https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l91ISfcuzDw

shock__ wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l91ISfcuzDw

Lool

If he is not giving you a price he wants.. I would say max $150 USD.

cyclone3d wrote:

If he is not giving you a price he wants.. I would say max $150 USD.

Backfired. Says he doubts I'm willing to pay what he'd ask and would rather keep the gear for himself 🤣. F'in guy.

$150 is below the normal price. $100 for an mt-32 alone. MPU-401 complete with interface card also sells for $150-$200.

fitzpatr wrote:

$150 is below the normal price. $100 for an mt-32 alone. MPU-401 complete with interface card also sells for $150-$200.

And if somebody will not give a price what they want for something, they deserve to get offered way lower than that.

Also.. this was not an eBay sale.

Jerks like that probably expect to get $300 for a MT-32 and $350-$400 for the MPU-401.

This is also in light of the fact that if you wait and watch, you can get those parts for a lot cheaper than they normally go for on eBay.

cyclone3d wrote:

And if somebody will not give a price what they want for something, they deserve to get offered way lower than that.

Also.. this was not an eBay sale.

Exactly it is not an ebay buy it now listing. The current owner is free to ask for purchase offers. It is pretty arrogant to demand that the current owner is obligated to synthesize a asking price.

the Goat wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

And if somebody will not give a price what they want for something, they deserve to get offered way lower than that.

Also.. this was not an eBay sale.

Exactly it is not an ebay buy it now listing. The current owner is free to ask for purchase offers. It is pretty arrogant to demand that the current owner is obligated to synthesize a asking price.

From what the OP said was the response was, it sounds like the "seller" is either a jerk who wants a large sum or is a jerk that is just screwing with people that they know are looking for that gear.

I've never tried to sell anything without having an asking price already figured out.

Easy thing to do is to ask for more than you are willing to sell it for and then let the people interested in it haggle a bit if they want. If they give you your full asking price, then that is even better for you.

cyclone3d wrote:

I've never tried to sell anything without having an asking price already figured out.

Easy thing to do is to ask for more than you are willing to sell it for and then let the people interested in it haggle a bit if they want. If they give you your full asking price, then that is even better for you.

Some people (myself included) have gear that is not actively being used. But it is not actively for sale and there is no asking price. It would be sold for the right price. Also by "right price" I do not mean $1,000,000.

edit: For instance through buying lots and horse trading I currently have two Roland MT-32's. I would sell one for the right price. But I have not spent the time to come up with an asking price. I imagine when I do figure out an asking price I'll list it on ebay.

cyclone3d wrote:

And if somebody will not give a price what they want for something, they deserve to get offered way lower than that. […]
Show full quote

fitzpatr wrote:

$150 is below the normal price. $100 for an mt-32 alone. MPU-401 complete with interface card also sells for $150-$200.

And if somebody will not give a price what they want for something, they deserve to get offered way lower than that.

Also.. this was not an eBay sale.

Jerks like that probably expect to get $300 for a MT-32 and $350-$400 for the MPU-401.

This is also in light of the fact that if you wait and watch, you can get those parts for a lot cheaper than they normally go for on eBay.

He's probably looking to sell it for eBay prices locally to save the hassle. I agree that he is coming off a bit condescending...not giving a price and then saying, effectively, you can't afford this.

I have not, personally, found much MPU-401/MT-32 gear locally.

cyclone3d wrote:

From what the OP said was the response was, it sounds like the "seller" is either a jerk who wants a large sum or is a jerk that is just screwing with people that they know are looking for that gear.

Lol I asked him to make a counter offer and he replied with a link to an ebay auction for an SC-55 and suggested I look at some cheaper options. I then asked him to come up with a price and not to dismiss the sale just like that, and then he stopped replying 😁

fitzpatr wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

And if somebody will not give a price what they want for something, they deserve to get offered way lower than that. […]
Show full quote

fitzpatr wrote:

$150 is below the normal price. $100 for an mt-32 alone. MPU-401 complete with interface card also sells for $150-$200.

And if somebody will not give a price what they want for something, they deserve to get offered way lower than that.

Also.. this was not an eBay sale.

Jerks like that probably expect to get $300 for a MT-32 and $350-$400 for the MPU-401.

This is also in light of the fact that if you wait and watch, you can get those parts for a lot cheaper than they normally go for on eBay.

He's probably looking to sell it for eBay prices locally to save the hassle. I agree that he is coming off a bit condescending...not giving a price and then saying, effectively, you can't afford this.

I have not, personally, found much MPU-401/MT-32 gear locally.

