hemorrhoid does anyone care about my personal status? No ....they don't. Therefore I don't really care about their financial situation either.
Robotron Multi Williams with Jrok board 95% restored – Offer of $350
Star Wars with rebuilt Amplifone, SW/ESB kit and rebuilt yoke – offers from $300, $350, $300, $600 and $900 (I have much respect for the $900 offer simply because it's MUCH closer to a realistic price and the guy has been super nice) but still declined as it's still much too low for this machine (like I need to even say that)
I had originally tried trading machines for a pin. This effort unfortunately yielded no deals however yielded many emails asking, "How much would you sell this for" yadda yadda. I responded to the original emails I received when I was looking to trade letting them know I'm taking offers. Wow – this was a failure as well. Either the person didn't respond, or came back with a ridiculous "insulting" offer. I even located ads people ran (WILL BUY ARCADES!!) Receiving emails (CALL ME I WANT ALL) and then responding to them letting them know I'd call them later and asked them to please come up with a low and high figure (depending on their impression of the condition of machines) and asking them to please use fair market values. (not verbatim but clsoe enough)
I also included the fact that I am personally willing to pay fair market value for something I want and expect the same. And also stated I very much agree with the old "the more you buy the better the deal thinking" Yeah – communication dead. Yet another fine example of uncovering the truth about a person. No they don't buy arcades – they buy CHEAP arcades only. Big difference and why they deserve to be flagged.
My favorite - a guy emails me asking to look at a machine the next day. I repsond saying sure give me a call when you;re ready. He flakes. Then he answers my ad telling me he wants two machines (different ones) so i responded, "I was hesitant to respond to you because you failed to call me. Why should I think you'd show up for these?" Yep - another one that didn't respond.
Conferring with a couple local KLOV brethren asking for thoughts – pretty much expressed the same anger and frustration of people being idiots and people low balling or flaking by not showing up. But the most useful/sensible comment that was made is, "People don't have a clue what these thing are worth and it will take awhile to find the one person that does. Like the housing market a $300,000 house will set whereas a $200,000 is more prone to sell. Cheap games are the ones that sell."
I'm done with my rant – I still don't feel any better but I do realize now that I will sit on these machines and save myself the aggravation of continuous disappointment and constant reminders of how cheap and inconsiderate most people are.

No you may not have back the 10 minutes of your life I just wasted. :p
 
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I would not try to see anything right now. Unless you think we haven't hit bottom yet.... Your games are nice and if I needed any of them I would have made good offers.
 
I agree 100% . The economy and the Multi 60 n 1 games have killed the dedicated game market . People have WAY less respect for dedicated games . To sell games now , either you go really low on the price or your gonna have to wait awhile before you get a buyer at the prices these games used to go for .
 
I know your a seller and trying to get the most out of your sale. And maybe you had expectations when you got these as to what they would sell for, but I believe it's been stated many times that the games are only worth what people are willing to pay for them.
I have been in this hobby since 1999 and all I can say is prices are coming down, you can choose to be in denial, but it's just the way it is.
I think the higher prices are causing alot of people to get out of the hobby, as life will always throw a curve at you and force you to reprioritize.
Also it's no secret that everbody loves getting good deals, and especially getting a steal of a deal. Seems like those days are drying up, so I think people have lost interest. When your talking about old electronics that tend to need maintainence, not many people want to spend close to a market price on it.
I myself am not really buying games unless something comes my way that is a really good deal. On the other hand I am spending more money on repro parts so I can keep my machines running for many more years.
 
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I dont use CL .. I use eBay. A ~10% premium is worth it to me to avoid the BS and hagaling.
 
Could we see a copy of your Craigslist ad? I think that would help.

