TubeNet

After a recent unpleasant experience while trying to buy a tuba from a member of the forum I was wondering if there was any merit to the idea of those that have completed a purchase posting a followup in the for sale thread nothing detailed just a simple review
eg. item shipped and arrived, or good communication.

This I feel would help regular readers of the for sale section get a feeling for which members are good to deal with.

In my case I lost no money but the seller has other items for sale and his profile shows that 72% of his posts are in the for sale section of the forum.

The excuses and explanation given to me by my seller were not good and reflect badly on his maturity.

Below is a quote from one of his last pm's to me.

" Your posting of your troubles with me is totally justified, but isn't totally representative of me as a dealer; I'm afraid you're the only person I've done this to"

I have decided not to name and shame him as he is still very young but I have passed on his details to the moderators as his posts and private messages suggest that he sees the for sale forum as a market place or playground for himself.

Talkbass.com has this feature.

I see nothing to prevent you from leaving feedback under the original 'for sale' post. If it gets out of control, Schleppie can simply lock the post or delete it altogether.

While my recent experience did prompt my post I would still like to see happy buyers leaving short summaries in for sale threads as markers for other members it would also cut down on the is this still for sale posts.

As I am not out any money and did receive finally confirmation that the sale was never going to complete along with a mea culpa I don't think it warrants me airing him out any more than I have already.I have passed on the details to the moderator just in case anyone else has reported similar experiences.

I thought that's what relisted due to time wasters meant.
A seller could if they wanted, post about a buyer but I doubt many would.

So does all the above mean you would rather have your own private list and not have buyers or sellers relate positive feedback publicly for the rest of us?

sousaphone68 wrote:So does all the above mean you would rather have your own private list and not have buyers or sellers relate positive feedback publicly for the rest of us?

I can understand where you are coming from, but think it would be hard to have a reliable and accurate list. I've bought a lot of stuff here and have never had a problem. Part of that is having a feel for folks from their posts and part of it from the direct back and forth with sellers. Somebody who shows up as a recent member with low posts trying to sell something I would completely avoid. I have never listed anything for sale here yet -but have sold some stuff to folks who posted WTB ads. I'm in a position where I don't have to financially sell stuff so I tend to hang on to it, but if I can help someone out I will part with unused equipment. WIth a "list" someone like myself who has only done Private sales would have no feedback and thus probably be avoided.

I do not however have any problem with somebody broadcasting a member who has not paid for equipment or not delivered paid-for equipment. Fraud is fraud and all of us honest members do ourselves a favor by calling it out - in public. I think this is especially important for younger members to see as they may not be wise to the way of business transactions and may be more apt to be taken advantage of.

I was not looking for a formal list.
Based on my own reading habits my suggestion was that buyers that have completed sales and are happy would post a short post sale summary in the items for sale thead which would give members that read the for sale forum regularly a feeling for those that complete sales successfully both as sellers and buyers.
Unhappy transactions have to be dealt with by the participants in what ever manner they see fit.

sousaphone68 wrote:I was not looking for a formal list.
Based on my own reading habits my suggestion was that buyers that have completed sales and are happy would post a short post sale summary in the items for sale thead which would give members that read the for sale forum regularly a feeling for those that complete sales successfully both as sellers and buyers.
Unhappy transactions have to be dealt with by the participants in what ever manner they see fit.

Most folks with a lot of experience in sales will tell you that the only people you ever really hear from after a sale are the unhappy ones. Happy folks go on about their business and everybody is so busy these days that unless you've been wronged you're just not going to spend precious time on something that really doesn't have a direct immediate benefit to you. Look at your own situation - I'm guessing that until you felt you were wronged you weren't on here posting happy thoughts about past transactions that went well. Plus, who is going to vet all these reviews because there are usually two sides with different takes on the transaction. You already have on here people who seem to make it their mission to bad mouth/harass certain members on a regular basis. I'm sure they'd jump on the negative review bandwagon to further harass these folks. Throw in the fact that a review tacked on to a for sale item will soon be lost as the for sale forum probably has the most new entries on a daily basis which would soon bury a review. Not trying to rip your idea - it's just that it is tough to pull off.

I hear what you are saying Tofu and Curmugeon and I don't like bear pits either.

I have bought from 5 forum members two were sponsors and three were private members.
For at least one of the private members I posted that the mouthpiece arrived and was in better condition than advertised.
The sponsors I sent thank you pm's to let them know all was good.

Despite the disappointment of being strung along and mislead for 6 weeks I have chosen not to publicly name the seller.
The mistake I made this time was to not read the sellers other posts as I did not pick up on his age until about two weeks into the sale.
The only thing that saved this from being worse is that I would not send money via PayPal without a request from the seller detailing what the money was for.

I have bought and sold a number of tubas and euphs here on this forum.
It involved both sponsors and private folk. All went well.

The only minor irritation was from a poster who was not interested in buying
but found it necessary to comment stupidly on a price reduction i added.

The sale was made satisfactorily after Tubatinker commented that my instrument
was a good buy at that price. Thanks Dan.

So, look on the bright and practical side. There is the odd *** in every group but
overall, we are not a bad bunch here.