Lowball: How much is too much?

[Eric Swaim]

To me the asking price is the price. If you offer me less I have a choice to take or not to take. However, if you want bids on your gear, go to Ebay. When I ask a price. It's the price until I decide to lower it.

Now if your hard up for money, then start with a price and put or "best offer." I do t get offended when guys offer less, I just thank them for the offer and move on. For me it works better that way. Locally around Nashville they have "vultures" always trying to get something for nothing. I will not give them the time of day. I also don't like it when I "sell" something and someone offers trades or stupid trade offers. For sell means cash, for sell or trade means something different.

Eitherway, that's my humble 2 cents. Have a great day and be safe out there.

 

[Altitude]

it’s not insulting unless you take insult , and that completely depends on you.

I agree it’s best to chill and blow off the lowballs. I don’t agree that the reality of the message is solely in the mind of the person receiving it.

If I’m selling something worth $100 and you offer me $10 for it, either you are uninformed, you think I am uninformed, or you’re deliberately just messing with me. Unless it’s the middle one, there’s no deal to be made and you’ve wasted both our time.

I guess I’d turn it around to say that even if you aren’t aware you’re acting boorishly, you are.

 

[Artman]

27636648[/URL], member: 172618"]I've been firm on offers, and typically reply with courteousy... (nearly verbatim to elgrenluis) and when I make a lowball offer I'm honest and tell them what I'm willing to pay, with no excuses. Understanding that I'll probably be told no.

I did have one buyer get rude after I told him "sorry the price was firm, but I appreciate the interest". I Let them know that it was well below what other people were asking and gave him a reference of where to find those prices. He opted to insult the bass, saying it was a piece of junk (having never looked at more than a picture) and swore at me a couple times. It was mint, and he was offering $150 for a $500 bass. I was asking $350. When he made his final offer, I eventually countered and bumped the price up to $400. Two weeks later he called back. Said he'd pay the $350. I told him I was firm at $400 even though it was still listed at $350. He showed up and paid the extra 50 bucks. All the while he was being a jerk... I maintained a calm demeaner.

I had to deal with a potential buyer who was just like that person.

After the first time he was (very) unpleasant towards me, I told him “Look…this is what I want for it, and if I can’t get that, then I won’t sell it.
I’m not starving here, and you don’t have to purchase mine, you can buy from someone or someplace else if you can find one for less money.
Good Day, Sir.”

Then he replied with “You don’t have to be an @$$h01e”
A response that I found ironic.

Edit: That particular item listing clearly stated that the price is firm and not negotiable.
On listings that I don’t state that, I consider offers, and if one is deemed by me to be “close enough”, I’ll cheerfully accept it.

 

[Bikeguy57]

My stuff is priced below the going rate to begin with. Anything over 10% is ignored, and I don't care about your personal problems/excuses.

 

[Wasnex]

The only time I think you should be concerned is when someone offers what you consider a low ball and then gets aggressive when you reject the offer or give them a counter.

The low ball in itself should not be a problem. It's a normal part of the haggling process. The aggressive response is also part of the haggling process for some people, but IMHO this part is not acceptable and potentially dangerous. Some people will actually try to use intimidation to force the transaction on their terms, and they may be willing to escalate to a physical altercation.

If you don't want to deal with it, then don't make postings that accept offers and don't sell where haggling is expected.

For the record I hate haggling as well.

 

[Plain Old Barry]

I don't think a legitimate offer to buy is ever lowballing when accompanied by real examples of comparable sales.

To me, a lowballer is simply offering something like $100 for an item that went new for $800, and is still in demand enough to draw $4-500, with zero explanation.

Some folks often list used items for very near, or sometimes even more than the item, or a close comparable, currently goes for new. I have no problem making an informed offer with verifiable backup information to those folks. If they tell me to go pound sand, so be it... I've had sellers reconsider and offer a reasonable price closer to my educated offer on more than one occasion.

If the item is long unavailable, hard to compare, etc... and is still priced way more than I'm willing to pay, I simply move along.

 

[Wasnex]

I agree it’s best to chill and blow off the lowballs. I don’t agree that the reality of the message is solely in the mind of the person receiving it.

If I’m selling something worth $100 and you offer me $10 for it, either you are uninformed, you think I am uninformed, or you’re deliberately just messing with me. Unless it’s the middle one, there’s no deal to be made and you’ve wasted both our time.

