armstrong101

OK - slightly tangential to this forum, but relevant to most of us who buy/sell 2nd hand bike stuff.

There are many ways that "bad buyers" present themselves. No-shows, lowballers etc. But MY biggest peeve buyer, is the one who asks you for your lowest price, then uses that as a starting point to commence an offer. I just got one today. The ad says trade but open to reasonable offers. See how I deal with it. Here goes:

Hello! The following is a reply to your "Bianchi Frameset" Ad on Kijiji:
From: Him
how much do you want for the frame ?

Me:
i'll sell for 650

Him:
Will you take 450 for it ?

Me:
You asked me for the price. I told you.
If you had to offer to make, then you should have made it.
It's now $750 for you.


This is my biggest peeve interaction. They ask you to show them all your cards, which I did (my lowest price). They then use that as a starting point for negotiations. If they had a price in mind, they should've just offered at the front. They want me to be honest, but won't be honest themselves. F**k people like this.

fender1

I just tell potential buyers I don't take offers via e-mail, phone or text and they need to present the offer in person, with cash in hand, to complete the deal. Pretty effective screening process and I don't have get upset.

nesteel 

If you had a price in mind, you should've stated it in your ad.
It was your choice to quote him your lowest price. I would've said $750 to his original question of price, and negotiated from there.
Now you just appear difficult to work with.
BTW, one of my peeves is people who don't/won't post an asking price. As a buyer, unless it's something I REALLY want, I refuse to price an item for a seller, and then buy it.

USAZorro

I think he listed his asking price, and then someone asked what's the least he would take.

D1andonlyDman

Negotiation is a part of buying and selling used gear, and it's no reason to be a complete jerk about it. Nobody told you to put all of your cards on the table. If $650 was really your lowest price, you should have quoted something higher than that first - as it's likely the prospective buyer did not give you their best offer up front. As it is, you alienated a potentially serious buyer.

Drillium Dude 

I don't use CL or similar often, but I have sold two bikes using it and am in the process currently of moving a bike and an 8-speed wheelset.

The wheelset starts at $125. I got an offer of $75. I responded that I'd go as low as $100 - met him halfway between his offer and my asking price. A day later I get another offer of $75 from the same guy. I responded the same: $100 is the lowest I will go.

Understand much of this "conversation" was simply one-or-two-word emails. Heck, his first simply said "$75 Johnny". Six emails so far and all I know at this point is that he's "considering" (the whole of his last email).

If this guy decides to meet I think I'm going to pass. Not getting a warm-fuzzy, you know?

DD

armstrong101

No. People ask me for my lowest or what I want, I tell it to them. Lowest.

My stuff isn't expensive to begin with. Everything I price to be the lowest current price of anyone selling the same thing. I sell about $15000 of stuff of year locally, just through Kijiji. My stuff moves. I've already sold $6000 of stuff in 2016 alone. Nothing I list ever goes unbought.

Regarding the listing of the price - I have over 100 items for sale. That is the only one I have listed without a price. I have my reasons for it, but generally I always list a price.

D1andonlyDman

OK, so we've established that you don't know how to negotiate. So I suggest that you just list the price, and state that it's non negotiable. That way, most serious buyers will realize not to waste their time with you if your posted price is more than they're willing to pay for it. If you don't list any price, you have no right to condemn someone who gave you an offer, just because it's lower than the one you are seeking. Just move on - but the prospective buyer here did nothing wrong.

armstrong101

There are a few other sellers currently selling basically the same thing. The next lowest price on this item is $1500, and above that, in the 4000+ (brand new carbon frameset).

So 650 is already a song.

OldsCOOL

The el cheapo piece-a-worko that chisels you for every little scratch on a well patina'd bike that you have already obviously noted in the ad that price reflects condition. Arrrrrgh.

armstrong101

If my asking is already a lowball price, and the guy lowballs even lower (as opposed to make an offer, which was in the ad), then yes I think that's someone I don't want to deal with.

Open to reasonable offers isn't, "What's your lowest", then, "Will you take even lower?". Make an offer. I make offers.

And maybe I don't know how to negotiate, but my collection kicks ass and it all gets paid for by my wheeling and dealing. I may suck, but it works.

Spoonrobot 

Bicycle Blue Book.

I back out of the sale if this comes up as it's generally a negotiation tactic used by buyers who are going hem/haw and nickle/dime about everything.

I'm here to transfer an item to another person in exchange for money. I don't really care to "sell" an item to someone who is indecisive. My prices reflect this.

D1andonlyDman

Fine, so move on. But the prospective buyer did nothing wrong. They made an offer. It was $450. You believe you can get more. So you are welcome to try. But someone who didn't agree with your assessment of the value of the bike is undeserving of your attitude.

armstrong101

There's a difference between someone wanting something for a good deal, and someone wanting to pay as little as possible for an item. I'm OK with the first one. I don't like the 2nd. There is a difference between the two.