Absolutely: Hope you enjoy the humor and sarcasm. I actually received a couple emails from a few people that literally said they "Loved" my ad lol
http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/vgm/1647047293.html

@ Bricktop - I know you' would've and the comment is appreciated. I don;t need to sell these at all. I'm just wanting change and I'm not referring to a couple quarters ;)
@ chunblue - hopefully it's an aneurism and finishes you off quickly
@ tronic - I agree with everything you've said. But certain items tend to hold a certain value better than others just like classic cars.
 
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Lowball offers is nothing to get upset about. If you're set on getting a certain price then list them for that and make sure to note that there is no negotiating. If you're looking to get fair market value then expect to sit on your items for a while.

If you're looking to make a quick sale then you would need to price them as such.

Keep in mind that most people that try to get their asking price will either pay for an ad or list their item with a BIN price on ebay. Either way you end up paying for exposure to the sort of customer that would have the $$ to pay your asking price.
 
Yes, I hate to say it, but it works both ways here.

How many people on Craig's List are going to even KNOW what a multiWilliams kit with JROK converter, etc things are?

What are you expecting them to offer?

If you have higher end items, you have to eBay them.

You may think it benefits you to sell locally but there are just not that many people willing to pay high prices anymore for games. People in this hobby can be stubborn all they want and say they paid XXX for something and expect XXX back, but it just doesn't work that way.

I make it a habit of not "lowballing" anyone, I give fair offers for everything. There is a huge difference between someone like me, and someone who offers $50 for games and tries to sell them for $900 in their eBay store.

You just can't expect to sell gold in a market where everyone is only looking for and can afford silver.
 
Yes, I hate to say it, but it works both ways here.

How many people on Craig's List are going to even KNOW what a multiWilliams kit with JROK converter, etc things are?

What are you expecting them to offer?

If you have higher end items, you have to eBay them.

You may think it benefits you to sell locally but there are just not that many people willing to pay high prices anymore for games. People in this hobby can be stubborn all they want and say they paid XXX for something and expect XXX back, but it just doesn't work that way.

I make it a habit of not "lowballing" anyone, I give fair offers for everything. There is a huge difference between someone like me, and someone who offers $50 for games and tries to sell them for $900 in their eBay store.

You just can't expect to sell gold in a market where everyone is only looking for and can afford silver.

+1000

I look at the eBay/PayPal fees as giving me affordable access to a national pool of qualified buyers who will have the added benefit of being able to pay by credit card if they so desire.
 
How many people on Craig's List are going to even KNOW what a multiWilliams kit with JROK converter, etc things are?

What are you expecting them to offer?

You just can't expect to sell gold in a market where everyone is only looking for and can afford silver.

Jrok - reason I provided a link for a better understanding.
Expecting to offer? Something even remotely close to fair market value. that in itself is a loaded gun.
Gold - silver - Amen
 
Hey, I'll give you $200 for the red donkey kong (just kidding). I thought some of the opening verbage was a little "standoffish" however I like it, kinda weeds out dreamers. I don't know if you can be too mad at the lowballers they might have no idea of a good offer. Perhaps a extra line for each machine with "current estimated value" Might scare off the insulting lowball offers.
 
I like to link my images in Photobucket in my CL postings. Gives a full sized picture instead of the small CL photos. Sometimes having a good quality pic will help.

P.S. I thought it was a good CL add!
 
And "Fair Market Value" is what? What you determine it to be?

A game is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it.
 
Craiglist is nothing more than an electronic yard sale....you expect to get top dollar from yard-sale customers?

You've got to be kidding.



.
 
I've been considering making an offer on the star wars (wife is reluctant since I've been on a big game buying binge lately). It would likely have been in the neighborhood of the high offer you got, but looks like I don't need to bother now. I agree though, it's the wrong time to try to sell games, but at least for me I'm in the mode of buying, not selling. Good luck Deadly!
 
I wouldn't contact you based on this ad. I would have suggested the following:

"I won't give these away, and I'm not being unfair about the prices. I understand what they are truly worth and hope you do, too. Feel free to e-mail and I will be happy to explain".

