Do you get offended by a low offer?

[Miles42]

If I do not get a response to an offer I just move on. Why even think twice about it? Obviously the seller did not like your offer an choose not to respond.

 

[Gluemanz28]

I will ask if they are willing to take less to start a conversation. If they say no then I have to decide if I want to pay the price, if not I move on. If they say a little or even give a number I might counter them a little lower. The firm guys will still get a lower offer from me. The odds are in my favor that people have decided to move a little on price to sell the item. People that put LOW BALL OFFERS IGNORED usually get ignored by me. I'm not sure what might be a low ball offer so I don't even try. (Also seems a little grumpy)

One guy sent me a message on an item on CL and said I would have a better chance selling the item if I lowered the price. I asked if he was interested in the item and he said no, I'm just letting you know. He included a link to an old post from someplace that was out of stock. I told him if he wasn't interested in the item then it was of no concern to him. The Item sold the next day, so I let him know it sold. I didn't get a reply

 

[Hookeye]

I price my stuff very fair, so an offer that is lower is usually an insult.

That said, even if a person is willing to meet my price, I won't sell it to them if they've been a jerk about it (or are one in general).

 

[ModernGunner]

That's on the premise some aspire to be a salesperson. I don't.
I do understand the common sense approach of not burning bridges.
I listed a gun on here, got a reply of "I'll take it" and I meet the guy a half hour later. He starts his low ball bargaining stance so low I just walked away from what I considered a cheap, slimy, bastard. I put the price up, he accepted, then starts bargaining. Bad business from my viewpoint. .

Well, JMO, but everyone is a 'salesman' in some form or other, at some times. A guy asks a woman to marry him, that's a 'sales job', LOL. And a real HARD sales job, SOME times!

As for the buyer who said "I'll take it", I agree. JMO again, but once he said "I'll take it", the price is set at that point. Bargain struck, ya have an accord, a verbal agreement. Which, technically, IS enforceable. Same thing as shaking hands on a deal. It's just a matter of getting the item from seller to buyer.

Your word's your bond. If a man can't honor his word, can't be trusted on anything, really. It's about integrity.

Naïve? Perhaps. But we all know that's how it's should be. Good men live by it.

 

[Hookeye]

I still do business on a handshake and expect men to honor their word.
Alas, most of the younger folks don't subscribe to such principles and many older guys that should know better, don't.
It aint always about money.

 

[TopDog]

It aint always about money.

No truer words spoken. But as you said, it is becoming a forgotten way.

 

[Spike_351]

I still do business on a handshake and expect men to honor their word.
Alas, most of the younger folks don't subscribe to such principles and many older guys that should know better, don't.
It aint always about money.

this....definitely. I may be a younger guy but I do have principles and if I don't live by them then the money I make is worthless. It may put me in a hard spot at times but oh well...sh*t happens. I do however don't shake hands.....nothing personal or disrespectful.....i just don't like being touched.

 

[rob63]

People do strange things that can cost them a sell. At the last gun show I went to a fellow had a sling that I was looking for priced at $25. I thought that was a little high so I asked him if he would take $20. He acted offended and told me that it was a $40 sling and that he often gets $50 for them. I may have bought it if he had simply told me the price was firm, but the b. s. response just made me walk away.

 

[Gluemanz28]

this....definitely. I may be a younger guy but I do have principles and if I don't live by them then the money I make is worthless. It may put me in a hard spot at times but oh well...sh*t happens. I do however don't shake hands.....nothing personal or disrespectful.....i just don't like being touched.

Ok thats kind of weird.

 

[Spike_351]

Ok thats kind of weird.

Lol, yea it is a little weird, if anyone other than my gf makes physical contact with me I get annoyed, just an uncomfortable feeling.

 

[Manatee]

I still do business on a handshake and expect men to honor their word.
Alas, most of the younger folks don't subscribe to such principles and many older guys that should know better, don't.
It aint always about money.

The one approach I really have come to ignore is: "What is the lowest amount you'll take for that?"

My response is normally: "I have a price listed on the tag. If you want to make me a counteroffer, please feel free to do so. I normally don't counter my own offers."

That has confused a few guys and irritated others. But, I've found that a great majority of these folks are not interested in buying, only price-shopping….kinda like girls window shopping.

The only other technique used by some is telling you that your dog is ugly. They can find all sorts of "bad" with your product. I used to try to talk to these folks but got rather tired of the rudeness. I now tell them to move along and find someone else to bother. Does this cost a sale? Perhaps, but I don't have to put up with *******s now that I'm officially "old".

 

[Crocodator]

I go through this a LOT with buying houses to rehab, whether buying or selling. IF you're going to sell... anything, expect at least some low-ball offers. That's just the way it is.

The other thing I've noticed quite frequently is that, for some unfathomable reason, there's a LOT of folks out there that think something they're selling is worth 'more', because 'they' own it. Not sure where that mindset comes from.

And for some other unfathomable reason, people 'always' seem to think if they sit on something long enough, it'll be worth a 'fortune'. Yeah, that MAY be true with a Rembrandt, but not much else. What they typically forget to figure in the mix is what it costs to sit on it. SOME times, it's better to take a quick profit and move on to the next thing. As a "return on investment", time is absolutely a calculating factor. Why? Because the value of the dollar is affected over time. That $100 profit today is only worth, say $90, a year from now because prices go up on gas, groceries, clothing, etc.

