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Conditional Sales

Otto Carpenter

Otto Carpenter

Gold Member
Feedback: 13 / 0 / 0
Joined
Jun 24, 2016
Messages
416
Forget the user's name, but when he has sold nice knives at a more-than-fair price, he stipulated the conditions that the buyer must meet, such as: Must have contributed to Bladeforum's discussions (not just buying and selling); Must have positive feedback; Must have been a member of Bladeforum's for at least a year. In short, he didn't want his good offer going to some guy who signed up a week ago with zero community involvement.

Anyway, I really liked that and thought that type of conditional sale should be more common.
 
That kind of checks could be easily enforced directly through configuration of the forum scripts themselves. Up to the mods to decide if it is worth/fair/recommended or not.

Mikel
 
Absolutely agree with stricter sales stipulations, it helps eliminate the tire kickers and scammers. All anyone needs to do selling a knife, any knife is go read the G.B.& U. forum so they won't be subjected to some of the threads already posted.
 
If the seller wants to seriously limit his buyers, that's entirely his choice...

But don't whine when sales drop like a lead weight in a water bucket, and serious buyers avoid jumping through hoops, and spend their money elsewhere.

People don't think a free market be like it is...
But it do.
 
Forget the user's name, but when he has sold nice knives at a more-than-fair price, he stipulated the conditions that the buyer must meet, such as: Must have contributed to Bladeforum's discussions (not just buying and selling); Must have positive feedback; Must have been a member of Bladeforum's for at least a year. In short, he didn't want his good offer going to some guy who signed up a week ago with zero community involvement.

Anyway, I really liked that and thought that type of conditional sale should be more common.
 
Otto Carpenter said:
Forget the user's name, but when he has sold nice knives at a more-than-fair price, he stipulated the conditions that the buyer must meet, such as: Must have contributed to Bladeforum's discussions (not just buying and selling); Must have positive feedback; Must have been a member of Bladeforum's for at least a year. In short, he didn't want his good offer going to some guy who signed up a week ago with zero community involvement.

Anyway, I really liked that and thought that type of conditional sale should be more common.
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What do you say to the newb who is enchanted by say, a traditional knife, and would be drawn into this hobby but can't buy it because he hasn't earned his stripes? Seems foolish to me, despite being permissible.

Zieg
 
It is an interesting concept, but likely done by someone who really doesn't need to make the sale. Many sell because they need the money and would not want to limit their sales. The exchange only members help make a fluid market. They are big buyers and sellers. Without them sales would be rather slow and offerings less. Spark is a businessman so he gets this and set up the rules accordingly-don't even need to be a paid member to buy. That said the forum is supported by paying members made better by contributing members. It is so much more than a place to buy and sell. Hopefully some of the exchange only members will eventually expand out to the greater forum.
 
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That's a valid point. I'm not for shutting out people new to the forum. It's up to the individual seller how they want to conduct a sale.
 
OilMan said:
Some people want to sell their stuff faster than that though.. those stipulations will just slow it down..
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As would listing at a higher price. If a seller wants a speedy sale, they will list it appropriately to meet their needs.

With these stipulations, i believe that selling to someone with a vested interest here is more important.


The Zieg said:
What do you say to the newb who is enchanted by say, a traditional knife, and would be drawn into this hobby but can't buy it because he hasn't earned his stripes? Seems foolish to me, despite being permissible.

Zieg
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I would tell them to skip over the very few ads that have this stipulation and purchase from someone else or go to a dealer. I would also invite them to join in the Trad forum wheret they can learn from others and share their experiences.

If being barred from purchasing an item from a couple of strangers (when there is dozens, hundreds or more options out there) on the internet is enough to turn you off a hobby, then i dont think you were very interested in the first place. YMMV
 
How are new buyers/sellers supposed to get involved then? Even after paying $30 for the privilege to use the exchange, It’s hard enough to make sales because people won’t touch your thread if you dont have any feedback.

It’s already hard enough making sales with my small amount of feed back, even though I’ve been here for years. Seems unnecessary to make me jump through even more hoops because the seller is paranoid.

Common sense goes a long way when selling expensive stuff to strangers online....
 
