To think people actually pay sticker price on used cars and think you can't haggle with dealerships... lol I've never bought a car I didn't talk down at least 10%.
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This bloke won't haggle!
- Thread starter BigBluez
- Start date
To think people actually pay sticker price on used cars and think you can't haggle with dealerships... lol I've never bought a car I didn't talk down at least 10%.
It's not the "best offer @MaryMary makes." It's the best offer he gets from anyone who responds.
I'm not sure how long he went without contacting you back, but it also doesn't mean he had to contact you back. You also don't have to make an offer.
He may also be delaying a response or rejecting out of hand as a negotiation tactic. Look how he got you to up the offer without any effort on his part.
Further, he may sell for more than the original price.
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You were perfectly clear, brotherman. My point is that personally I'd be taken aback to learn only after we'd done the haggle that you were still holding out for better $, which is how I'm understanding what you've written. My experience has always been that either the haggle closes the deal or someone walks away, so I'd kinda feel jerked around. But as I've said, this practice you describe is unfamiliar to me.
Now if you were to tell me at the outset, "I'll haggle with you to reach an agreeable price BUT I reserve the right to hold out for better from someone else," then we've got some ground rules going in that I can either accept or decline.
Please please please don't take any of this as judgy of how you roll in these situations. "You do you." I'm just putting down my POV and learning a different way from what I know.
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You've proved my point low ballers may want 'the deal of a life time' but they are usually swimming in water way over their heads and don't have the money to begin with. ... When someone, whatever they're selling, says yes to the price then that's the price. ... Pissing and moaning because someone doesn't accept a low ball offer has nothing to do with the seller. ... And that's what this thread is about and not about car dealerships. ... Hard for some people to stay on topic.
You're probably right, it's just not possible the way Best Offer works in eBay. What most people interpret as "Best Offer" (as in "Asking $xxx OBO") is actually more like the traditional eBay Auction format with a Reserve price, where people put in offers over a period of time, and at the end of that time, if the highest bid doesn't meet the Reserve price, the seller has the option to offer it to the highest bidder.
In my experience, haggling is very culturally dependent. In some parts of the world nobody would dream of paying the asking price for anything. In others, it's an insult if you offer less.
Yes, you're right about that. I think with eBay it can only work as "best offer I receive under the stated price."
Let's remain on topic then and call you out on this BS notion that an offer lower than your asking price means the person making the offer is broke.
It's the hagglers that have money, and they have money because they're hagglers, let's get it right. It's the people willing to just pay sticker price that have no notion of commerce and end up broke, not the other way around.
Everything's negotiable. That's a hard, cold fact of life you'll need to deal with unless you're extremely lucky in life. Those amongst us who've hustled to get where they're at know it best. It's what capitalism is founded upon.
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The whole idea of buying online from a person rather than a company—whether it's Reverb, ebay, craigslist or here—is a complete Wild West situation, as far as I'm concerned. From my point of view, as both buyer and seller, if both parties get what they want and no one gets stabbed, the transaction was a smashing success, communication etiquette be damned.
On the TB classifieds, I've sent PMs with, basically, "I'm ready to pay your asking; let's do this" and not heard back for weeks and weeks. (Yes, it's still for sale.) Frustrating? Perhaps, but nobody owes me anything. Maybe the seller doesn't like my screen name or avatar. Whatever; I'm not holding anything against him.
So, specifically regarding the OP's annoyance: I've found that if I see something for sale and "Make Offer" is available, I'll almost always offer something low, expecting to haggle. The offer is rarely my "best offer"; it's me trying to get the biggest price break possible on something I'm probably willing to pay more for. This doesn't seem cool, but I am a beast the market has made. Likewise, when I list something for sale and enable "Best Offer," I have to mark it up (especially on craigslist) because I know people are going to come in under asking. It's kind of an annoying racket, all of it, and I'm a bad negotiator and I hate it.
