Selling Question

BBegall

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The marketplace seems like a great place to buy a ukulele but perhaps less great for selling. I was wondering if people who sell here try to find a local buyer first on Craigs-list or Facebook marketplace. This to avoid the hassle and expense of shipping or selling instruments that the buyer cannot see and hold?
 
I recently sold a banjo uke and had it listed for sale here, on Ebay, on Craigslist and on Flea Marketplace. I had one contact from here and one from Craigslist but neither were serious so they didn't pan out. It ended up selling on Ebay. I really hoped to have it sell on Craigslist to avoid the hassle and expense of shipping it but with that venue, it's going to be seen a lot less and have a lot less exposure than a listing on Ebay.
 
The marketplace here used to be a much more robust selling platform. It seems that either traffic or interest (or both) have really died down. I've wondered if this might be partially due to all the problems with messages getting clipped and truncated. I've experienced this problem on the marketplace page and also in private messages. It get's pretty frustrating and is definitely a hindrance. Of course as interest/traffic wanes, the problem self-perpetuates. and people are less likely to post their sales, which causes interest/traffic to slip further, etc., etc.
 
The last ukulele I purchased was from this marketplace. The seller had the uke listed on eBay also. As chance would have it the seller only lived 10 miles away so we were able to meet in the parking lot of a local mall to complete the purchase.

I thought it was a little odd as well since people are selling from all over the world but I guess you don't know until you post it up to see who's interested.

I live in Michigan for a point of reference.
 
The marketplace seems like a great place to buy a ukulele but perhaps less great for selling. I was wondering if people who sell here try to find a local buyer first on Craigs-list or Facebook marketplace. This to avoid the hassle and expense of shipping or selling instruments that the buyer cannot see and hold?

I actually would reverse the order you are wondering about. Local buyers severely limits your market if you are listing an ukulele costing more than a few hundred dollars. I am somewhat cringing at having to meet someone in a nearby "safe place" for them to try it out. If they want it, how do you handle the transaction in a manner safer than PayPal?

Here I can list it and see what the interest level is among those who are players and considering a nicer ukulele. It will sell if the condition is good (or better) and the price is right. FedEx has worked well for me. I do have one that is languishing in the marketplace. I would rather lower the price before listing it on Craiglist or eBay.
 
achutch3, whereabouts in Michigan? I grew up in Flint (yes, that Flint) and my wife is from the Pontiac area.
 
I have bought and sold through the UU market, Craigslist, and Reverb. I think all three are different experiences. I think the UU market is probably the most straightforward because most people in the forum are really interested in ukulele's and there is a level of respect here. The drag is having to ship (if you are a seller) which includes getting a box. I normally have enough boxes (even if I have to make one) and shipping materials from my Amazon purchases. But there isn't bartering here, and a seller will eventually drop the price if their uke isn't selling at the speed they want to move it.
In the past month or so, I have noticed the movement of ukes, either buying or selling has slowed down. I think it's because the world is starting to open up.

I normally always cross-list with UU and Craigslist. But CL can be dodgy with getting emails from Nigerian scammers and/or people lowballing and/or playing games. The lowballing annoys me the most, but it's part of the CL culture. But the good thing is you will get cash straight up and no shipping. This also depends on where you live, is your area safe, and how many people are interested in the ukulele.

Reverb is my last option since they take a cut at 5% and the buyer has to pay tax on the purchase. You get the largest pool of people probably here or Ebay. The shipping cost seems to be cheaper using Reverb than it would be going to FEDEx/UPS/USPS on your own.

Just my 2 cents.
 
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As someone who has sold several ukes within the last year, I'll say that UU remains my best and first market whenever i decide to let go of an uke. The main reason is that the audience is made up of a small group of uke enthusiasts and players. Indeed, maybe in some other venue more $ can be collected for my lightly used instruments. Though the the fact that the buyers here know what they are buying really helps facilitate a smooth and painless transaction. PayPal has been the primary medium for currency exchange except for one sale, where I met up with the buyer and exchanged cash.

I've also sold an uke with positive experience through the Facebook marketplace, bought an uke through the Facebook marketplace, and bought an uke advertised on Fleamarketmusic, all with no issues.
 
