Is it me or...

[Machaon]

Re: Is it me or...

Its because people who dont have licences to buy RIFs can easily get one on here no questions, if they pay a little extra of course. Come on wise up guys, almost anyone can walk into this forum and get buying, i have yet to have someone ask me for my UKARA number when i have bought things from here.
E.g. 16 year old has bday, wants m16, cant buy normally (obvs) so looks on here and finds many cool looking "toys", sets up fake account and gets buying. How would you ever know?

1. No licence needed. It's not managed well enough to be a licence.
2. The responsibility to check legal defence of the buyer remains solely with the seller. If a seller has satisfied themselves without checking UKARA, (which isn't a legal requirement) that you have a valid reason for buying said imitation firearm, then that's that, done and dusted, cookies and custard. It will backfire on the seller, not the buyer.

I think that if the whole system was managed properly, and the law actually made sense, without so many damned loopholes (yes, I'm looking at you, "two-tone service"), and the UKARA database was actually accessible to Average Joe (even for a fee), it would make it far easier for sellers to check for a valid defence, sellers would be more inclined to do so, sales would be quicker and the annoying little scrotes (of which there are many) who try to buy without a valid reason would hopefully shrink back into the woodwork from whence they came.

Anyway, we've veered off the original topic.

If you like an item, but don't like the price:

1. Offer what you think it's worth. If you've seen if better priced elsewhere, perhaps consider telling the seller. Maybe they don't realise they're being beyond the realms of careless optimism.
2. Don't buy it. Don't contact the seller, and let some other sucker pay the price.

It's not rocket science, and people too stupid/immature to know how to conduct a sale shouldn't partake of such events.

[BAMF]

Re: Is it me or...

Machaon my good man, you are literally on fire of late. Your posts are insightful without inciting

To the point and on the money with each statement made. Kudos to you sir.




Oh yes. On topic. Don't like the seller's advertised price? Look elsewhere for something within your budget people. Airsoft isn't a buyer's market, but a seller's.

[weegaz22]

Re: Is it me or...

Oh yes. On topic. Don't like the seller's advertised price? Look elsewhere for something within your budget people. Airsoft isn't a buyer's market, but a seller's.

It isn't really a sellers market if you have to reduce your originally stated price by 60%, and my complaint isn't really about the prices of the guns as that was more of a general observation as i had been away from airsofting for about a year, the thing that is annoying me is having to trawl through all the ads to find the price, if it was in title it would be a lot quicker to search through as there is a fairly large turnover of guns on here.

[PureSilver]

Re: Is it me or...

Airsoft isn't a buyer's market, but a seller's.

That isn't how markets work and the steady trickle of decreasing prices in the sales threads shows it. Setting your prices too high means people will just buy new instead, and then when they come to sell their new-bought guns the number of second-hand guns increases but the number of buyers doesn't. That means that to make a sale sellers are going to have to accept much lower prices; if they hold out the ratio of guns for sale vs buyers will just get worse and the market will become even more skewed in favour of the buyer. Holding out for silly prices now will only hurt you in the future.

[The General]

Re: Is it me or...

As a slightly different point of view, times are hard. People are significantly worse off for the most part for the average person than they were only 3 or 4 years ago.

Yet the prices of new things, goods and services has rocketed. So as people have less income, goods and services are more expensive for the most part.

Airsoft is no exception. It is not at all unusual to see Cyma or ASG G36c guns going for £170+ new. For many people this is roughly the baseline price for a new gun of skirmishable quality. Yes you have the Combat Machine guns around £140 but those are about as low as you can get for a budget gun.

Not so long ago you would have been paying a lot less for these types of guns.

So second hand prices often reflect the price of the cheaper new guns. I have an essentially unused TM M733 rifle boxed and complete. This is a gun worth about £250 new. It's a Tokyo Marui so it is a very good brand. I accept that it is not brand new but I would expect it to fetch around £180-£200 with haggling as it is a superb gun in very good condition. This reflects fairly with the value of new clone or budget guns and it being second hand. I always think once something is second hand, you really need to start with a 2/3's value and add or subtract from this based on various factors. Such as quality of brand, how rare it is, condition, how sought after the gun is etc etc. Even something like it being complete and boxed with all the manuals and paper work does add a little to the value.

So a £250 baseline at 2/3's is £166, plus it being a great brand, used twice in the back garden to test and being complete with all bits and bobs gives it a value of £180-£200 in my estimation. Which I think is fair.

That is the way I essentially work it out.

Just to add, I do have this rifle and I am not trying to sell it. Too much hassle and I would rather keep it than see it go for silly low money because some idiots want to low ball me or go on about it only being 285 fps and a plastic body. Thus arguing it is a rubbish gun. What ever.

[Machaon]

Re: Is it me or...

I would rather keep it than see it go for silly low money because some idiots want to low ball me or go on about it only being 285 fps and a plastic body. Thus arguing it is a rubbish gun. What ever.

