Do you get offended when...

[Zthun]

...you get a lowball offer or get asked to pay too much for a game? I've seen some people that say they get really pissed at a bad offer.

I would like to say I'm the guy that doesn't and it make no sense to me, but I can't. I understand how those people feel, and it kind of pisses me off as well. I get really irritated when I see low budget sports games for $10-$15 at flea markets; the craigslist and ebay idiots who charge $1000+ dollars for an atari 2600 blow my mind as well. It just boggles my mind why some people would buy something for that price, or how anyone can be that naive when pricing their goods.

[mb7241]

I understand...it irritates the living heck out of me, too. I went into a Goodwill a couple weeks back, they had a Sanyo Betamax player/recorder in there. Now, this was in fairly nice shape, but I had no way of being sure it worked (no tapes around, nor were there any TVs to grab and hook up to it). The price? $100. I asked for a better price, all they said was $80. I told them how uncomfortable I'd feel dropping $80 on something that I didn't know if it worked...that I'd give them $40 (which in truth, I wasn't even really comfortable with that)... They said, "It's rare...it goes for more than that on eBay." I then proceeded to tell them it didn't, and then I walked out of the store. That's the Goodwill in Athens (TN)...the one here in Cleveland doesn't get as much good stuff, but the people treat you much better.

[jeffg]

When I post a thread with prices, i will put if you don't lke my prices make an offer. I don't mind someone making a lower offer, but it kind of ticks me off when someone offers me 1/4 my normal asking price.

I usually base my price on avg ebay rate minus about 10%-15%

I could see someone offering me 75% of my asking price, but if i ask $40 for something don't offer $10, it is a waste of my time and theirs.

Or I had some complete snes games, i posted one for $15, and a guy asked if I would take $5 SHIPPED for the game. At best the shipping is $3 for a complete game, so that is $2 for the game, that is kind of stupid in my opinion.

[SamuraiSmurfette]

Everyone's gonna lowball you.
Last xmas I had a digital frame.
I never opened it, it was a nice Kodak one that retailed at $125.
I listed it at $75
Can't tell you how many offers I had like this:
"i giv u $30 and i pick it up tonight. ok"
Eventually, I got my asking price.
but MAAAAN
If I wanted to give it away....I would!

[coreys429]

I am trying to sell a T Mobile Dash through my local paper at the moment. Price $150 because its only a few months old and still complete in the box. On Thanksgiving I get a call while I was on the freeway driving home, a guy calls asks me to describe the phone. I told him I would call him the next day about the phone since I'm on the freeway and its thanksgiving. Next day he calls asking about the phone. I tell him all the details about the phone. Then he asks the lowest I would go. I told him $125 since its a new phone pretty much and to get it used else where you would be paying at least $125 to $175 and shipping. His offer $80. I told him I couldn't go that low. So he tells me I should call him in a few days if it doesn't sell. Then next day he wants to see the phone. So I meet in local store by my house. He starts inspecting the phone. He asks why doesn't it turn on and wheres the manual. I explain the manual is the CD and the battery is dead because it wasn't charged. He wanted me to take off another $20 or so because of the missing manual. He's like well I can't find the manual...my answer look online or go to a TMobile place. Finally I asked him, do you need a phone or do you need an all in one phone. He tells me just a phone to call people on. I get the box and phone back from him and tell him this is not the phone for you. This all happened within 3 days of him calling me.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I still balk at the people who want $20 for Super Mario / Duck Hunt. And laugh. And leave.

[ryborg]

I am trying to sell a T Mobile Dash through my local paper at the moment.

i found your problem

[portnoyd]

...you get a lowball offer or get asked to pay too much for a game? I've seen some people that say they get really pissed at a bad offer.

I have thicker skin in this case and brush it off. Everyone's looking for a deal and everyone's looking to maximize their money at the same time. This is just a casualty of that war.

[Zthun]

I have thicker skin in this case and brush it off. Everyone's looking for a deal and everyone's looking to maximize their money at the same time. This is just a casualty of that war.

