Negotiating Etiquette in Classifieds Forum

[Deactivated] on 13/09/2017 - 11:21
Last edited 13/09/2017 - 11:35

I recently had a negative experience attempting to negotiate with a fellow OzBargainer for an item they were selling in the Classifieds forum.

I know that generally items are relatively well priced. In this instance we have say a $300 item at $240 which is around 20% off retail.

As with all negotiations I thought I'd start low and try to meet somewhere in the middle / just thought I would try for less. I offered a pretty low price $187.50 37.5% off retail in the hope that I could start off possible negotiation.

Was met with "please don't be a low baller". I found that the same item has previously been sold for $225 so I wouldn't have thought my offer was ridiculously low to be labelled a low baller.

Maybe I should have asked if this user would take any less instead of offering a low price ?

The user was not happy - I did say "start low maybe come back with higher meet in the middle" response but the other party was quite miffed that a fellow OzBargainer was trying to get ahead at their expense.

Is it wrong to try to negotiate this way with people from the Classifieds section?

The seller ended up getting pretty pissed off after which I didn't want to deal with them anymore - promptly blocked me etc.

I ended up feeling bad about it all to be honest - trying to get other opinions.

What is and is not acceptable as a buyer? Poll

Poll Options

  • 0
    Negotiate starting 30% lower than the asking price
  • 1
    Negotiate starting 10% lower than the asking price
  • 1
    Negotiate starting 20% lower than the asking price
  • 2
    Negotiate starting over 30% lower than the asking price
  • 7
    Do not try to negotiate at all
  • 14
    Ask if they will do it for less but don't offer a price
  • 21
    Offer a bit less than the lowest you have seen it for elsewhere - provide links
  • 22
    Only offer the lowest you have seen it for elsewhere - provide links
Site Discussion

Comments

  • MercSal on 13/09/2017 - 11:36
    +4

    It's not an obligation on them to negotiate. They rejected your offer. You could offer a higher amount, or walk away. No-one is under any obligations, and if they thought you were wasting their time, I can see why they blocked you.

    Selling stuff is a drag. Mostly because of the "negotiations". Just offer what you think is a fair price, so both sides come away happy.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2017 - 11:42
      +5

      It's more that they rejected my offer and then gave me commands regarding the manner in which I negotiated. Definitely no intended time wasting at all - I was ready to buy even at the advertised price. It never hurts to try to buy for less, right?

      • SnoozeAndLose on 13/09/2017 - 11:56
        +3

        this is the problem when you start with low balling. i think people on Ozbargain already offer a reasonable price or lower price then ebay so you point to low ball.

        • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2017 - 12:02

          See this is something that definitely got me thinking. I do agree that compared to Gumtree etc in general OzBargain have great deals in the Classifieds section… I guess I was trying to OzBargain an OzBargain bit greedy but I'm second guessing myself about it as well.

        • SnoozeAndLose on 13/09/2017 - 12:14

          @Michegianni:

          You learn from it, be smarter next time

    • R-Man on 13/09/2017 - 11:55
      +2

      Just offer what you think is a fair price, so both sides come away happy.

      The seller could also counter offer what they think is a fair price, instead of trying to teach the buyer a lesson.

      I get what you mean that there's no obligation to negotiate, but then "Thanks for the offer but I can't sell it for any lower" could have sufficed as a response. Negotiation is to be expected so I'd say sellers have to be ready to deal with it civilly.

  • Axelstrife on 13/09/2017 - 11:48
    +6

    You need an option - They sound like a fwit just move on.

  • Findo on 13/09/2017 - 11:56

    You did lowball the seller, would you be happy if someone offered you such a low price for that item?

    • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2017 - 11:59
      +2

      How low is low before it falls in a "low baller" category? Honest truth - if someone low balled me I'd get excited that people are showing interest on my item and then counter offer demonstrating value.

      • Findo on 13/09/2017 - 12:01

        Haha you keep telling yourself that. If the item was sold for $225 elsewhere, I reckon $200 would be the absolute lowest you can offer without being accused of low balling. $187.50 is just ridiculous.

        • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2017 - 12:05
          +1

          I only offered $12.50 less than your suggestion and you've described it as ridiculous. Who is to say $200 is the absolute lowest ? Keep in mind these kinds of negotiations are normally:

          Start here, move back there, find in-between. At least I was hoping so.

