The politics of pricing

[scottcw]

Can anyone explain why it is OK to sell a MGMV for $675 or thereabouts, yet selling a custom shop pedal won in a drawing at more than what you paid is frowned upon? is it because the MGMV is/was not a custom shop pedal? is it acceptable to sell custom shop pedals for more than paid if you hold on to it long enough?

[nichcope]

Pricing is a tough one. Right now with the exchange rate Custom-Sounds has minivibes listed at 409 EUR taxfree price, which is $634. That makes the selling price of the minivibe of $675, probably not too far off from what they paid for it new if it was purchased new when you throw in shipping and paypal fees. In other words, they're not really marking up much above list price if at all by selling at $675.

My take on the politics from my time on the board............... everyone on this board is here for the same reason, love of BJFE pedals and many of us don't want to capitalize on that since they wouldn't want others to capitalize on them that way......."a do unto others" approach to this forum if you will. The feeling is that this is about sharing in the great tone, not buying a pedal to flip it for more money. If you need to raise the price for some reason, whatever it may be, offer it here for the price you want to see if there's any takers, then ebay is a good way to go, market decides price and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I think pretty much everyone on this board lives in a capitalist country, so to disagree with that, one would have to disagree with many other things about their life and surroundings, which may be the case. Capitalism drives me nuts sometimes, other times I love it, so I'm a bit of a fence sitter on that one. Anyways, I think people frown on the markups because on this board, it is not about capitalism, it is about BJFE pedals. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with either choice. One thing I know is that I've bought pedals from people who've requested that if I resell, I do it for what I purchased it for. I agreed and when I give my word, I won't go back on it. I don't know someone's reason for raising a price or keeping it the same or selling for less than they purchased it for and I don't think I really have a right to judge them for the choice that they make.

I think this is one of those touchy subjects, so I hope I responded to your post without offending anyone. I'm on this board for the love of these pedals and to share it with all the other BJFE addicts on here!

[bjf-crazy]

Nichcope....nice post and i agree with you...Myself being a bjf pedal junky i wish i had them all,but it is just not possible,,,,i am happy and blessed with what i have and being near 48 years old these pedals are going**nowhere** ......When i plug in Bjorns pedals i allways get a big on my face!!!!

[Donner]

Yeah well said guys.....
this subject has gone thru a few changes ...

It started because most of the customshop pedals were 'research' pedals , and if people started jumping into the line just to buy and flip , then there is less research - and if its just going to be about profit then Ill charge as much as possible and give the extra to BJ rather than Ebay

its great that BJFs have solid resale, it certainly makes many things easier - dont need a refund policy or a trial period when there are people waiting to buy them for even a bit more than you paid if you dont want it --- and thats fine ....

its just the blatant profiteering that can ruin the research end of it...

Its absolutely fine if you get a research pedal and play the crap out of it and write a detailed research review and then decide its not for you and flip for a reasonable profit ,,,, thats just fine and welcome --- really the only thing I frown on is getting one and flipping it without bothering with a rig report ~ but thats just me

bottom line - its your property and you can do what ever you want with them --- but this is a 'community' and a little restraint and consideration goes a long way

[Eskimo_Joe]

Hi everybody,

I'm not sure if I inspired this thread or not, but since I recently listed a MGMV I'm guessing I may have, so I'll throw in my two cents.

There were a few factors in how I priced the MGMV. First is the fact that to get a brand new MGMV from Custom Sounds (the best stocked dealer on average) is $640. I paid $550 (I think) a while back, but in my opinion, it wouldn't make any rational sense to sell the pedal for less than the retail price of a new one given the trends on other BJF pedals. While this is not a deliberate profit seeking activity for me, I'm also not interested in giving money away either. In addition, what you pay for something is not what something is worth.

Second, to get a new one involves waiting an undeterminable amount of time. Some people don't mind waiting. Others attach a value to not having to wait and are willing to pay a reasonable (to them) fee to have it now instead of later. I am certainly one of those people from the buyer side, so maybe that influences how I think about selling too.

Lastly, the last few MGMV's on TGP and eBay have gone for more than $640.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In my opinion, the uncool thing is if a person is involved in pedals simply to flip them for profit. Donner said it very well regarding how this type of activity can defeat the R&D process. As for me, I have never bought a pedal with the intention of flipping it. There have been a handful of occasions when I've bought a pedal and disliked it and sold it at a profit (usually after time has passed), but more often than not I break even or lose a small amount on the deal with shipping and paypal, etc. It evens out though.

On the subject of selling BJF pedals specifically, I've never sold a BJF pedal. I flirted with selling the Purple Plum, but couldn't pull the trigger despite numerous generous offers, especially from my friends here on the forum. I would like to sell the MGMV since I have the two stomp version and I've come to the realization that I have way too many pedals. (and one two few Les Paul's)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If anyone has an issue with the above, I'd love to understand where you're coming from. Feel free to pm me.