Why are people (Forum members included) so cheap?

[Medusa50]

View attachment 308161

I have a coworker. His name is Richard Head Sr. we call him big dickhead for short.

 

["TRUMP"]

Hahahahahahahah they are suppose to be gascans though.

Fuel cells will do

 

[kronin323]

Once upon a time...

There was a forum of enthusiasts. They became a community, and learned they could help each other build their collections through the exchange of items within the community. Thus the Exchange was created to provide a venue for the community to buy/sell/trade. Sure there was some price haggling, there always is, but for the most part items were listed for around what they were worth and were bought for around what they were worth. And they mocked the over-inflated ebay listings as they went skipping through daisy-covered fields wearing nothing but fig leaves.

But as the community grew, so did the exchange. And people began joining just to benefit from the non-ebay pricing found there, the community second in their minds if there at all. And others began to realize they could make a profit to supplement their income. The exchange became a life of its own. The general market may fluctuate over time, but within the exchange, relative to the market, premium pricing started to grow. While the lowballers multiplied like rabbits. Older members still practiced the old ways, and they sold more easily because their prices were more fair, but even they were subjected to a flood of ridiculous lowball offers and they began dropping out, frustrated.

Then the lowballers hit the value thread and began quoting great deals they scored as proper valuations instead of great deals. And newbies who didn't know any better believed them, so their fallacies became reality. Lowballing became the norm, and sellers reacted by listing even higher to give them more room to negotiate. As membership turnover continued, the standard became that any price that isn't a "great deal" is artificially inflated and should be lowballed down to a "great deal". Great deals had become proper valuations, after all. And more sellers turned away and sold on ebay instead, which ironically had become the less frustrating of the two markets. While other sellers began to copy-and-paste the content of their ebay listings into the exchange. Some still practice the old ways, for buying as well as selling, but the pollution gets all the attention.

And they lived happily ever after...

What happened in that story? Did a "proper" exchange degenerate into a filthy cesspool? Or did an overly-idealistic environment evolve into the same sort of market found anywhere else? And is there really any difference between the two? Either way, it's spilt milk.

Values are just mutually agreed upon delusions anyway...

 

[OakleyFrankFMJ]

Once upon a time...

There was a forum of enthusiasts. They became a community, and learned they could help each other build their collections through the exchange of items within the community. Thus the Exchange was created to provide a venue for the community to buy/sell/trade. Sure there was some price haggling, there always is, but for the most part items were listed for around what they were worth and were bought for around what they were worth. And they mocked the over-inflated ebay listings as they went skipping through daisy-covered fields wearing nothing but fig leaves.

But as the community grew, so did the exchange. And people began joining just to benefit from the non-ebay pricing found there, the community second in their minds if there at all. And others began to realize they could make a profit to supplement their income. The exchange became a life of its own. The general market may fluctuate over time, but within the exchange, relative to the market, premium pricing started to grow. While the lowballers multiplied like rabbits. Older members still practiced the old ways, and they sold more easily because their prices were more fair, but even they were subjected to a flood of ridiculous lowball offers and they began dropping out, frustrated.

Then the lowballers hit the value thread and began quoting great deals they scored as proper valuations instead of great deals. And newbies who didn't know any better believed them, so their fallacies became reality. Lowballing became the norm, and sellers reacted by listing even higher to give them more room to negotiate. As membership turnover continued, the standard became that any price that isn't a "great deal" is artificially inflated and should be lowballed down to a "great deal". Great deals had become proper valuations, after all. And more sellers turned away and sold on ebay instead, which ironically had become the less frustrating of the two markets. While other sellers began to copy-and-paste the content of their ebay listings into the exchange. Some still practice the old ways, for buying as well as selling, but the pollution gets all the attention.

And they lived happily ever after...

What happened in that story? Did a "proper" exchange degenerate into a filthy cesspool? Or did an overly-idealistic environment evolve into the same sort of market found anywhere else? And is there really any difference between the two? Either way, it's spilt milk.

Values are just mutually agreed upon delusions anyway...

That sounds just like......wait....no it cant be......

 

[kronin323]

That sounds just like......wait....no it cant be......

Frank lasered off his fig leaf.

 

[OakleyFrankFMJ]

Frank lasered off his fig leaf.

 

[ShortChangeHero]

Cheap is such a strong word. Thrifty, maybe bargain shopper sounds better.

 

[kronin323]

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

 

[Rustpot]

All I know is I never sold for a profit, even when I got a good deal. If I no longer recalled what I had paid I let the "market" influence my price to a certain extent, but selling has and always will be, for me, a way to clear room and move things I've lost passion about. I buy Oakleys for reasons outside of money, and I've pretty much stopped buying anything "collector" or rare or really worth over $150 because it's just frustration after that.

If I was an X-Metal fan I might sing a different tune, I could never stomach the price to play in that world. Dipped my foot in the pool a few times, but always jumped back out.

 

[Medusa50]

The fig leaves aren't germane!

As Sheriff Buford T Justice said, The dawg gone Germans aint got nuthin to do with it!

Hold my hat boyyyyy!