Reasons for selling bikes/parts/other

[Once A Hero]

When you come to sell things online, do you ever include a reason for selling the item(s)?

I recently lost out on purchasing some items from an auction house, and as expected have already identified the items in question now listed on ebay - for overly inflated prices.
Now it would have been my intention to list some of the items for sale myself as I only wanted one item from the auction lot, so I'm not knocking the buyer/seller for doing that.

What caught my attention however was that they have included in the listing description that they are selling "due to wife wanting more space" or similar, and in one case they just stopped at "selling due to wife"

Knowing that the person has only been in possession of the items for a number of days, it's clearly not a genuine reason, and struck me as something they don't even need to mention.

An item is either for sale or not in my opinion, and can't think of a item I've been looking to buy that would make me question why it's for sale. Lack of use, surplus to requirements etc could easily be applied, but anything else just sounds odd / unnecessary to me.

Unless I'm missing a marketing trick here?

 

[benjabbi]

I do find it odd. Surely the fact that it's up for sale indicates that it's no longer needed, you need the money or the space. That's all I need to know. The fact that your dog got a £3000 vet bill that needs paying is of no consequence to me.

 

[pigman]

It's about invoking sympathy from a buyer. So in the example, a buyer is meant to think Poor fella has an unreasonable wife, he deserves some sympathy and therefore I'm not gonna take the piss with any cheeky offers/bids

It's the same as some of the 'belonged to my old grandad who recently passed' pitches. When in reality the seller has picked up a job lot from a house clearance. Who's brave enough to pay minimum to someone who's recently lost a loved character?
[Saying that, there will be some genuine bereavement sales, but it's a tough one weeding out the genuines from the fictional ones]

 

[grantoury]

I have seen it on Dutch marktplaats, usually when something is worth keeping, almost new or valuable. Like saying I know its worthwhile but there is a reason for selling. I have actually been able to buy some nice stuff for a good price this way.

 

[The History Man]

Need money for operation.





Haemorrhoids.

 

[PhillB]

I've often wondered about that too. "Selling because of the wife" like @pigman said, I wonder if it is to create a relatable reason for the sale, to reassure the buyer that 'it's good quality and legit, I wouldn't be selling, but for my wife's insistence'.

It's not relatable to me as my wife would never say that, and even with all my bike stuff, she has far more shit than I do

The other one that gets me is posts on eBay that are for and item and the photos of it are a hand-written note that says 'Soon Photos'.

Can anyone shed any light on the reasoning behind that bollox? other than some kind of grammatically inept scam?

 

[kingbling]

Can't be arsed with it need it gone

 

[bikeworkshop]

As a rule if the seller tries some dodgy line in the writeup, there's a higher chance the item is faulty, not as photographed or they don't send it out.
Best avoided.

 

[d8mok]

I've often wondered about that too. "Selling because of the wife" like @pigman said, I wonder if it is to create a relatable reason for the sale, to reassure the buyer that 'it's good quality and legit, I wouldn't be selling, but for my wife's insistence'.

It's not relatable to me as my wife would never say that, and even with all my bike stuff, she has far more shit than I do

The other one that gets me is posts on eBay that are for and item and the photos of it are a hand-written note that says 'Soon Photos'.

Can anyone shed any light on the reasoning behind that bollox? other than some kind of grammatically inept scam?

Used to happen when they had £1 listings for the weekend.

I used to create loads of listings with “photos coming soon” that then can be layer edited to be correct. Saved fortunes in fees that way as you get the promotional rate when you don’t even have the items to sell yet.

 

[PhillB]

Used to happen when they had £1 listings for the weekend.

I used to create loads of listings with “photos coming soon” that then can be layer edited to be correct. Saved fortunes in fees that way as you get the promotional rate when you don’t even have the items to sell yet.

Ah ha! Ok that makes sense now