"Price Inbox" discussion

[Ikessauro]

First of all, to the admins on the forum, I'm not sure if this is the right place for this thread, so if needed, feel free to move it elsewhere or delete it if it breaks any rules.

I noticed a weird habit of people selling online and not stating price up front, both new and used products, from all kinds in several places, from forums to social media like Instagram, Facebook and such. Believe it or not, even professional selling ads do that sometimes.

People have something for sale, list it but do not state a price for it. They simply say "PM me for prices" or "Price Inbox" or "Make me an offer" and then if you wanna buy it, you first have to ask the price, wait for a reply, to find out if it is within your budget, to only then proceed with the deal.

I wanted to ask you guys if this is a normal cultural thing where you guys live or if it depends on the people or product they are selling. I have seen it happen here in Brazil many times, but also with sellers from other countries.

I understand the need to do that when you are selling products that have variation or custom features. The price will depend on the custom choices of the client, like, a 3D printed figure 15 cm long is cheaper than a 30 cm long figure. Or a comissioned paint job will be more or less expensive depending on the size and complexity of the design. I get that.

I also get that some people don't know the usual retail price or average secondary market price of something they wanna sell, so they simply open to offers. But more often than not, these people already have a minimum amount they are willing to sell for and will not accept lower offers than that. So why not just list that amount as the price? Or maybe, if you wanna get a minimum of 15 bucks for something, list it for 20, 25 so you can have a wiggle room for discounts. Or do a quick Google search/eBay search to find what the average price is and base your price in that. You can always ask other people what they think something is worth before your list it for sale.

I think that when the product is a standard single size for instance, it bothers me that people don't state their price up front. I feel like they decide the asking price on a person to person basis, depending on who's asking it might be cheaper or more expensive. If there are no volatile factors involved in calculating the price of the product, I think a person should simply decide how much they are willing to get for it and list that.

I usually don't wanna have to PM every company/seller for a price quote when I see a product I might be interested in, depending on the price range. It is a waste of time, when you ask and find out it is way out of your budget and can be even uncomfortable sometimes, depending on how the seller reacts when you back down from the buy or when it is a "make me an offer" kinda thing and you are clueless how much the item is worth and then you offer too little and the person gets offended.

Say you sell 3D printed models. Even if your prices depend on size/type of medium (filament/resin) and resolution of print, you should have a standard print quality you use for prototypes and such. You can always define that as a base line to give your customers an idea of the cost of the product. Like a 30 cm T.rex model printed in resin will cost X amount. That way people already can at least guess that a model twice that size will at least cost XX amount and so on.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this

[Duna]

I agree. In Spain it's very common to do that, so in almost all forums where you can sell something, there are rules that make it obligatory to put the price in the add, because it will end with no prices if not.

I always put the price of the things I'm selling, it's easy to look for prices on the internet, and if not and you think it could be valuable, put it on a bid. I also have a 3D printer and printing programs calculate exactly the cost of the figure depending on the amount of material and price, so you can go from that on.

[ceratopsian]

I've certainly seen this practice but I dislike it.  I prefer to know before enquiring if I can afford/want to afford something or not.  Once I've made the decision to enquire, I've half committed myself mentally to the purchase.

It reminds me of some luxury shops (e.g. jewellery), where the price is never displayed and you have to ask. 

[acro-man]

I don't understand the logic behind such behavior.
Feels like they are selling something that cannot be spoken of in public, like drugs...

[CityRaptor]

Not a fan. Same with the Reserve Price on Ebay.  If you want to sell something, make the lowest price you would sell it for the starting price!

[Shonisaurus]

I sincerely like it whenever they give me the real price of the product I buy with shipping costs included, in the case of bidding I did not mind bidding for the money that was necessary, in this case Ebay one is exposed in the bids to which another goes ahead with a higher price and honestly one is exposed to risking a certain amount of money until the end of the bid, the one who offers the most money in the bid is the one who wins the most.

