Low Balling offers

[DawnM]

I don't know why, but I always feel like I will come off as offensive.

 

However, a bedroom set I like is listed in our local selling group.  I would like it, but not for her asking price.  I think her asking price is reasonable, but it is more than I can spend.  

 

I can offer 2/3 her asking price.  

 

She says that you have to see it to know how great it is, make an appt to come see, etc......however, I live almost 20 miles away......taking over an hour to drive just to see it without knowing if she would come down in price seems like a waste of time.  I would like to know if my offer is even acceptable before going over there.

 

Do you think I should do that or wait a few days to see if she lowers the price?

 

I am really not good as selling and buying things when it comes to bargaining.  I even grew up in a bargaining culture and I still hate it.

 

Dawn

 

 

[Catwoman]

I would come right out and ask her if she will accept your offer, because there's no point in wasting your time or hers by having you go look at something you won't buy at her current price.

 

If she insists that you come and see it before discussing the price, I would take that to mean that she has no intention of accepting your offer, and that she's going to hit you with a hard sell when you go to see the furniture.

[RanchGirl]

If you definitely can't or won't pay her asking price, you have nothing to lose by politely offering her your price.  Something like "would you consider XXX; I can be out Tuesday morning". 

 

Some sellers will choose to be offended and will even respond rudely but IMO that's ridiculous.  If you don't want offers, say so in the listing.

[In The Great White North]

 

 

I would come right out and ask her if she will accept your offer, because there's no point in wasting your time or hers by having you go look at something you won't buy at her current price.

 

If she insists that you come and see it before discussing the price, I would take that to mean that she has no intention of accepting your offer, and that she's going to hit you with a hard sell when you go to see the furniture. 

 

This.

[DawnM]

Thank you for your thoughts.

[Tranquility7]

If you definitely can't or won't pay her asking price, you have nothing to lose by politely offering her your price.  Something like "would you consider XXX; I can be out Tuesday morning". 

 

Some sellers will choose to be offended and will even respond rudely but IMO that's ridiculous.  If you don't want offers, say so in the listing.

:iagree:  I will never understand why some sellers get bent out of shape over receiving an offer they don't want to accept.  No one is forcing them to, it's just an offer. :rolleyes:  Buying and selling is a simple free will process!  Just be polite, and if you can come to an agreement, great!  If the seller gets cranky with you, then shrug it off.

[Doodlebug]

Make her an offer! Someone offered me 2/3 of my asking price within the first 24 hours of listing my sons old bedroom furniture. I told them I was getting offers at my asking price, but would follow up if nothing panned out. Sure enough, the other offers flaked out and I offered it to the low baller.

Go for it!

 

[JFSinIL]

It can't hurt to let her know that if she doesn't get any buyer at her price, to contact you as you'd love the set but just only have $x to spend.

[Lanny]

If you tell her how much $ you have available, possibly she will be willing to accept that. However, I believe you should have the right to inspect what you are buying, and if the condition is not what is acceptable to you, that you should have no obligation to purchase. Do not make a firm offer over the phone or in email that  you are bound to.

 

Since you would need to drive one hour each way, to her house, I think you should discuss this with the seller, via phone or email, before wasting your time and gas.  

 

On eBay, some of the "Buy it Now" listings have a "Make Offer" button. I have a .com domain name listed there and have received 2 or 3 offers that are not acceptable to us. I reject them, politely. No hard feelings. If someone offers the right $, we will sell.  

 

It depends upon how motivated the seller is. They may need the cash you have.   :-)

 

GL

[Tap]

If someone is patient and is honest, I don't have a problem with lower offers but I hate pushy low-ballers.

 

Something like:

 

I like the set you have offered but it is out of my budget.  If you don't get your asking price in the amount of time you have it posted, and would consider selling for xyz, please contact me to arrange a time for me to view it. This is the highest I can go for price, but if you are willing to accept that price, I live a half hour away and can come see it any day after 6pm with about a days notice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TechWife]

I'd call and ask. I did tell one person on the phone once that I would accept their offered price (lower than what I was asking) on a couch I was selling, but that it was first come, first served and if someone else got there with money first, then I would take their offer. When they got out to the house, the lady was really rude to me, told me she didn't think it was worth the price she mentioned on the phone and wanted me to throw in an armchair I was also trying to sell. I told her I couldn't do that, so she asked me to lower the price on the couch. By this time she had been so totally rude, that I wasn't going to do it. She actually told me "but, dear, I'm here and I can pay you something. Isn' that better than any other offer you have right now?" I told her that I would consider a fair offer. She ended up paying me the amount she offered on the phone. As her husband was loading the couch, she said "now, I can go ahead and load that chair up and take it off your hands." I told her how much it would be & she said "I didn't mean I would pay for it, just that I would take it off of your hands." Huh! 

