Feeler threads??

[Gliden07]

I come across these all the time in the For sale section on this and other sites what is there purpose? Could someone please explain them to me. You take the time to write a "FEELER" thread to see if theres interest in your items. Either you want to sell the items in question or you don't?? Is it a way to drum up business and up pricing?? I wish the Mods would intervene and end these threads! [smilie=b: :x

[montana_charlie]

I don't know what percentage of readers would agree with you, I truly don't.
I am not even writing this as an agreement or disagreement.

If 'the majority' enjoys feeler threads, or sees value in them, then people will continue to 'support' their creation.

If 'the majority' would not respond to those feeler threads, it would come to be seen as 'uncool' to do so.
Then, they would (pretty much) cease to appear.

In either case, we would have established their 'status' ourselves ... without asking 'government to run our lives for us', in a manner of speaking.

If there is no established rule already on the books, I think it's a good topic for discussion.
I disagree with 'wishing the Mods would intervene'.

CM

[Love Life]

I could care less. Some people want to gauge interest to see if it is even worth putting an item up for sale. Some people refuse to utilize the internet (which they are on already) to search out prices. Some people do it because they may be uncomfortable asking full market price and this method allows them to find a happy medium.

What does it matter? It is their choice and it is not against the rules.

[waksupi]

They only time I have a problem with it, is when a new guy shows up with two posts and does one. They are usually thinly disguised "For Sale" ads. I generally delete those.

[Bzcraig]

Charlie is right.....the market will dictate the success not the mods.

[gbrown]

I've seen a bunch of those. Kind of perplexed about it, like the OP says, Either you want to sell the items in question or you don't?? Then again, like Love Life, What does it matter? Doesn't bother me, just like fishing, bait it up and try it. Just another PITA to contend with. Look at them and laugh. Mod's got enough to do already--leave them alone.

[runfiverun]

someone may have a line on 1-k pounds of linotype at 1.00 per pound but doesn't need all of it.
I think it's fair to test the waters to see if they can sell some of it to go ahead and make the investment.

[GRUMPA]

I've done one of them recently just to find out if it was going to be worth the effort. Only I informed folks what the price was going to be before hand. Wanted to know if there would be enough interest to warrant me ripping my machine down and setting it up for another conversion or not, it happened that there was enough interest for me to do so and I did.

That was my version of a feeler thread....

[Blacksmith]

I find them a bit irritating but so far have been able to withstand the urge to post off the wall answers to the; what's it worth ($500,000.00) how many would you buy (10,762) is anyone interested (NO) posts. Just skip them, but a symbol indicating what they are or a special section, would make that easier.

[theperfessor]

I recently posted a feeler thread in the Casting Equipment section as a way to gauge the level of interest in some blank Lyman sizing dies I had already planned to make for my own purposes. No price was mentioned, and I clearly stated that expressing interest did not obligate anybody to buy anything. I considered it a sort of a market survey. As far as I know nobody got bent out of shape over it.

Edit to add: Actually, I did post an estimated price. The only way the level of interest would effect the end price is that I get a discount on larger material purchases, it costs less to set up a CNC machine once instead of twice or three times, and the tooling cost can be spread over a larger number of units. Pretty standard stuff in the manufacturing world.

[Gliden07]

I don't mind this type of thread for new items with an investment of time and money! If you are going to invest a chunk of money in a new product or service this makes sense.


I recently posted a feeler thread in the Casting Equipment section as a way to gauge the level of interest in some blank Lyman sizing dies I had already planned to make for my own purposes. No price was mentioned, and I clearly stated that expressing interest did not obligate anybody to buy anything. I considered it a sort of a market survey. As far as I know nobody got bent out of shape over it.

Edit to add: Actually, I did post an estimated price. The only way the level of interest would effect the end price is that I get a discount on larger material purchases, it costs less to set up a CNC machine once instead of twice or three times, and the tooling cost can be spread over a larger number of units. Pretty standard stuff in the manufacturing world.


someone may have a line on 1-k pounds of linotype at 1.00 per pound but doesn't need all of it.
I think it's fair to test the waters to see if they can sell some of it to go ahead and make the investment.


I've done one of them recently just to find out if it was going to be worth the effort. Only I informed folks what the price was going to be before hand. Wanted to know if there would be enough interest to warrant me ripping my machine down and setting it up for another conversion or not, it happened that there was enough interest for me to do so and I did.

That was my version of a feeler thread....

The "FEELER" threads I object to are the ones where a private seller owns an item has owned it, will not be retooling at a cost or investing a quantity of money to secure a product or item they don't already have and post the "FEELER".

The ones I take exception to are as follows:

"I have a (item of your choice) that was my Ex Father In Laws sisters cousins, I was thinking about selling it but don't know what its worth and was wondering if anyone would tell me so I could charge accordingly!! Just testing the water! Thanks!!"

[starmac]

For the life of me I can't see the problem or why I would get irritated. Everyone I have seen plainly said FEELER in the description, so if I have no interest I would just not click on it period.

[searcher4851]

Folks come here for information. I reckon a "feeler" thread is a way to get specific information. I have no objections to them.

[km101]

These ads may irritate some, may interest some. If you don't like them, ignore them. It doesn't take much effort to scroll on down. There are times that they have a legitimate place, even if they seem to be over-used right now.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it! The Mods have enough work to do, and we don't need more rules!

[TXGunNut]

Sounds like a good tool but I do very little buying or selling here so it doesn't matter to me. I can see having something to sell and not knowing the market for that item. Feeler thread sounds like a market survey to me, no problem with that.

[mold maker]

There are several threads that hold no interest for me and I simply ignore them. I do prefer to be the one making that decision though. We have enough problems with others forcing their likes/dislikes on us.
Let it be as it is.

[Down South]

As already stated, one finds a something in bulk that casters and or reloaders may be interested in and wonders what it might be worth before he makes a decision to purchase. I have no problem with feeler threads. If I'm interested, I'll look and I may even reply. If I'm not interested, I just skip the thread.

[NewbieDave007]

I can understand both sides.

1) Frustration/annoyance: When asking if there is interest in commonly (and actively) sold items (i.e.: common caliber brass, 45ACP, 223, …). I just cruise on by and don't feel the need to state the obvious for anyone that will look for 5 minutes before posting.

2) Innocent: What is wrong with someone asking what something is worth, or if it even worth their trouble/time/investment? For instance, if I died and my wife was trying to liquidate my stuff. Or, a couple/few months ago I almost posted one asking about interest in shotgun hulls. I pick up brass at a range and could get hulls, but not being much of a shotgun shooter myself and never reloading them, I had no clue what they would be worth to someone. Luckily for me the day I jumped on here to ask a bunch of "dumb" questions/feelers, someone posted a thread about selling their hulls. So, I did what any guy that doesn't want to admit his limited knowledge. I followed the thread, and calculated a rough amount that I would get and decided that it would be a ton of work for very little return. I also saw how long the thread took to offload a relatively small amount compared to what I could have worked to recover.

I know that I come on here for a multitude of things and one main one is the wide knowledge base.

Dave

[KCSO]

I have a rule that seems to work well on any of the forums, if I disagree with something I ignore it. If an ad says feeler that's as far as I read and I forget about it. Life is too short to worry about the small stuff. Don't sweat the petty things and dont pet the sweaty things.