The most common mistake in private selling is not pricing too low – it is the fantasy price that leaves a listing sitting for weeks until it becomes invisible. Realistic prices sell faster and usually for more in the end, because fresh listings get more attention. Here is the systematic approach.
Step 1: establish the new price and the successor model
Research the current new price of your item or its successor. Important: the relevant anchor is today's street price, not what you paid back then. If the product is on clearance new for half the price, your second-hand price follows that.
Step 2: your category's depreciation curve
- Consumer electronics and smartphones: fast losses – 30 to 50 percent after one year, 60 to 80 percent after three.
- E-bikes and sports equipment: 25 to 35 percent in year one, flatter afterwards.
- Quality tools and machinery: a slow curve – well-kept professional gear holds 40 to 60 percent for years.
- Furniture: heavily brand-dependent; design classics hold value, flat-pack furniture drops to 10–30 percent.
- Outdoor and camping gear: solid middle ground, strongly seasonal.
Step 3: read comparable listings correctly
Find three to five comparable offers and mind the gap between wish and reality: active listings show what sellers want – not what gets paid. More telling are recently sold or deactivated offers and listings with many watchers. If five identical items are online at once, the one with the best price-photo package wins; in that case enter slightly below rather than waiting in the middle.
Step 4: grade the condition honestly and price it
Use the condition scale consistently (new, like new, very good, good, acceptable, for tinkerers) and calculate concretely: every due item – new battery, service, missing accessory – comes off the price in francs. That is also your best negotiating argument: whoever calculates instead of asserting negotiates from strength.
Step 5: choose format and negotiation margin
- Fixed price: for anything with a clear market value – fast and predictable. Enter with 10 to 15 percent margin if you accept price offers.
- Auction: strong for sought-after or hard-to-value items (collectibles, rarities) with a low starting price to spark bidding – weak for everyday goods.
- Price offer: the middle way – fixed price plus openness to serious offers; on shopitnow you can enable it directly in the listing.
- Mind round thresholds: 190 instead of 210 francs appears in more filtered results ("up to 200").
Frequently asked questions
Should I build in negotiation margin?
Switzerland negotiates moderately: 10 to 15 percent reserve is customary. Set the anchor price so a discount lands you at your target – but not so high that the listing vanishes from the filters.
My listing has run for weeks without an enquiry. What now?
That is almost always a price or presentation signal. Check the main photo and title first, then cut the price in one visible step (10 to 15 percent) rather than in tiny increments – or switch format and start an auction with a low starting price.
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