Selling forum etiquette

Mr K

Mr K

Member
Should responses to adverts in the selling forum saying, e.g. "that's a bit pricey, mate" be banned/discouraged?

I recently advertised our old A2 in the Selling forum and was disappointed that one or two members felt the need to offer pricing advice, essentially spoiling the ad. I'm not sure what their motivation was - maybe they were being smart alecs or are just immature, but it wasn't welcome. Another member, unprompted, criticised the "advice" on my behalf and an administrator offered to remove the offending comments without being asked (so don't bother searching for them).

I realise it's a bit academic, as not many cars sell via the forum, but this sort of thing grates a bit, in what is otherwise a very friendly community.

In case anyone remembers the offending posts, you may be interested to know how bad the unsolicited advice was. I put the car up initially at £5850 to give me some negotiating margin, with the aim of getting £5500. We were told by my unsolicited advisor that I'd be lucky to get £5000.

I stuck it on eBay, Pistonheads and Autotrader. After nearly selling it the first weekend I dropped the asking price to £5650 (eBay reserve £5600). On Monday a nice chap from 200 miles away phoned me and offered £5500 having seen all 3 ads. He collected it this morning.

So, not only was the advice unwelcome, but it was £500 off the mark, and didn't take into account condition, options, servicing (past and imminent), etc.

It's possible I was lucky, but then I usually get a decent price when I sell, so maybe it's something other than luck. The accuracy or otherwise of the advice is not the point, it is that it is unsolicited, and could potentially damage a sale. After all, would the poster stand outside random main dealers, pointing out how overpriced their cars were to potential customers?
 
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I can't say i agree with banning anything, but i do find it rather odd that people who already have an investment in an A2 seem determined to talk down the values of nearly every A2 that comes up for sale. Seems mad really as they're doing themselves (and me) out of quite a lot of cash.
 
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i think i have been at the critical end of the spectrum on this one and reading MR.K's post i see his point, but a forum is just that, a place for people to openly discuss matters, the selling part of the forum gives people one particular FREE (although limited) route to market. so it may be a great place to sell parts etc, but i would say that the recent spate of posts critical of pricing will discourage potential sellers of cars putting them on here.
 
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Sorry, but if you try and flog a car on an open forum then you invite comment.
I think provided the comment is not abusive and is "only" the opinion of the other poster then live with it.
Glad you got what you wanted for your car though.:rolleyes:
 
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As the title of this post suggests, this is about "Etiquette" or just common courtesy or manners. If you walked past someone on the street trying to sell their car to someone else and heard them mention a price you thought was too high, you would NOT interject with "You're having a laugh, it should be...". Just because you can hide behind a keyboard doesn't mean that you should undermine a seller's position on a Forum. If the price is genuinely too high then the seller will soon find out for themselves when their car doesn't sell. Simple.
 
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Completely agree, I would not interject in the street. However I have interjected in shops (PCWorld, Dixons etc) when I hear punters been mislead.
Thats not entirely relevant as no one is being mislead in price advice.
But your "street" analogy does not relate to A2OC. This is a comunity and I value existing members as much as prospective (the buyer?) members.
So if someone tried to sell a car that was clearly not good value, would it be wrong for someone to comment?
I have never chosen to comment on a for sale thread, and doubt I ever will.
But I defend the right of posters to post this if they wish.

And if you think that the keyboard adds bravado, then you must not have met many Yorkshire men (esp where money is concerned).

[meant in good spirits, in case anyone takes the hump].
 
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MPG Lover said:
Just because you can hide behind a keyboard doesn't mean that you should undermine a seller's position on a Forum.
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mmm, by posting on an open forum the poster is inviting discussion, as that is the definition of a forum, etiquette in this case does not come into it, and as far as hiding behind keyboards (suggesting that in an open discussion face to face that i would not say the same thing, in this case very untrue),

we are all hiding behind keyboards as this is a text based forum !!!

online definition of forum
fo·rum (fôrm, fr-)
1.
a. The public square or marketplace of an ancient Roman city that was the assembly place for judicial activity and public business.
b. A public meeting place for open discussion.

but to answer the OP's question in a more simple and direct manner...

"Should responses to adverts in the selling forum saying, e.g. "that's a bit pricey, mate" be banned/discouraged?"

NO (imho)
 
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The problem is sellers wanted a pinboard or classified type of post. But the forum is free and as is, posts are threads opened to any reply.

While the definition of forum is easy to understand, you may argue the suitability of topic. If sellers weren't asking for comments on price any reply commenting on the asking price while not intending on making a deal is off topic, no?

I would refrain from making such remarks on the price, especially when I have no intention of buying. However, if potential buyers openly asked about the price, i feel it is only fair they get the advise from others in the open.
 
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Don't think it is about the forum being 'open' or people being 'banned' from doing anything...for someone to comment on the price of something they have no intention of actually buying is a bit poor really. Am sure that it's pretty well intentioned but like the original poster says, maybe this should be discouraged?

Have noticed this happen a couple of times in recent weeks. The selling forum should probably be left for those wishing to sell something and those with an interest in actually buying it. If people want a bit of guidance on price then that's a different matter.
 
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Davidu, I agree completely with your post.
As said, in a straight forward sale that I had no interest in, and didn't notice any inaccuracies or exagerations then I would never comment unless invited.

What I defend is the right of people to comment though.

I sympathise with the OP as his car was clearly not overvalued, and I agree that the comments were not helpful. At the end of the day people make their own minds up about value for money, and I doubt the comments of a few significantly erroded his negotiating position. He still sold it for what he wanted!
 
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have to agree, to avoid all of the price discussion, esp with cars and not so much when selling parts, it may be worth not posting asking price and suggesting a PM to discuss price.
I have actually bought and A2 from a member after seeing his ad on this site so it does work.
Glen
 
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Smart Alecs? No. Immature? No. SHould comments be banned? No.

