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Offer etiquette

jhoak

jhoak

Super Member
The post about the KL-888D offer got me to wondering about something.

When you make an offer on an item and the seller accepts the offer are you then obligated to go ahead with the purchase?

The reason for the question is that I had placed a small lot of Blu-Ray movies up for sale on a forum (not here) and I got a reasonable offer for them. I accepted the offer. I then get an email back saying "if you'll take $XX for them then you'll probably take even less. I'll change my offer to $XX". I politely declined in spite of an overwhelming desire to be rude to the guy.

As a general rule I don't entertain offers less than the original asking price until the item has sat not attracting any interest for a few days. When I do get an offer I tell the person that if the item goes X more days without selling at the asking price I will then consider the offer.

Any time I've made an offer on soemthing and the seller accepted I followed through with the purchase at the price I offered.

So what's the "rule" on offers if there is one? Is it OK to rescind an offer and make an even lower offer?
 
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It smacks of dirtbag to me. He apparently hasn't thought that anyone might take a retaliatory action if they did accept his offer....

I wouldn't do it, but there are no rules.

I only double offered a price on a guy once, because I had spent a chunk of money on other things in the meantime. So I had to offer less than I had a few days earlier. He took it, and I did try to make the rest of the transaction painless for him in gratitude. It was a LOT of stuff at some distance from me, and he needed it gone now.
 
From a strict legal perspective a buyer must perform at the price he agreed. For example:

Hey, I'll give you $500 for that amp.
OK, it's yours.
Naw, I'll give you $400.

If the situation stops there then the legal obligation is the buyer must pay $500.

As a practical matter what happens is the seller, by his behavior, agrees to void the $500 and negotiate a new contract. The conversation goes something like this:

Hey, I'll give you $500 for that amp.
OK, it's yours.
Naw, I'll give you $400.
Can't do that. How about $475?
Naw, all I have is $400 to spare. I just remembered that I have to pay car insurance this month.
OK. Maybe next month we can talk about it again.

In the above scenario the seller agreed to void the $500 contract even though it only existed for a second. He could have played hardball and held the buyer to the $500.
 
IF someone asks me if I will take X dollars, and I say yes, then if he says well if you'll take that,then I know you'll go lower... My answer is gonna be **** off....

I spent last weekend haggling over a lot of stuff I was selling at a flea market.. It amazes me at the stupidity of people trying to haggle a price with you... and the fact they get pissed cause you won't sell them your crap at the price they want.. Either take it at the price I set, or piss off...
 
jhoak said:
The post about the KL-888D offer got me to wondering about something.

When you make an offer on an item and the seller accepts the offer are you then obligated to go ahead with the purchase?
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If you mean ebay:

Can I take back an offer?

"Offers are binding, just like bids. You're not allowed to retract bids, except under special circumstances."


Craigslist or classifieds have no rules just ones word.
 
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Also, if you aren't willing to buy it at the price of the offer you make, then don't make an offer..
 
similost said:
IF someone asks me if I will take X dollars, and I say yes, then if he says well if you'll take that,then I know you'll go lower... My answer is gonna be **** off....
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Exactly. An offer is an offer to buy. It's not a fishing expedition.

Some people have tight assholes and the flea markets are full of them. I stopped taking anything decent to the flea market because nobody wants to pay anything near a reasonable price for a quality item. Now when I go to sell at the flea market I only take leftover junk and sell it cheap.
 
jhoak said:
The post about the KL-888D offer got me to wondering about something.

When you make an offer on an item and the seller accepts the offer are you then obligated to go ahead with the purchase?

The reason for the question is that I had placed a small lot of Blu-Ray movies up for sale on a forum (not here) and I got a reasonable offer for them. I accepted the offer. I then get an email back saying "if you'll take $XX for them then you'll probably take even less. I'll change my offer to $XX". I politely declined in spite of an overwhelming desire to be rude to the guy.

As a general rule I don't entertain offers less than the original asking price until the item has sat not attracting any interest for a few days. When I do get an offer I tell the person that if the item goes X more days without selling at the asking price I will then consider the offer.

Any time I've made an offer on soemthing and the seller accepted I followed through with the purchase at the price I offered.

So what's the "rule" on offers if there is one? Is it OK to rescind an offer and make an even lower offer?
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This is not a rule of etiquette, or any other rule, but I believe it does reflect a common sense approach to the matter... this is my opinion.

If a buyer makes you an offer, and you accept it, you should follow through with the transaction as originally agreed upon by both parties as there really is no reason not to. However, you always have the right of refusal unless you're selling through a third party service (such as eBay) that precludes your doing that. However, even then you still have the right of refusal, provided you are willing to accept whatever consequences the third party service levies against you as a result.

On the other hand, if a buyer makes an offer which you agree to, and the buyer then declines to follow through with the purchase, you are no longer obligated to that buyer, nor are you obligated to entertain any other offer the buyer may subsequently make. Once the buyer has backed out of their original offer the transaction has ended, and your business with them is concluded.

That being said, it is extremely rude for a person to make you an offer, only to then rescind it because they believe you would be willing to accept a lower offer! Good for you for being restrained in your response to that person. You had every right to invite them to take a long walk off of a short pier!
 
