Mazanec
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2004
Posts: 355 
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Post by Mazanec on Jan 25, 2016 21:11:03 GMT -5
I am amusing myself by window shopping online minerals stores.
I see a lot of sold items on the galleries of these sites.
Since the rocks are singular items and cannot reasonably be offered for sale again, why keep them on the site?
1) To encourage buying ("these rocks are selling like hotcakes, I better buy one quick")?
2) To show off what wonderful specimens the shop previously had?
3) Laziness...it's just easier to do it that way?
4) Something I have not thought of?
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Post by Pat on Jan 25, 2016 21:14:57 GMT -5
Gives potential buy and idea of what that shop sells. As a buyer, I like to know that information.
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Post by jakesrocks on Jan 25, 2016 21:21:36 GMT -5
Also prevents having to relist the item if the buyer decides not to pay. Eventually after the item is shipped, the seller will take it down. And some sellers only do it part time, while holding down a full time job elsewhere.
I'm with Pat. I like the listing being left up for a while. It lets me check to see what similar items are selling for, so I can decide just how bad I want a piece of that material.
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Post by 150FromFundy on Jan 26, 2016 16:23:00 GMT -5
I agree with jakesrocks and Pat. If you follow rocks to see if they actually sell for the list price, it is easier to notice them with a big old SOLD sign on them than to have them simply disappear from the site. It's also interesting to note if they sell rapidly at the list price, or if they take a long time to move at the list price. This can help you value your own collection with a harsh dose of reality, rather than over value your collection based on wishful thinking.
Darryl.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2016 11:13:35 GMT -5
One word
Search engine optimization.
The keywords and descriptions add the the size of the website. Size always wins at google. Diverse keywords provide diverse referrals too.
When i had my reptile storeI had a way to re-categorize animals I sold. The were displayed year by year in a sold category. After ten years that section of my website was gaining me thousands of daily visitors. Many visitors means increased sales.
Get it?
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Post by jakesrocks on Feb 2, 2016 11:44:43 GMT -5
Actually when you think of it, the seller is doing a big service for the buyer by leaving sold items listed. I've found when buying minerals & fossils that most sellers send a label with all of the important information about the specimen. However a few won't send that information. Being able to go back to the original listing has allowed me to retrieve that information and print my own specimen label. It may be a little bit of inconvenience for prospective buyers, but it's a win/win for the person who bought that specimen.
(It also lets you create a list of sellers who don't send info with their specimens. You know who to avoid in the future).
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,980
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Post by Tommy on Feb 3, 2016 11:06:22 GMT -5
While not discounting earlier opinions I am of the opinion that it is usually a sign of neglect, laziness, apathy, call it what you will – the owner of the website doesn’t care enough, or have the skills enough, or inventory enough to keep it updated, active, and fresh or take it down. My first thought is always to wonder if they bit off more than they could chew with maintaining a fresh website – or only had a limited amount of a specialized material etc. When I accidentally stumble into a site in this condition and the first thing I see is a bunch of sold items I literally cannot click out fast enough.
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Post by captbob on Feb 3, 2016 12:13:05 GMT -5
What I don't care for, when sold items remain on a web site, is when the price is removed and it simply says sold. I find this to usually be the case on higher end specimen sites. If the piece is still there to see, I would like to know how much it went for as a reference price for like specimens.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 3, 2016 12:18:46 GMT -5
What I don't care for, when sold items remain on a web site, is when the price is removed and it simply says sold. I find this to usually be the case on higher end specimen sites. If the piece is still there to see, I would like to know how much it went for as a reference price for like specimens. DITTO !! |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2016 12:25:30 GMT -5
What I don't care for, when sold items remain on a web site, is when the price is removed and it simply says sold. I find this to usually be the case on higher end specimen sites. If the piece is still there to see, I would like to know how much it went for as a reference price for like specimens. DITTO !! Exactly! But as a seller, it is bad practice to leave the price. It negatively Influences potential future market values. My reptile sales website scenario, the prices were never displayed on the sold animals. Just pics and descriptions. |
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,718
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Post by Fossilman on Feb 3, 2016 12:27:51 GMT -5
People dealing (buying) in minerals,rocks and fossils should realize that the market does go up and down,just as stock markets do.....
I am always curious on prices and pricing-shows me where the market is,at that time...
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Post by captbob on Feb 3, 2016 12:40:05 GMT -5
Why would it be a bad practice to leave the price? It's most likely not like we would know the buyer. I don't see how it "negatively Influences potential future market values". We all hope the value of whatever we may buy (items like vehicles that deprecate aside) increases over time, so I enjoy seeing what it sold for at a certain date. Or, I see I bought a like piece years ago and it's worth X in today's market. That's usually a whoo hoo moment. "See honey, I'm not so dumb after all!" You may be right Scott, but I'd still like to see what it sold for. Maybe I'm just nosy!  |
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Post by broseph82 on Feb 3, 2016 15:26:05 GMT -5
People dealing (buying) in minerals,rocks and fossils should realize that the market does go up and down,just as stock markets do..... I am always curious on prices and pricing-shows me where the market is,at that time... Please let me know when the rock market goes down again. Thanks! |
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,980
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Post by Tommy on Feb 3, 2016 16:57:32 GMT -5
Why would it be a bad practice to leave the price? It's most likely not like we would know the buyer. Well, speaking only from my perspective sometimes I buy slabs or preforms on Etsy and I turn them into cabochons that I resell on Etsy. I'm happy that the price I paid is no longer visible. The same goes I'm sure for the people who buy my stones and turn them into pendants - I'm sure they don't want people knowing what they paid for the stone on my store. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2016 23:16:57 GMT -5
If a price remains in perpetuity, 5 years later, market is stronger, old prices showing lower value, hurts sales.
It's fine to be nosey. But a seller wants it harder to research market value.
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Post by Rockoonz on Feb 4, 2016 14:57:47 GMT -5
I'm with Scott, it is in the sellers best interest to keep sold items up, at least for a time, and to remove the sold price. Keeping your sales website at or near the top of search engine lists without having to pay for it is not easy.
I don't expect etsy or ebay sellers to understand this. It takes the same effort to delete an item of to move it to a sold category, so it's not laziness.
The down side of it is that potential buyers can search ebay sold items and get the pricing for the Chinese or poorer quality version of what the artist sells, instead of seeing what people are willing to pay for the real thing. Perhaps leaving prices for a short time before removing them might result in a sale.
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