The "OK Look, dammit - this is how this is going to work" tone of the posting results in a big "PASS" for me.

:)

Those are really sweet games, btw. I wouldn't sell them in this market!
 
I have come to the conclusion that trying to sell anything nice on Craigslist is painful and possibly impossible (oxy moron?) unless you want to practically give it away. Even with it being tax return season – epic fail. I would like to say I'm not one of those poor saps that got sweet talked into buying something at major retail markup and now screwed because of it. I simply want "Fair market value" Against my better judgment (and what I normally preach) I listed a bunch of machines for sale asking for offers. I chose this route because no matter what price I ever ask l still end up with low ball offers and/or "what will you take for it" emails so why not head the problem off at the pass right? When in Rome ........
My attempt to sell some of my machines has fallen nothing short of disappointing. I normally don't like to throw up numbers but at this point I also feel it's worthwhile to list a couple examples to show you guys what the market (at least local) appears to yield these days and the caliber of people I've dealt with. I love emails stating "I've been saving" or "it's all I can afford." If I sprout a damn hemorrhoid does anyone care about my personal status? No ....they don't. Therefore I don't really care about their financial situation either.
Robotron Multi Williams with Jrok board 95% restored – Offer of $350
Star Wars with rebuilt Amplifone, SW/ESB kit and rebuilt yoke – offers from $300, $350, $300, $600 and $900 (I have much respect for the $900 offer simply because it's MUCH closer to a realistic price and the guy has been super nice) but still declined as it's still much too low for this machine (like I need to even say that)
I had originally tried trading machines for a pin. This effort unfortunately yielded no deals however yielded many emails asking, "How much would you sell this for" yadda yadda. I responded to the original emails I received when I was looking to trade letting them know I'm taking offers. Wow – this was a failure as well. Either the person didn't respond, or came back with a ridiculous "insulting" offer. I even located ads people ran (WILL BUY ARCADES!!) Receiving emails (CALL ME I WANT ALL) and then responding to them letting them know I'd call them later and asked them to please come up with a low and high figure (depending on their impression of the condition of machines) and asking them to please use fair market values. (not verbatim but clsoe enough)
I also included the fact that I am personally willing to pay fair market value for something I want and expect the same. And also stated I very much agree with the old "the more you buy the better the deal thinking" Yeah – communication dead. Yet another fine example of uncovering the truth about a person. No they don't buy arcades – they buy CHEAP arcades only. Big difference and why they deserve to be flagged.
My favorite - a guy emails me asking to look at a machine the next day. I repsond saying sure give me a call when you;re ready. He flakes. Then he answers my ad telling me he wants two machines (different ones) so i responded, "I was hesitant to respond to you because you failed to call me. Why should I think you'd show up for these?" Yep - another one that didn't respond.
Conferring with a couple local KLOV brethren asking for thoughts – pretty much expressed the same anger and frustration of people being idiots and people low balling or flaking by not showing up. But the most useful/sensible comment that was made is, "People don't have a clue what these thing are worth and it will take awhile to find the one person that does. Like the housing market a $300,000 house will set whereas a $200,000 is more prone to sell. Cheap games are the ones that sell."
I'm done with my rant – I still don't feel any better but I do realize now that I will sit on these machines and save myself the aggravation of continuous disappointment and constant reminders of how cheap and inconsiderate most people are.

No you may not have back the 10 minutes of your life I just wasted. :p


I think you may be in the dark of what 'fair market value' truly is. $350 for a non original robotron is a fair price. (not high, not low).

A star wars (it doesn't matter what you have done to it) is worth about 750, thats it. If it doesn't work its worth less, so you listing it that it has a rebuilt yoke, doesn't add to the price, it just doesn't decrease it. Same with the multikit.


Also you asked for offers, and thats what you got. You already know in your head what you will sell the games for, man up and list the prices.
 
Come on - it's Craigslist, you should have known better...

Waambulance-1.jpg
 
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