The A2OC is and will always remain (as long as I have a say in its running) an open, free and frank place of discussion. There's no freedom of speech in the UK (although many people are fooled into thinking that there is) but the A2OC is about as free as you will ever get.

In my opinion, only unpaid commercial postings and spammer threads will be censored (and the users will be banned). Swearing and offensive language/postings will be censored, but only to keep things suitable for minors and because it is the decent thing to do.

What you seem to misunderstand Mr K is that your 'advert' was free - a very simple and effective way of trying to sell the car (as a lot of prospective owners check out these pages) and your advert was priced at the top end of the price scale. People commented, which they are free to do, simple as that.

In replying to the comments and inviting further reply, you watered down your own advert thread, so you've only yourself to blame!

I didn't agree with the removal of the comments by another admin, but wasn't about to get into a discussion about this with him, as it simply didn't warrant my attention.

Maybe if people want to have locked thread adverts on the site, we could start charging for them, in the same way that other sites do. You'd be assured of an unmolested ad then!

You sold the car, great. Don't now try to score a goal against those who (rightly) commented on your original advert - it's un-necessary.

Cheers,

Mike
 
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Skipton01 said:
What you seem to misunderstand Mr K is that your 'advert' was free - a very simple and effective way of trying to sell the car (as a lot of prospective owners check out these pages) and your advert was priced at the top end of the price scale. People commented, which they are free to do, simple as that.
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I don't misunderstand anything here. Disagreeing with you is not the same as misunderstanding, just as free does not necessarily equate to open to comment (ref Pistonheads).

Skipton01 said:
In replying to the comments and inviting further reply, you watered down your own advert thread, so you've only yourself to blame!
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Definitely not the case. I didn't get involved until a couple of others had already commented on the first response being inappropriate. The damage had already been done by then, so there was nothing to lose.

Skipton01 said:
Maybe if people want to have locked thread adverts on the site, we could start charging for them, in the same way that other sites do. You'd be assured of an unmolested ad then!
Click to expand...

I'd pay £5 for a car ad. Seriously, you should consider it. You don't have the reach of Autotrader or eBay, so can't charge as much as them. However, lots of car clubs charge this sort of money for an ad - it's not unreasonable.

Skipton01 said:
You sold the car, great. Don't now try to score a goal against those who (rightly) commented on your original advert - it's un-necessary.
Click to expand...

So it's OK for someone to comment on an asking price, but "unnecessary" to comment on the appropriateness and accuracy of their comment? Hmm...

I'm absolutely not trying to score points here. I deliberately mentioned no names and the posts concerned have gone, so no-one can be identified. This is about etiquette, as another poster said.

I posted the question to encourage debate, and was deliberately provocative to some extent. There seems to be a fair bit of support for discouraging "price-knocking" posts via etiquette. I personally don't think banning is appropriate or practicable with the current forum format. However, it's your site Mike, so I respect your right to run it as you like. Like everyone else I value the site enormously and you're the last person I want to upset!

Just to show that I don't think it's a black and white area, there's currently a car in the selling forum that has no asking price, but appears to be on Autotrader massively over the odds at £9k. It's hard NOT to comment on this ;). As others have said, though, a silent phone is the best clue to an overpriced car.
 
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Originally, I had no intention of responding to this thread - however I had best put my views across now, given that it was me that originally commented on Mark's advert.

Mark - as you will have been aware prior to opening this thread, (I refer to your PM from ULP advising you that he intended to delete posts on your advert) - advice on car pricing will now be confined to PM unless anyone requests our view (and they do with regularity)
So given that Chris and myself (me in particular) are the parties who are generally guilty of this behaviour - we agree with your viewpoint! It won't happen again.

You described the motivation for posting on your advert as possibly ‘immature or smart alec'

Whilst I will rely on my reputation as a regular poster and enthusiast on this forum to demonstrate clear evidence to the contrary on both allegations, it is noteworthy that you became personal.
Given that fact that you would have been aware of developments relating to future 'etiquette' regarding selling adverts, I disagree with your response, maintaining that your thread is not a simple point scoring exercise. I’m a big boy though, and mature enough to accept the twin extended digits!:p

By your own admission you were being purposefully provocative. That says a fair bit, and was the original reason for me not responding to this thread.

My motivation for commenting on your advert is simple.
When I noted your original post, the colour.storm that replaced your original A2 was instantly recognisable as a result of its rare specification. Your offered a 2002 car for sale to fellow members, at a higher price than the 2004, highly spec’d example that you replaced it with. This was a matter which I chose to comment on.
You secured a bargain with your new car, and you secured a sale at the top end of the spectrum for your old one. Well done – good for you.

You have pointed out that this is a friendly forum. You are quite right.
It also benefits from a common philosophy amongst members of decency and support for other members. Something I hold very dear.

I considered – and still consider your car too expensive for what it was, and would have baulked at an A2OC member entering into negotiation with what you were trying to do. In my view it was greedy – in addition, I do not believe it was in the spirit of this club.
However, the car was yours to sell, and you got what you wanted. Well done once again. In the final analysis, I am glad it didn’t sell to an A2OC member.
 
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Mark - I really can't be bothered to respond to your last post in detail, except to say that I disagree with most of it and one particular point that I must correct:

A2OC is not my site - it is our site. Yes, I am a co-owner, its Technical Director and an admin., but that is all by the by. What matters is the input from all and to this end, I will never consider removing posts which are not offensive or spam.

Comments on your advert were neither and so in my opinion, they should have stayed, regardless of their effect on the sale of your A2. I am quite willing to abide by this whenever I sell anything too.

Cheers,

Mike
 
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