As noted, anyone can sell whatever they have for whatever price they think they can get, nature of the beast. But sellers should also keep in mind technological advances, etc. Ya spent $700 for a first generation iPhone, what's that worth now, $30? Just an example.
I'm never offended by low-ball offers, even if I don't take it. And I respond to all offers, even if I decline, and never with a Why? Because, though I didn't take their low-ball offer now, I STILL now have a potential buyer in the future for something else, IF I declined with some grace. Keep their name and number / e-mail address, and next time I'm selling something they're interested in (say, gun gear), I might have a 'Buyer's List' of 50 - 60 people that I've established a congenial relationship with.

Last thing to remember, some people are just butt-heads, LOL.

I agree with this completely.

Around INGO I am usually a buyer rather than a seller, and I always try to haggle for a better deal unless the price is listed as "firm". I was surprised by one seller who had a price listed as "OBO" but then was unhappy when I offered slightly (10%) lower. Maybe he doesn't know what "obo" means?

Personally, I don't contact anyone who has "low ballers will be ignored" in the ad unless I'm willing to pay the "firm" listed price. I don't want to unnecessarily offend anyone, and as this thread illustrates, the concept of low ball is a very flexible one.

Most of the people I've dealt with here have been great to fine though. The only really crappy experience I had here was a seller who was selling a Ruger 44 revolver a while ago. We had a deal all locked in and I was headed up to NWI to pay him when I had a death in the family. I let him know I had to go out of town for a few days for the funeral and said I would give him a downpayment to hold it until I got back. He said no problem, don't worry about it, it will be here when you get back. I got back one week later and got in touch. He had sold it to someone else and said "oh, I didn't know you still wanted it." Hmmm.

Fortunately, that guy was the exception rather than the rule, which is why I only do my non-retail deals through INGO. I avoid grumpy people, I negotiate honestly, and I show up on time with my cash in had exactly as agreed.

 

[Disposable Heart]

I kinda price well enough compared to market average, so it's a bit insulting that someone thinks that I'll take $300 NOW, TONIGHT!!! for my $400 third gen Glock with all factory accoutrements. "Lowballers will be ignored" is exactly that: I won't respond. I don't have time to answer all the inquiries like that. Coupled with some enraged nitwit on the other sites that if you turn their offer down, they start making fake ads with your email/phone number, so I don't even bother to answer.

One guy that I actually responded to with a "no thanks" said "well, end of the summer, guys are going to get hungry, you'll respond back to my offer, I know it..." Appparently he labors under the delusion that we are stupid fools that blow our money during construction season, then need to make it back for food money. But it works for him in some way or has, because there's no other explanation for a response like that.

"What's your bottom dollar" isn't quibbling or haggling, it's being a dork that still thinks in Depression era mentality. What do you think my bottom dollar is? It's what I agree to sell it for. If I have a Glock listed for $540, my squeal point is $400, I'm not going to tell you my price is $400 off the bat. Dork. Especially if I have a price of say, $xxx FIRM. FIRM means bottom dollar. I wonder how many times this has worked for people. Better is when they do it at gunshops, the non-haggling places extraordinaire. What's yer bottum doller? What's on the tag sir.

Mass produced items, like firearms, that are a known entity, have market values that fluctuate and many do not gain in value, are easily researched, it's easy to determine a fair price.

 

[Mike.B]

There are low offers and then there are people just being pricks. I was selling a Ruger 556 with a real EOTech and all the bells and whistles. A guy comes up to me with a straight face and says "I'll give you $500". I promptly gave him the finger.
So I guess I did respond.....

 

[kblazer87]

Another way for the original poster to look at it is that no response, is still a response.

 

[openwell]

Another way for the original poster to look at it is that no response, is still a response.

I could’nt agree more. I read this whole post and wasted my time because the original question was- I got no response, gee I wonder why??? LOL Some people are just dying to know it all!

 

[CZB1962]

I could’nt agree more. I read this whole post and wasted my time because the original question was- I got no response, gee I wonder why??? LOL Some people are just dying to know it all!

Actually my question was.

So my question is, how do you respond to what you feel is a low offer?

Given the current market where anyone can buy it brand new for $150 shipped and $140 shipped on sale, I still don't think the offer was a "low ball" but I understand some may. I don't care what someone else paid, just what I can buy it for on the open market.

I personally respond to every offer, no matter how low. I may even counter. I certainly do not take it personal or get offended.

In this post I simply ask if you would respond or not if it were you. I think I can deduce the answer.

 

[CZB1962]

The one approach I really have come to ignore is: "What is the lowest amount you'll take for that?"

I agree that is annoying. I simply respond "what is the most you would pay"

 

[Miles42]

I agree that is annoying. I simply respond "what is the most you would pay"

Excellent response.

 

[RobbyMaQ]

It's just business... some people work together, and some people won't. Why on earth I should I expect EVERYONE else to see value in something identically?

I don't get offended by low offers, just as much as I don't care if anyone is offended by whatever price it is I am asking.
I don't get offended when I make an offer and don't get a response (sometimes even when it is asking price).