5 ms·

I'm always brought back to the time I decided to literally sell everything I had and leave the country. A few weeks before leaving I listed each item I had for

by Kequc 12y ago

I'm always brought back to the time I decided to literally sell everything I had and leave the country. A few weeks before leaving I listed each item I had for extremely reasonable prices. A $400 couch for $200, table for $20, beautiful custom framed long print of an old possibly rare poster for $50. Laser printer for $20. Ridiculously reasonable prices on everything on and on. Nobody bought anything and every thing I managed to sell was preceded by an arduous process of "oh how about this much". Two days before moving out I listed everything I had left for free, which was basically everything. Immediately the phone was off the hook, people were leaving work to come pick up whatever it was. What I'm saying is nobody pays shit for anything.

danielweber 12y ago
I've sometimes experienced the opposite, where no one wants it when it's free, but put a price tag on it and suddenly they have to have it right now. Long ago I volunteered at a food pantry that "sold" food for $1 a bag, because (against what Econ 101 would say) people didn't act as entitled when they were entering a transaction.
- ianlevesque 12y ago
  It also often improves the chances of people taking the food at all, pride/dignity comes into play at all levels.
- zippergz 12y ago
  Before I gave up on Craigslist completely, I had multiple experiences where I offered something nice for free, people quickly replied to claim it, and either never showed up to pick it up, or made it a complete pain in the ass (e.g. the people who showed up at my house at 6AM on a Saturday to get a couch, after having agreed to come at 10AM).
  - pavel_lishin 12y ago
    That happens when you're selling things, as well. I have an ironclad "no holds" policy these days - no, I won't hold it for you, I don't care that you're literally driving down the highway and are five minutes away - I've waited days for "five minutes away down the street" guys before, and I never will again.
AndrewKemendo 12y ago
I think the problem with business is that until you are making a ton and have people beating down your door, this is how it feels - like no one pays for anything. In fact people pay A LOT for tons of things, they just have so high of a bar or are so fickle about what they do buy that it seems like there is no way to figure out how to get them to buy.
pavel_lishin 12y ago
If someone knocked 50% off a couch, why wouldn't I try to see if they'd knock off 75%? If you're selling a $100 laser printer for $20, then you're clearly not trying to extract the maximum value from it, so why wouldn't I try to see if you'd take $10 for it? It seems like you implied that getting rid of the things in question was more important to you than getting a fair price for it. People simply carried that assumption further.
- Kequc 12y ago
  The phone wasn't ringing off the hook to carry that assumption further the phone was ringing off the hook when it was free.
jpollock 12y ago
I just had to do the same thing, and had a completely different experience. I sold our stuff on an auction site (TradeMe, the NZ EBay equivalent), with $1 reserve, and applied some of the lessons I've learned from lurking here. My wife thought I was crazy. She was completely ready with the "I told you so". I argued that we didn't have time to relist it if it didn't sell at the reserve, so $1 it had to be! Everything sold for more than I expected, dramatically so (frequently more than replacement cost). Even better, when people came to pick up their purchases, they were invariably _happy_ about it! Going back, I compared my results with those of the same items on the site, my $1 item outsold them. It helped that ads with pictures, $1 reserve and paid placement got preferential placement. Things to do: 1) Put some effort into the copy. 2) Track down the user's guide. 3) Track down a product review. 4) Take pictures - Make sure they are in focus! 5) Show the label indicating model number clearly. 6) Answer all questions promptly. 7) If people ask for Buy Now price, decline. :) 8) Pay to be top of the results! I also learned that 50% of the bids arrived in the last day.
- iandanforth 12y ago
  I'm really interested in this, any chance you have the hard numbers on what you spent vs what you made? Marketing is a skill that I'm not great at so this kind of explicit example is very helpful.
  - jpollock 12y ago
    No, sorry, I have no data, this is pure anecdote. :)
  - solistice 12y ago
    Honestly, if you want advice on selling items such as furniture or personal items online, you might want to ask in one of the flipping comunities like /r/flipping on reddit. They don't usually try to get rid of their own stuff, but they sell stock from yard sales, thrift stores craiglist offers, retail arbitage, ect. In fact, you might have drawn some flippers with your free offer. They're usually quite helpful if you ask concrete questions , especially regarding presenting your wares, and there'll proably be members who can tell you what percentage of their revenue goes to shipping and other fees. [http://www.reddit.com/r/Flipping/wiki/index http://www.reddit.com/r/Flipping/wiki/index]
sharkweek 12y ago
This just reminds me what a terrible Craigslister I am - when I see something I want at a price I like, I don't bother offering anything less, I just say I'll pay the list price. Wife on the other hand? I can't even be in the same room with her during negotiations over $40 chairs, she's ruthless and it makes me feel so awkward.
- evanspa 12y ago
  I would think you'd have a different username :)
pnathan 12y ago
I've had the same experience. I think that's why B2B is so popular: people are willing to spend money to increase their corporation's value, when spending more than a latte's worth on personal software often is agonizing.
- heliodor 12y ago
  That's a direct result of people being salaried, meaning they're on a fixed budget. As a corporation, you put in something, and something comes out the other end. As a salaried individual, you put in something (more hours) and absolutely nothing comes out the other end.
  - JoeAltmaier 12y ago
    You're in the wrong job then. Product comes out; your performance review can improve, leading to raises and bonuses.
    - heliodor 12y ago
      Yes, raises and bonuses are there for some/most jobs, but people don't make their daily shopping decisions based on their 5-year career plans. I can imagine hourly workers/consultants thinking to themselves, "Hey, this is a nice piece of software, let me pay the $x it costs for it and I'll stay at work another hour tonight." I can't imagine salaried employees thinking, "Hey, let me buy A, B, C, D, E, and more, be in a budget deficit for the remainder of the year and hope for a raise!"
stevewilhelm 12y ago
Pro tip: do some precision anchoring [1] of your offer price. If you had listed your couch as $205, table $21 dollars, etc. you would have probably received offers closer to your asking price. Round number prices signal you have no idea what the items are actually worth prompting people to ask "how about this much." [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring#Anchoring_in_negotiations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring#Anchoring_in_negotiat...
- throwawayaway 12y ago
  I dunno about 205/21 dollars but I do know people will think you are copying the price from the store if you put it as 199.99.