OldsCOOL

I have to agree. It's the buyer's nature to haggle down ANY figure given. A few lessons from American Pickers will be helpful in this case.

armstrong101

If he had come in with an offer of 750, I would've told him I was looking for 650 and would've taken 650. That's how I deal.

If I have something for 175, and you give me 180 and say keep the change, I give you back $5.

I'm not here to sell things for as much as possible. I'm here to sell stuff.

D1andonlyDman

Perhaps, but there's nothing wrong with being the 2nd type of buyer. You are welcome not to sell to them. That doesn't include being a jerk about it. The lowest price possible IS a good deal. Anything higher is not as good a deal.

modelmartin

Lowballers are the worst! I have turned down deals where we are $1.00 apart because they are so obnoxious. I will keep my stuff rather than give in to idiots.

I will not look a gifthorse in the mouth myself. Someone offers me a fair price for something I want I will pay it! If I offer less and they say no,that is no problem!

CliffordK

I buy more than I sell... Hopefully that will change, so I'm sure I'll have some future storeies.

And I've had a few seller sellers that are flakes. I've had a few sellers agree to meet, then sell the items out from under me. There's one bike on Craigslist now... not a peep out of the seller (e-mail only). It could have sold quickly, but the ad has not been up for over a day.

As far as dickering... If you don't want to dicker, the put "Firm Price" and stick to it.

I will give an offer on some things (the E-Bay "best offer". And, I hate it when the seller hits me back with a $1 off "deal"). But, usually, if I think it is a good price, I'll just pay the full price. If it is a really good price, I'll round UP from $75 to 4x$20 ($80). And the seller is happy, and I'm happy.

francophile 

I think the man is entitled to his opinion and way of doing business. We all have our schtick, I'm not holding it against him. His reasoning and logic seem pretty rational to me - rational enough I can put myself in his shoes and get where he's coming from. You might try that. Sounds like you have your own pet peeve: Sellers with expectation. We could negated pissing on the vast majority of this thread by simply saying that

I loathe lowballers only slightly more than I loathe the "$1 listing, but give me your best offer" sellers. I usually include a note about 'no lowballers' in my ad somewhere prominent which has helped quell a lot of the lowball offers, but there's always that one person who just can't seem to read, they just see pics and a number.

So, in that light, I guess I have two pet peeves:

As a seller, I can't stand the illiterate lowballers.
As a buyer, I can't stand the "$1 + your best offer" folks.

Non-responders are a bear also. My worst recent experience was someone who told me they had the bike, told me to come on out, I spent an hour driving in the opposite direction of where I was headed, then they refused to answer the phone for over an hour while I sat twiddling my thumbs. Robbed me of 3 productive hours I could've been headed home.

mstateglfr 

I love selling, I dont really have any annoyances so strong that I consider them 'peeves'.

I do try to not negotiate rate over the phone or via email and it frustrates me when people want to lock a price in without seeing the bike because if they dont like something about it, they will either want to drop the price which will annoy me since I already agreed on a price or they will feel obligated to buy it at a price higher than they actually want which will annoy them. I would rather both parties have a good transaction so I tell them if I am firm on the rate or open to hearing another price, but that they should try the bike first.



Whats funny is that I have done what I dont like buyers doing. Its only when I am traveling and dont want to waste my time or the seller's. If they arent willing to adjust their price significantly to meet what I am looking to pay at most, then I dont want to spend time since there are other bikes in that market I may be interested in.

D1andonlyDman

Actually, I don't have that problem. I will make my offer, and in general, I have no issue with walking away if it's not accepted. There are very few items that cannot be replaced just as well with something else. But the fact is, I would NEVER simply accept the first price quoted to me, unless I know for a fact that it's lower than it should be and the item (or it's condition) is scarce.

francophile 

Not even if someone indicated that's their lowest price? We're all made different, I get that, but I'd feel like a bull in a China shop if I dug under in that case. Sometimes there's more power in saying, "Yeah, that seems high for what I'm seeing, don't think I can do it if there's no wiggle room on that." It's worked pretty effective to test the water w/o turning off the seller. If the item is still for sale a few days later, I'll swing back and ask if they're still sticking to their original low-end offer if I've got cash-in-hand - like you said, lots of fish in the sea.

Drillium Dude 

I like this approach. Too many people out there these days seem to think the buyer is the only one with the correct number. The correct number is one both can agree on.

DD

D1andonlyDman

Generally, if someone indicates that's their lowest price, I'll test that statement. Most folks who say that, have still built some cushion into it. As I said - unless I know it's worth more, and it's scarce.