Restricting it to gold members (just like selling) and at least one year old accounts would be a good start.
 
Gravy said:
How are new buyers/sellers supposed to get involved then? Even after paying $30 for the privilege to use the exchange, It’s hard enough to make sales because people won’t touch your thread if you dont have any feedback.

It’s already hard enough making sales with my small amount of feed back, even though I’ve been here for years. Seems unnecessary to make me jump through even more hoops because the seller is paranoid.

Common sense goes a long way when selling expensive stuff to strangers online....
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Because the person with the conditions doesn't want this place to become the amazon of used knives the person wants it to be a community not a store.
 
The Zieg said:
What do you say to the newb who is enchanted by say, a traditional knife, and would be drawn into this hobby but can't buy it because he hasn't earned his stripes? Seems foolish to me, despite being permissible.

Zieg
Click to expand...
in a p

In this situation and with these rules, I would say reach out to the seller and explain you desire to purchase in a polite way, just as the international members have to do. Hopefully they will make an exception. Otherwise they have to move on.
 
Peter Hartwig said:
in a p

In this situation and with these rules, I would say reach out to the seller and explain you desire to purchase in a polite way, just as the international members have to do. Hopefully they will make an exception. Otherwise they have to move on.
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Most buyers will take their money elsewhere rather than beg someone to take it.
There is no shortage of skilled knifemakers who would be happy to do business, and take their money.

Alienating a percentage of your customers is a foolish business move.
But they have the right to turn down cash if they so choose.
 
Bad Ninja said:
Most buyers will take their money elsewhere rather than beg someone to take it.
There is no shortage of skilled knifemakers who would be happy to do business, and take their money.

Alienating a percentage of your customers is a foolish business move.
But they have the right to turn down cash if they so choose.
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I have no problem politely asking for a waiver, but would not beg for any knife-or almost any. There are a couple I might whimper a little for :)
As noted in my 1st post I don't advocate wide spread use of restrictive conditions, but if someone chooses to use some that is their business(their knives, their sale). They can place them in whatever home they want.
 
I have sold knives at much less than market value to people I like and or, I've seen contribute.

I am annoyed at flippers....

Started early with exposure to underhanded practices by a specific user who would Hoover up hundreds and hundreds of knives and mark them up triple price before even looking at them. He would pressure people selling to get out of tough financial binds....... asking for lower prices and better deals, then relist them at higher prices.....(long banned)
 
Bad Ninja said:
Most buyers will take their money elsewhere rather than beg someone to take it.
There is no shortage of skilled knifemakers who would be happy to do business, and take their money.

Alienating a percentage of your customers is a foolish business move.
But they have the right to turn down cash if they so choose.
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Individual sellers here aren't in this hobby for a "business". Those would be dealers or makers.

Individual sellers should limit to who they sell, to whatever degree it makes them feel comfortable. This is a hobby for us, not a business.
 
Otto Carpenter said:
Forget the user's name, but when he has sold nice knives at a more-than-fair price, he stipulated the conditions that the buyer must meet, such as: Must have contributed to Bladeforum's discussions (not just buying and selling); Must have positive feedback; Must have been a member of Bladeforum's for at least a year. In short, he didn't want his good offer going to some guy who signed up a week ago with zero community involvement.

Anyway, I really liked that and thought that type of conditional sale should be more common.
Click to expand...

I believe you're talking about that Fixall guy. He's a jerk.

In all seriousness... You probably are talking about me. I've sold a few Spyderco sprints/exclusives and other in demand knives at little to no markup with those exact same stipulations spelled out in the sale thread.

I only do it on items that are high in demand and not available for purchase because those items have a high chance of being flipped for a profit. I have no problem with people making money off of a hobby they love... What I DO have a problem with is people/bots waiting for a limited production knife to be released so they can purchase as many as possible to resell for a heavy profit. When there are only 500 knives for sale and they sell out in under 5 minutes... The person picking up five knives to sell at a profit just screwed over five people who would have really loved the knife.

By limiting who is able to purchase these particular items from me, it makes it easier to weed out the flippers (they would have to at least buy a second membership, thus supporting the forum) and also gives me a way to give back a little bit to the people who contribute to making this forum the wonderful place it is.
 
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