2 questions about trading off of the marketplace forum

**pipskicks** · 05-07-2012, 08:06 AM

1. Can we ask to split items (sort of like a group buy but I was looking for people looking to split 100 blades, to get the 100-pack price without that many to risk)

2. Why can't people post that they have an extra item that is on sale etc. if they can beat the sale price? I figure some of these posts would not be posted in the marketplace, but when they are on sale and the person is reminded that they have some that they wouldn't mind getting rid of (i.e. in the TOBS Shopping Deal) I am not sure why that isn't allowed? It's not a supported vendor necessarily, more just a deal right? So the member can offer a better deal to one lucky shopper by selling his extras.

I would think this would be 1. Easier to post for sale items that may not be posted in the BST (due to too many posts etc., and the person may not have been as motivated to sell it if not for the related post) and 2. It is easier for a member to find an item they are looking for (it's in the thread about an item on sale) and it would save at least one member money most probably by getting an item cheaply privately vs. buying it commercially on sale. It does hurt the commercial seller, but as long as it's not a B&B supported vendor I would think taking away their business is less of a concern (this thread was Sierra Trading Post).

I just didn't want to step on toes asking about splitting 100-blades, and it really isn't worth getting in trouble for. But I also would like to see people beating the sales price, that would be awesome, it's just much more convenient than the BST IMO (since we're already looking at that thread for that specific item). Maybe the issue is the vendors, but I just really like the money-saving opportunities members can provide (the AD is bad!) and plus sometimes both sides benefit (the seller makes a little money and makes some room!), but I was more curious why it's not allowed as it would just make things a lot easier.

I guess you can always take it to PM, but then would posting "Does anyone have an extra puck they want to sell?" a violation too?

Sorry if this was pushy or anything, just trying to understand and obviously be selfish and be able to see all the good deals easily :)

**Oblique Human** · 05-07-2012, 09:57 AM

You can always sell the excess. Blades don't go bad if stored with reasonable care. What you can do is, whenever you want to sell a soap or other product, just tack on 30-40 blades with that deal. You could always PIF them a little at a time.. great way to make new friends. I have about 500 blades I'll never use that will be PIF'd or exchanged as soon as I can find a courier here willing to ship them for less than $60 (per PIF)

**pipskicks** · 05-07-2012, 10:47 AM

Yeah I guess I just would prefer not to overbuy that much, but I guess that may be the solution. I am more thinking about if two people buy a 100-pack the extra shipping isn't so bad. If you were splitting the pack 4-ways or something like that....then you may be killing the deal, but I think there are a lot of deals where I would pay extra shipping to get 50 instead of 100 blades because of the price of the 100-packs...

**ouch** · 05-07-2012, 11:44 AM

I ran your request through Bablefish and it returned my hovercraft is full of eels.

**Go West Young Man** · 05-07-2012, 12:14 PM

1. Setting up a split ahead of time is considered a group buy and needs the approval of the Mods. That may sound heavy-handed for 100 blades, but be aware that the second you post that kind of inquiry you're going to have 50 people respond that they're interested..... and your brain is going to start calculating how much cheaper it would be to buy ONE THOUSAND BLADES!!!! And then you're on a slippery slope.

2. I have no idea what you're talking about. Sale? Beat the price? Merchants? Can you give a concrete example of what you mean?

**pipskicks** · 05-10-2012, 02:39 PM

In regards to #2, in "Shopping and Deals" someone posted a deal on soap. Someone else posted that they had an extra puck (closed and it would be cheaper than the non-B&B vendor posted price). That was not allowed, but I would think that would help a lot, I would much rather buy from a B&B member than a non-B&B vendor.

**Go West Young Man** · 05-10-2012, 10:25 PM

Ahh, I see what you're getting at there.
But, still, offering to sell a product can only happen in the BST, doing so in another thread is skirting the rules, whether intentional or not.

**cb91710** · 05-10-2012, 10:53 PM

Originally Posted by Go West Young Man

1. Setting up a split ahead of time is considered a group buy and needs the approval of the Mods. That may sound heavy-handed for 100 blades, but be aware that the second you post that kind of inquiry you're going to have 50 people respond that they're interested..... and your brain is going to start calculating how much cheaper it would be to buy ONE THOUSAND BLADES!!!! And then you're on a slippery slope.

+1.

Splitting 100 blades? The shipping would quickly eat up the "savings" even if two people split the order.
I mean we're not talking about 50 Mach-3 carts or something that would mean eating meatloaf for a week... we're talking about $15-$25. USPS priority is $5, so a $30 order split between 2 people turns into two $18 orders.
Split it 4 ways and it's now four $12 orders for 25 blades. You can get 100 Personna labs for $13.

So economics aside... 50 people respond, you put in a bulk order for 1000 blades, and when it's time to cough up the dough, 30 of the 50 don't come through.
Now your original effort to split a 100 blade order ends up with you holding the bag on 600 blades.

**Oblique Human** · 05-11-2012, 12:37 AM

You know, I went through this same conundrum when I first discovered how different every blade could be and spent weeks agonizing over which hundred pack to buy first. If not a money issue, its still a big mental hurdle. You should just choose a brand and order your first 100 blades. They are a sound investment and just for the fun of it, even if you like the blades, try selling them off or trade at BST. Just experiment there once. See how things turn out.

**_JP_** · 05-11-2012, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by ouch

I ran your request through Bablefish and it returned my hovercraft is full of eels.

Oh crap! Now I have to run it through my secret decoder ring!

Translation: You can't do that.

**pipskicks** · 05-12-2012, 10:45 PM

Yeah I guess it's the skirting BST problem, I understand the blade splitting, this was about a random offer to sell off a puck of soap despite it being on sale, just made it a cheaper price, but being that the BST is strictly enforced, this was in shopping and deals so I get it now.

Sorry it was confusing.