X-BEAM 2WRGB - Painfully

[TechJunkie]

I've been a wheeler dealer my whole life. Price is always negotiable, even retail. I've been to some of the biggest retail stores and found small defects on their items. I'd call for the manager and try to get a discount. 90% of the time they'll cut you a decent deal because they dont want to have to return it to the factory. This includes high end items too.

All year long I'm hunting deals at flea markets, junk shops, auctions, thrift shops, and antique stores to find stuff to flip. I love the dance. Often times you can get high quality used items for a 10th what they sell for in the store. Not much laser stuff though.

[edison]

I,m on PL everyday and people show their new purchased brand new goldenstar laser. After 6 months their kid gets in the hospital or something else bad happens. That same guy is with his back against the wall and need to sell it. He list it in the for sale thread with a price. That price is 80% of the purchased price and compared to a new one a good deal since its hardly being used. But because everyone here does lasershows for dirt cheap and has no money to invest or just want to have things dirt cheap they just wait until the price drops. He didn,t want to display his problems but he needed the money badly. Even if he would tell why he needed to sell it 95% here just sit and wait untill the price drops. If its almost a brand new un-used item people should open their wallet a little more that,s all i,m saying. Everyone needs to work for their money, if i would get only 30% of what i payed for it i would be disappointed too.

If PL is such a great Place where everyone "helps" echother then its good to place yourself in the sellers position for once. If a potential buyer only want to pay 30% of the price it was listed for (of course the price should be reasonable compared to the market) it clearly shows what this potential buyer is made off. In my opinion its just another guy that tries to get better from someone else no matter what the sellers circomstances are.

You see the same thing with buying stuff from Stanwax or me. The buyer checks the price for scanners on his webshop and then compares it with china even though he lives arround the corner. China is cheaper so lets buy from there but when there are problems they come wining at Rob his desk.

[norty303]

Edison, after 6 months, Goldenstar could sell you a similar projector new for 80% of what this person paid originally. Technology and prices moves on.

TBH, I don't really pay too much attention to people's story - I know what something is worth, give or take a bit, and that is what I'll pay for it/offer for it, or ask for it (plus a little bit for haggling) if I'm selling it.

People take the process of business dealings too personally I think. Business is business, everyone's got a story to tell no doubt.

If a potential buyer only want to pay 30% of the price it was listed for (of course the price should be reasonable compared to the market) it clearly shows what this potential buyer is made of. In my opinion its just another guy that tries to get better from someone else no matter what the sellers circomstances are.

You are misquoting me, but I'll put that down to the language barrier

30% of the NEW price. And for 'proper' businesses, not 'giddy like teenagers, foaming at the mouth for the epikzooorz layzoooorz' who WILL pay over the odds for older tech.
The seller always has the option to NOT sell the item at the low offer. But if thats the only offer they've got.... well, thats their choice.

I've let stuff go cheap because I needed the money for re-investment or just needed the space, but the reality is, the longer you keep hold of something (in the short term, at least) the less it is going to be worth.

In this case, we don't even have a 'listed price' because the seller won't reveal what he wants for it. It may in fact be a very reasonable price - we simply don't know.

And as for any suggestion of lack of morality on my part - just this very week a seller sent me some fairly expensive optical components in duplicate by mistake, which I could've just sat on - but I contacted them immediately and they're going back. Funnily enough, I've had similar situations with other companies, and done just the same. I like to think you reap what you sow in these situations. (Pangolin once sent me 2 completely identical packages, 2 weeks apart - we resolved getting them returned/forwarded in the end)

[edison]

You do what you feel like, if its a brandnew item and hardly ever used and it looks interesting i don,t care if someone didn,t post a price. I,m more then happy to take the effort in contacting the seller and pay a good value for money. I also don,t try to talk the price down if the seller ask 20% less then what the marketvalue is. When i would be the seller i would feel disapointed to when i loose so much money over a short period of time so i can relate.

You should place yourself in the position of the seller for a sec instead of trying to get it as cheap as possible that,s all i,m saying. Doing lasershows for dirt cheap money will not help either. The cheaper people do shows the less money there is to invest or to buy things from someone else that is reasonable priced.

