My list of seller red flags

The thought police have arrived here too. God forbid adults can apply ad copy discernment on their own, lol. My two cents: positive feedback. 

When I'm selling something, it's not because I'm desperate, and it's going to be on my terms.  It's usually because I've replaced the item with something else and would like to see the old item go to a good home.  Not to some jerk.  

Yes, I try to make the ad and photos as good as possible and I go out of my way to answer any questions someone might have, even if they don't seem like they're a potential buyer. 

I put things like "price is firm" because... well, it is.  I priced it to sell and have done research to see what the typical used price is for the item.  I don't want to respond to "Will you take _____?" (which is usually around 50 - 60% of the selling price). 

I mostly sell local, shipping takes extra time and effort.  It's an hour round trip drive to the closest UPS store.  If I don't have to, why should I?  Maybe I'll get a little more for the item, but then what's that worth in comparison to my time, which is limited? 

If it doesn't sell right away, what else are you going to do but re-post the ad?  I've re-posted ads for months before something sold.  Someone eventually buys it and more often than not I get what I want for the item.

On the other hand, if someone is polite, sends full sentences in their messages, asks thoughtful questions, and is easy to deal with, I'm more likely to go out of my way for them, give them a little break on the price, or maybe throw in some extra cables.

You catch more bees with honey.  I can't tell you how many times I've sat and shot the breeze with someone who came to buy something and is nice and enthusiastic about the hobby.  I really enjoy those transactions.  Some of the people I've bought and sold with locally have become friends or audio buddies.

When you're the buyer, the world doesn't revolve around you.  The seller has something you want.  How bad do you want it?  Enough to be kind, considerate, and reasonable? 

Don't be a cyrbaby if the seller doesn't kowtow to you.

My indicator of true marketing skills is when seller posts an ad that reads, "If you are looking at this, then you know what it is all about."

Or, whenever I see "stunning" in ads or reviews, for that matter. So, you are selling it because it is "stunning".

This is more of a pet peeve, but sellers who claim the item is brand new in box never used...only opened to inspect and test and list the condition as new instead of mint. 

And then we have items with some pretty good scratches listed as a 7/10. The Audiogon scale is not forgiving and these items should be a 4/10 or 5/10. I go to sell an item that is truly a 7/10 and get comparable links sent to me...it used to be that I could say, okay that item was pretty beat up compared to mine...but now you can't see the photos on old listings...God I'm rambling. sorry

If you buy on a very reputable site like Audigone, much of that inherently gets filtered out.  I don't see a lot of what you're describing in your post, other than the sometimes questionable pics/stock photos.  I'm not sure what's wrong with "gimmicky" pricing, as we 2nd hand sellers take our queues from retailers.  We wouldn't say $995 at BB is gimmicky.  Also, you'll pass on a lot good deals if you read too much into firm pricing.  If it's more than you want to pay, move on.  I've bought things at firm prices and snagged really good deals to the extent that had I waited another x minutes, it would have been gone.

If I'm interested in a product, I'll ask the seller a question to gauge responsiveness, tone, etc.  I was interested in a Parasound amp one time and did just this.  The seller took days to answer my questions and tried to answer in one word or less.  I didn't care about the seller ratings at that point- I moved on.  By and large, I too base most of my decision on the seller ratings, as they speak volumes.  But pay careful attention to the reviews.  Sometimes they're through no fault of the seller and the buyer wasn't reasonable, if they're limited in number.