Etiquette Regarding Bumping WTB / WTS Ads In the Classifieds Section??

I currently have two "WTB" ads in the classified ads section. What's the consensus regarding how often I should bump them?

BTW, I don't intend on selling much, if anything, here on the forum unless someone specifically asks about something I have. All my stuff will probably go on the auction site.

ETA: Searching for the same topic on APUG I've come to the conclusion that a bump every 72 hours is well-tolerated. Reasonable?

Wow. Really?
it's okay to say ebay here even thought it's a four letter word.

Yeah... for some reason a few folks are offended by the very mention of eBay.

*and bump* LOL!! :D

We don't have a hard-and-fast rule regarding bumping to move a post back to the top of the time stack. But, imagine the turmoil if everyone did this, and got into bump wars.

Why won't you sell anything here?

Hi Ralph... Yeah, I know. I'm just trying to be "reasonable" about it. I'm not even selling. I'm buying... and only two items at that. I want to find the items I'm seeking but I don't want to be a nuisance about it. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Pawlowski6132

Why won't you sell anything here?

---

It's not that I don't "want" to sell here on APUG... or on LFPI, for that matter. In fact I'd planned to sell quite a bit on both forums but I changed my mind. The problem is I have so much to sell that I would very quickly become a nuisance. I can sell a hundred items at a time on eBay and hardly be noticed. If I did that here most folks would hate me for it. ;)

If you've got reasonable prices and good descriptions, its unlikely that you would get criticized for having too many items. Its usually the other agendas that get people into trouble.

I only appreciate "bumps" in two sitautions: 1. Change in price or the terms-of-sale, and 2. when I didn't see an item the first time it was posted.

So... if I was selling something and I decreased my price by a few dollars or offered a better deal every three days... that's more tolerable? That makes sense, I guess.

Still... I'm only asking about "WTB" ads for now. :)

Oh, sorry... I thought WTS was Want To Sell. Regarding WTB ads (and WTT ads too). I abitrarily selected 2 weeks as a good interval for bumping my own WTB ads. That is based on nothing at all except an attempt to acquire what I need and not be annoying.

Hey Brian... You're right I did post about WTS ads also. I intended to place strong emphasis on WTB but I failed to state that clearly. If other folks think that two weeks is a more proper interval for bumping ads then I'll respect that. But... gee whiz... it'll try my impatient nature. :)

BUMP :p

Ha ha.

Price reduction... now 10% less!

... will also cover PP fees and shipping!

I generally bump my FS threads a couple of times a month, and WTBs once a month.

After all, the only reason for doing so is to attract new viewers.
Folks who have already seen it won't look again; it just clutters things up.

There are a couple of sellers here who bump every day, sometimes more often.
I wouldn't buy from them if I had to go without.

- Leigh

Ouch... every two weeks then. Will I make enemies if I push bumping my "WTB" ads to once per week? :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Old-N-Feeble

Will I make enemies if I push bumping my "WTB" ads to once per week? :D

---

I doubt it.

Personally I think a WTB bump is just as important as a FS bump. Ideally, there would be two separate sections, as in APUG. Sellers and Buyers get to look through their own sections.

But I don't like when a commerce-driven seller gets mad because his ad get's pushed down by a photographer that is desperately trying to get an item he needs to take photographs. Often the seller's price is wrong, the item is not desired, or whatever, but we get bumps to the top every day or two. Meanwhile, a person looking to buy an item is expected to ask once, then get out of the way for sellers, many who sell dozens of items each month.

My general rule is to bump a for sale item about once a week. I see no reason why one cannot do the same with a WTB.

I can live with once per week... seems reasonable.

Yeah, once a week is probably not often enough to upset anybody.

I can see FS ads getting bumped when there's a change, like a price drop, which might be more often than once/wk.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by goamules

Ideally, there would be two separate sections, as in APUG. Sellers and Buyers get to look through their own sections.

---

That would certainly be nice. I've thought of suggesting it myself.

- Leigh

Actually, since we're just talking here...

I really couldn't care less about how often people bump their WTB, WTT or WTB. What I'd prefer is that WTB post their "price range".

Brian... I understand your point. FWIW, I have two current "WTB" ads and will pay reasonable prices for either. I'm not looking for steals nor will I pay far too much. I just want "reasonable" deals. I just assumed that was understood?? To tell the truth, I don't have the time nor the patience to be "wheeling-n-dealing" anymore. If someone wishes to make an offer then let them do it in open forum. If I'm too cheap to buy it then someone else will. BTW, I've bought several items from members of this forum very recently and didn't quibble about their asking price... just replied to their offers with yes or no... and paid more than current market value on most of what I bought. :)

Older-N-Feebler (than me): I think it is assumed. My experience in responding to WTBs has been often contentious regarding price. You might not quibble but others do so in spades. Often, it seems, there are WTB postings where the requestor has no idea at all of the price/value of what they seek and that can make for some contentious discussions. Just recently someone posted a WTB for something I have and don't use but not quite willing to give away, so I asked what their price range was. In reply I got a somewhat snotty reply that yhey weren't interested in paying the "top dollar" that I was likely interested in. I'm sure even my interest in the lower end of FMV would have resulted in nothing more than negotiations to further reduce the price.

