Option to hide SOLD item prices, please

I've had more than one customer ask me not to show the price they have paid for an item... probably because I carry many SOLD items in my shop for some time after they are sold. I completely understand this, but still, I'd like to be able to leave the item in my shop AND honor my customer's wishes. I have suggested to RL that they add the option of showing or not showing the price of SOLD items. Would anybody else like to see this added as an option?

I've also seen at least one shop (don't remember which) that lists all their SOLD items with a $0 price. And even though I've asked CS how I can accomplish this twice, their instructions never seem to work for me. Does anybody know how to do this?

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Marni Bakst on March 31, 2012 at 12:54am

I sell a lot of art and unique items, many of them easily found on search engines with keywords. Right now I have a customer who purchased an item well over $1000 that could easily be found on Google with a few obvious keywords. She has asked me if it was possible not to show the price, that she is a private person and does not want just anybody to be able to find out what she paid for her item. I think this is a reasonable request, I would like to accommodate her, and I think Ruby Lane should make this option available to shop owners.At the same time, I would like to leave the item in my shop as an example of the unique and unusual items I work very hard to find for my customers.

Ruby Lane is not a research site, it's a site for dealers to sell and customers to buy, and I feel Ruby Lane should make the tools shop owners and their customers want available if possible. Most high end sites do not show SOLD prices, some don't even show prices at all, customers must inquire in order to purchase. And Dexter is correct in saying that dealers at shows don't 'kiss and tell' either... even at flea markets.

And FYI, the Sale Pending prices were always available if you clicked on E-mail Shop Owner from any Sale Pending item page.

Permalink Reply by CheriShops - Admin on March 31, 2012 at 8:09am

Seems they are not "prohibited" tho as per that example Marni provided?

I think it a reasonable request that the shop should have the option to not reveal sold prices if that is their or their customer's preference.....but at least there is the option to just remove the item.

Permalink Reply by Pearl's Parlor on March 31, 2012 at 8:36am

Hi Marni: I was just looking at the Sold items in the shop you mentioned that has values of zero. If you click Email Shop Owner, the price shows, just like you mentioned for the Sale Pending items. I would never have figured that one out on my own without your tip.

Permalink Reply by Marni Bakst on March 31, 2012 at 10:03am

Yes, they are... lol, but I'd still like to know how they do it, it would be a start. Both Zenna (some time ago) and Becky (recently) from CS have told me, or speculated as to how this was done, and neither of their suggestions work when I try them, or maybe it's different for the shop owner when they're signed in (?). Anyhow, I don't really want to do something that messes up my accounting. Even e-bay only offers searchable prices for a very short time! Seriously, I think this option should be made available... and IMHO it should be the way all SOLD items are displayed, but I'd settle for having it as an option. Really, can you imagine walking in to the Pier Show or some similar antiques venue and asking a dealer for the price realized on a piece with a SOLD tag? Just try it sometime. I'd bet asking the question will seem so inappropriate that you won't be able to do it, but if you do muster the moxie, come back and let us know what the answer was... lol.

Pearl's Parlor said:

Hi Marni: I was just looking at the Sold items in the shop you mentioned that has values of zero. If you click Email Shop Owner, the price shows, just like you mentioned for the Sale Pending items. I would never have figured that one out on my own without your tip.

Permalink Reply by Pearl's Parlor on March 31, 2012 at 10:21am

You're right about prices. I help my cousin who does Estate sales in the area. Once an item is sold, the price comes off. People will always ask how much it sold for, but she won't tell them. Her reason is that it may have been purchased by a dealer who is planning to resell.

I'm not sure how they zero out the amount either. I know it can be changed at the point you Finalize the sale, but it would mess up the accounting. You probably already tried finalizing at the sold price, and then changing it again back to zero. I wonder if that is when it can still be seen if you Email Shop Owner. I'll have to try it sometime just to see.

Permalink Reply by Ruby Lane on April 2, 2012 at 3:06pm

Well, it won't be like that for long. I have no idea how they are doing this and it is a NO NO. Carol

Marni Bakst said:

Well, every sold item in this shop appears with a "$0" price... like this one And I'd like to know how it's done.

Ruby Lane - Carol Augustine said:

Based on the feed back we received when we removed the prices, majority vote wins ----- the prices are back and will stay for now.

Zero $ amount shown for a sold item. Never seen it in the 10 years I have been here, never even heard of it, so I am asking CS what's the story. I will be flabbergasted if we actually tell someone how to do it. I would think it was a no-no. But ya neva' know.

The Sold Shop is its own 'entity'. All items will appear in the Sold Shop and at the price you marked it as sold for at the time you finalized the order. No option is going to change how items appear in the sold shop without a major overhaul to the Sold Shop. I will forward along the request.

If a customer asks for special considerations and you wish to accommodate them, then you will have to work within the parameters of the program. In this case, either remove the item or put it in your backroom.

I am curious, how does anyone know the name of one of your customers unless you tell them? We absolutely do not show that information or give it out to anyone.