        • Findo on 13/09/2017 - 12:23

          @Michegianni: why not offer $1 and work your way up then? You're set in your ways, nothing anyone says will change your mind - you're just looking for confirmation to make yourself feel better.

        • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2017 - 12:46
          +2

          @niggard:

          Why not offer more than the asking price, give away an extra $500 to show courtesy and end war in this world ?

          Obviously there is no real way to measure so we can argue all day. But I don't think my offer was a "low ball" offer nor was it "ridiculous".

      • MrBear on 14/09/2017 - 16:06
        +1

        How low is low before it falls in a "low baller" category?

        Whatever the sellers thinks it is, and in this case it was, and he told you.

  • BargainCowboy on 13/09/2017 - 11:58
    +2

    It all depends whether the initial asking price is legitimate. For instance, for-sale items on Gumtree are often advertised at much higher than expected. You should really have a desired price in mind, and offer about 10%-20% lower than that. Having said that, this is my technique for 2nd hand only.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2017 - 12:05
    +2

    the price you offered sounded like you where being scabby n not genuine to me, why the 0.50cents, but they also could have been more polite too.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2017 - 12:06

      To be honest - I have changed the prices around so the poster doesn't get identified easily - but kept the same percentages.

  • Seraphin7 on 13/09/2017 - 12:11
    +3

    I don't know what the item is, its condition, "market rates", etc., but I would have thought that you're doing pretty well as a seller to get 80% of the full retail price.

    I would hardly consider a mark down of 37.5% on full retail a "low ball" offer.

    On the assumption that the seller was offering a "brand new/unused" product, a price somewhere between yours and the sellers seems about right to me. Again, without knowing what the product is, but about one-third off retail under such circumstances seems about right to me.

  • 87percent on 13/09/2017 - 12:12
    +1

    this is why when you list an item for sale, whether it be on here or gumtree or wherever, you always list the price for MORE than you want because you know people are going to make offers. EG; selling a bike, you really want $220 but you list it for $250 because you know someone's going to offer you $200, and then you counter with $230 and they come back at $220

    • scrimshaw on 13/09/2017 - 12:18
      +9

      That's how retail works most of the time actually… the retailer would want to sell at $1000 for a particular widget for example, but in order to maximise returns they'd list it 20% more ($1200). When the product does go on 'sale' at $1000 people will snap it up because the perceived value of the product was at $1200.

      unfortunately, the same 15 and 20% rule that I often use to negotiate on gumtree won't apply to Ozbargain, since most ozbargainers have a much better alertness to real market prices. Tactics that work on a gumtree seller won't work on a Ozbargain user.

  • Ryanek on 13/09/2017 - 12:23
    +1

    It pays to be respectful. Sure you made a low offer but he could have just asked you to raise it. At the end of the day, he lost a possible sale.

  • onetwothreefour on 13/09/2017 - 12:32
    +2

    What is this classified section that you are talking about?

    Edit found it, never knew that was there

  • John Kimble on 13/09/2017 - 12:41
    +3

    Maybe they had been lowballed by many other people too and had a gut full.

    Or

    They are unwilling/CBF negotiating at all.

  • ronnknee on 13/09/2017 - 13:04
    +37

    Hi all, the seller who OP is referring to is me and the item is $400 Amex Travel Credit. I appreciate the efforts of OP trying to keep my anonymous. That is a courteous and respectful act even though we were at a disagreement.

    Since OP has decided to ask public for their opinion, I would like to take this opportunity and make the discussion transparent, and also have the opportunity tell my side of the story.

    Here is the transcript. I have redacted some personal information about OP which is unrelated to the discussion. The link that I provided to OP was this (basically OzBargain search page for $400 Amex Travel Credit).

    I am a believer of fair price. If you check the search page, the offer price has been consistently between $300 and $360. Very few at $300, mostly at $350. If you filter out the sold/expired classifieds, you have 2 x $320 (myself and another person), 2 x $340, 1 x 350, 1 x $360. I am offering the lowest price which I believe is a very fair price.

    When I saw OP's offer of $250, my initial thought was, are you serious? Two things to remember. I am offering the lowest current asking price. The historically lowest price for the same item is $300. OP's offer is $50 below historically lowest price and $70 below the lowest current asking price.

