@musicyouneed wrote:
I listed a Vintage Le Creuset Fry Pan Double Spout Skillet #20 Orange 7.5" Enamel in excellent shape for $50.00. Now within 4 minutes I got a buyer who wants to pick it up tomorrow. And then a couple more within 10 minutes who said "Next" which I assume to be they are interested in the first person doesn't buy it they are interested.
When something like that happens. I feel that maybe I priced it too low. Should I not go through with it and sell it for more later. I did some ebay research and $50 is a fair price. But in a store I looked today and the new models are on sale for $150.
So...you were happy with the price at which you first listed it until you did some research. I'd say that was unfair to your first prospective buyer who was happy to pay your price. Had you taken her money and not done any research, you likely would have been happy too. This is the kind of thing that turns people off buying on sites like Kijiji (or local Facebook sales), and why many buyers feel they have to be hard-nosed about price, or treat sellers unfairly by not showing up. You've just added to that equation, doing a small part to make it a less pleasant buy-sell experience.
However that may be, this is a 40-year old pan, albeit in excellent condition as you say. Although Le Creuset cookware is always in high demand, Lagostina is now producing virtually the same product at half the price. I have a couple of Le Creuset pans I bought 30 years ago, and a Lagostina dutch oven I bought last year on sale for $98.00 at Canadian Tire. I honestly can't tell the difference in terms of functionality and looks.
That Amazon listing for several hundred dollars is purely ridiculous. A current sale price new of around $150 to $200 is more like it. So $50 for a used, 40-year old pan is a good deal, but not a chump price. You simply proved that you listed it the first time at a price that was attractive and at which it would sell quickly -- isn't that what you wanted, to get a bit of cash quickly and easily for something you didn't need or want to keep? Now that you believe you have a gold mine, you're no longer satisfied.
Incidentally, cast iron cookware -- even Le Creuset -- can become brittle and dry with age and the cooking surface deteriorate if not used and oiled (tempered) fairly regularly. When did you last use and temper it? There is no guarantee that a decades-old, unused cast iron skillet, when subjected to high heat, won't crack, or the surface be unable to be re-tempered without professional re-finishing. How would a buyer feel about that? Le Creuset, on the other hand, provides a guarantee of their new products for normal use, if I recall. I'd bear that in mind when asking the moon for what is designed to be a utilitarian piece.
This isn't the same as an unused vintage vase that can just sit on a mantle and look pretty for decades. Your original $50 price for the item was a good but fair price for a piece of very old quality kitchen cookware without any warranty.