I agree but some people are just plain tards. What makes anyone think that someone will price a $100 item and give it away for $10. Likewise, what makes anyone think that someone will buy a $100 item for $1000 just cause they have the money?

[FOnewearl]

I agree but some people are just plain tards. What makes anyone think that someone will price a $100 item and give it away for $10. Likewise, what makes anyone think that someone will buy a $100 item for $1000 just cause they have the money?

They probably figure that if they try enough eventually it will work on somebody even if it takes a lifetime. Even if I'm no good at darts if I throw enough darts I'll eventually get a bullseye seems to be the kind of thinking here.

I agree that it's a waste of time as your saying but that's all some people seem to know. I used to get a kick out of some of the things people would do on Diablo II in hopes that you would be dumb enough to fall for it and that they could steal your items when surely less then 1% of the people with stuff they would want to steal would actually fall for it. Even when it should have been obvious that I'm just going along and messing with them they would usually keeping going along with it anyways and play dumb.

[Carey85]

When I'm buying and see something with a stupid price, I typically walk away from it. I don't tell the seller he is stupid or get smart with him/her or otherwise make an ass out of myself. However, I'm almost always going to lowball on something that I want unless I think that the seller is going to eat a loss. As a result, I typically offer 80% of the asking price ($4 for a $5 item, $8 per $10, etc.) and 9 times out of 10 I walk away with the item.

When I'm selling I typically have the same 80% policy although I will go even lower if the buyer purchases multiple items, as a bulk discount goes with the territory and is justly deserved as it benefits both parties. Not tooting my own horn here, but I've never had anyone complain about my prices in the years that I've sold videogames, or any other item for that matter. So long as I make a healthy profit on an item, I'm happy. What infuriates me is the dickheads that offer $4 and $5 on a $10 item that I should have priced at $15. I understand that everyone is out for a good deal, myself included, but I'm not going to take it in the ass just to get rid of something even if it means turning a profit.

[Aussie2B]

In cases where the seller doesn't list any price at all, I think it would be unfair to get offended by a low offer. I mean, not everybody is going to be an expert on the value of an item, so they may believe they're actually giving a fair or generous offer. All it takes is a simple correction and that's that.

Now if a price is already listed, that's a different matter, but it depends on how fair the original price is. I know I've offered only 40-50% of the asking price on eBay on multiple occasions, but that's because I know the seller is overcharging. And usually they know they're overcharging too and will accept my offer or one only slightly higher since we both know that my offer is a realistic price for the item (or sometimes even more than the item would likely sell for if it was in a normal auction).

[Baloo]

I don't mind people haggling when I'm selling stuff at all, I'm reasonable and usually give them it at the price they're asking, because most people don't try and lowball you to the point where it's just ridiculous. A couple dollars off is fine depending on the item. I won't get pissed off or anything about it. And if I don't like the offer, I'll usually counter-offer with something in-between, rather than be like "NO THIS PRICE TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT."

I don't like it when people have something priced too high and won't haggle it down to a reasonable price. And then they make it sound like you're getting a good deal at X price that's 20% or more above market value.

[Gameguy]

It really depends on how they ask. Some people ask politely and I don't mind this(I might not accept it though), other people tell me that they'll give me $xx.xx amount because that's what it's worth. When they say it like that I'll just tell them no. Asking is one thing but telling me is different, especially if they say they'll buy it for a lower amount only if I can deliver it across town.

[Atarileaf]

It really depends on how they ask. Some people ask politely and I don't mind this(I might not accept it though), other people tell me that they'll give me $xx.xx amount because that's what it's worth. When they say it like that I'll just tell them no. Asking is one thing but telling me is different, especially if they say they'll buy it for a lower amount only if I can deliver it across town.

