MUA and LE inflation (bad experience on MUA)

[gigiproductions]

oh hell no the chicks on MUA are always on some ish..ignore her..and let her bitch all she wants..thats like someone offering me 2 e/s for something like pretty twisted or pleasureflush..obviously she doesnt know her products well or how the market dictates its worth..its not like she can go to any MAC counter and it would be readily available.if it was then okay ..i still say an evener would be necessary...for her to think youd sell it at retail is BANANAS..okay im done..i laugh and scoff at those girls LOL

as i always say since i am a collector etc..if u want it you better be ready to pay for it and if you want it bad enough u will stop at nothing

everything i have ever wanted thats le/disc i have paid for or made sure the swap was worth it..

 

[HeartOfSilver]

Ha, I so totally should have taken a leaf out of your buyer's book and offered Gigi an eyelash curler for her temperly palette ;D

Kidding aside, don't feel badly. Collectors need to be willing to either shell out when LE thing appear beforte they are sold out, or pay for the benefit of getting it after the fact. That's life!

 

[black mamba]

A lot of girls on MUA think thier stuff is made of GOLD. I was recently asked to swap for some LE lipglasses, and the girl had 2 items I wanted, both currently available at MAC that were at most .50 cents more than the retail of the glosses and I got told that they were worth more to her than the glosses she requested. WTF?

 

[lovejam]

You were right to turn it down. Especially since a used eyelash curler is...well... kinda useless. Only way I'd swap anything for a Shu curler would be if it was brand new in box. She'd probably used it, which means it's got mileage on it already. Even a new one isn't worth as much as a MSF!!

 

[ledonatella]

Quote:

Originally Posted by merleskaya It's not the buyer/swapper's role to dictate the price of what a htf item is worth to the owner of that item; it's her role to decide whether or not that price/swap is worth it for her personally.

Exactly, sometimes I let my LE stuff go for retail, I mean just because it's LE doesn't mean it's in high demand and worth lots of $$$...but for some high demand things I might want a little extra. If someone's willing to give a little more than that's fine because she values it more, if not than you do the best you can. I would never critize someone if they didn't agree with me on the value though, she should've just let it go. And in all fairness, not to critize you because I do agree with you, but it probably would've just been easier on you of you told her a polite "no thanks" without explaining about the value, etc.

 

[glamella]

Honestly, I would've just said "no, thanks" instead of implying it was an unfair swap. MSFs are worth alot to MAC collectors, but not necessarily everyone else. If you want higher than retail, either eBay or here.

 

[Isis]

I totally agree with everyone on this. Alot of MUA'ers get their panties twisted over the minor details, trying to leverage what they can't, & general rudeness. Thankfully, I've had very few run-ins with those types (knocks-on-wood).

Personally I let alot of my LE items go for retail value. I don't believe I should inflate it just so I can get more out of someone, besides I'm not using it anymore anyway. Just recently I swaped a load of DC/LE MAC items for Tiger Lily (a discontinued NARS eyeshadow duo) & 2 NARS lipsticks. In my opinion that swap was definitely worth it, especially since NARS does not often discontinue it's items.

 

[User67]

I agree with the last few posters who said it would have been better to just say "no thanks" & not go into it being an unfair swap etc. Not that I think it was right of the girl to make a huge deal about it. I personally don't think that when it comes to make-up LE items should be worth so much more in a swap than they are in retail because they are perishable items, it's not like a doll or baseball card that will last forever. And honestly if you are swapping it away it's because it's something that you aren't going to use anyway, if you are too picky about it you will end up having that item for so long that it won't be good anymore. I'm not saying swap an eyeshadow for an eye pencil sharpener, but if I swap & there are a couple dollars difference I don't worry about it. But of course this is just my 2 cents.

 

[Jude]

The OP should be able to give her reasons for declining any swap (as long as its in a courteous manner) without having to worry about someone shit talking about her all over MUA and having other harpies jumping on the bandwagon.

Value is value.. whether you like MAC or not, certain items hold more value than others. I don't care if someone doesn't appreciate MAC as much as me.. that Pleasureflush is still a valuable commodity.

So... if I hold a vintage, signed Micky Mantle baseball card that is currently worth a pretty penny, I should sell it at a lesser value because the person who is bidding on it, is a football fan? Huh... do you see where I am getting at here?

 

[Piaqua]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jude The OP should be able to give her reasons for declining any swap (as long as its in a courteous manner) without having to worry about someone shit talking about her all over MUA and having other harpies jumping on the bandwagon.

Haha, thanks Jude... Though I do get what the last few of you were saying. I'll stick to simple "no thank you"s from now on. MUA is so silly sometimes, those boards can get vicious! I really appreciate all of your imput guys, it really made me feel a lot better about swapping, and it also found a good home (swapped to another Specktra girl, wont say your name just in case you don't want me to), so I know she'll appreciate it!

 

[lemurian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by glamella Honestly, I would've just said "no, thanks" instead of implying it was an unfair swap. MSFs are worth alot to MAC collectors, but not necessarily everyone else. If you want higher than retail, either eBay or here.

Agreed. Not all discontinued MAC items are worth their weight in gold to everyone, and you can't expect anyone to know or understand why they're worth so much to you. I don't think she was rude at all, especially considering that she offered something from your wishlist. If you want $$$ for something, take it elsewhere. Swapping is almost never a dollar for dollar deal anyway.