    That is why I questioned OP, "On what basis are you asking for $250"? How is OP's offer a fair offer? It's not like I'm selling 10 of these and OP is purchasing all of them. If that was the case, OP could negotiate on a lower price simply on volume of transactions basis. There is nothing that OP could add to the negotiation. Sure, you could say that by accepting OP's offer, I could secure a sale. Yes, but I am already offering the lowest and competitive price. There is already a high chance that someone else would find it reasonable. I do not need that sale security. To put simply, there is no justification in OP's offer being below the lowest current asking price and therefore I see it as a low ball offer, simply because it's a one-sided negotiation.

    In hindsight, maybe I could've expressed myself better and more politely to OP, seeing they're not such a bad person after reading their post (they could've put me in a much more negative light I suppose). I regularly sell on other platforms and I have the same thing happening all the time. I offer a competitive price. A potential buyer asks for significantly cheaper. It's frustrating. I just don't have the patience/tolerance for low ballers anymore.

    What annoyed me further was that it happened on OzBargain. I feel that one of the fundamental values on OzBargain is about not being ripped off. I am offering a fair price. If someone asks for a price below the fair price, then I feel that they are trying to rip me off. As OzBargainers, yes we do try to score deals. However, I do believe that we shouldn't gain more at the expense of other OzBargainers.

    I also blocked OP because I did not want to waste time arguing or escalate further. However, seeing that OP can be reasonable (not manipulating the story in their favour, being courteous/respectful by keeping me anonymous). I have now unblocked them because we can be civil about this.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2017 - 13:15
      +11

      Thank you ronnknee - you are a gentleman and a scholar.

    • battler on 13/09/2017 - 13:18
      +7

      a well worded response with details & facts, without emotion getting in the way. It is nice to get both sides of the story.

    • spackbace on 13/09/2017 - 13:25
      +15

      Personally I wouldn't consider than an aggressive response, whether I had written it or received it.

      OP just needs to adult up a bit…

      • rompastompa on 13/09/2017 - 13:56
        +6

        I think both do…

        A simple "Price is firm" (now added in comments) would have sufficed.

        The gift card might have been received as a gift, and would want to part with it as quick as possible.

        Personally, I'd side with the buyer than the seller prior to stating the price is firm. With this change, I now side more with the seller.

    • rompastompa on 13/09/2017 - 13:47
      +2

      I'll give you $260 for it.

      • KBZ on 13/09/2017 - 13:49
        +12

        blocked

    • tomsco on 13/09/2017 - 14:07
      +3

      Be honest, you created the Michegianni account before your main account and have been planning this for years, all so you can bring attention to your classified post.

      Nice sockpuppeting…

      :p

    • leiiv on 13/09/2017 - 17:22
      +1

      Would it be better then to put "non-negotiable" wordings in the post in the first place?

  • 2jzzzz on 13/09/2017 - 13:07

    Gumtree I offer 50% off listed. I'm a proud low baller and have picked up some good things cheap.

    • shrugies on 31/05/2018 - 01:04

      oooh like what ? ahaha

  • [Deactivated] on 13/09/2017 - 13:31
    +3

    Low ball low ball low ball

  • tsunamisurfer on 13/09/2017 - 13:51
    +3

    There are no rules in this game of negotiating prices.

    I like lowballing, and I don't get offended when people lowballing me.

    To me it's a game, I don't take it as an insult and with modern technology it takes you 10 seconds to reply No or counter.

    The OP's example's seller unfortunately is not uncommon, they will get upset over something trivial when all they needed to say was no.

    • noone on 13/09/2017 - 14:02
      +1

      Same. If someone puts a ridiculously low offer I just reply with a short "No" and be done with it. No offense taken.

      If they come back with another offer then I might entertain them with a reply mentioning my absolute minimum price I'd take.

  • Ughhh on 13/09/2017 - 13:59
    +3

    As with all negotiations I thought I'd start low and try to meet somewhere in the middle / just thought I would try for less. I offered a pretty low price $187.50 37.5% off retail in the hope that I could start off possible negotiation.

    That may work on (deliberately) overpriced items and/or items that do not sell well. I would agree anything lower than $300 for the $400 credit is low ball. If I'm a busy person and the buyer just wants to play games with negotiating, I'd label them as a time waster.

