Originally Posted by
markk900
vintagebicycle First off, people are weird anyway. Second, I think most of them believe that bargaining is like what they see in the movies in a market in the middle east or something: the asking price is 10x the real price so make a stupid lowball offer. Real life isn't like that, even in that hypothetical market. I am also interested to see how stupid people think others must be: yours is the second story recently where the same person sent his or her spouse to pay up when their attempt to bully a seller down failed.
I don't agree with that at all. At any given time I have a few hundred items listed on CL, (although most are not bicycles or bicycle parts).
If I list something for what its worth, they want it for half or less. if I add a bit, they want it for half or less again, if I double or triple the price I want, I get less emails, but those who are educated on what they're looking for will make a fair offer. It eliminates the tire kickers and cheap skates.
AND every so often someone just shows up and pays the ridiculous price and never bats an eye.
I tried listing for the exact price I wanted, and holding to it, and it didn't work, nearly everyone wanted it for half and I got no serious buyers.
For years I sold at a couple of flea markets, mostly tools and sporting goods, I tried putting things out with no prices, and found that most people either wouldn't ask how much, or just walked away if you gave them a price they thought was too high.
I tried pricing everything with a firm price, and again, everyone wanted it for half and most wouldn't pay a penny more.
I tried doubling the price, and more items sold when they were picked up, but a lot of people never bothered to make an offer.
Then you got the crazies, they'd ask a price or make a lowball offer, and if you came back with a counter offer they went nuts, telling you your crazy, that the item is no good, and a thousand reasons why you should sell it for cheap.
I got the same thing as a buyer, a seller would have something for sale, give a price, and I'd make an offer and if it didn't suit them, they just said NO and sat there, never making a counter offer.
What I found is that some people will only buy if they bicker over the price and get it for less than it was marked. No matter how much less. If they don't get something off the price they walk away. This held true mostly for the older crowd. The younger crowd just put the item down and walked away or made some insulting comment.
After 12 years, I couldn't believe how nasty some people were and how some would argue over a few pennies.
I bought nearly a pallet of weed eater line on spools, it fit a major brand trimmer. The kit was $14.99 in the stores. I wanted $10 a spool. If I put $10 on them, the best I could do is $5 and sometimes $8. I marked them $18.99 with a price gun from Sears. After that every one sold for $12 or more, with many coming back to buy more week after week.