But to get right down to the point: it me. Not specifically regarding your Ibanez, but...the internet depersonalizes everything, and when a number comes up on my computer, it depends on how I'm feeling that day. Where I'm at. Did I just get hit with a huge tuition or real estate tax bill? Am I feeling like GAS has got the better of me lately? I'm more likely to take the offer. Has this shopper started off with some offers so low that they were auto-rejected, and he keeps inching up into almost-reasonable territory? LOL...F that guy. So if you offer $600 but your next offer is $650 and I have no idea who you are, then I also have no idea what the ax is worth to you, and I start to think "Is it worth it to me to box this up, fork over Reverb fees and go to the UPS store today (because hell yes, I'm a fast shipper, y'all)—all for less that I was asking, just because Joe X from Florida or Texas is trying to get what he wants as cheap as possible?" A lot of times I arrive at "Nah, I think I'd rather put in my ear buds and go for a walk in the hills and put this BS behind me." On occasion I actually plug in the instrument in question, play it a little, and decide to hold firm at my asking. Or take it off the market entirely. I'm not a business and I don't care if it frustrates people. There's plenty of Telecasters in the sea, as they say.
I'm most likely to haggle with someone who has sent me a message, expressed interest, maybe asked a question, and I've gotten a sense of who they are and whether they're someone worth dealing with. I once sold a guy a guitar super cheap because he was the leader of a church band for kids. I would not have made that deal for someone who just punched that number into their browser.
Bottom line: I have no regrets regarding pricing. A guy will say "I notice this guitar has been for sale for two years. Do you really want to sell it? What's the lowest you will take for it?"—as if I'm trying to unload a fine instrument ASAP and I don't know how this works. Full disclosure: I have things for sale that I don't actually want to sell, but I know I will one day, and at whatever point between now and that day someone comes along who is willing to pay what the instrument is worth to me, a deal is there for the making.
Actual bottom line: if you love love LOVE what I'm selling and definitely want it, click "Buy It Now," pay my asking and you will get it fast and expertly packed.
On the TB classifieds, I've sent PMs with, basically, "I'm ready to pay your asking; let's do this" and not heard back for weeks and weeks. (Yes, it's still for sale.) Frustrating? Perhaps, but nobody owes me anything. Maybe the seller doesn't like my screen name or avatar. Whatever; I'm not holding anything against him.
So, specifically regarding the OP's annoyance: I've found that if I see something for sale and "Make Offer" is available, I'll almost always offer something low, expecting to haggle. The offer is rarely my "best offer"; it's me trying to get the biggest price break possible on something I'm probably willing to pay more for. This doesn't seem cool, but I am a beast the market has made. Likewise, when I list something for sale and enable "Best Offer," I have to mark it up (especially on craigslist) because I know people are going to come in under asking. It's kind of an annoying racket, all of it, and I'm a bad negotiator and I hate it.
But to get right down to the point: it me. Not specifically regarding your Ibanez, but...the internet depersonalizes everything, and when a number comes up on my computer, it depends on how I'm feeling that day. Where I'm at. Did I just get hit with a huge tuition or real estate tax bill? Am I feeling like GAS has got the better of me lately? I'm more likely to take the offer. Has this shopper started off with some offers so low that they were auto-rejected, and he keeps inching up into almost-reasonable territory? LOL...F that guy. So if you offer $600 but your next offer is $650 and I have no idea who you are, then I also have no idea what the ax is worth to you, and I start to think "Is it worth it to me to box this up, fork over Reverb fees and go to the UPS store today (because hell yes, I'm a fast shipper, y'all)—all for less that I was asking, just because Joe X from Florida or Texas is trying to get what he wants as cheap as possible?" A lot of times I arrive at "Nah, I think I'd rather put in my ear buds and go for a walk in the hills and put this BS behind me." On occasion I actually plug in the instrument in question, play it a little, and decide to hold firm at my asking. Or take it off the market entirely. I'm not a business and I don't care if it frustrates people. There's plenty of Telecasters in the sea, as they say.
I'm most likely to haggle with someone who has sent me a message, expressed interest, maybe asked a question, and I've gotten a sense of who they are and whether they're someone worth dealing with. I once sold a guy a guitar super cheap because he was the leader of a church band for kids. I would not have made that deal for someone who just punched that number into their browser.