Ebay makes me an offer, I always ignore it in that case and honestly, even if it is something very tempting, in my case I don't buy it. I prefer that you tell me yes or yes the real price along with shipping costs. In that case, I don't like to risk money or that the product is later more expensive than it would really be worth.

[WebDragon]

Thanks Ikessauro for starting this discussion. I'm totally guilty of not listing prices in my own thread in the classifieds. But now that I realize how much others don't like it, I will be updating my listings!

My reasoning was that I'd prefer to trade here on the forum, if possible, seeing as how we're all collectors. But sometimes people don't have things to trade with and still want to acquire something someone else is offering. And I'm not up to date on what the "market value" of everything I have is, so I worry that if I overprice something it would preempt someone making an offer, or having a conversation about what a fair price would actually be.

But now hearing others chime in about how discouraging not listing prices can be, I understand better. And I have to admit I've gotten into some awkward negotiations myself while buying things in other places. So I'll be listing my prices. Thanks again!

[Crackington]

This is a helpful thread, so thanks @Ikessauro  and everyone for airing your views.

Like @WebDragon I realise I am an offender in my Swaps and Shops thread, but also for similar reasons, I'd rather trade.

I'm also sometimes genuinely confused as to what price to put on some of the models. I don't want to rip any fellow Forum-ites off so sell cheaper on here than I would on eBay.

There's also the issue of the increase in postage in recent times. Many of the doubles etc I get are worth much less than that, especially if sold individually and going overseas.

That said, I hear the frustration people have and it's also illuminating to hear that in some countries it is expected to put down prices. I'm thus editing my thread to do this.

I'm also happy to negotiate and will always be friendly to folk with queries - it is our hobby after all 😊

[Ikessauro]

Wow, thanks for all the responses folks! I actually didn't expect so many replies and for people to find this useful.

Regarding trading preferences, I understand that too. But listing a ballpark price also helps people to gauge if what they have to offer in a trade is somewhat equivalent in value. Think like this: You have a Battat Diplodocus for trade. Would you trade it for a simple, currently in production, CollectA or Safari figure worth 8 dollars? I don't think so. So stating an approximate price for your model might help collectors to make a more fair offer for the model.

When I created this thread I wasn't thinking specifically about anyone on this forum, but rather people I interact more on Facebook groups. Some of those groups even create rules about how to advertise your trades/sales. Like you must add a good quality picture, specify any defects the product might have and set a price.

[need4swede]

Send a PM and I'll tell you my reply...

Jokes aside, I think there's a time / place for this sort of thing. If you are selling an item that [you believe] might be in a volatile market, then it would only make sense to cater your price to the current market conditions. A lot of sellers don't want to have to go back to their listings and alter the cost an item they posted for sale three months ago, because the thing they're selling suddenly costs 3x more than it did back then. Much easier to to plant a "Contact for Price" sticker on it and set your price to market demands. Vice versa, if an item has decreased in value, you'll never get a sale if your sell price is 3x more than the market value. You'll be stuck with that item forever - or until the price increases again and your sell price matches the market.

Unfortunately, a lot of people tend to use this tactic for things that should not have this. Things that you expect to sell in the short-term should not have these "Message me for a price" stickers on them. If I am selling a rare dinosaur figure on a forum dedicated to collecting dinosaur figures, I would research the current market of the figure first and then set a competitive price for my ad. If my price is reasonable, odds are it won't take long for that figure to sell - especially if I note the price up front and somebody can quickly draw their wallet and crystalize the transaction. But if I was selling an autographed object of some important figure, I might want to hold off on 'hard-coding' a price into my ad - because that item might just double in price if that person passes away and collectors rush to buy up relevant collectibles. It's a bit of a morbid example, but it's a very valid application of using the "Contact for price" model.

Doesn't sound entirely unreasonable - it's almost like a private auction in your inbox. But people don't always apply it the right way, and it just gets annoying after a while. Good question, though.