I have had many successful transactions here (and on Fleamarket) as well. I’m just saying it seems to get much less buying traffic than it used to.
As for the Facebook marketplace, I bought on a uke there that arrived with multiple undisclosed cracks. The shipping box was in fine shape. I took photos and sent them to the seller, who took accepted responsibility and took the uke back (although I lost out on return shipping).
The seller re-listed the uke- again without disclosing the cracks.
 
Hey Ernie,

Royal Oak. The seller I met was in Troy.

My wife and I are originally from Long Beach, CA but have lived here in Michigan for 26 years (I worked in the auto industry). We just sold our house and are moving to the Big Island September 1st. Time to leave the cold and snow!!!
 
achutch3,
Congrats on the impending move! I'm exceedingly jealous!
My wife and I moved from Michigan to California 29 years ago (for the animation industry). I guess the universe has to restore balance somehow. :D
 
achutch3,
Congrats on the impending move! I'm exceedingly jealous!
My wife and I moved from Michigan to California 29 years ago (for the animation industry). I guess the universe has to restore balance somehow. :D

Sounds like we swapped places! Michigan is nice.....but not as nice as Hawaii! :shaka:
 
I've heard so many horror stories about Craig's List that I've never used it. Thousands have used it with no problem, of course. I recently sold a kayak on Facebook Marketplace, something I didn't even know existed. I've bought and sold hundreds of items on eBay without a problem.
 
I've sold 3 ukes via Craigslist. Yes, you do get some flakes and low-ballers and I had one obvious attempt at fraud so you do have to be careful. The three successful sales were conducted in a gas station parking lot, a Mall food court and a Target parking lot on the eve of our state's COVID shutdown where the Mall was already shut down.
 
I think there are several reasons why the selling and trading has cooled here on the Forum marketplace.

The number of active members using the Marketplace seems to have declined. I think it's due to a combination of the glitches in posting, a migration to the new platform, and that some have moved to the darkside and taken up different instruments.

Summer is upon us, restrictions have eased, and people are eager to catch up on the other aspects of their lives that had been on hold. So they aren't on line as much, and acquiring and selling ukuleles isn't a top of mind priority as it was.

Folks are getting results at other sites such as FleaMarket and Facebook Ukulele Marketplace.

Most of my tenors have been bought used. I have had excellent results here on the Forum Marketplace. Mostly buying but, I've also sold several. I've successfully bought four on the FleaMarket Marketplace. One on Ebay. Four on Reverb. And had a terrible experience on the Facebook Ukulele Marketplace. Which after a long and protracted back and forth I returned the damaged tenor for a refund, minus the shipping and fees.

I think the knowledge, interest and openness, plus the courtesy of the members here in the Forum makes for a much better environment for buying and selling. So it's always my first choice. Second would be FleaMarket Marketplace.

I have zero interest in CraigsList. Weeding out the scammers and low-ballers and meeting up to sell something just isn't worth my time.

From what I've been told, prices for sellers on both Ebay and Reverb have gone up substantially. (Etsy too.)

I really enjoy buying and selling here on the Forum Marketplace. Dealing with truly nice people.
 
Summer is upon us, restrictions have eased, and people are eager to catch up on the other aspects of their lives that had been on hold. So they aren't on line as much, and acquiring and selling ukuleles isn't a top of mind priority as it was.

I believe that this is a key part of it.

There is another thread (found here: https://forum.ukuleleunderground.co...ntertainment&highlight=lockdown+entertainment ) where I have been keep track of when Mim hits her cap for the week. I have been using it as a proxy of the current state of interest in buying ukuleles. It isn't a perfect proxy for that, as I don't know how/if Mim adjusts her cap, but it was the data to which I had access.

Between April 2020 and April 2021, Mim didn't cap only about 4 or 5 times. But then she didn't cap at all during all of June 2021. (She did cap this week, for the first time in about 6 weeks.)

I suspect, but can't prove, that as folks were stuck at home, interest in musical instruments (including the ukulele) were up. As restrictions have relaxed, and more people are back to work in person or are traveling, that interest has diminished.
 
I have mostly migrated to prewar Martin guitars. If you guys think a MoBettah uke is expensive, don’t look at these guitars. After buying and selling multiple ukes, I now own a Kamaka tenor, Kamaka 8 strung, Fluke and Koolau CE-1. These are keepers.
 
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