 

 

[rmtzc2009]

I would come right out and ask her if she will accept your offer, because there's no point in wasting your time or hers by having you go look at something you won't buy at her current price.

 

If she insists that you come and see it before discussing the price, I would take that to mean that she has no intention of accepting your offer, and that she's going to hit you with a hard sell when you go to see the furniture.

:iagree:

[DawnM]

Wow!  That is awful.

 

 

I'd call and ask. I did tell one person on the phone once that I would accept their offered price (lower than what I was asking) on a couch I was selling, but that it was first come, first served and if someone else got there with money first, then I would take their offer. When they got out to the house, the lady was really rude to me, told me she didn't think it was worth the price she mentioned on the phone and wanted me to throw in an armchair I was also trying to sell. I told her I couldn't do that, so she asked me to lower the price on the couch. By this time she had been so totally rude, that I wasn't going to do it. She actually told me "but, dear, I'm here and I can pay you something. Isn' that better than any other offer you have right now?" I told her that I would consider a fair offer. She ended up paying me the amount she offered on the phone. As her husband was loading the couch, she said "now, I can go ahead and load that chair up and take it off your hands." I told her how much it would be & she said "I didn't mean I would pay for it, just that I would take it off of your hands." Huh! 

 

[gardenmom5]

I think haggling is in the blood.  dh haggles, me, not so much. . . . . he will low-ball, and let them know the offer is open they can come back later. one really nice bedroom set (I *wish* they'd accepted the offer when we made it).  he gave them our number and told them to call if they changed their mind.  they came back a month later offering it to us for what we had originally offered.  (I'd already bought something else.  so, lesson for them too.)

 

you really have to know your prices and your market.  you also have to know your seller.  some are savvy and reasonable.   some . . . . . . .   think their 50yr old crochet booklet (of which there were dozens) with 10 cents on the cover at their garage sale should sell for the current going rate in the stores of $3.00 each. (they were clearly hoarders.  I was sorry to not have time to go back the next weekend for the entertainment value of seeing just how much stuff they had left because no one would pay what they were asking.).

 

that said -  sometimes  you pay what they ask before they realize they aren't asking as much as it's actually worth.  (I've had people pad the listing to a reasonable price, and when asked how much they wanted, they came down.  run, don't walk.  most recently dh's car. private sale.  it was a great deal at their padded asking price.  when we asked how much they wanted, they dropped the price nearly 10%.  we'll take it.)

 

oh yeah - when haggling, you have to be prepared to walk away.

[GSOchristie]

I am a haggler :).  I am on multiple FSOT boards for my area.  I always pm the buyer (never on the thread) and say, "I know you just listed it at this price, but I'm only able to pay this price.  If you want to think about it for a few days and see if you get your asking price, I'm happy to wait, no pressure."  That way they know what I'm willing to pay and they can come back to me if they feel it's reasonable.  If someone asks me to come down on my prices, I usually do if they are willing to come and get the item from me, rather than meeting, which it sounds like you are doing a pick up anyway.

 

[gardenmom5]

 I did tell one person on the phone once that I would accept their offered price (lower than what I was asking) on a couch I was selling, but that it was first come, first served and if someone else got there with money first, then I would take their offer. When they got out to the house, the lady was really rude to me, told me she didn't think it was worth the price she mentioned on the phone and wanted me to throw in an armchair I was also trying to sell. I told her I couldn't do that, so she asked me to lower the price on the couch. By this time she had been so totally rude, that I wasn't going to do it. She actually told me "but, dear, I'm here and I can pay you something. Isn' that better than any other offer you have right now?" I told her that I would consider a fair offer. She ended up paying me the amount she offered on the phone. As her husband was loading the couch, she said "now, I can go ahead and load that chair up and take it off your hands." I told her how much it would be & she said "I didn't mean I would pay for it, just that I would take it off of your hands." Huh! 

 

I had a woman with her son come to my house looking at dd's viola who did something similar.  it was obvious he was a beginning student, but she was trying to act all sophisticated music mother and look down upon the instrument.  I just rolled my eyes, as I knew what it was worth and it was a fair price.  (you're free to leave lady.)  later I had a college student come by who was a violinist who needed a viola.  He played it for 20 seconds, and was ecstatic to pay what I was asking.

