My New Zero Tolerance Craigslist Attitude.

[FingerDub]

Since you insist on debating me, I'll bite. Your analysis, while lengthy, misses the point and is inaccurate. It didn't even refute my position of "I disagree" and ends with an ad hominem attack, the hallmark of a lousy argument.

The BUYER tried to renegotiate and eventually agreed to the higher price. Not the classiest move, but whatever. The SELLER got butthurt at the audacity. He could have either stuck to his price or agreed to the lower one. Instead of either of those he backed out to punish this wildly Craigslist shopper who was en route to the deal. And then announced how it felt good to be a dick. Sounds like someone we all would want to interact with.

It doesn't matter what would have stopped when, or if the sane thing would have happened when they met. The same thing HAS happened to me and the choice I have made, many times, is to say "Sorry but this is my price. Let me know if you change your mind." Done. What OP chose was petulent.

And no, I don't do this. But I also don't go around buying crap on Craigslist. If I do, I know what kind of interactions to expect and don't go throwing tantrums like a knucklehead.

I hope that resolves our discussion. To sum up, I'll restate: I disagree.

I'm not a dick. And I didn't see anybody else use the kind of language you just did towards me in this thread. Sounds like you're a delight to hang out with also.

 

[MordBass]

For the record, I don’t consider myself an expert in the psychology of sales or the science of negotiation. But I do have real world experience in getting business negotiations done in a way that was beneficial to both parties. Much of that experience came as a result of making every negotiating mistake possible at one time or another. So my comments in this thread are offered purely in humble hope of helping someone avoid at least some of the many business mistakes I’ve made. Because I’ve been there - and it was no fun.

What I do appreciate is that this may become a learning experience for the seller and possibly make him rethink how he applies his “new zero tolerance” policy going forward.

As for as your “that’s the same as” example, you have to be careful with analogies. And false equivalencies. The one you’re making is equating a subtext solicitation of sexual favors with a business transaction. One in which there occurred at the most the buyer (and in this case I seriously doubt it was anything other than some harmless banter) was putting out a last minute feeler to see if the seller might go lower. Or haggling to use the usual term. But again I don’t think he was being serious at all.

And even if that was the case, and the seller already had an agreement on a price. So all that needed to be said was: “I’m sorry but my understanding was we already agreed on a price of $600. Does that mean we no longer have a deal?” That’s a lot less personal and more professional a response than the spiel that actually came back.

And no, the seller isn’t cutting his losses at all. He had someone who was ready and able to meet the agreed upon price. If the buyer stood firm on a lower offer, all the seller needed to do was decline. Which he did anyway, albeit with a pretty over the top reaction. And even when the buyer confirmed he’d pay the agreed upon price, the seller called off the sale because he was having a snit.

That’s not cutting your losses. That’s relinquishing a $600 cash sale that was moments away from bring concluded. And from a business perspective that’s not being very smart letting your ego stand between you and a sale.

Or so I think anyway.

I agree with what youre saying and I hear ya. But at the same time, some things cant be bought and I feel like there is value in telling the guy to head home after trying to pull one on the seller. It all depends on the amount of money, the financial situation of the seller... all sorts of stuff. Honestly, one thing Ive noticed about a lot of low ballers on CL and Ebay is that they think everybody else is in their exact situation. They assume every seller is in a dire situation and needs the cash in hand as soon as humanly possible. I had to laugh at a guy that tried offering me 40% of an already great asking price on a bike. I told him, "dude... i dont need the money today... or next month... or even next year." If you dont buy this... I guess I'll just have to live with owning a pair of bikes this season"

 

[MordBass]

I think I'd actually like to do business with you. While I consider myself a fairly shrewd buyer, I'm also a firm believer in honoring any deals made over the phone as long as the seller represented what they're selling accurately. Me... I like to do transactions in the parking lots of police stations.

Thank you and yes... I also do my deals in the local police parking lot. I've bought and sold a bunch and I always stick to my agreed price. Once an agreement is made, its made.

 

[InhumanResource]

I'm not a dick. And I didn't see anybody else use the kind of language you just did towards me in this thread. Sounds like you're a delight to hang out with also.

Well, let's just say there aren't any mile long threads discussing my choices.

 

[MordBass]

Try selling cars for a living. Low-ball offers are the norm. I would always thank them for the offer and ask them what criteria they used to formulate the offer. If we didn't sell it at least everyone was civil. Nothing to get upset about or I would have been walking around mad all day long. Maybe I'm weird but I always loved the negotiation part of the business.