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jayczar said:
. . . Craigslist or classifieds have no rules just ones word.
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CL and classified are governed by laws just like ebay is. The difference with ebay is that you see the contract so you think it is something special. It's not. All of those contracts are governed by state law which usually closely follows the Uniform Commercial Code, Article 2.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/overview.html

As a practical matter most people don't go to court over nickel dime deal on CL. But try selling a $100K on CL, finding a buyer, agreeing to buy a new house, and then having the CL buyer back out or try to reneg. Then you will see how the law applies to CL.
 
IF someone asks me if I will take X dollars, and I say yes, then if he says well if you'll take that,then I know you'll go lower... My answer is gonna be **** off....
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LOL I think mine would be something to the effect of "you must have your head up your ass and if your HMO won't pay for an enema, i will gladly slap that **** out of you"
 
Just as a follow up...

If you were to take an item to a pawn shop to sell, they would ask you how much you wanted for the item because their intention is to negotiate the price with you. No offer is considered binding until each party agrees that the current offer is acceptable.

On the other hand, if you are selling something on the open market for a set price, you are under no obligation to entertain offers for any other price unless you decide otherwise. However, neither party is obligated to the other unless they are in full agreement as regards the price. If one then decides to back out, for whatever reason, the transaction is then considered to be concluded. Whether or not the aggrieved party pushes the issue of obligation is up to them to pursue.

Again, my opinion only based on what I believe to be common sense. While there are rules governing these kinds of things that pertain to retail establishments, I don't believe they pertain to these types of transactions. However, I may be mistaken in this belief. YMMV...
 
Some never stop at screwing you by playing games for few bucks.

I once bid on ebay for a DVD burner and won it for $12 bucks in 2003 I think.
After I won, I realized that it was DVD burning software not actual/physical DVD burner. hahahaha...
Anyways, I paid the guy $12 bucks as I had to honor it and it was not a whole lot of money.
 
mayidunk said:
Just as a follow up...

If you were to take an item to a pawn shop to sell, they would ask you how much you wanted for the item because their intention is to negotiate the price with you. No offer is considered binding until each party agrees that the current offer is acceptable.

On the other hand, if you are selling something on the open market for a set price, you are under no obligation to entertain offers for any other price unless you decide otherwise. However, neither party is obligated to the other unless they are in full agreement as regards the price. If one then decides to back out, for whatever reason, the transaction is then considered to be concluded. Whether or not the aggrieved party pushes the issue of obligation is up to them to pursue.

Again, my opinion only based on what I believe to be common sense. While there are rules governing these kinds of things that pertain to retail establishments, I don't believe they pertain to these types of transactions. However, I may be mistaken in this belief. YMMV...
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The rules apply to all transactions, even between private individuals. The reason you don't see the rules in action is the damages in small cases generally are not worth persuing. The exception to the rule is arbitration on TV wtih Judge Judy and crap like that. Otherwise the rules take place in small claims courts. I've never seen a small claim persued so I don't know how active those courts are.
 
ebacon said:
The rules apply to all transactions, even between private individuals. The reason you don't see the rules in action is the damages in small cases generally are not worth persuing. The exception to the rule is arbitration on TV wtih Judge Judy and crap like that. Otherwise the rules take place in small claims courts. I've never seen a small claim persued so I don't know how active those courts are.
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Yeah, I don't think too many people make federal cases out of these things unless you're getting close to a hundred dollars or more, though some might pursue a single dollar just out of principle, or spite!

In any event, I believe the OP is definitely off the hook, and has absolutely no obligation to entertain any other offers from that Bozo!
 
ebacon said:
The rules apply to all transactions, even between private individuals. The reason you don't see the rules in action is the damages in small cases generally are not worth persuing. The exception to the rule is arbitration on TV wtih Judge Judy and crap like that. Otherwise the rules take place in small claims courts. I've never seen a small claim persued so I don't know how active those courts are.
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I took a large national retailer to court a year and half ago. Although I am an attorney I purposely chose small claims to keep what their attorneys (Kirkland and Ellis, one of the country's biggest firms) could do at a minimum. When I filed there were probably 30 people in line to file. On the date of the first hearing there were 12 cases called at 9:00.
 
Ashfan said:
I took a large national retailer to court a year and half ago. Although I am an attorney I purposely chose small claims to keep what their attorneys (Kirkland and Ellis, one of the country's biggest firms) could do at a minimum. When I filed there were probably 30 people in line to file. On the date of the first hearing there were 12 cases called at 9:00.
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I would like to watch that.

I looked at web page for the local small claims court. It seems as though the cases are heard by volunteer attorneys and in rare cases magistrates. I practice patent law so I rarely get close to transaction litigation. Maybe two times in ten years have I even gotten tangentially close.
 
ebacon said:
CL and classified are governed by laws just like ebay is. The difference with ebay is that you see the contract so you think it is something special. It's not. All of those contracts are governed by state law which usually closely follows the Uniform Commercial Code, Article 2.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/2/overview.html

As a practical matter most people don't go to court over nickel dime deal on CL. But try selling a $100K on CL, finding a buyer, agreeing to buy a new house, and then having the CL buyer back out or try to reneg. Then you will see how the law applies to CL.
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relax.
 
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