Yep, I'm always very polite as a buyer and seller. Its the whole "catch more flies. . ." thing. Plus its just my human nature to treat people fairly even if they aren't. As has been mentioned, if it doesn't work out I walk away, no harm done but I agree, the way a person approaches you as a buyer or seller makes all the difference.

[TurboGenesis]

When someone asks an outrageous price I just move on past it. I can't be bothered with someone overpricing something. It will just sit and they will be stuck with it. That is on them.

When someone lowballs me, I tell them I decline and would rather keep it then give it away. I have sold several cars and people like to offer ridiculous low prices… Its been a while though since I had been doing that and times were better where I could sit on a car for 3 months and get a reasonable offer after 20 junk offers. Patience is key when selling something and standing firm on price.

I can't be bothered to get angry at lowball offers - I think the people inquiring get more mad when I say I refuse to sell that low and will just be happy to keep what I have rather then dump it off on some stranger.

[darkslime]

Not really, I just ignore em.

[PentiumMMX]

I only get offended when they are rude about it.

For example, one guy at a garage sale I went to a few years ago had a PSone for sale (Missing the AC adapter, with a broken controller) for $25. I made an offer of $10 (My PSone had died, so I was looking for a replacement and did not want to pay that much for a system missing a vital component and having a broken controller), but he was quite rude when he heard my offer; making claims that it "goes for more than that on on eBay" and hinting towards me being an idiot for making such a low offer.

[mobiusclimber]

What bothers me is definitely the way people ask, and frankly, I get this crap A LOT on Craigslist:

1) I have all my prices listed but someone, after sending me several emails about wanting five rare and expensive games, sends me an email asking if I'll take $40 for all of them (the last one was for Ogre Battle 64, Harvest Moon 64, Kirby 64 and two other games). When I laughed and told em that just one of those games (of the first two) was worth $40 they replied they had no idea and just wanted games for their kids. WTF? What kid wants Ogre Battle 64? How can you read the titles and not the prices next to them?

2) Someone writes out a list of what games they want, I tell them how much that will be (giving a discount for buying a bunch at one time), they ask all kinds of questions about games (what kind of game is this, what system is this for, etc etc), want even more games on top of it, then say they'll give me an amount that's $20 less than my original offer (after adding more games on top) because they're driving from far away.

3) "I'll pay X for Y." This just makes me reply with "no you won't, at least not from me."

Be courteous, ask, feel free to haggle, but don't be a jackass about it.

[kedawa]

I get offended by vague, open-ended thread titles, but I check them out anyway. :(

[ScottK]

i usually don't get offended, but did earlier this week. someone on craigslist offered me around $.20 cents per game for my entire xbox 360 and wii collection. his excuse was that he's bought over 4,000 games from pawn shops and paid less than $150 for all of them. yeah right, unless he's got all crap genesis sports titles.

[ErmangelnSeelen]

I am trying to sell a T Mobile Dash through my local paper at the moment. Price $150 because its only a few months old and still complete in the box. On Thanksgiving I get a call while I was on the freeway driving home, a guy calls asks me to describe the phone. I told him I would call him the next day about the phone since I'm on the freeway and its thanksgiving. Next day he calls asking about the phone. I tell him all the details about the phone. Then he asks the lowest I would go. I told him $125 since its a new phone pretty much and to get it used else where you would be paying at least $125 to $175 and shipping. His offer $80. I told him I couldn't go that low. So he tells me I should call him in a few days if it doesn't sell. Then next day he wants to see the phone. So I meet in local store by my house. He starts inspecting the phone. He asks why doesn't it turn on and wheres the manual. I explain the manual is the CD and the battery is dead because it wasn't charged. He wanted me to take off another $20 or so because of the missing manual. He's like well I can't find the manual...my answer look online or go to a TMobile place. Finally I asked him, do you need a phone or do you need an all in one phone. He tells me just a phone to call people on. I get the box and phone back from him and tell him this is not the phone for you. This all happened within 3 days of him calling me.

Holy wall of text. My eyes were scrolling along the screen until they got slammed in the face by this.