Brian... Yeah, I know. I may not be older than you... but probably feebler. ;) To be fair to most buyers... most folks don't want to pay "top dollar". Who does? I'll pay a fair price for something specific I'm looking for. If I get a reasonably good deal then I'm thankful. BTW, I often stop sellers from selling too cheaply... even to me. I recently told a seller in the UK who offered to sell me a LNIB Nikon 9000 film scanner for $1800US, shipped to me, that his price was too low and he could do better. He didn't even thank me. Go figure. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Old-N-Feeble

I'll pay a fair price for something specific I'm looking for. If I get a reasonably good deal then I'm thankful.

---

I'm with you on this... my feelings EXACTLY.

Unfortunately I've had enough, and seen enough, experiences with WTB where it hasn't been true. As you say... Go figure.

Brian... I don't feel dead-in-the-water yet. But... yeah... many folks do suck... both buyers and sellers. ;)

I'll respect folks on APUG and will only bump WTB threads once per week on APUG and here on LFPI every 72 hours. I'll not be selling much on either forum but will offer things I have when others are looking.

That's what I say, "People suck." I often follow it up with, "... and I'm sometimes embarrased to also be a people!" I know for a fact that sometimes I really suck. Ha ha ha.

I like to bump things 2 or 3 times a day. That shows people i'm aggressive and professional in my salesmanship and people should buy from me with confidence. Creative use of fonts can help present a confident and assertive manner that buyers appreciate.

Another good salesmanship tactic that i like is to use one of my many secondary accounts with bogus names to chime in comments like "that's a great deal!!!!" or "mike's a great guy to deal with!!!!" or "wow i just paid twice that for one much worse condition!!!!".

So remember these simple rules of good salesmanship:
* lots of bumps
* creative fonts (and exclamation marks!!!!!!)
* secondary bogus accounts

cheers,
sergio

Brian... LOL!! Yeah, but I'm often an a-hole too... depends on my degenerative brain damage and alcohol consumption. ;)

Mike... You crack me up. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Old-N-Feeble

Mike... You crack me up. ;)

---

Who's Mike? Ha ha ha.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BrianShaw

Who's Mike? Ha ha ha.

---

I was referring to Mike Anderson's post. My name's Mike too!! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Old-N-Feeble

I was referring to Mike Anderson's post. My name's Mike too!! :)

---

Hi Mike,

I was referring to how Mike Anderson signed his post "Cheers, Sergio"

Yours sincerely,
Bob

Yeah, I saw that too but didn't QUITE know how to take what he wrote. I'm fairly dense-minded, ya' know?? ;)

I "bump" whenever an add falls past page 2 in the classifieds. On the other hand I almost always decrease the price (a meaningful amount) with each bump. That's basically every day or two. But the items tend to sell fairly quickly. If it doesn't sell I might let it linger without bumps or send it to e-bay. I also don't usually have more than three items for sale at any one time (that is to say, three unsold items--there may be other ads still on page one or two that have sold).

I see a good number of items on the classifieds with regular bumps but with an asking price way too high--or poor photos and/or poor description. For example, there's a lens that is getting silly low in price--I sold the Caltar version for 50-75% more than the current asking price on this one. But the photos are blurry. If you bump it a few times with prices decreases with zero interest then something is wrong...

--Darin

Darin... I must agree with with you that asking prices on photo forums are, more often than not, too high!! I'll not be listing much for sale here but, if I do, I'll be asking fair prices and expecting some low-ball offers with no hard feelings. My stuff will mostly be listed on eBay.

http://www.dingsme.info/avatar4.jpgI have. All my stuff will probably go on the auction site.

I agree with the consensus on bumping - something I'll be doing shortly for the two lenses I'm selling, both open to reasonable offers plus postage.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Old-N-Feeble

Ouch... every two weeks then. Will I make enemies if I push bumping my "WTB" ads to once per week? :D

---

Once per week strikes me as reasonable for a WTB post.

I'm feeling a bit "antsy" regarding letting my WTB threads sleep while seeing WTS threads bumped 2-3 times per week or even daily. ;)

Interesting... I started an identical thread on APUG and the entire thread disappeared. I guess the switch to the new server had a glitch. I'll just post it there again.

I'm too impatient to wait for several weeks so I'm cancelling my WTB ads and will buy either from commercial sites or eBay. I'm sorry I bothered others... but bumping a WTB ad once per week is ineffectual. Thanks anyway. At least I learned something about tolerance and fitting in. :)