Lowballers

[SarcasticDwarf]

Originally posted by: MisterJackson

Half the fun of buying something is haggling.

Like tipping, haggling is a cultural thing. The US is a mix of many cultures and therefore people have different opinions. Many Americans HATE negotiating. Many see it as expected. It just depends.

 

[altonb1]

Originally posted by: jupiter57
Happens to me all the time.
I always list items that I will go down on a little high in anticipation of hagglers, BUT, when I price something and clearly state FIRM in caps and bold, that's when the hagglers get on my nerves.
Just last week, I listed a laptop locally. Spelled it all out and put the price as $200 "FIRM".
Had several calls & E-mails about it, every single one of them asking if or how much less I would take! I replied to each one in the same manner: "The price is FIRM, I will take no less".
Finally, one guy calls, asks all about it, since he didn't ask, I made sure to point out that the price wasn't negotiable, and that I would only accept CASH! Says he's interested.
Sure enough, when the couple comes after it, I spend an hour showing it and explaining all the features, buttons, etc.
The wife says she'll take it! Great! Then, the husband has the nerve to start haggling, but he offered $150 and would not budge.
Finally, I told them as nicely as possible that I just wouldn't take any less for it and that was that. She agreed.
Sooooo, when it comes time to pay me, she states she only brought $150.00!
I started packing it up to put it back in its bag when she asked If I would take a check for the other $50. I said:Show me the cash, and I will take a check for the balance, BUT, there would be absolutely no warranty or guarantees on it if I did. Sheesh!

To top it off, the husband kept trying to get me to throw in my (New) Optical USB mouse. I refused.
Anyway, they paid me and left. Come to discover, the rat stole my brand new mouse anyway!!!

You took a check from them, right? and their check has their address on it? DO I NEED TO SPELL EVERYTHING OUT TO YOU?

 

[jupiter57]

Originally posted by: altonb1

Originally posted by: jupiter57

To top it off, the husband kept trying to get me to throw in my (New) Optical USB mouse. I refused.
Anyway, they paid me and left. Come to discover, the rat stole my brand new mouse anyway!!!

You took a check from them, right? and their check has their address on it? DO I NEED TO SPELL EVERYTHING OUT TO YOU?

Oh, I'm not worried about the mouse!
Just putting in my $.02
Besides, they live 45 miles away: 45 mi. @ 9MPG X $2.95 gal. + return trip= $29.50.
Back to Big Lots for another $15.00 mouse, FTW

(Just waiting for the inevitable "Tech Support" call, I'll tell 'em to bring my mouse back to me and I'll look at their laptop!)

 

[BKLounger]

cragislist is extremely hit or miss. When i buy something I will probe down as far as i think it's worth to me. Usually i try not to go that 25% off what they are asking unless they are asking some unreasonable mount they I will state where i can find a similar item and then make them an offer on theirs. As for selling, it drives me nuts between the 400 scam e-mails and they there are some really insane lowballers out there.

P.S. Had to share my worst low ball ever. I was selling a compaq proliant server and checked around and a fair price was $500 so i put it up I got an offer from some idiot who in his e-mail said "I will go as high as $15 for this server". I e-mailed him back asking if he made a typo with the 15 bucks. He sent me an e-mail saying it was correct and he wouldn't offer a penny more. Needless to say i sent him back a very not nice e-mail.

 

[SSP]

Originally posted by: jupiter57
Happens to me all the time.
I always list items that I will go down on a little high in anticipation of hagglers, BUT, when I price something and clearly state FIRM in caps and bold, that's when the hagglers get on my nerves.
Just last week, I listed a laptop locally. Spelled it all out and put the price as $200 "FIRM".
Had several calls & E-mails about it, every single one of them asking if or how much less I would take! I replied to each one in the same manner: "The price is FIRM, I will take no less".
Finally, one guy calls, asks all about it, since he didn't ask, I made sure to point out that the price wasn't negotiable, and that I would only accept CASH! Says he's interested.
Sure enough, when the couple comes after it, I spend an hour showing it and explaining all the features, buttons, etc.
The wife says she'll take it! Great! Then, the husband has the nerve to start haggling, but he offered $150 and would not budge.
Finally, I told them as nicely as possible that I just wouldn't take any less for it and that was that. She agreed.
Sooooo, when it comes time to pay me, she states she only brought $150.00!
I started packing it up to put it back in its bag when she asked If I would take a check for the other $50. I said:Show me the cash, and I will take a check for the balance, BUT, there would be absolutely no warranty or guarantees on it if I did. Sheesh!