Anyways, I only get mad sometimes. Yeah, expensive sports games piss me off, but what really makes me mad is when I really want the item...especially when it's not very common. Say I want a special edition of a console, and I'm willing to pay market value (and even over), but they want like $400 for it...that pisses me off.

Another one is when this fag at the flea market sets up his stupid little tents and then charges more for DS games than they are brand new in stores -_-

For lowballs, I can't say I've received many...I usually price my stuff to sell (in some cases, priced to sell IMMEDIATELY), but when I offer someone less, I'm definitely reasonable...Although I will admit, I'm bad about craigslist. I love fucking with stupid sellers. When they want $250 for a ps2 system with like 30 TERRIBLE games, I'll offer them $40 :angel:

Oh yeah, something that really does get to me are people who overcharge habitually on imports and computer parts. These two userbases are the WORST about it. I realize that when you pay $400 for a video card, you don't want to lose too much money, but to list it at $200 is just fucking stupid (when It's like $220 new)...and this is after they've overclocked the PISS out of it for 6 months. The import people are bad because they pay insane rates from import stores and the like, and then pay insane shipping on top of that...2 years pass, and then they still want $100 for their item. It's just stupid. If I pay $60 to ship something that I paid $60 for, I might try to get $85 out of it, but I'm not going to expect them to pay for the shipping.

[mobiusclimber]

Another one is when this fag at the flea market...

... The what?! :angry:



If I pay $60 to ship something that I paid $60 for, I might try to get $85 out of it, but I'm not going to expect them to pay for the shipping.

If you only paid $60 for it plus shipping, then charging $85 IS expecting them to pay at least PART of the shipping. I don't have any problem with that, charge people what you can get away with. I just don't see how you can say you're not expecting them to pay for the shipping when you clearly are to some extent.

[TheDomesticInstitution]

When someone says "make an offer" when they don't list a price, they are opening themselves up to low ball offers. I get irritated when I see a CL ad saying "Make an offer, but no low balling." People who say this, secretly hope someone will offer them more than the item it worth.

[Raedon]

There is a sucker born everyday. A friend of mine in net' security told me fake Viagra spam people make over $20k A DAY. And people who scam with the "YOUR COMPUTER IS INFECTED - BUY OUR PRODUCT!" make over $100k a day. Not a week, not a year, A DAY.

I've sold common 2600's with a few very common games and had people bid them up far higher then I ever thought they would go. I actually stopped buying systems to sell around 2004. I got tired of people buying a 2600 I got for $5 and cleaned up in a lot with a bunch of carts that actually HAD WATER coming out of them for $120 and complaining a month later because a switch broke. The thing was sold "AS-IS."

I never get offended about such trivial things in my life anymore.

I'll openly mock a person for selling something for more just to see if I can pinch a $5 spot but that's more of a haggling tool of mine. Throw the guy off a bit with a lowballl offer and a slam of the price then see where it goes from there.

More then likely if you sell you will have people act irrational in many different ways. Play the game like a champ or just say fuck em. Don't let it get under your skin.

[Fuyukaze]

Nope to either. If someone lowballs me, I ignore them. If someone either refuses to negotiate a price or has the original price set too high, I write them off as well. I'm actualy more offended when I'm selling stuff on a forum that others are for less with the stipulation there's room to negotiate, and no one even bothers to offer something. All the while everyone is going crazy over the other persons higher prices. Also, It annoys me when I offer 75%-80% of someone's asking price and they dont even bother to fire back a counter offer and instead either deny it with no reason given or ignore it completly. If it's too low, say something. If you want the full BIN or asking price, dont list a best offer option.

[Urzu402]

I don't mind but of course I never got an offer before, all I get is spam so I would actually appreciate an offer

[tkusina]

To the people who are offended by lowball offers, do you get offended by offers that are well over the "going" price? Would you not accept a higher offer?

