Appraisals

[Mouse]

Just an idea I had...

 

I found on the UKAN forums that they have an appraisals thread and that this could be quite useful for those who are considering selling their kit, provided it wasn't spammed and miss-used.

 

Like I said it's just an idea, but it wouldn't take much work I don't think if it was moderated.

 

Anyway I know your very busy Arnie and there's a possibility that there's a good reason this hasn't been done before so forgive me if I'm missing something. I did search just incase someone's already said about it.

[R22Master]

Hmmm, not a bad idea, but it could be a little redundant. All someone needs to do to find the for sale value of the kit they are selling is have a quick look through previous occasions where that second hand item has been sold previously. The search feature helps nicely with this.

 

Also, a product is only worth what someone is willing to pay. To you, a mint condition TM XM177E2 could be worth £150, but I wouldn't be interested at anything above £70 because I'm not a fan of AEGs. A broken G&G M14 might be worth £20 to you, but I would take it at £140 because I know I have a good chance of fixing it.

 

Also to be considered is that Sales threads tend to work it all out for the buyer anyway. Some people post products up with asking prices too high, and the result is that no-one is interested, so they lower the prices accordingly. Others post products with low prices to get a quick sale, and that's exactly what they get (remember McMadKat's recent batch of sales? Opened and closed about 7 different sales within hours because he asked for good sales prices).

 

ASCUK and UKAN allow Bumping in their sales threads, so their overpriced sellers just keep on bumping and knocking other people out of the way until someone comes along to buy their kit. We introduced a "No Bumping" rule to stop this here as it is spam and unfair on other sellers who get knocked down the list. As a result, if our sellers don't get any interest, they lower the price or add photos and details that may help their sale until the product is sold.

 

The Appraisals sections may work well for other forums, but as far as I am concerned, I just don't see a huge need for it here.

 

Of course, if enough people want such a section, we will implement it. Even if the section doesn't exist, there's nothing to stop someone posting up in Newbie Discussion to ask what their kit is worth before a potential sale. It has never happened in the history of this forum, which kind of shows the lack of interest for it, but the option is always there.

 

Hope that helps

[Mouse]

Haha, okey dokey.

 

Cheers for your reply, like I said it was just an idea.

 

I've registered on UKAN (although I find this forum a lot more user-friendly) just to get an appraisal as I'm selling a few bits of kit together.

 

Anyway, if it's not needed then better off keeping the forums neat and tidy