I think it's just human nature to try and get a deal. Too bad you can't negotiate at the grocery store or the gas station.

Thats my favorite when anybody makes me an offer. I worked in sales too and I always ask "well, what brought you to that price?" They never have anything ready.

 

[MordBass]

Well, let's just say there aren't any mile long threads discussing my choices.

The best choices in life are the debated ones.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Theres no need for you to ask additional questions for the example I was giving you because its all relative to the situation here. The buyer agreed to a price, agreed to meet up and do the deal, and then... knowing that the seller had closed off other offers.... tried knocking more money off by casually mentioning that he could turn around. It was a douche move and was met with equal and opposite douchery. I see nothing wrong lol.

Done simply to illustrate that there can always be more to the picture than a simple price.

 

[MordBass]

Done simply to illustrate that there can always be more to the picture than a simple price.

Oh I understand why, I was just saying that any question you have could be answered by drawing a parallel to the OP's story.

 

[two fingers]

Last week, a guy drove up from about an hour + away to check out my bass. I had it listed for $650.00 which I could have gotten all day. But I made a mistake and was thinking of another bass and told the guy six hundred instead of $650 and even though I made a mistake, that I would still honor $600 because I said it, even mistakenly.

On the drive up the guy texted me this:

Buyer: "Would you consider $550? Haha thinking about turning around this traffic is horrible."

Me: Turn around then. You responded at full price, and then because of my mistake which I honored, you would have gotten $50 off the price, which you agreed to and now you're trying to squeeze me for more?

Buyer: Forget I said anything, I'm almost there. I'll give you $600.

Me: No thanks. I don't want to sell it to you anymore.

Buyer: Mother******.

Me: Go **** yourself.

Feels DAMN GOOD.

If you're going to play the game, be prepared to also lose.

I think you overreacted a little. Negotiations get weird. If you don't like that, you may want to quit selling used things. ​

 

[DirtyDuke]

Reverb isnt much better. I had a guy pester me for an item I had listed

I was asking 1500 . He offered 1000$ I declined . He sent me 15 messages about why I should take his offer. I told him I paid more than his offer . He said too bad. That is the going price etc. Over and over and over he messaged me. Sent me sold listing . Told me I was lying about how much I paid for it . I ended up sending him a screen grab of my purchase price .

I decided to look him up. He was a re seller and had the exact item I had listed for $2750 .

So I got a bunch of buddies to message him over and over and over offering $1000. They even send him his own messages word for word . He eventually got reverb to get is to stop

He messaged me and increased him price to my offer to him. I told him to get bent that I wouldn't sell it to him for the full price

Felt good!!!!

 

[SpruceApple]

It's all one big negotiation. I have bought and sold extensively on CL, many types of items. I don't blame the seller one bit.

If a buyer had agreed to an already mistakenly-low price in advance, and while enroute to the scheduled time to pick up the item tries to reneg on the deal and then calls me a MF when I tell him it is no longer for sale, I believe the seller was completely justified in his responses. And I would have done the same thing

CL is full of flakes and ********, and I have time for neither. Given the facts of this matter as presented, this one is an easy call for me.

 

[blue4]

Once an agreement is made, its made.

Absolutely. Unless they can point to something that wasn't represented well in the photo, a deal is a deal.

 

[blue4]

Boy oh boy this thread is paying in spades. The moral character is really telling...

You can sum up a person's entire moral character based on their opinion on someone else's one experience?

 

[madbass6]

Uh ok.

It’s not uncommon for buyers to try and get get things for cheaper. Telling him no was perfectly fine. But the telling him to turn around and go **** himself? Seems to me that you were the *** in this exchange, not him.

Sure hope that never happen to you when you go to buy something.

I agree/disagree! Everyone wants a good deal we all know how buissnes works ,
ussualy the buyer goes down the seller either goes up or is firm with price, most sellers start off asking more then they actually want to leave room for negotiationsons.
it's how the buyer goes about it that makes all difference! in this case I see the buyer trying to screw the seller but the seller beat him to the punch! I agree with the seller 100%!!