Everyone's value of an item are different regardless what the "going" price is. There are some things that i want but might only offer 50% of the asking price because it has less value to me. If they disagree then no big deal. If they agree then i get the item for what it is valued to me. Also, condition plays a large role in perceived value. I find alot of people do not take condition in to account when pricing. Yes that game sold on ebay for $100 but that was mint, but your box is ripped and crushed, your label is cut and the cart is dirty.

On the other hand i have offered over the asking price to secure the item if i really want it. I have never had anyone not accept my over offer. Should i be offended?

The only reason a price goes up or down anyway is because someone is willing to buy or sell the item for above or below the "going" price.

Lowballing is no worse then anyone trying to maximize their profits.

[Ye0ldmario]

When people on craigslist lowball me I either just don't even respond and delete the email, tell them to fuck off, or if I'm desperate to get rid of something I will let sell it to them.

[mobiusclimber]

To the people who are offended by lowball offers, do you get offended by offers that are well over the "going" price? Would you not accept a higher offer?

Everyone's value of an item are different regardless what the "going" price is. There are some things that i want but might only offer 50% of the asking price because it has less value to me. If they disagree then no big deal. If they agree then i get the item for what it is valued to me. Also, condition plays a large role in perceived value. I find alot of people do not take condition in to account when pricing. Yes that game sold on ebay for $100 but that was mint, but your box is ripped and crushed, your label is cut and the cart is dirty.

On the other hand i have offered over the asking price to secure the item if i really want it. I have never had anyone not accept my over offer. Should i be offended?

The only reason a price goes up or down anyway is because someone is willing to buy or sell the item for above or below the "going" price.

Lowballing is no worse then anyone trying to maximize their profits.

My ads are never "give me an offer" ad. If someone asks you to send an offer, then they shouldn't be offended by the offer they receive. Simple as that. What pisses me off is when it's obviously someone trying to get the expensive stuff for nothing. I'll have a long list of games and the person picks out all the expensive ones that have prices next to them of $30 apiece or more and offers me $10 for all of them.

Here's an example: I had an ad up with prices for N64 games. Someone sent me an email saying they wanted CIB Kirby, Harvest Moon and a couple other over $20 games, all of which were clearly marked with prices. So I said, ok when can you come over. I get an email back saying, I can come over x time and give you $40 for them. I was like WTF?! So I sent an email back saying Harvest Moon is worth $40 by itself. The person responds with "I didn't know, I just wanted some games for my kids. *sad face*" Yeah right, you just picked all the expensive titles out, didn't realize that they all had prices next to them (?), and those games are just for your kids?

What's frustrating about it is the person is just wasting my time and theirs. Read the ad, look at the prices. What makes you think someone is going to give you $100+ worth of games for $40???

[bunnybum]

Why get offended?

If the seller asks for offers, of course I'll lowball him. It's the way of the trade.
If the seller turns down my lowball offer so what? I didn't really expect someone to part with <game X> for only $Y, but why offer more if he actually DID accept the offer? You can always offer him more.

What does tick me off, though, is sellers ignoring every offer made by interested party X after an initial lowball offer. If you decide to sell something and tells people to make offers without stating a minimum amount of cash you open yourself up to lowball offers, so don't be a dick about it. Sift through the offers and kindly turn them down but don't ignore other higher offers by the same guy.

Did this make sense? I kinda lost track while dealing with customers.

The "morale" is this. Everybody wants everything for nothing, and we all know it, so deal with it. Have fun. :)

[tubeway]

Outside of game collecting communities, I don't really get offended by people lowballing. It's pretty tough to figure out what people are thinking or where they're coming from when they're just emailing you a quick offer. When you're selling on something like craigslist, you'll encounter just as many oblivious people offering you pennies for your stuff as you will people selling you 50 cent copies of SNES RPGs at garage sales.

