Exactly and you still havent revealed the current "bid" price..
Again, I was trying NOT to influence what someone might offer. By stating the highest of the offers I've received by PM would do that. Here are just two ways doing that would alter things:
1) I could post a false offer, thinking that one of those that did already offer something lower than that to panic and bid more than they already had
2) I could post the true high offer, and if it was lower than someone would be willing to bid, then they'd just lower their offer to that value + 1.
I've recently been trying to purchase a home and I've been running into this concept. The seller gets multiple interested buyers. The way to resolve it is to call for the "highest and best". Then it's simple, gather them up and pick the highest one.
Since no one would know what others offer, it wouldn't affect theirs. Just determine what it is worth to you (and what you can afford) and offer it.
I am certain that Themamboman is a straight up and honest bloke, however this half baked way of selling the A4000 feels shaky and dangerous. Good luck to whoever buys it.
I've been a bit disappointed that in how others have viewed this with so much mistrust. I saw a few different ways I could do this:
1) Using something like Ebay, which would charge enormous fees, and either I had to cover that or lump that fee into the final price for the buyer
2) Stating a price on a site like this, amibay, Eab marketplace. By stating a price, I run the risk of undercutting myself or so overshooting in what I ask for that no one takes me seriously
I've also seen more than once, when someone posts something like "How much is my Amiga worth" (includes a detailed description of the machine), followed by one or more posts saying "check your PM", then finally, the OP says "SOLD". Meaning, the OP stated what he had, but wasn't sure what to ask, then he starts getting offers by PM until he sees one he likes, and the deal is then struck.
This is very similar to that, except that I put out a 1 week time limit to give potential buyers time to see the post before it was gone. I sold an A4000T back in June and the biggest complaint was that it sold before most had a chance to even read about it.
I *thought* doing something like this would give a wider audience more time to react and maybe take some time to think about what they'd be willing to pay for it, as well as not undercut or overshoot the price range, as well as avoiding huge auction site fees.
I guess if this was an item that wasn't potentially expensive then it wouldn't be such a big deal. Understood.
I've offered to take more pictures and post them to prove I have the machine (even though I've fully packaged the whole bundle up), but no one has asked. I also put out my ebay profile link as a method of showing that I'm going to follow through and someone is going to get this ( you can look at that profile and scroll down to see the previous a4000T I sold and the buyer's feedback).
Anyway, I don't suppose I'll do anything like this again. I've received some offers so far and will ship the Amiga out as soon as payment clears (after the Sunday deadline).
I am going to ask the winner to post a followup in this thread, stating they'd received it in order to prove that I followed through and that this as legit. Maybe those that want an A4000T and could have had it but didn't participate in this offer will realize that they shouldn't have worried.
But, everyone has a right to be suspicious. Can't fault anyone for that.