Most shops want accurate reporting. Manipulating the price an item sold for does not make for good reporting. If you are an Exclusive shop like myself and Dexter, then you only need to concern yourself with one report. I personally don't want to keep a separate accounting record just to accommodate a few customers. (No buyer has ever asked me to show the price as something different though.) Where Dexter and others do not mind keeping track of this type of information, I don't want to. And, for shops who operate in multiple venues, I would think you would want 'all' your reports to be as accurate as possible so when you combine them for tax purposes, etc., you would have fewer adjustments to make.

But, that is me, others may feel differently. Just for the record I hate accounting. So the less I have to do the better. :)

Carol

Permalink Reply by Ruby Lane on April 2, 2012 at 3:12pm

PS If I knew how to zero out the dollar amount I wouldn't share it with the group because I would be helping to set you up to get flagged. I am checking with Becky and Zenna but I think there is some serious miscommunication between staff and shop owners or ???

I will forward your request for 'no' or 'zero' price but I don't see it getting any traction.

Carol

Ruby Lane - Carol Augustine said:

Well, it won't be like that for long. I have no idea how they are doing this and it is a NO NO. Carol

Marni Bakst said:

Well, every sold item in this shop appears with a "$0" price... like this one And I'd like to know how it's done.

Ruby Lane - Carol Augustine said:

Based on the feed back we received when we removed the prices, majority vote wins ----- the prices are back and will stay for now.

Zero $ amount shown for a sold item. Never seen it in the 10 years I have been here, never even heard of it, so I am asking CS what's the story. I will be flabbergasted if we actually tell someone how to do it. I would think it was a no-no. But ya neva' know.

The Sold Shop is its own 'entity'. All items will appear in the Sold Shop and at the price you marked it as sold for at the time you finalized the order. No option is going to change how items appear in the sold shop without a major overhaul to the Sold Shop. I will forward along the request.

If a customer asks for special considerations and you wish to accommodate them, then you will have to work within the parameters of the program. In this case, either remove the item or put it in your backroom.

I am curious, how does anyone know the name of one of your customers unless you tell them? We absolutely do not show that information or give it out to anyone.

Most shops want accurate reporting. Manipulating the price an item sold for does not make for good reporting. If you are an Exclusive shop like myself and Dexter, then you only need to concern yourself with one report. I personally don't want to keep a separate accounting record just to accommodate a few customers. (No buyer has ever asked me to show the price as something different though.) Where Dexter and others do not mind keeping track of this type of information, I don't want to. And, for shops who operate in multiple venues, I would think you would want 'all' your reports to be as accurate as possible so when you combine them for tax purposes, etc., you would have fewer adjustments to make.

But, that is me, others may feel differently. Just for the record I hate accounting. So the less I have to do the better. :)

Carol

Permalink Reply by CheriShops - Admin on April 2, 2012 at 6:14pm

I think now that the other shop has been logged and noted I am going to remove the links from here

Permalink Reply by Ruby Lane on April 2, 2012 at 6:15pm

I looked at the responses Zenna and Becky sent to you and neither one of them gave information on how to zero out a price. Yes, you can change the price to something lower than what you sold the item for but the system should not allow you to add/modify/mark sold price at less than the minimum price for a Lane. We are looking to see if there is a bug in the system.

Many high reputable auction sites like Christies and Sothebys have free online databases of prices realized.

http://www.christies.com/results/

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/lots-archive.html

"The Maine Antiques Digest for as long as I can remember has printed dealer's and auction's 'sold' prices. Here is a display from the most recent NY Pier Show, with some dealer prices (asked, not yet sold) shown on the right:"

http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=3094

You have to be a paid subscriber to see the above.

...just a few tidbits of info.

To have or not to have sold prices showing has been an ongoing debate for years.

Carol

Permalink Reply by Nancy Clark on April 2, 2012 at 9:09pm

Ruby Lane - Carol Augustine said:

I looked at the responses Zenna and Becky sent to you and neither one of them gave information on how to zero out a price. Yes, you can change the price to something lower than what you sold the item for but the system should not allow you to add/modify/mark sold price at less than the minimum price for a Lane. We are looking to see if there is a bug in the system.

Many high reputable auction sites like Christies and Sothebys have free online databases of prices realized.

http://www.christies.com/results/

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/lots-archive.html

"The Maine Antiques Digest for as long as I can remember has printed dealer's and auction's 'sold' prices. Here is a display from the most recent NY Pier Show, with some dealer prices (asked, not yet sold) shown on the right:"

http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=3094

You have to be a paid subscriber to see the above.

...just a few tidbits of info.

To have or not to have sold prices showing has been an ongoing debate for years.

Carol

Permalink Reply by Nancy Clark on April 2, 2012 at 9:13pm

When we first opened our shop on the Lane, we were told to check prices achieved for the same or similar items in order to avoid being too high or too low. We were told that that is an undesireable situation for everybody. We thought this was a sensible plan and did so. If sold prices are hidden then we all lose a valuable tool. That is just my opinion of course.