However, when I sell something HERE, especially something both in demand and valuable, and I'm already selling it at a blowout price to entice quick sales, I DO get offended by assholes that lowball me. Even moreso when it's coming from a longtime member. This is because I feel like we're supposed to be a community, and when someone's obviously trying to take advantage of the situation it just shows a complete lack of respect and selfishness. I sold a lot of 27 complete, boxed TG16 titles about six months ago and I can't tell you how many jerks were sending me offers of like $100 because they knew I was in need of cash.

But I guess when you have a community strongly based around people hoarding shit and finding the best bargains possible, you're going to have a lot of folks just looking out for number one.

I understand people being disappointed by sellers not bothering to counteroffer their lowballs, but really, how many people want to spend several days PMing back and forth after a 50% offer to bring up to something more reasonable like 80%? Especially if the listed price is already really good and they might be able to just sell it outright to someone else without negotiation?

The next time someone sends me a ridiculous lowball offer, I'm going to respond with a picture of some men's briefs, and a message saying, "These may help fix your lowballs."

Actually, here you go....

http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/342655/1391594/0/1119575835/Seamless_underwear_men_s_briefs.jpg

[bunnybum]

This is because I feel like we're supposed to be a community...

On this, I couldn't agree more but out in the "real" world it's every man for himself. On specialized boards as this one there are unwritten rules when it comes to trading and buying stuff, and obviously, if you want to buy one particular game, you already know what it's worth, so there's no need to haggle or throw out a ridiculous offer hoping the seller will bite.

However, if I'm at a flea market or similar, I want to get as much for as little as possible, and I'm sure I'm not the only one :)

[Gameguy]

To the people who are offended by lowball offers, do you get offended by offers that are well over the "going" price? Would you not accept a higher offer?
I've accepted a higher offer before, someone wanted a few N64 games and offered to pay $5 more if I could hold onto them for a few days as they couldn't pick them up right away, I did and they were happy to get the games. I offered more for some ads too, I didn't mind paying more either. A couple of times a few people were really far away so I offered extra if they could meet me closer, they did and I don't regret it.

Of course, I recently had someone offer me extra for an N64 system. I replied back shortly after and was told that they got another one already and just wanted controllers now. It wasn't like I took too long to reply back, that was really annoying. It seems a lot of people are like this now for some reason. I don't mind if someone replies to ask questions but if you just say "I want it, when can I get it", you should follow through with it.


I sold a lot of 27 complete, boxed TG16 titles about six months ago and I can't tell you how many jerks were sending me offers of like $100 because they knew I was in need of cash.
Whenever I sell anything I try to avoid telling any personal reasons for why I'm selling it. Even if I could really use the cash, I won't just say I'm desperate as that just draws in the lowballers. You can say you need to clear up space, or it just isn't used anymore, but never say you're desperate for cash.



I've also had people ask me if I wanted $5 each or $5 for everything, when everything was priced individually with different amounts. I just ignored that one. I also ignored a reply asking for a game that was sold, I highlighted the name a different colour and had the word "sold" next to it so it shouldn't have been asked. I would have removed the name completely but I didn't want to take another picture of the games I had left.

[ErmangelnSeelen]

However, when I sell something HERE, especially something both in demand and valuable, and I'm already selling it at a blowout price to entice quick sales, I DO get offended by assholes that lowball me. Even moreso when it's coming from a longtime member. This is because I feel like we're supposed to be a community, and when someone's obviously trying to take advantage of the situation it just shows a complete lack of respect and selfishness. I sold a lot of 27 complete, boxed TG16 titles about six months ago and I can't tell you how many jerks were sending me offers of like $100 because they knew I was in need of cash.


I'm with you 100% on this one. I needed some cash immediately a few weeks ago, so I listed games at prices low enough for them to sell within the hour. The prices themselves were like 10-15% below market value, but I was cutting off 20-40% for bundles...my first 2 offers were good ones. One was from a friend, like you were saying, which was nice. After that though, when people realized I needed money, I was getting all sorts of crazy offers. People wanting more than 50% off for 3-4 games, etc. It was so bad I had to cut the thread short.