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Make me an offer...

Matthew King

Matthew King

Klipsch
Is it just me or are these adds really annoying! You offer too little and the seller goes on a rant about how there selling for this on eBay etc and I’m looking to get more like. Just say that then! Post a price you would take and then accept offers. Then sometimes, I make an offer and they agree and then they say “sorry, I have a higher offer”. It turns into a bidding war. So when someone ask me to make an offer I politely decline and ask them to come up with a fair price they had in mind and we can work from there. I had someone today regarding a BMX bike. (I’m a collector so I pay pretty well). Say make an offer and I said “can you please throw me a number”. He says sorry I don’t think your very interested in the bike, no offer, no interest. WTF. Then I lowball him to prove my point and he gets all annoyed at my offer. Thanks for listening to my daily rant. Thanks, Matthew
 
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No, it's not just you. I generally don't bother with those ads, unless it's something I'm really interested in, in which case I'll ask the seller for a ball-park figure. Almost always the number is way higher than is justified for the item.

BTW, you posted this twice (I'm assuming by accident, since they're identical); you should ask the mods to delete the other one.
 
I was trying to think back.... and in 67 years I cannot remember a single time of responding to a "make offer" ad ever had a positive result.

Personally, I find it lazy on the part of the seller. YOU wanna' sell the item, YOU do the homework to determine value. Don't waste everyone else's time. That, and as mentioned in the OP these are often people who want to set up their own personal little auction. Your stuff , your rules I suppose. I just choose not to participate.
And of course the old " make offer , but don't lowball me". Well, since you didn't post a price , it leaves me no idea whatsoever what you think is reasonable.... SMH.....

Just bad business and yes we've all dealt with this **** at one point or another.
 
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Outside of the overall ad with make offer pricing, I see this comment:

Matthew King said:
So when someone ask me to make an offer I politely decline and ask them to come up with a fair price they had in mind and we can work from there
Click to expand...

You ask for a fair price and then imply that you are going to cut that down a good bit. No wonder folks don't open with what they want for a unit. (You are not alone, you wrote the words so I used em).

It is common knowledge that the one that opens the price talks with a number loses so NO ONE is willing to do that. If there is going to be some dealing going on maybe you should open with a number that you know you are comfortable paying but below what you would ultimately pay for a unit by enough to allow some negotiation. 25-50 bucks on the cheap crap we are buying and selling, more for the 4 figure stuff.

Now you risk losing out on stealing the unit from the sell who only wanted half your first offer...WTF can you do? Or the other extreme the seller still thinks it is a lowball offer based on inflated ebay unsold BIN numbers.

Someone has to open the negotiations or nothing happens. Sucks but that is how it is.
 
Its similar to the "whats your lowest price/whats the lowest you'll take?" line when i'm selling something. I don't care if it takes me another month to sell the item, i refuse to cater to those idiots. Negotiations take two people so by asking me to go it alone makes me think i don't need to deal with the supposed interested party since they really don't want to negotiate.
 
Don’t even get me started on the people that send me screenshots of eBay adds Haha. It’s like I can ask 100,000 for a penny. Will I get it? No. I have to educate people daily on the market and I get called a jerk . Sometimes if I don’t want the item, I try to help the seller come up with a price that will get them a quick and hassle free sale. But I’m regards to the eBay, I usually leave the chat or if they are friendly, politely send what items have actually sold for and explain to them.
 
I love walking into a sale to see ebay ad's printed out/taped to particular items in question with their price being about 10-15% less (you know, to give you a deal) They seem to not grasp the concept of asking vs. getting They are looking for an impulsive buyer that can't do basic research. I've got to get the item, check it out, test it, possibly repair it then list it and pay fees on top of shipping hassles all while hoping the buyer doesn't return it weeks later.
 
Blue Shadow said:
Outside of the overall ad with make offer pricing, I see this comment:

I need to rephrase. Apologizes. When I mean work from there. I mean picking up the item and purchasing it. I don’t like to lowball, so I usually pass if we’re too far apart. But if we’re pretty close I make an offer.

You ask for a fair price and then imply that you are going to cut that down a good bit. No wonder folks don't open with what they want for a unit. (You are not alone, you wrote the words so I used em).

It is common knowledge that the one that opens the price talks with a number loses so NO ONE is willing to do that. If there is going to be some dealing going on maybe you should open with a number that you know you are comfortable paying but below what you would ultimately pay for a unit by enough to allow some negotiation. 25-50 bucks on the cheap crap we are buying and selling, more for the 4 figure stuff.

