bloke wrote:...and - just like the housing market - some tubas for sale will just "sit", because some wannabe sellers simply cannot yet mentally/emotionally accept what are the current market values.
Also like the current housing market, sellers are not inclined to do what it takes to generate traffic.
There are still posts with:
-No/poor photography
-Poor descriptions
-No definitive location
I still cannot believe that people refuse to use photobucket or some other hosting service to put pics up of their horn. Also, too many people are apparently afraid of light/sun/outside/etc. and love to take pictures of their equipment in what amounts to be a dark room with little light. Also, stop with the "email me for pics" bullshit. To me, it sounds like you can't spare the time to shoot a few photos unless someone contacts you. Now if someone asks for a specific shot, like the solder seam of a leadpipe against the bell to verify redrot, that is understandable, but take some general pictures of your item and post them. Also, take your pictures outside, during the day, in decent weather. You will have far better/more light than inside with a flash and the picture will come out better, in most cases. A $100 point and shoot in good light will turn out photos that are nearly equal to the (expertly done and very detailed) photos that the gentleman that shoots for Steve Ferguson provides.
Many of the descriptions are vague and sometimes not clear. We know that 99% of tubas have pitch deficiencies. List them. Be honest. Tell the people what you have done to solve them. Also, playing characteristics are far more important than dings/dents/scratches. While I appreciate the detail of the physical/cosmetic shape of the horn, playing characteristics are more important.
Also, list the location of the horn. Some folks simply don't look under the avatar, and in the case of college students, the horn might be at home and not at school. Tell folks where it is. Folks who can play it are more inclined to buy it. There is a reason car dealers don't really mind having folks test drive cars.
I am not absolving myself from some of these "sins" but I have made an effort to do my best to move a horn. When selling, only one of my horns took longer than one month to sell. That is out of about 9 tubas I have sold over the course of my time playing.
