I know this is not C&V specific but this is the platform I live on:

I’ve been wondering for a while why in the for sale thread the OP has to set a price. While it makes is clear and easy for the potential buyer it could deterrent a seller to feel out the market.

So what if we can have a separate thread within the ‘for sale’ section to post items with no price? You can even go a step further and let the buyers set the price online by posting the next highest bid. There is no time limit so the seller can wait until he / she gets an offer to its liking but if the seller waits too long the buyer with the highest bid could have lost interest. This is not a new concept and works very well on the Dutch (Ebay owned) auction site Marktplaats.nl.

Just an idea…

Call me a curmudgeon, but please not here. All I see is a big can of worms.

long-standing forum rules, not going to change, fairly tightly enforced. The Classic Rendezvous list has the same rules -- they will ban you from the list on the first offense. If you want an auction, you have to go to ebay.

Eventually, it would create rancor and ruin a nice discussion board.

Seller wants to feel out a market? fleecebay. Seller wants a set amount, without all the fees, post it here (or C/L).

you can always post in the WIW forum to get an idea of what people think something is worth

Probably better to check completed auctions on ebay for most things though

It's standard procedure on every forum I'm on to require an asking price both bike and auto related (and that's a lot of forums) to require an asking price for items for sale, you can always post a price with an O.B.O. after it.

If you want to sell, then sell. Post a price, or I (and many other potential buyers) will move on down the road without asking. "Make me an offer" is a loser proposition if you're the buyer. If you're the seller, you have an idea of how much you need for an item...... save us all time and let us know what it is.

BBM - so, do you want to make me an offer on a Regal?

Here's the nice thing about selling on these forums: we don't allow price-policing. That means if you're just trying to feel out the market, you just take a different spin on it. Say you have a need to get rid of a bike or two, but you don't really want to (i.e. for the right amount of money, you will). You post the bike with a pretty high price, but note that you accept offers. You are NOW feeling out the market. You might look ridiculous in pricing a Varsity for $500, but it gets the job done, right?

If it ain't broke...don't fix it. Leave the bidding to feeBay.

We could call it Pandora's Box o' Deals.

Let me hold the money.

Not today. Maybe you could try OFG - oh, wait.... he's been banned.

Really, though..... in general, if I'm pressed to make an offer, it is pretty much guaranteed it's going to be lower than what you're looking for.

I still haven't found out what happened...though it must have been major to ban someone who was as knowledgeable, helpful and the resource OFG was/is.

OFG was knowledgeable, but he was a real jerk most of the time, and ALWAYS had a wise remark for those that did not know as much as him about bikes. Boy, I sound like a jerk LOL.....

Probably not the place to discuss it, but certainly not how I see it. He knew a heck of a lot more than me and shared his knowledge...much to my benefit.

And I think we've pretty much covered all that needs to be said on this topic. Closing thread. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.