Bottom line: I have no regrets regarding pricing. A guy will say "I notice this guitar has been for sale for two years. Do you really want to sell it? What's the lowest you will take for it?"—as if I'm trying to unload a fine instrument ASAP and I don't know how this works. Full disclosure: I have things for sale that I don't actually want to sell, but I know I will one day, and at whatever point between now and that day someone comes along who is willing to pay what the instrument is worth to me, a deal is there for the making.
Actual bottom line: if you love love LOVE what I'm selling and definitely want it, click "Buy It Now," pay my asking and you will get it fast and expertly packed.
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Gosh, are you from New England? That's exactly the attitude I got for 15 years up there. Most of the rest of the country people don't get all upset when you make an offer. Never could figure out what the problem was except not enough competition.
And although it may not be in Bombay, it IS an open market. The price is what the seller and buyer can agree on. We're talking about a one-off item for which there is not an established price. It's not a loaf of bread where there are a couple dozen on the shelf and several hundred coming out of the bakery every morning, and they're all the same and the manufacturing cost and necessary gross margin are well known. It's a used guitar, for crying out loud.
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In truth, it has nothing to do with anything in this context. Selling and buying is a business transaction that consists of: offer, acceptance, and tender. A price is stated (offer) and agreed upon by the buyer and seller (acceptance), after which cash is paid (tender) and the goods change hands or the services get rendered. At which point the transaction is considered completed.
That's all there is to it. Anything else that comes along for the ride (or gets dragged in) is extraneous to the actual act of conducting a business transaction.
People often lose sight of that.
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Noooooo, my favorite ones (facetiously speaking) are the ones that don't even respond! There's been a time or two where I bought the item at asking price just to leave negative feedback.
I wouldn't say I'm a Low Baller, haggler; yes. On eBay you can set it so that offers below a certain amount are automatically declined. I'm not asking for someone to accept my offer but merely a response be it a yay or a nay…
I respectfully disagree. I've been on both sides of very pleasant transactions where the beginning negotiations started somewhere around those price points.
And usually "or best offer" suggests that the seller isn't really expecting to receive full asking price.
I'm right there with you.
I think those folks fall into two categories. Ones who don't understand how that feature works (these would be the minority) and those who add it to their listing because they know search results can be filtered to include listing with that feature. They just want their listing to show up on more search results.
I think those folks fall into two categories. Ones who don't understand how that feature works (these would be the minority) and those who add it to their listing because they know search results can be filtered to include listing with that feature. They just want their listing to show up on more search results.
So Anyway, some folks just don't care to negotiate or 'haggle'.
I usually say OBO, but I won't negotiate, counter, or 'haggle' on site... and I make that clear before I give out my address. If someone offers me less than my asking price, I'll thank them for their offer and tell them that I might contact them later. I assume the risk that their offer may no longer be on the table. I follow this guideline for anything I sell, not just instruments.
I've had a couple of situations where someone came to look at something I was selling, offered me way less than my asking price and claimed that was all the money they had with them. When I declined, they tried to up their offer by small amounts...and finally jumped to my full price as I was escorting them to the door.
But I was done with them way before that. I thanked them for their time and told them I didn't think we could do business.
I usually say OBO, but I won't negotiate, counter, or 'haggle' on site... and I make that clear before I give out my address. If someone offers me less than my asking price, I'll thank them for their offer and tell them that I might contact them later. I assume the risk that their offer may no longer be on the table. I follow this guideline for anything I sell, not just instruments.
I've had a couple of situations where someone came to look at something I was selling, offered me way less than my asking price and claimed that was all the money they had with them. When I declined, they tried to up their offer by small amounts...and finally jumped to my full price as I was escorting them to the door.
But I was done with them way before that. I thanked them for their time and told them I didn't think we could do business.
If I really wanted a particular bass, and offered 675 and that was not accepted,I would quickly evaluate how badly it needed to be in my house.
