Gauging interest - What's up?

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Texatdurango

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It seems that lately there are more and more folks posting wanting to "gauge interest" about selling things.

One of the rewards of doing business is of course to make a profit but along with the rewards are the inherent downsides, one being possibly stuck with unsold goods.

It appears that the sellers want assurances to cover their costs before buying the goods. But with the prices being charged lately, it would seem that was not a problem to begin with.

I don’t know, perhaps that’s the new internet “e-commerce†way of doing business, just seems odd to me.
 
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George, for the most part you are correct. What you are not taking into consideration is when an item(s) is being considered that does not fit with other items that they normally sell. For the most part these are items for the benefit of fellow pen turners which in the long run saves them a little money.

The thing I did not understand was the following comment:
"But with the prices being charged lately, it would seem that was not a problem to begin with."

What are you trying to say there George, that can be taken a couple different ways.
 
"Gauging Interest" on this, or any, forum is just a quick, cheap and unscientific way of doing market research. Just because I think an item is cool and useful doesn't necessarily mean the rest of the world is going to like. I've put out a number of feelers to find out what IAP turners would like to see. The results were quite interesting. Many of these items I hadn't even thought about. Some of these items are now boxed up and on their way to the USA. I never would have bought these items if I didn't think there was a market for them.
 
As the "Designer Guys" on HGTV would say .... your words sound "a little harsh". Gauging interest makes perfect sense to me. I'm obviously not a business person (Philosophically, I am far from being a capitalist). However, it seems to me that a sound business model should always include a preliminary assessment of marketability before production begins. Maybe you should have thought about gauging interest in your post before posting it on gauging interest? [;)]
 
Originally posted by DocStram
...Maybe you should have thought about gauging interest in your post before posting it on gauging interest? [;)]
Click to expand...

Now that right there is funny; I don't care who y'are. [:D][:D][;)]
-----
George,
When I found a supplier of pen sleeves and velvet pouches, I bought some.
At the same time, the price seemed low enough that it made sense to see if folks
wanted 'em and if it warranted a GB. It did. And, in the process, folks asked for
items I hadn't intended to get but they were available so I did.
Now, the thing is I didn't do it for a profit -- I didn't mark it up one cent --
and the inbound shipping is probably going to cause me to lose money. [B)]
And, one time I posted to see if folks wanted a flyer produced and there was some
interest but not enough to justify doing it.
When I have blanks, segmented or otherwise, for sale, I don't post a GI, I just do it.
I think it varies with the individual and what they're doing. One thing I know for a
fact -- they've been posting GIs since before you and I ever joined this forum and
I'm sure they're gonna keep on doing it. [^]
Cheers. [;)]
 
If I want it for myself. I buy it.

If I have the oportunity to buy extras at a discount that I can pass on to others, I ask if there's interest.

I'm not a business, so I can't front $200 on a piece of wood that I only need $30 of and not sell the rest. If there's no interest I buy the $30 I want and have done with it.

Do I always find the best prices? nope. As Nolan pointed out in the snakewood post, I can get it cheaper from other places (I'm still looking though).

To me this is a group buy. Preorders help determine that it's possible.
 
George didn't you just post a couple of weeks ago an INTEREST in getting peoples opinions on your show booth set up? I think you got a lot of good answers and several good ideas on your set up. If you wouldn't have "guaged an interest" on your booth, you're only other option was trial and error, and that could have taken you several shows to finally get you booth set up for maximum exposure of your pens.
 
I think this headed the wrong direction so before a lynch mob is formed, perhaps I can rephrase my thoughts.

For months, it seemed like all you saw in the classifieds was "For sale - wood" or For sale - boxes" or "For sale - widgets"... etc.

Now it SEEMS to me that what you see more of is the "gauging interest" type posts as if everyone is taking a different, more cautious approach to sales... that's all, just something that crossed my mind, no big deal. Judging from the replies, I'm seeing something that is not there.
 
I agree with George. It does seem like there are a lot lately. But, I think there are more people selling now then there was 6 months ago. So, more people selling, more people gauging.

I like the gauging interest postings because it lets me know what I'll be paying for in the near future.

What hurts is when you show intrest and nothing ever comes of it. Either there wasn't enough interest or the person asking just decides not to go through with the sale.
 
Originally posted by les-smith
<br />I agree with George. It does seem like there are a lot lately. But, I think there are more people selling now then there was 6 months ago. So, more people selling, more people gauging.

I like the gauging interest postings because it lets me know what I'll be paying for in the near future.

What hurts is when you show intrest and nothing ever comes of it. Either there wasn't enough interest or the person asking just decides not to go through with the sale.
Click to expand...

There are few "barriers to entry" in the pen supplying business.

If you see a "Guaging interest" and the poster doesn't follow through, send him an e-mail, see where he stands. If he says, "Not worth MY while", the door is open. This is how I started importing - when another member decided NOT to do so.

Capitalism is wonderful .................IF you have a LITTLE capital.[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]
 
Ok, I posted a "gauging interest" post today - maybe this is the one that got you to start this thread, I dunno. I'm not in business, really have no clue about alot of woodworking in general, but am learning to turn wood as an offshoot of my custom fishing rod building business. So, I ended up with an excess of some veneer wood. My little brain said - HEY - why not see if anyone on IAP might want this stuff?? So, I threw that post up as a pre-empt to pulling the wood out, photoing it, getting shipping materials ready, and all that stuff. If I post the "gauging interest" post and all I get is crickets chirping, I'm not going to waste my time with all the other stuff!
 
Another note, posting gaging interest doesn't always mean the posters will purchase. Some of the time, they say they will buy, but never do.
 
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