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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > BMW E90/E92/E93 3-series General Forums > General E90 Sedan / E91 Wagon / E92 Coupe / E93 Cabrio > What's up with "PM me for price" in Private Owners For Sale / Trade / Wanted Forum?



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      07-21-2010, 03:59 PM   #1
Vote Quimby
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What's up with "PM me for price" in Private Owners For Sale / Trade / Wanted Forum?

OK, so I'm sure I'm about to get flamed for posting in the wrong forum, but rather than having this buried somewhere else I'm going to ask the question anyways as I'm baffled by this:

Why are there so many posts in the Private Sales Forum in which the seller refuses to state even a vague price range in their thread, but is more than willing to provide an exact asking price via PM?

This frankly seems like a monumental waste of time for all of us.

(for example: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=409672)
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      07-21-2010, 04:05 PM   #2
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Who knows... Another forum I frequent has a for sale section and if you don't state the price and all the details the thread gets a warning and then deleted if not rectified in a period of time. And they can only bump every 2 days and don't allow replies. Helps a lot not to get all the garbage comments.

But to each their own, the FS threads are pretty successful out here.
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      07-21-2010, 04:06 PM   #3
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U MAD.
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      07-21-2010, 04:07 PM   #4
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I always wondered that myself. It makes me think that the sellers are trying to rip me off because they are not openly disclosing sale prices. Same goes for the vendor threads as well!

Just so you know, I've not bought a single item from a vendor that has not disclosed prices in the original sale thread. Nor do I intend to do so in the future. Negotiating prices over PM seems VERY VERY fishy and quite unacceptable.

...not to mention that some of these vendors don't even have a decent web site or the products that they are pushing here are not listed on their web site. Add that to the fact that you have a limited number of PMs you can keep in your mailbox and you can easily get into a situation where you can't return a bad/faulty item because its very difficult, as a consumer, to produce any records for your purchase.

If this is some sort of a forum rule: MODERATORS: cut it out. Let all vendors who have paid their monthly dues to be able to post prices.

VENDORS, cut this crap! You need to post your prices along with your sales threads! You know who you are!!! Don't make me start listing vendors by names!
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      07-21-2010, 04:11 PM   #5
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I agree, that pm for price and pix is a horrible waste of everyones time.
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      07-21-2010, 04:12 PM   #6
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Completely agree. Most other forums have the policy in place that prices must be posted.
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      07-21-2010, 04:19 PM   #7
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The same goes for "feeler" posts.

Other forums require the pertinent info in the subject line too - model, miles, price, location.

And, what's with all the jeans for sale in the "non-automotive" section? Why is everyone selling jeans, wallets and designer caps?
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      07-21-2010, 04:20 PM   #8
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I asked this question a while ago and the answer was basically "If we post our prices, the other vendors will undercut us" which was basically a bullshit answer. Other vendors sell a lot but they don't have websites and only deal with Paypal.

I don't think it's fishy, just really 1999...and they probably sell out of a warehouse or out of their apartment or van down by the river.

For personal FS items, they should require you to put a price.
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      07-21-2010, 04:24 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by froalskiner View Post
For personal FS items, they should require you to put a price.
I just skim right over the ones that don't have a price posted. It seems indicative of someone who has a "seller's" price in mind, but doesn't want the forum exposing them. I know this isn't always the case, but I just don't even bother showing interest in the threads where a price isn't stated.
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      07-21-2010, 04:25 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by froalskiner View Post
I asked this question a while ago and the answer was basically "If we post our prices, the other vendors will undercut us" which was basically a bullshit answer. Other vendors sell a lot but they don't have websites and only deal with Paypal.
Exactly. Welcome to a free market economy. It's not like people aren't comparing vendors via PM either.

OP, I've wondered this too. Perhaps it should be brought up in the feedback/suggestions subforum?
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      07-21-2010, 04:26 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by froalskiner View Post
I asked this question a while ago and the answer was basically "If we post our prices, the other vendors will undercut us" which was basically a bullshit answer. Other vendors sell a lot but they don't have websites and only deal with Paypal.
...and THAT'S exactly why none of them will get my business. This means that they are already having a pretty significant markup. So in essence, they are keeping things quiet so that they can rip off the consumer by attempting to eliminate vendor competition based on pricing.
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      07-21-2010, 05:30 PM   #12
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if you list "500"
people will say "250"
so, if you want an offer, they can PM and say "400"

you can say" I was looking for $500, but I guess we can do 450?" and start negotiating

or the potential buyer may say 600 and you're like "sold"
or whatever

it can also happen when the seller doesn't know the market value of things
so they want to gauge what works