[gardenmom5]

  I will never understand why some sellers get bent out of shape over receiving an offer they don't want to accept.  No one is forcing them to, it's just an offer.

 

it's because some buyer's convey their feeling of entitlement to the item at below list.  I've also had enough "oh, I didn't bring that much cash with me, will you accept __?" that even if that's the only offer, I now say no on principle. they are wasting my time, and that really irks me.  they are being obnoxious and I've enough experience to notice they are also, frequently, being duplicitous. as in: they came deliberately planning on misrepresenting themselves to get it for less.

 

if it is someone just asking "will you accept_?" in an e-mail or over the phone, that's completely different.

[Guest]

I just bought a used minivan in January, and only had $300 less than her asking price to spend.  I contacted the seller and flat out said, "Before I ask any questions about the van, I need you to know that this is what I have to spend.  I understand that it is less than your asking price, so I will ask if you would accept that offer before I ask anything more."  She appreciated my honesty, and was willing to negotiate a price.  The worst she could say was no.

[DawnM]

Unfortunately, I don't handle attitude well and often the no comes with a tone of being highly offended that you would even think to offer that.

 

Or, as has happened another time, I offered a low price and when they realized that was the best they were getting, they told me I could buy it but then gave me attitude the entire time I was at their house about how much they were losing and how much they had spent on it and I better appreciate it, blah, blah, blah.  I still think about it when I see those bookshelf/case sets and it makes me feel violated in some way.

 

Dawn

 

 

I just bought a used minivan in January, and only had $300 less than her asking price to spend.  I contacted the seller and flat out said, "Before I ask any questions about the van, I need you to know that this is what I have to spend.  I understand that it is less than your asking price, so I will ask if you would accept that offer before I ask anything more."  She appreciated my honesty, and was willing to negotiate a price.  The worst she could say was no.

 

[indigomama]

I'm probably going to be against most people here, but I HATE haggling. And I really HATE lowballing. When I post something for sale, I have researched what it is worth, what I really need to get out of it to even make it worth my time to sell it, and priced it accordingly. I find it rude, when people ask me to take a big price drop. 

 

Again, it might just be me. 

[DawnM]

Well, that has been part of my hesitation.  I don't want to be rude or insult.

 

However, let me ask you.

 

If someone comes and says, "I only have X amount, would you consider taking that?"  Do you find that different than when someone says, "I'll give you $50!"

 

I once sold a an ipod touch.  I had it listed for $150.  One person emailed and said, "Would you take $125?"  and another person emailed and said, "You get $100 and you deliver it to me."  I found the offers quite different.

 

Dawn

 

 

I'm probably going to be against most people here, but I HATE haggling. And I really HATE lowballing. When I post something for sale, I have researched what it is worth, what I really need to get out of it to even make it worth my time to sell it, and priced it accordingly. I find it rude, when people ask me to take a big price drop. 

 

Again, it might just be me. 

 

[Lara in Colo]

I think honesty is the best route here--- You only have so much money-- say that and be frank about it.  Don't be offended if they say no.

I had a lady selling legos once and I am sure they were a good deal, I just didn't have that much to spend.  I told her so and she didn't take my offer, but no hard feelings. 

[LucyStoner]

In that case I am upfront and a little flattering to them and somewhat self effacing. Ie-

 

"I saw your ad for the great bedroom set. It looks fabulous and I would love to buy it. I am sure you are getting plenty of interest at your price but I only have $x to spend. On the off chance you don't sell it at your asking price in a little bit, please let me know if you would consider selling it for $x. Thanks!"

 

I have frequently made deals this way. As a seller, I appreciate offers like this. The only offers I ignore are the abrupt, rude, sob story or absurd ones. Like "I want to buy your brand new iPod. I will give you $10" or ones that are asking for it for free or a deal because of some drama story. Sometimes people overprice things a little expecting to negotiate (or hoping to get lucky with a shy but interested buyer who is in a hurry and not looking for the best price). An offer of 2/3 the asking for most non-vehicle purchases isn't really a low ball. A low ball is asking for the seller to basically give them the item. I had one guy who demanded I sell him a pottery barn kids table set for $20. His email was like "I will buy your table. I will give you $20. I will be there at 4:30 next Tuesday. Give me your address." Uh, no. I sold it within the day for $250- he was smoking something. :p. There is no blue book for person to person sales aside from cars so it is hard to gauge value. And sometimes sellers erroneously think that the selling price is based on their price for it (before use) and not its relative demand in the local market.