  • illumination on 13/09/2017 - 16:11
    +1

    Agree with the general consensus here:

    • Seller has no obligation to negotiate
    • Depends on whether the listed selling price was reasonable or not
    • The original response from seller was not aggressive

    I also think:

    • As the buyer, you have the right to make an offer and attempt to negotiate
    • Similarly, the seller has a similar right to tell you to piss off if he thinks you're being ridiculous, and if you make an offer quite obviously lower than the market price, you should understand that it may be a potential response
    • Whether this is right or not is another matter - as others have said, there is no need to be an asshat about it. The seller can just say no.
  • pegaxs on 13/09/2017 - 17:20

    The way I look at things is, if I was the one selling it, would I sell it for the price I have in mind. If yes, then offer. If you wouldn't accept this price yourself, then it's a lowball.

    But on the other side of that coin are the dreamers and reverse lowballers. The people who want drug money for items that just are not worth it. ie: used cars.

    Also, go in fore armed if you think they will think you're a low baller. Go in with market proof of what the items are actually selling for or average listing prices. If they have a $400 gift voucher and market says they usually sell for $350, aim there. Don't go in at $280 if all the evidence for market value is way above that.

  • [Deactivated] on 14/09/2017 - 04:59
    +1

    I heard a phrase once about striking a deal, it has stuck with me. "A good deal has only been struck if both parties are happy, or unhappy." That said, I research my products, I know the average retail, sale, custom and second hand price. Basically I know what its worth, I know if they have set a high price for negotiations, or a low price to sell quick, and i act accordingly. A very low sell price, I just check it out with cash in hand, no time wasting. Average price, try for a discount. High price I will lowball, to give them a reality check. They can take it or leave it, as can I. I have sold cheap to people who needed it (eg: sold off my kids old learners motorbike cheap to another 18 yr old learner), and held out on other things (eg: The saddlebags he never used. Kicked lowballers straight to the curb, they were a vanity item).

    Last week I found an epic deal on a computer when i was looking for parts, the pc had all the parts i needed for less than the price of one. I sent my son to pick it up, he balked when he found out i was paying asking price. I explained the price was way cheap, and in one of the sellers other lots was a set of nursing books. Therefore I assumed they were a nursing student who needed cash, and I was more than happy to part with what they asked, on top of the fact i had already saved $100s on his desperation sale price. Turns out the two people before me had tried to negotiate, with my pay fair sale price, I won the day, a bargain and he closed his sale within 2 hours.

  • tooblue on 14/09/2017 - 12:25
    +1

    Admit it, you're a low baller. These are typical low ballers' thoughts and behaviour. People like you flood Gumtree.

    If you enjoy your haggling skill go to a physical market place. Genuine sellers won't have time or energy to email back and forth for a few bucks. They're not as low as you.

  • lgacb08 on 14/09/2017 - 17:44

    Not applicable to this case but to be honest, ozbargain classifieds is full of hypocrites thinking that they can get the cheapest price through the main page and offloading the bargains for the maximum profit. Most of the items on sell here I can easily find on Gumtree for much cheaper.

  • Speckled Jim on 14/09/2017 - 22:00

    Voted "Ask if they will do it for less but don't offer a price"

    I recently did this, the seller knocked 12% off his (already reasonable) asking price and everyone walked away happy.

    Try to empathise a little with the seller; nobody wants to take a big loss.

  • Drifter on 15/09/2017 - 21:13

    OP, you're a lowballer. You made an unreasonably low offer and you didn't provide any rationale to support your unreasonable offer. Gumtree is full of lowballers like you. Very annoying people.

    I ended up feeling bad about it

    You should.

  • BargainTrain on 19/05/2018 - 02:09

    yeh. its kinda like when you list a 4 terabyte hard drive for $90, and someone offers you $60 (33% less) just to "get the ball rolling" so you can meet halfway in the middle, with completely noble intentions, and you end up telling that same guy they can purchase it for $100 and they then offer $75 (25% less). then perhaps you change your mind and say the guy can have it for $50 so long as he meets up quickly with you that same night near a train station in the cbd of the city you live in and then you DON'T SHOW and make sure you don't respond to messages or calls from the customer, effectively tricking them. then when they query you on it the next day make sure you block them, so you don't have to deal with that nonsense. that ought to teach them for trying to "low ball" you right? for those reading this, I made a 'low offer' to OP recently and he agreed and he ended up wasting hours of my time by pretending he was going to meet me and then he didn't. this right here is a perfect example of why some of us human beings are such hypocrites.

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