To top it off, the husband kept trying to get me to throw in my (New) Optical USB mouse. I refused.
Anyway, they paid me and left. Come to discover, the rat stole my brand new mouse anyway!!!

lol.. he stole your mouse. what a fscker :laugh:

 

[amicold]

Originally posted by: KrillBee
I get sick of it when people try lowballing me on craigslist or on any online sales site. When will people understand that a price should be a solid price, unless the seller states "or best offer"?

And 5-10% is one thing, that is only slightly annoying, but when people ask for more than that, like a 25-50% drop its fricking rediculous.

When I list a price, I list the lowest price I am willing to sell it for at that time. If I was okay with the price being negotiable I would have said so. Why can't we all just do this and abide by this? Its a much more honest way to do business.

And if people aren't willing to pay market value for something, they should simply find a way to make some more money or reduce their living expectations and not engage in business over products they cant afford. They should not expect people to put up with their haggling and bend over backwards for them.

Anyone else here agree with me? Or have I gone completely off my rocker?

It's called haggling. You list it for something more than optimistic, they lowball you, you eventually compromise and both are for the most part satisfied.

 

[lokiju]

Fact of the matter remains that you won't get a discount unless you ask therefore people with that outlook on things are always going to ask for a lower price.

 

[xSauronx]

HARRY THE HAGGLYER: Well, we're-- we're supposed to haggle.
BRIAN: No, no. I've got to get--
HARRY THE HAGGLER: What do you mean, 'no, no, no'?
BRIAN: I haven't time. I've got..
HARRY THE HAGGLER: Well, give it back, then.
BRIAN: No, no, no. I just paid you.
HARRY THE HAGGLER: Burt!
BURT: Yeah?
HARRY THE HAGGLER: This bloke won't haggle.
BURT: Won't haggle?!

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: DaiShan


I completely disagree with everything that you've said.

i figured someone would 🙂

In business you negotiate all of the time, so saying that since the US is not a third world country thus we shouldn't negotiate is ignorant. You've been taught that prices are firm because you've led a retail life, you go into the store someone tells you exactly how much it costs, and you hand them that much money, but this is NOT how the business world works. Market prices are determined by supply and demand, and one of the ways that demand can be stimulated is by negotiation.

negotiation is a tool that I think is great to use in certain settings. in anything not dealing with money, its absolutely necessary, in complex purchases (major contract agreements, etc) its also ok to negotiate i think. By why do people have to negotiate over a simple product? Someone could just set a price in stone, and sell it, and everyone could abide by that. It would be so much easier. and a lot less insulting.

The simple fact of the matter is that you are offering (presumably) used goods for which there is no set value, and it is up to the buyer to determine by how much the good has depreciated. His counter-offer is a way of letting you know how much he values the item, and is an excellent tool for helping you to price the item better.

in many cases, the buyer doesnt know a dang thing, or is just so stuck on being a cheapskate.

Under your logic that he should just not make an offer if he feels that the price is too high, you have no way of knowing why your item isn't selling.
It could be that the item is a PoS and won't sell for any price, or it simply may be that you are asking more than market value for the item. In the latter case you would know for certain based on counter-offers that you have received, then it is your right to choose whether or not to accept this offer. I'm not trying to convince you to start haggling, I'm just pointing out some facts. You are completely within your rights when you decide that all of your prices are firm.

If your item isnt selling, you should lower the price until people start nipping at it. Or if you dont want to lower the price, u should figure out whats wrong with your product and fix it, or just keep the dang thing and dont sell it.
And if you are really confused about the value of your item, you can always check the ebay logs to see what items have been selling for, or check other markets. you can even ask friends and do a price check.

Those are my thoughts 🙂

 

[SampSon]

:roll:
Lowballing is part of the deal.

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: tk109

I'm going to start adding in there "dont waste my time with low ball offers please". Hopefully that will help somewhat.

lol, that is perfect!

Craigslist is pretty crappy. I've considered the newspaper classifieds, i just hate calling them and having to spell the ad over the phone, paying the dumb fee, and waiting 3-4 days for the ad to appear.

I really would hate to have to use the newspaper classifieds but it looks like i probably should. an ad might cost $10 but i'd make $20 more from selling the product at a higher price to a better audience.

Originally posted by: waggy
Unless its marked as FIRM you have to assume you are going to get offers (even lowball ones). Also on a used item the market is dictated by what poeple offer NOT by what you think it should go for.

on all markets its really up to what the people want to pay. if new cars sit in a lot, the dealers drop the prices on them until they sell. better to have it all gone than old models lying around depreciating in value even more.

