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New vs. Used stock - what do you favour and why?
 

Hey guys,

I had a long post typed out and the whole thing froze on me, so this is a quick message to get the ball rolling as I cant remember what I typed lol...

Do you sell used items whilst you are in stealth mode?

Did you at one time sell used items, but hassles lead you to a change to selling New?

Im not after product specifics, thats for me to find out from my own research. However, I am very interested to know have any of you since being a stealth seller had a change of heart and made the move from used to new.

My experience is that my product line whilst quite specific, is attracting a large amount of hassle between buying stock (sellers being unreaslistic with their descriptions/pricing and with unbelieveable attitudes towards me as a potential buyer) and buyers using the 'not as described' line when questioning condition of a used (in some cases quite heavily used, but well described/pictured in listings as the same) in order to get a discount back.

When buying any stock which is below £100, my sellers tend to use a line that they can 'scrap' the said items for that price, so are more than happy to let me drive long distances to collect on the basis that they have given a half assed description - then (like a couple of days back) the seller shrugs his shoulder and says, 'so what? take it or leave it'. In the end I usually take it and swallow the costs of repair or refurbishment if needed, but thats coming out of my profits.

On the otherside people tend to low ball me alot when buying, as its used items their perception of value (since there is no RRP) varies greatly.

Im at the point now where I feel a massive change is in order, its just a shock to the system that what I know and love and what has provided for my family is coming to an end and I need to start completly fresh in marketplaces that I have no knowledge of. The last time I tried that I ended up in massive doo-dah with ebay/pp, and the dropshipper & my money is still nowhere to be seen...

I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Thanks,

Global.

Im getting the impression no-one wants to share, but I really dont think this is a question where anyone has anything to lose by sharing...
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hi, I will talk to you!

I think I may do the same as you, unsure if you buy from ebay or other sites or estate auctions. I know what you mean by scrap, that actually turns out to be ok, but sometimes mis-described. I will never drive more than 10 miles for anything, but my area is full of pickings, I never find anything that is worth a long round trip...also sometimes people are no-shows...



I do all types new, used and actually I will not turn any niche down, if I come across it and it makes money I would do it, new, used, only thing I do not do is dropship due to the lack of control/reliability....I have done it though, just hated the way I was out of the loop...

As collectibles go, I can only sell used but trying to do some research into the new market

Thanks oompa,

I thought i had done the wrong thing by starting this thread! lol


For me, I travel the country - its the nature of the beast with what I work with. However, as previously stated, this does not work out the best with sellers not caring if I have travelled 2 miles or 200...

Its very frustrating and at the moment I am trying to work out if I can streamline my process to get sellers to be more compelled to take responsibility for their selling - proper descriptions, delivering to a fixed point etc. Ebay does not force this of them and if sellers had to be more accountable before they got their money then I feel descriptions would be better and they wouldnt expect collections for a definite time with 30 mins either side for delay - Couriers dont make appointments, they give a day! :shhh:

New seems cleaner in lots of ways, it would eliminate all of the above buying stresses and allow me to concentrate more fully on selling.

We keep the new accounts mixed for nearly the 1st year.

I guess the bottom line is whatever brings money to the table

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