[Boatanchors] Hamfest Pricing

[W8KZW]

Worrisome?  Harmful?  To whom?

Yes, eBay's reach = more buyers = more competition = higher sale.  I sell on
eBay.

But please don't try to tell me my gear is worth less at a hamfest (although
I DO account for a fee-free sale in my selling price).  It's certainly not
worth less to that buyer who would have bought it from me on eBay, or a
buyer who chooses not to shop on eBay ... particularly if he gets to see the
gear - and test it, sometimes - and take it home enjoying that no-fees
discount and no shipping cost.  I sell at hamfests too.

I know the hamfest market is smaller and I'm less apt to get my price.  I go
to hamfests to see old friends, support the clubs, and maybe sell something.
It doesn't bother me one bit to take something home and sell it on eBay if I
don't get my (reduced) price at a swap. It's fun regardless.

If you think us "Ebay pricers" should drop our shorts just because we are at
a swap and YOU don't want to pay what someone else would for a piece of
gear, that my friend is not worrisome ... just entertaining.  Swaps are
getting smaller and smaller or disappearing altogether.  Sellers know they
are more likely to get their price on Ebay because some hams have a
drummed-up, preconceived notion that gear at hamfests should be dirt cheap.
I contend that "hamfest folks" like you are a non-trivial cause for the
demise of this venue.

73, and see you at the swaps.

 > -----Original Message----- That hamfest folks increasingly attempt to
> use Ebay as a
> pricing standard for hamfests is worrisome and harmful.
> The laws of marketing are immutable.
> Size of market dictates demand. Demand dictates price.
> Hundreds of thousands of buyers on Ebay equals
> big demand and that equals big prices.
> A few dozen buyers at a hamfest equals
> smaller demand and that equals smaller prices.
> Don't try to explain this to an "Ebay" pricer.
> They'll just get mad at you and blame you for
> their having to pack the radios back into the car.