by Kequc 12y ago

danielweber 12y ago

I've sometimes experienced the opposite, where no one wants it when it's free, but put a price tag on it and suddenly they have to have it right now. Long ago I volunteered at a food pantry that "sold" food for $1 a bag, because (against what Econ 101 would say) people didn't act as entitled when they were entering a transaction.

ianlevesque 12y ago
It also often improves the chances of people taking the food at all, pride/dignity comes into play at all levels.
zippergz 12y ago
Before I gave up on Craigslist completely, I had multiple experiences where I offered something nice for free, people quickly replied to claim it, and either never showed up to pick it up, or made it a complete pain in the ass (e.g. the people who showed up at my house at 6AM on a Saturday to get a couch, after having agreed to come at 10AM).
- pavel_lishin 12y ago
  That happens when you're selling things, as well. I have an ironclad "no holds" policy these days - no, I won't hold it for you, I don't care that you're literally driving down the highway and are five minutes away - I've waited days for "five minutes away down the street" guys before, and I never will again.

AndrewKemendo 12y ago

I think the problem with business is that until you are making a ton and have people beating down your door, this is how it feels - like no one pays for anything. In fact people pay A LOT for tons of things, they just have so high of a bar or are so fickle about what they do buy that it seems like there is no way to figure out how to get them to buy.

pavel_lishin 12y ago

If someone knocked 50% off a couch, why wouldn't I try to see if they'd knock off 75%? If you're selling a $100 laser printer for $20, then you're clearly not trying to extract the maximum value from it, so why wouldn't I try to see if you'd take $10 for it? It seems like you implied that getting rid of the things in question was more important to you than getting a fair price for it. People simply carried that assumption further.