Alternatively, people post really high prices but then even then they get flamed for having a high price

no real win-win here

I like the thing about only bump every other day or so
updating info though, should always be allowed

Feelers make sense because (potential) sellers want to gauge the interest in their items
is it worth to pay for the labor to take it off?
is it worth the hassle? etc etc
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      07-21-2010, 05:42 PM   #13
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I find it hugely annoying and waste of time...just post the damn price...if we like the price we buy it and if we don't then we don't...simple as that...if amazon, newegg, best buy all did this can you see how people's reaction would be? these vendors sell mainly the same things, but they don't ask you to email them to get a price quote...waste of time...doing the PM method I always feel like I'm given the worst deal and feel like somebody else probably got a better deal through PM...
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      07-21-2010, 06:01 PM   #14
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+1 million pricing or don't post, if other vendors undercut your price, then your price is not that good and we should be buying from the vendor willing to give us a better price!
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      07-21-2010, 06:55 PM   #15
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'it can also happen when the seller doesn't know the market value of things
so they want to gauge what works'

-OR-

It can also be that the seller knows full well what their item sells for at lowest price from either vendor or eBay (or they know they paid too much) - they don't want to post their asking price (which is same as what new price is) - hoping to catch an uninformed 'fish' that thinks just because an item is posted FS on forum - it has to be a deal and snatches it up.

If they would post what they want publicly, you know someone would post up 'that can be had for 'so & so' from 'so & so' and the jig would be up...
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      07-21-2010, 07:04 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vote Quimby View Post
OK, so I'm sure I'm about to get flamed for posting in the wrong forum, but rather than having this buried somewhere else I'm going to ask the question anyways as I'm baffled by this:

Why are there so many posts in the Private Sales Forum in which the seller refuses to state even a vague price range in their thread, but is more than willing to provide an exact asking price via PM?

This frankly seems like a monumental waste of time for all of us.

(for example: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=409672)
+1
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      07-21-2010, 07:04 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1QuikWS6 View Post
'it can also happen when the seller doesn't know the market value of things
so they want to gauge what works'

-OR-

It can also be that the seller knows full well what their item sells for at lowest price from either vendor or eBay (or they know they paid too much) - they don't want to post their asking price (which is same as what new price is) - hoping to catch an uninformed 'fish' that thinks just because an item is posted FS on forum - it has to be a deal and snatches it up.

If they would post what they want publicly, you know someone would post up 'that can be had for 'so & so' from 'so & so' and the jig would be up...
I've found that most private party sellers are asking very unrealistic prices for their items. If I'm buying a $500 computer that's used, then I want to save more that $30 - the warranty is worth way more than that.
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      07-21-2010, 07:23 PM   #18
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is Reus Systems really that good? Seems overpriced
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      07-21-2010, 08:09 PM   #19
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For all of you complaining...you're just lazy. Stop crying and suck it up. Members can disclose any info they want to or not....if you can't deal then ignore and move on. It's the BUYERS responsibility to verify FS items/sellers. You can't prevent scammers, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean you can go around telling people how to sell their items. Again if you don't like it, go to another forum.


Also PM gives a sense of commitment from the buyer....If you're that interested to PM for a price, most likely you want to buy it. Anyone can post in a thread and be "interested."


BTW, I won't be checking this thread. So post away, waste your time. Be my guest. Haha this is going to piss alot of people off.
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      07-21-2010, 08:14 PM   #20
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I am confused and annoyed by this as well.
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      07-21-2010, 10:21 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ********* View Post
For all of you complaining...you're just lazy. Stop crying and suck it up. Members can disclose any info they want to or not....if you can't deal then ignore and move on. It's the BUYERS responsibility to verify FS items/sellers. You can't prevent scammers, unfortunately, but that doesn't mean you can go around telling people how to sell their items. Again if you don't like it, go to another forum.


Also PM gives a sense of commitment from the buyer....If you're that interested to PM for a price, most likely you want to buy it. Anyone can post in a thread and be "interested."


BTW, I won't be checking this thread. So post away, waste your time. Be my guest. Haha this is going to piss alot of people off.
lol good for you? your logic is totally flawed

if that was the case wouldn't it be better for a seller to state what the price is for the product and if the customer(buyer) likes the price and then proceed to PM the seller to buy the item wouldn't that be the commitment part? instead of wasting time PM like hundreds of sellers and then receive some jacked up price and all we're doing is wasting time for both the seller and buyer...
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      07-21-2010, 10:23 PM   #22
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Wow, looks like I'm not the only one put off by this BS. In fact, I'm sensing that I'm in the majority.

So at the risk of stating the obvious, then, why don't we band together and require that prices be stated in FS threads or be deleted by the moderators?

All in favor, say "aye"!
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