Yeah, but accepting a low ball offer is entirely your choice. If you can't shift on a price, then don't.

[The General]

Re: Is it me or...

Yeah, but accepting a low ball offer is entirely your choice. If you can't shift on a price, then don't.

Yes, I worded that one rather poorly. What I meant was see people making constant low ball offers and having to read the messages all the time.

[Fizzy]

Re: Is it me or...

Amen to that!
Someone posted a wanted for a BFG, with some blanks and a reloding rod, for £70?!? So i politely wrote that they go for about £100+ at the mo.
Ended up with a spamming infraction, but hopefully he saw it and realised his mistake...

Why? I bought mine for £65. Not everyone expects £20+ over what they used to cost new

[Machaon]

Re: Is it me or...

Yeah, and I picked mine up for not much more. Admittedly, mine was an impact grenade, and they seem to be in less demand.

[Hawaiian Special Forces]

Re: Is it me or...

I don't really bother with low offers, buying or selling. I personally think it's disrespectful to the seller to offer under and haggle to get the price down by £10 or whatever.

As a result I always pay asking price and expect anybody else buying from me to pay my asking price.

If the price isn't fair then....don't buy it, if the seller drops the price through lack of interest then that's cool, but I hate low-ballers coming along and going "£120? Nah m8, I'll giv u 70 4 it".

[Tiercel]

Re: Is it me or...

2 tone JG Fundurrr mawl, soopr raRe cllecterz item. Soooo raaaare i wlLL only sell for £500


People can ask whatever they want for their item, £300 for a JG Dragunov anyone?

Just laugh at their stupiditiy and move on.

[Coz]

Re: Is it me or...

I recently got offered £15 for £200 worth of remote control car, I politely told them to get bent. The auction only started at £40 too

[starscream]

The one that's suddenly poked its head up is people advertising their gun as "very rare". Yet you can go on to any major site and find it a lot cheaper on there.

[BAMF]

Re: Is it me or...

It isn't really a sellers market if you have to reduce your originally stated price by 60%, and my complaint isn't really about the prices of the guns as that was more of a general observation as i had been away from airsofting for about a year, the thing that is annoying me is having to trawl through all the ads to find the price, if it was in title it would be a lot quicker to search through as there is a fairly large turnover of guns on here.

No...honestly. It is a seller's market, as they are the ones who dictate the prices they wish to achieve. Trawling through advertisements and listings is all part of the fun of using the internet.

Ever go on Ebay? Some of the stuff I look for I have to put to 200 listings per page to try and get through the dross and find what it is I actually want at a price I'm comfortable with.

There is a large turnover of guns on here, you're right, but that's down to airsofter mentality (Self included) where we get bored with the same guns easily and always want the next best shiniest object.

That isn't how markets work and the steady trickle of decreasing prices in the sales threads shows it. Setting your prices too high means people will just buy new instead, and then when they come to sell their new-bought guns the number of second-hand guns increases but the number of buyers doesn't. That means that to make a sale sellers are going to have to accept much lower prices; if they hold out the ratio of guns for sale vs buyers will just get worse and the market will become even more skewed in favour of the buyer. Holding out for silly prices now will only hurt you in the future.

It is, honestly. The seller, person A wishes to sell his object for reasons known only to them. Person B, the buyer wishes to obtain said object. Who dictates the price? A, who has possession of the commodity? Or B, who lusts after said item?

I'll let you in on a trade secret...it isn't B.

That is exactly why this forum has a number of these "Why are 2nd hand guns so f-ing expensive?" threads. It is a seller's market. If people do not want to buy the guns at the advertised price, then they should move along and let some other buyer in on the act. If they wish to make an offer, that's down to them. If they wish to send idiotic PMs, stating that the buyer is pricing themselves too highly (As happened to me, even though this same guy managed to drop one of his listings by a couple of hundred quid!), then let them. I don't budge on price and I certainly don't drop it after bumping (That I recall?).

I think I list my guns quite fairly. If they aren't in people's budgets, why should I bear that responsibility?

[hinder]

Re: Is it me or...

It isn't really a sellers market if you have to reduce your originally stated price by 60%, and my complaint isn't really about the prices of the guns as that was more of a general observation as i had been away from airsofting for about a year, the thing that is annoying me is having to trawl through all the ads to find the price, if it was in title it would be a lot quicker to search through as there is a fairly large turnover of guns on here.

arn't you going off your own topic? your gripe was about how much people sell there gats for now it's about having the price in the title?
been said already but why am i or anyone else going to sell there gun at a lower price just so somone else can get a fair deal? we all like money and we'll all try and make a bit more or try not to make a loss when selling a gat don't we? and why not just go buy brand new if peoples prices are unreasonable for you? if you want to start selling your sopmods for £250 let me know!