I also don't see the difference between her talking smack on MUA and you bringing it up here. Lots of us are happily members of both communities and consider public swap spats pretty childish. I'd let it go and just put your MSF up on ebay or livejournal

 

[Piaqua]

I didn't want money, sorry if I didn't make that clear. Suppose it was childish of me to bring it up, but if you look, I was mostly just asking if LE should be worth more or not. That is why I never mentioned her name or anything. I was trying to keep it as non-petty as possible.

 

[user2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piaqua I really appreciate all of your imput guys, it really made me feel a lot better about swapping, and it also found a good home (swapped to another Specktra girl, wont say your name just in case you don't want me to), so I know she'll appreciate it!

Nooo send it to your local newspaper and tell them that's me!

 

[pugmommy7]

you are entitled to ask whatever price you like. no one is obligated to swap or buy from you.
some people swap dollar for dollar and some don't. the whole point is to make two parties happy.
you wouldn't have been happy, and if it isn't mutually beneficial then forget it

hugs,
jen

 

[fairytale22]

Yeah I love MUA and all but I think sometimes they make a big deal out of LEs and valuing them differently. I wouldn't swap something that goes on eBay for $50+ for a $20 item value. And if you value things differently you shouldn't be attacked for it.

Stand to your own judgement.

 

[ladybugz07]

I love Specktra and MUA, but they are quite different communities. I think one thing to remember in both sites is that value is a totally relative concept. What one person values an object at may be extremely different from what another values the same object. Both parties involved in swap negotiations should respect the other values, but if one of the parties involved doesn't feel it's fair - then the bottom line is, don't swap. Swapping should be an arrangement which is beneficial for both parties involved. You should never feel bad or unjust for declining a swap, no matter how fair of a swap the other party felt it was. My only advice is that perhaps on MUA (where people tend to go more by retail value and don't take rare/LE/HTF into account) is to perhaps make a note in your swaplisting. Let them know what you value the item at, or at least mention that you value it above retail. Then they really have no cause to complain... Either way, I hope you find something to swap for it that you feel is fair!

 

[mooracr03]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piaqua Can you explain to me why she would be upset? I hope that doesn't sound rude, but I would like to know. I want to understand. LOL I just can't imagine how she's the one who was upset when she was offering me the bad end of the deal. It's not like I demanded $40 for it, I said it was an unfair swap, especially since it was for a LE/Disc item... oh well. And yeah, I totally agree, I wouldn't ask for a super-expensive item either, but I also don't ask people for an item of theirs unless I am willing to offer something of equal or more value.

Nah doesn't sound rude at all. She may have assumed that you were looking for wayy more than you actually were expecting and took it the wrong way. She was probably frustrated and disappointed that she couldn't get her hands on the much sought after MSF (we're not crazy for wanting a ton of compressed powder are we?

) but to rant about it and reply to you in a very inconsiderate manner is well...inconsiderate, rude, and kind of juvenile.

I hope this little mishap didn't ruin swapping for you and I hope you encounter much better swaps in the future

 

[cutandrun]

I haven't really met many rude ppl on MUA luckily, but for some reason I just think that Specktra is the nicest MAC community out there on the web, and I'm not just saying that! Sometimes when I go on MUA or livejournal there seems to be times when people are just catty or immature, but here everyone seems really nice. In fact I also think it's easier to swap here too, cos I had an ivy eye kohl that I wasn't getting any requests for and so I posted it in the sale/swap section, hoping to swap, I think I got two replies, on the same day! Plus there are great sales, money in my account is decreasing by the day though

 

[SugarAsh182]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cutandrun I haven't really met many rude ppl on MUA luckily, but for some reason I just think that Specktra is the nicest MAC community out there on the web, and I'm not just saying that! Sometimes when I go on MUA or livejournal there seems to be times when people are just catty or immature, but here everyone seems really nice. In fact I also think it's easier to swap here too, cos I had an ivy eye kohl that I wasn't getting any requests for and so I posted it in the sale/swap section, hoping to swap, I think I got two replies, on the same day! Plus there are great sales, money in my account is decreasing by the day though

I tooootally second everything that you said. When I go back to swapping, it will be on here and not on MUA. I have had so many problems there, it is not even worth it to me anymore. The swapping dramas, and the bashing of FOTDs... it's just not as a nice of a community as it was when I first joined.

That being said, there are plenty of sweet swappers on there, just like there are plenty of tricksters! Make sure you put in your listing *MAC wishlist items only please!* or something like that, if that's what you want for it! I've found that that helps... a little. You'll still get silly requests, but just say no thanks!

 

[cutandrun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SugarAsh182 I tooootally second everything that you said. When I go back to swapping, it will be on here and not on MUA. I have had so many problems there, it is not even worth it to me anymore. The swapping dramas, and the bashing of FOTDs... it's just not as a nice of a community as it was when I first joined. That being said, there are plenty of sweet swappers on there, just like there are plenty of tricksters! Make sure you put in your listing *MAC wishlist items only please!* or something like that, if that's what you want for it! I've found that that helps... a little. You'll still get silly requests, but just say no thanks!

They bash FOTDs?! Omg I've never read about that on the boards... That sounds so horrible and nasty. However, there's actually a site called beautybash.net which bashes the people on MUA (which I think is really stupid, plus a waste of time), it's basically a site devoted insulting MUAers!