But... the way to know what the people want to pay, is by experimenting with prices, to see how many buys you get. Not by hearing some cheapskate offer you 10 bucks for a tv thats just 1 year old. if thats what they think of my tv, i dont want to hear it.

its annoying for almost anyone to have to deal with that crap, and some people like me are insulted by it.

Originally posted by: TheShiz
don't like an offer? ignore it, what is the problem?

Sometimes the offer is so low that it's insulting.
My deals are already pretty good, I price stuff at a rate which is fair and cheap.
And then, some lowballer freak comes in and offers half that.

Originally posted by: SampSon
:roll:
Lowballing is part of the deal.

im going to keep that in mind from now on with dealing with craigslist people.

Originally posted by: lokiju
Fact of the matter remains that you won't get a discount unless you ask therefore people with that outlook on things are always going to ask for a lower price.

i thought thats what sales were for.

 

[beer]

Don't respond to lowballers then. Delete the e-mail. The problem goes away, and you're out about 10 seconds of time.
Jeez

 

[trmiv]

Craigslist in the SF Bay Area is a haven for lowballers and flakes. Every time I've tried to sell something on craigslist in the SF Bay Area I get ridiculous offers, even people asking for the item for free because of some sob story. I also seem to get a ton of people that will make appointments to come buy the item and then just never show. Or agree to buy it in an email, and then you never hear from them again.

The one that annoyed me the most is when this guy emails me about an item, says he really wants it and will take it at the price I listed and will pick up the next day. So he shows up the next day almost an hour late, and then tries to offer me less than 50% of the price he agreed to buy it for. I told him to leave. Sold it the next day to someone at my asking price.

 

[Philippine Mango]

Reminds me of the time some guy on ebay had a 'best offer' selection for his auction, he wanted a $1k for a system that was at least 4 years old, fscking ridiculous, had cheap crappy components too.. So I offered him $20, he obviously rejected it, it was still funny though. It's funny that people on ebay think their ****** is worth so much when it really isn't worth very much at all.

 

[erikistired]

cry more? people like a good deal. if you're not willing to ignore the lowballers don't sell stuff online, or stick to ebay.

 

[Amused]

It is the nature of the game. Haggling is expected in private party sales.

You seem unwilling to accept this reality, which only places more stress on you.

May I suggest if you are unwilling to haggle, you repeat the word "FIRM" after your asking price?

The buyer has one responsibility: To get the item for the lowest price possible.

The seller has one responsibility: To get as much for the item as possible.

Once you realize all this and learn to play the game, life will go a lot easier for you.

 

[The Batt?sai]

Originally posted by: altonb1

Originally posted by: jupiter57
Happens to me all the time.
I always list items that I will go down on a little high in anticipation of hagglers, BUT, when I price something and clearly state FIRM in caps and bold, that's when the hagglers get on my nerves.
Just last week, I listed a laptop locally. Spelled it all out and put the price as $200 "FIRM".
Had several calls & E-mails about it, every single one of them asking if or how much less I would take! I replied to each one in the same manner: "The price is FIRM, I will take no less".
Finally, one guy calls, asks all about it, since he didn't ask, I made sure to point out that the price wasn't negotiable, and that I would only accept CASH! Says he's interested.
Sure enough, when the couple comes after it, I spend an hour showing it and explaining all the features, buttons, etc.
The wife says she'll take it! Great! Then, the husband has the nerve to start haggling, but he offered $150 and would not budge.
Finally, I told them as nicely as possible that I just wouldn't take any less for it and that was that. She agreed.
Sooooo, when it comes time to pay me, she states she only brought $150.00!
I started packing it up to put it back in its bag when she asked If I would take a check for the other $50. I said:Show me the cash, and I will take a check for the balance, BUT, there would be absolutely no warranty or guarantees on it if I did. Sheesh!

To top it off, the husband kept trying to get me to throw in my (New) Optical USB mouse. I refused.
Anyway, they paid me and left. Come to discover, the rat stole my brand new mouse anyway!!!

You took a check from them, right? and their check has their address on it? DO I NEED TO SPELL EVERYTHING OUT TO YOU?

lol

 

[FelixDeCat]

So do you like highballers or balls in general? 😉

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: fisher
cry more? people like a good deal. if you're not willing to ignore the lowballers don't sell stuff online, or stick to ebay.

lol, ebay is somewhat better,
but there is still scum on there that email me and ask me to end an auction early because they can 'buy it now from me' for about half of what the auction will end at.

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: beer
Don't respond to lowballers then. Delete the e-mail. The problem goes away, and you're out about 10 seconds of time.
Jeez

i usually just offer them a crappier computer, for the price that they are asking.
and i say, 'if you only have that much money, why dont u take this one instead?" 🙂

and usually they either dont respond or say no.