I guess I’d turn it around to say that even if you aren’t aware you’re acting boorishly, you are.

Or they are feeling you out to see if you know your stuff.

 

[Grinderman]

Starring Isaac Hayes, Jim Brown, Steve James, and young Chris Rock.

 

[RVRSCO]

If I get a low ball offer, my reply is simply, “Thank you for the offer, however, I am not willing to go that low. Here’s what I’m willing to do price wise. Let me know if you’re still interested or have further questions. Thank you. “

No need to get offended or insulted. Sometimes you throw spaghetti at the wall and see if it sticks, and if it does you got yourself a great deal. Can’t blame folks for trying.

 

[bassdude51]

IMO, an offer that is 10% to 12% discounted is reasonable and non-offensive.

When selling something, we have several options on the price.

One is to mark the price up from what we would like because we know someone is going to try to get us down.

Another is to list something and expect to come down around 10%

Or, list our item as, "firm on price!"

I get mildly irritated with low ball offers but I can easily say either, Yes or No.

I guess a low baller can give it a go and it doesn't hurt him/her to a least try.

 

[6Bass101]

So is there a point at which an asking price is insulting to potential buyers? Probably not. That would be silly. You either decide to buy it or not.

Likewise, the idea of a lowball being “insulting” is silly. I offer what I’m willing to pay for the item. You can accept or decline. Now, if after you decline the potential buyer continues to insist that you accept their low offer, then that’s a problem. But I consider that a problem for any offer, not just lowballs.

 

[groovaholic]

If someone lists an item for a fair price, I don't haggle.
If their price is high - I might show them comp items, but generally would just buy the lower priced offering.

Same holds in reverse - if someone comes to me with facts/comps, I'll reconsider my price.
Or, if I just don't have a firm idea of the item's value - I'll consider it.

But if I know I'm priced fairly, I'm willing to say "no thanks" and wait.

 

[Wasnex]

So is there a point at which an asking price is insulting to potential buyers?

Believe it or not, some people waste a lot of energy on this...so the answer is yes.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I usually set a more than fair asking price and go with a haggle-free shopping experience. The price is $X, if you don't want it, someone else will and I only need to sell it once. I'm a individual and not a manufacturer trying to sell 10_000 copies of something. Some people would rather that you start at $200 and they talk you down to $100 than if you just started at $100. In the first scenario they're saving 50%. Some people are also not very good at math.

 

[Wasnex]

I don’t agree that the reality of the message is solely in the mind of the person receiving it.

I agree. However, it's 100% on you whether you take offense or let it roll off your back. In most instances, peoples motives are not clear, unless of course you have figured out how to read minds. IMHO, it's often a mistake to assume you can accurately gauge why someone is doing something, because frequently you will be wrong. However, all to many people do this on a regular basis.

 

[rodak]

I think part of the problem may be that potential buyers look at Reverb, and see items selling for prices that are WAY below the initial asking price, and just think "that's the way it's done". I see stuff listed there all the time at ridiculously high prices, then within just a day or two, the price comes down 20-30% or more, and eventually (after several weeks or months!) sells for 40-60% of the original asking price. If you do a search for a particular item and sort by price, you'll get an idea of the current asking prices, then check the "Sold listings" filter, and look at what comparable items actually sold for, and it's typically about 60-75% of the current asking prices. So some folks may figure they're just getting in early before the seller lowers the prices for everyone.

 

[dune]

I price the going rate, adjusting appropriately for condition, etc. I usually get my asking price promptly because it's a good deal to begin with. If it takes too long to sell, I'll drop the price, but haggling isn't my thing so I rarely respond to offers, and never respond to low-ball offers.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I've had lowballers become offended when I just replied with "Thank you for your offer, I'll pass" because I'm supposed to counter with another offer. Sorry, not playing games.

 

[WillyW]

***but I can get it cheaper @!@@$#^&&&......com

Ok, go buy it there.....

 

[smogg]

It's also regional and generational.

In Texas, old farts like me, we expect a low initial offer, then back and forth, with hopefully a final resolution on the actual price. In the Boston area people get all pi$$ed off if you don't just pay exactly what they're asking.

Also, old people tend to be far more accepting of dickering on price, whereas younger people seem to think the price is the price.

Getting offended is just BS all the way round. Waste of emotional energy.

I agree. I expect to barter whether buying or selling. I've never paid asking price for a car why would I do it for a bass or amp? But then again I am a bit old school.