Yeah, that's basically what he's doing. The funny thing is that I CAN afford it, but why should I if I don't have to? And with this vibe he's giving off I'm not sure that I'd like giving him my monies any how.

The thing with trying to sell for eBay prices locally is that it is really selling for quite a bit more than eBay prices in the end.

You have to take into account eBay and Paypal fees as well as shipping cost.

So an eBay seller is going to be Paying about 12-20% in fees plus shipping cost as well as packaging materials and time.

So somebody selling locally should pretty much never expect to get the eBay selling price.

As a seller, I would give a 15-25% discount from my eBay price for certain things if somebody local to me wanted to buy something and not have it shipped.

pEEN0r wrote:

cyclone3d wrote:

From what the OP said was the response was, it sounds like the "seller" is either a jerk who wants a large sum or is a jerk that is just screwing with people that they know are looking for that gear.

Lol I asked him to make a counter offer and he replied with a link to an ebay auction for an SC-55 and suggested I look at some cheaper options. I then asked him to come up with a price and not to dismiss the sale just like that, and then he stopped replying 😁

Yeah, he's being a douche and playing hard to get. He wants you to feel inferior so that he can sell it to you at a high price. If he replies, I recommend not answering back. Let him sweat it out.

A nice round $100 for the MT-32 and $150 for the Roland MPU interface (including everything) is totally fair, although both lately go for more on eBay. I wouldn't pay any more than that. If they're wanting $300, they're just not serious about selling.

If it's just the box I wouldn't pay more than $50 for an MPU401. They're not that rare.

Well it is a collectors market, but you can get 99% of the functionality almost for free through other means.

If you want a MPU, you can run softmpu + a soundblaster
If you want an mt32, you can run munt - even configure a raspberry pi to do it

if you want the genuine hardware feeling, guess you have to pay.. but it's not like it's holding you back and you shouldn't expect someone to give you a gift of a few hundred dollars when they could sell it on ebay - which is what you'd probably do when tired of it also.

People who lowball when the market price is easily available on ebay (-20% fees and convenience) are being rude.

In this case, it would be $100 USD for the MPU-401 box alone - about $50 USD for the interface card and about $200 USD for the MT-32. By buying them all together - maybe that's worth a further $50 off.. but any less than $300 you are wasting their time (and effectively trying to rip the guy off).

kreats wrote:

Well it is a collectors market, but you can get 99% of the functionality almost for free through other means. […]
Show full quote

Well it is a collectors market, but you can get 99% of the functionality almost for free through other means.

If you want a MPU, you can run softmpu + a soundblaster
If you want an mt32, you can run munt - even configure a raspberry pi to do it

if you want the genuine hardware feeling, guess you have to pay.. but it's not like it's holding you back and you shouldn't expect someone to give you a gift of a few hundred dollars when they could sell it on ebay - which is what you'd probably do when tired of it also.

People who lowball when the market price is easily available on ebay (-20% fees and convenience) are being rude.

In this case, it would be $100 USD for the MPU-401 box alone - about $50 USD for the interface card and about $200 USD for the MT-32. By buying them all together - maybe that's worth a further $50 off.. but any less than $300 you are wasting their time (and effectively trying to rip the guy off).

If I was interested in ripping him off then I would've just low-balled him and been an ass about it from the get-go. I made this thread in order to see what you guys had to say in regards to the opening bid etc, SPECIFICALLY to avoid low-balling (but also over-bidding, of course; WHY WOULDN'T I WANT TO SAVE MONIES?). At any rate, whoever wants to go on quoting eBay prices should go sell their stuff on eBay and shut up about it. But the point of selling lower than eBay prices to a local buyer is, as someone already pointed out, much less hassle as there's no shipping, packaging or waiting to get your funds released, and also eBay and PayPal fees. But on top of that, there's all the "harassment" while you wait for your stuff to sell; all the low-ball attempts coming in from various potential buyers, and people waiting you out to see if you're going to lower your price. Selling stuff for big monies on eBay takes time, no matter how rare a thing is, as long as it's priced at an all time high price, it will inevitably take a while. But thanks for the input.

At the end of the day, as with any item you wish to purchase, you need to ask yourself whether the asking price is justifiable to you.
Although I'm fortunate enough to own a real MPU-401 and an MT-32, I agree that the going rate for these items are a bit ludicrous.

If you are unable to obtain these items for a "justifiable" price, then I can definitely recommend the MUNT & SoftMPU route.
In the end, the most costly item will be the USB MIDI interface (which will cost you around $50 US for the Roland UM-ONE MK2 MIDI interface). If you have a spare PC or laptop laying around, then that can also serve as your MIDI sequencer.