Kequc 12y ago
The phone wasn't ringing off the hook to carry that assumption further the phone was ringing off the hook when it was free.

jpollock 12y ago

I just had to do the same thing, and had a completely different experience. I sold our stuff on an auction site (TradeMe, the NZ EBay equivalent), with $1 reserve, and applied some of the lessons I've learned from lurking here. My wife thought I was crazy. She was completely ready with the "I told you so". I argued that we didn't have time to relist it if it didn't sell at the reserve, so $1 it had to be! Everything sold for more than I expected, dramatically so (frequently more than replacement cost). Even better, when people came to pick up their purchases, they were invariably _happy_ about it! Going back, I compared my results with those of the same items on the site, my $1 item outsold them. It helped that ads with pictures, $1 reserve and paid placement got preferential placement. Things to do: 1) Put some effort into the copy. 2) Track down the user's guide. 3) Track down a product review. 4) Take pictures - Make sure they are in focus! 5) Show the label indicating model number clearly. 6) Answer all questions promptly. 7) If people ask for Buy Now price, decline. :) 8) Pay to be top of the results! I also learned that 50% of the bids arrived in the last day.

iandanforth 12y ago
I'm really interested in this, any chance you have the hard numbers on what you spent vs what you made? Marketing is a skill that I'm not great at so this kind of explicit example is very helpful.
- jpollock 12y ago
  No, sorry, I have no data, this is pure anecdote. :)
- solistice 12y ago
  Honestly, if you want advice on selling items such as furniture or personal items online, you might want to ask in one of the flipping comunities like /r/flipping on reddit. They don't usually try to get rid of their own stuff, but they sell stock from yard sales, thrift stores craiglist offers, retail arbitage, ect. In fact, you might have drawn some flippers with your free offer. They're usually quite helpful if you ask concrete questions , especially regarding presenting your wares, and there'll proably be members who can tell you what percentage of their revenue goes to shipping and other fees. [http://www.reddit.com/r/Flipping/wiki/index http://www.reddit.com/r/Flipping/wiki/index]

sharkweek 12y ago

This just reminds me what a terrible Craigslister I am - when I see something I want at a price I like, I don't bother offering anything less, I just say I'll pay the list price. Wife on the other hand? I can't even be in the same room with her during negotiations over $40 chairs, she's ruthless and it makes me feel so awkward.

evanspa 12y ago
I would think you'd have a different username :)

pnathan 12y ago

I've had the same experience. I think that's why B2B is so popular: people are willing to spend money to increase their corporation's value, when spending more than a latte's worth on personal software often is agonizing.

heliodor 12y ago
That's a direct result of people being salaried, meaning they're on a fixed budget. As a corporation, you put in something, and something comes out the other end. As a salaried individual, you put in something (more hours) and absolutely nothing comes out the other end.
- JoeAltmaier 12y ago
  You're in the wrong job then. Product comes out; your performance review can improve, leading to raises and bonuses.
  - heliodor 12y ago
    Yes, raises and bonuses are there for some/most jobs, but people don't make their daily shopping decisions based on their 5-year career plans. I can imagine hourly workers/consultants thinking to themselves, "Hey, this is a nice piece of software, let me pay the $x it costs for it and I'll stay at work another hour tonight." I can't imagine salaried employees thinking, "Hey, let me buy A, B, C, D, E, and more, be in a budget deficit for the remainder of the year and hope for a raise!"

stevewilhelm 12y ago

Pro tip: do some precision anchoring [1] of your offer price. If you had listed your couch as $205, table $21 dollars, etc. you would have probably received offers closer to your asking price. Round number prices signal you have no idea what the items are actually worth prompting people to ask "how about this much." [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring#Anchoring_in_negotiations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring#Anchoring_in_negotiat...

throwawayaway 12y ago
I dunno about 205/21 dollars but I do know people will think you are copying the price from the store if you put it as 199.99.