Now you risk losing out on stealing the unit from the sell who only wanted half your first offer...WTF can you do? Or the other extreme the seller still thinks it is a lowball offer based on inflated ebay unsold BIN numbers.

Someone has to open the negotiations or nothing happens. Sucks but that is how it is.
Click to expand...
 
When I see a "make offer" figure it is a auction and on the few occasions responding. Will inform them that my offer is for today only for this amount.
Then move on.


OBTW, when I get the "on ebay" response. Tell them to then sell it on ebay then! Get the whole world involved. Not just our local................
 
Oerets said:
When I see a "make offer" figure it is a auction and on the few occasions responding. Will inform them that my offer is for today only for this amount.
Then move on.
Click to expand...
I’ve had countless people say my prices were too low and then text me a day or two later saying “hey do you want this still”.
 
bigcaddy64 said:
I love walking into a sale to see ebay ad's printed out/taped to particular items in question with their price being about 10-15% less (you know, to give you a deal) They seem to not grasp the concept of asking vs. getting They are looking for an impulsive buyer that can't do basic research. I've got to get the item, check it out, test it, possibly repair it then list it and pay fees on top of shipping hassles all while hoping the buyer doesn't return it weeks later.
Click to expand...
Had a similar situation on Facebook. Seller had a Marantz. I made an offer and we agreed. Then he says let’s meet somewhere. I said well how do I know it works? He says it works and sent me a pic of it “lighted up”. Well I said I’m going to offer you less than the original if I can’t test it. He says it works I promise. I said nothing personal, but I can’t trust anyone in this market. There’s always something wrong with them they don’t tell me. Annoying stuff like bulbs etc.
 
Matthew King said:
I’ve had countless people say my prices were too low and then text me a day or two later saying “hey do you want this still”.
Click to expand...


Then I would wonder just how many others fingerprints or all over the item?
Diffidently would not offer the same amount.
That is why I always put a time limit on offer.
 
Oerets said:
Then I would wonder just how many others fingerprints or all over the item?
Diffidently would not offer the same amount.
That is why I always put a time limit on offer.
Click to expand...
I think the most annoying instance I had was when I offered a woman way less than she was asking (she was way way over market value) and I educated her and she said she was very fair with her price and sent me bs eBay stuff. Well 5 days later she says well I can’t sell it, want to buy it for ur price? I said sure but I’m offering 20$ less. She declined and the receiver is still sitting there to this day. I was ready to be at her house with cash within the hour.
 
whyaskit said:
Personally. No price listed, I don’t play. It os just too annoying.
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Can you believe the guy told me since I didn’t offer him I had no interest in the bike. Sir I responded to your add, asked you for a price. I’m obviously somewhat interested, I’m just not playing your games.
 
Exactly. It’s all about max profit and, at least for me unless it is something I’ve been searching for, it is better to keep looking.

as a collector I could see how it might have been hard to not set least inquire. Collecting is a whole different ball game.

i think if a seller is serious they will do their due diligence and set a price that is in line with what they have and what they would like.
 
Ohighway said:
I was trying to think back.... and in 67 years I cannot remember a single time of responding to a "make offer" ad ever had a positive result.<<snip>>
Click to expand...

No price means no sale. I miss the days when we were required to put prices in FS ads in BarterTown, fortunately most sellers here are still polite enough to do so.

I agree, sellers posting "make offer" are hoping for a foolishly high bid, delusional sometimes, but at very least wasting people's time because everyone needs to contact them to find out what they're expecting/asking. Post a price and OBO, start a little high and hope that you'll get a full-price offer, or post your price with "firm" so that it can languish on the site until expiration (during which time you'll get offers anyway).

If you've bought or sold ANYTHING, you'll notice that the general expectation is that the seller has a price which you can accept or counter-offer. That's what people expect, and it works. You'll also notice that in most cases of craigslist etc., no matter what the asking price most people will expect to get some sort of negotiation discount, if it's 1% it's still something. If you want bids go to ebay.

No price is slighty more annoying than no photos (guilty) because the seller is too lazy, and no specs with a "do your own research" or "search ebay prices" lazya$$ comment, ... "you already know what this is", many lazy posters out there trying to sell their garage-sale / thrift-store / curbside "finds" that they feel entitled to receive a new record high-price for.

End rant
 
It’s just part of selling and buying used :dunno:

Is what it is, if I want it I make a fair offer. Why lowball? To prove a point?

Continue on with the rants :bigok:
 
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