[indigomama]

Well, that has been part of my hesitation.  I don't want to be rude or insult.

 

However, let me ask you.

 

If someone comes and says, "I only have X amount, would you consider taking that?"  Do you find that different than when someone says, "I'll give you $50!"

 

I once sold a an ipod touch.  I had it listed for $150.  One person emailed and said, "Would you take $125?"  and another person emailed and said, "You get $100 and you deliver it to me."  I found the offers quite different.

 

Dawn

 

If the approach, is as other posters have shared, expressed politely, " I have x amount, if you cannot sell it otherwise would you please consider my offer" I usually accept it. But that is rarely how things are approached.  It's usually as you said, " You get $100 and you deliver it to me". So, no, I would not be offended at the first, but I also wouldn't feel obligated to take the deal either.

[Guest]

I'm probably going to be against most people here, but I HATE haggling. And I really HATE lowballing. When I post something for sale, I have researched what it is worth, what I really need to get out of it to even make it worth my time to sell it, and priced it accordingly. I find it rude, when people ask me to take a big price drop. 

 

Again, it might just be me. 

 

When I post something for sale, I always post it higher than my asking price.  So if I have a used cell phone that I want $50 out of, I will post it for $75.  Most people will offer less, and it is usually pretty close to what I really want to get out of it.  They think they are getting a deal, and I get what I want from it. :)  It is pretty common around here for people to do so.  Now I do agree that sometimes people are just smoking something and offer ridiculous amounts.  To those I just say no thanks.  In the case of my van, we are talking a couple thousand, so the 300 less than her asking price wasn't a huge deal to her.  And she knew it was going to someone who really needed the break.  She had had people call and offer her $200 for it.  THAT is insulting.

[DawnM]

Is see this on our local sales group.

 

A person will post a Coach purse they bought for $150 or whatever and say they want $75.

 

People will publicly respond with, "Will you take $15?"  

 

I cringe inside and I don't even want the purse!  

 

 

When I post something for sale, I always post it higher than my asking price.  So if I have a used cell phone that I want $50 out of, I will post it for $75.  Most people will offer less, and it is usually pretty close to what I really want to get out of it.  They think they are getting a deal, and I get what I want from it. :)  It is pretty common around here for people to do so.  Now I do agree that sometimes people are just smoking something and offer ridiculous amounts.  To those I just say no thanks.  In the case of my van, we are talking a couple thousand, so the 300 less than her asking price wasn't a huge deal to her.  And she knew it was going to someone who really needed the break.  She had had people call and offer her $200 for it.  THAT is insulting.

 

[unsinkable]

Dawn, did I miss an update?

 

Did you get make an offer?

 

My SIL finds the best stuff on CL! And she jumps on it. Free jacuzzi. $50 for a 8 piece outdoor dining set. Stuff like that. Huge outdoor rug $5. I don't know how she does it.

[DawnM]

Updating.  Sorry, I was out all day yesterday.

 

I decided to wait a few more days and see if she would drop the cost a bit.

 

I contacted her Thur night and she had just sold it and sold it for more than I would have offered.  

 

It is fine.  I wasn't dying to have it, if I had been, I would have either offered sooner or been willing to spend more, neither of which I did.

 

I am happy for her to have gotten more money out of it.

 

Dawn

[DawnM]

I have heard one trick is to type in what you want and add the word "divorce" or "moving"

 

Both of those necessitate faster liquidation and the sellers are often more motivated.

 

Dawn

 

 

Dawn, did I miss an update?

Did you get make an offer?

My SIL finds the best stuff on CL! And she jumps on it. Free jacuzzi. $50 for a 8 piece outdoor dining set. Stuff like that. Huge outdoor rug $5. I don't know how she does it.

 

[GSOchristie]

Is see this on our local sales group.

 

A person will post a Coach purse they bought for $150 or whatever and say they want $75.

 

People will publicly respond with, "Will you take $15?"  

 

I cringe inside and I don't even want the purse!  

 

LOL, Dawn, I see you are in NC, any chance the Triad?  If so, I bet we are on one of the same FSOT groups that is a Coach handbag market ;).

[DawnM]

No, I am in Charlotte.

 

 

LOL, Dawn, I see you are in NC, any chance the Triad?  If so, I bet we are on one of the same FSOT groups that is a Coach handbag market ;).