If someone that makes an offer that is way out of the ball park from what its worth it clearly shows what that someone is made off. I call that taking advantage of the situation (or steeling) because 9 out of 10 the seller probably needs to money to solve some other problems that he has. I,m happy to pay a good value of money instead of getting it for dirt cheap. I want to be able to look at the mirror each morning........

[norty303]

You should place yourself in the position of the seller for a sec instead of trying to get it as cheap as possible that,s all i,m saying.

I DO put myself in the position of the seller - I AM a seller.

And people DO contact me and offer me less than I've asked for things. And sometimes I accept their offer if it's reasonable, and don't want to wait 6 months for the 'right' buyer to come along. And other times I turn their offers down, but tell them how much I would be prepared to accept. And sometimes we work out a deal.

Its called 'negotiation' and if you are in the used market, either buying or selling, if you cannot do that, and be prepared to do that without getting offended, then you are going to struggle.

I call that taking advantage of the situation (or steeling) because 9 out of 10 the seller probably needs to money to solve some other problems that he has. I,m happy to pay a good value of money instead of getting it for dirt cheap.

Very commendable all of the charity work you do.

[edison]

Negotiation is sometimes nessesary but its not nessesary to "step" on someone his toes and make a ridiculeus offer and hope the seller will take it because he is desperate. Even "trying" doesn,t should come in someone,s mind because its simply not Fair. If someone is really interested he should not even go this road in the first place. People that are serious will take the effort by contacting the seller if the price isn,t listed and don,t make an offer that is totally outragous at least that is my experiance.

To many people try to take advantage of someone else his situation. That is why the rich people get more rich and the poor people get even more poor.

I see allot of stuff go on the for sale thread for dirt cheap while the seller should get allot more. PL is a great community and everyone "helps" eachother, yeah right.........

When money is involved 95 % of the people turn into a vulture and on PL its the same as the rest of the world.

[Stiffler]

If PL is such a great Place where everyone "helps" echother then its good to place yourself in the sellers position for once.

Perhaps you missed the "Help Winni" thread where a whole bunch of generous PLers donated their $$$$ to help Winni after she was scammed, for nothing in return. I would say that this is a very fair & helpful bunch of people, but when you try to sell beef to a butcher you can't expect to get top dollar. Maybe you should try Ebay.

On another note, while I'm sure the laser in question is no longer for sale, the listed specs are wrong; to my knowledge no X-Beam came with 40K scanners, and that 650 red is TERRIBLE. Just trying to stay relevant to the thread.

[norty303]

With a 473 blue, that would be over $6.5k new I would reckon, based on what the 2.3W with 20k and 445 costs.
So, what's it worth today then do we think?

I know what I think the hardware is worth, but how much for the fact it's 'variance friendly'?

[edison]

If a brand new one directly shipped from CNI cost 1000usd nowadays and the seller has one that is half a year old an offer of 800 usd is reasonable. But 95% on PL waits until he drops his price to 300-400 and gladly takes it of his hands when he is desperate to sell it.Of course if its 6 years old with 200hours on it and the seller asks close to the price when he bought it that would be unreasonable but also plain stupid. He can just find out what his laser is worth nowadays. If the seller asks close to the market value you have a choice: stepping on his toes and offer 30% of the value or be a gentleman and make a genuine offer that is realistic.

I,m on PL every day so i,m well aware of the winny/ goldenstar story went and what else is going on. I,m just convinced that PL is not some seperate world where different rules can be applied. If the "community "want to be more helpfull start asking more money for lasershows instead of doing things for a free beer and a driving fee. Then there is more money to invest and everyone gets a good value back from an almost brand item. Afterall Pl is a community where everyone helps eachother right? Sure you can think my neigbour does things for 300 euro so i do 250. In the end there is no money left to earn and that means less people can afford this expencive hobby/ bussiness.

Vultures wait untill the prey almost is dead. The question is does someone want to be the vulture or not.........

[Stiffler]

Edison,

Why do you keep repeating yourself? You are starting to sound like a cry baby. The majority of the regular posters on this site are more than capable of building their own modules, so why on earth would they pay someone else top dollar? Take your shit to ebay and stop bitching.