 

[BadSanta1281]

 

[40Hz]

I agree with what youre saying and I hear ya. But at the same time, some things cant be bought and I feel like there is value in telling the guy to head home after trying to pull one on the seller. It all depends on the amount of money, the financial situation of the seller... all sorts of stuff. Honestly, one thing Ive noticed about a lot of low ballers on CL and Ebay is that they think everybody else is in their exact situation. They assume every seller is in a dire situation and needs the cash in hand as soon as humanly possible. I had to laugh at a guy that tried offering me 40% of an already great asking price on a bike. I told him, "dude... i dont need the money today... or next month... or even next year." If you dont buy this... I guess I'll just have to live with owning a pair of bikes this season"

Hear ya too.

But here’s the thing with me. A renegotiation is only possible if both parties agree to go back to the table. So if one side wants to parlay and the other doesn’t, there’s nothing further to negotiate.

Had the buyer tried to renegotiate as a condition of going through with the sale after agreeing on a price, then the buyer would be 100% in the wrong in my book.

But that’s not what happened.

Whether it was some harmless pre-F2F banter (as I think it was), or an attempt to revisit the sales price (as many here believe) is immaterial in the wake of what followed.

From the original post:

On the drive up the guy texted me this:

Buyer: "Would you consider $550? Haha thinking about turning around this traffic is horrible."

Me: Turn around then. You responded at full price, and then because of my mistake which I honored, you would have gotten $50 off the price, which you agreed to and now you're trying to squeeze me for more?

So ok. The seller is saying there’s no further negotiation. The price stands or the deal is off. Kinda an over the top way to say it considering the classic line: “Sorry but I can’t do it for that” would have been sufficient. (If someone reacted like the OP did with me I’d be a little taken aback.) But it is what it is.

So regardless of the intent of the buyer saying what he said, the seller is in complete and undisputed control of the deal at this point.

So the buyer tries to square things:

Buyer: Forget I said anything, I'm almost there. I'll give you $600.

Me: No thanks. I don't want to sell it to you anymore.

Wait…what???

Why?

Only conclusion that can be drawn, based on the exchange as shown, is the seller got pissed off the guy had (whether in fact or in jest) asked if the seller would consider $550. And the seller, not the buyer as some here seem to want to believe, called off the sale in the wake of that - and that alone.

That’s all I’m saying.

 

[MordBass]

Hear ya too.

But here’s the thing with me. A renegotiation is only possible if both parties agree to go back to the table. So if one side wants to parlay and the other doesn’t, there’s nothing further to negotiate.

Had the buyer tried to renegotiate as a condition of going through with the sale after agreeing on a price, then the buyer would be 100% in the wrong in my book.

But that’s not what happened.

Whether it was some harmless pre-F2F banter (as I think it was), or an attempt to revisit the sales price (as many here believe) is immaterial in the wake of what followed.

From the original post:



So ok. The seller is saying there’s no further negotiation. The price stands or the deal is off. Kinda an over the top way to say it considering the classic line: “Sorry but I can’t do it for that” would have been sufficient. (If someone reacted like the OP did with me I’d be a little taken aback.) But it is what it is.

So regardless of the intent of the buyer saying what he said, the seller is in complete and undisputed control of the deal at this point.

So the buyer tries to square things:



Wait…what???

Why?

Only conclusion that can be drawn, based on the exchange as shown, is the seller got pissed off the guy had (whether in fact or in jest) asked if the seller would consider $550. And the seller, not the buyer as some here seem to want to believe, called off the sale in the wake of that - and that alone.

That’s all I’m saying.

I think that where we're differing is just one point..


"Would you consider $550? Haha thinking about turning around this traffic is horrible."

That, to me. Is the buyer intentionally tossing in that not showing up is well within the realm of possibility. Which, when added to asking for another discount, is shady and underhanded.

The price of the bass and the amount of traffic are not connected. They have nothing to do with one another. Which is why I view that as the buyer trying to wedge themselves an extra discount.
It doesnt cost you money to sit in traffic so its not like the buyer incurred an unexpected cost and wants the seller to split the difference.

 

[jnuts1]

The repeated mention of the "threat" by the OP and a few others is amazingly hilarious.

I've sold a bunch on craigslist but never bought anything. if you don't want anyone haggling before during or after don't sell on craigslist. everyone wants to haggle used gear. get over it. he could have been joking he may not have been you don't know. but you sure read into it what you wanted.

and the dude's talking about morals/right thing to do you really need to get over yourselves. the righteous indignation on this site is nauseating.

 

[Cliff Colton]

I haven’t read the whole thread but was there a gig bag or anything included with that bass?

 

[bassbully]

OP said six hundred, buyer tried lower but then said six and you refuse to sell...what gives ?