MOTM

> All the auctions are for built kits, they’re all for 7 days, the 
> reserve prices are set at 66% of the assembled price with a buy it now 
> option of the assembled price minus 20 dollars.

As someone who buys a fair amount of kit on ebay, I feel compelled to 
offer a few pointers about what (personally) makes me comfortable about 
buying. Maybe others on the list will find this interesting.

First off, if you must sell a MOTM system (lost your job, back to 
school, and medical expenses, are the only legitimate excuses!) Try 
selling it here before you put it up on ebay. Identity verification is 
a bit of a throny issue, so having a paypal account is a good idea. I 
would never send cash or a check to just any Joe Modular.

As a general rule it's a good idea to mention that the kits where built 
by you, and to place a picture of your solder work up when running an 
auction on ebay, or a description of your soldering skills 
(professional, nonprofessional, be prepared to back your self up here.) 
 From your text it would be easy for me to assume that these where 
originally bought assembled as you quote the original assembled price 
in your auction copy, when in fact you state that this is not true.

I have to say I'm also not a big fan of reading website literature in 
auctions. It's much more reassuring to hear about the history of the 
piece in question than to read the specs. (Smoke free studio, etc.) For 
me, it's also an indicator of how serious an individual is about 
selling. A proper history and description of working/visual condition 
denotes an air of professionalism, and i'd rather read specs at the 
original website. Leave a llink.

As a seller, I've found that BuyItNow works wonders for moving 
equipment quickly. I usually try and gauge what the median price is and 
set the buy it now at the median, and the auction start a percentage 
below that. Don't bother with reserves. People tend to purchase 
impulsively (for most things it turns out...), BuyItNow panders to that 
tendency. MOTM modules seem to retain there value pretty well, even 
customer assembled ones, though those are more variable. I would say a 
Paul built MOTM module is probably worth more than the original kit 
price.

Good luck, and hope to see you back after college!

--mikes