Since I usually set my prices at the lowest I'm willing to part with them at and those prices are usually reasonable (with one exception), I just give them a two word answer: "Sorry, no." Pretty much works every time.

--Moony

 

yeah- i guess what puts a burr in my rotator cuff is when people use ebay as an offense and a defense- like i had a guy who wanted a animated ultra magnus- after i pid for it wit tax and all it came up to about 50 bucks. buyer lived in the uk- i got him a quote- he told me i was trying to "ebay rape" him.

All for what woulda been a "at cost" transaction.

So i say let the sod go to forbidden planet or wherever and pay the inflated rates and his tax/gst if he can get the bloody thing, the wanker   or let him go to ebay cause obviously thats where he likes to go...

 

Yea, I think this is another major factor that prompted me to start this topic. I've had potential deals with people on the west coast (CA) fall through because they didn't want to pay the $5+ for shipping.

I mean, you do realize we live on opposite coasts and that shipping isn't cheap right?

 

Clearly you have an expectation of what an appropriate offer would be, so why wouldn't you communicate this to potential buyers? Its probably a great way to establish openness in an exchange.

Many buyers are hesitant of such non-disclosure, and likely to avoid such an offer. those that will bite, are either desperate for the product (clearly your preference), chronic hagglers, or curious (yet not willing to risk much).

From a buyer's perspective; you're seemingly at least hiding the 'bar' in the hope someone overshoots with an offer. Isn't that the same as lowballing when you know market value to be higher?

 

I also wanted to put emphasis on the fact that this thread isn't just about lowballing. Other peeves and issues apply. I just used that as one example.

But I do have a question: would it still be considered "lowballing" if someone made a low offer on a fixed price?

 

I can't stand when people sell items and do not put prices and then complain about low balling. If you know what you want, put it down, unless of course you have no idea what it is worth.

 

Thinking about it, people not putting prices in their sales threads may be the single most annoying thing anyone can do in a sales thread.

 

One of my favorites is when I see something for a good price. Then I see what is charged for shipping and it's some ridiculous fee. Sometimes it's more than the item itself.

 

I suppose, but I know what stuff's worth when I make an offer. The other party doesn't want to sell at my price, that's fine. Another plastic robit will come along.

 

Many good points here... I mostly just buy online, and my few selling experiences have been very positive. The online marketplace etiquette varies quite a bit, but here's my take:

I can't stand it when a seller doesn't give a price. It strikes me as shifty or lazy... not sure which. I mean, don't even waste my time. If you already KNOW how much you'd like to sell it for, why am I jumping through hoops trying to hit that magic number? Just give me a price and I can buy it or move on already.

The fact is, I almost never even bother reading a sale list with no prices listed, but if you're not going to list prices, you're really NOT allowed to complain about lowballing.

That said, once a price is established, people continuously trying to chip that price down to nothing are ridiculous. I've never had to deal with someone like that, but I assume they're out there. A simple "No, I'd like to get more than that if I can." does the trick though. No anger, no rudeness. To the point.

On haggling... I don't really like haggling. I like a nice clean deal, where everybody knows where they stand, and both buyer and seller are satisfied. If I'm buying a lot of stuff, I may pitch a combined price that breaks it down to a nice round number... a 10% discount, tops usually.

Or if I notice something hasn't sold in a long time, I might pitch my highest bid, just to see if the seller bites. But I like to know if I'm at least in the right ballpark. And if a seller doesn't want to go that low, again a simple "no thanks" is perfectly cool.

As someone from Canada who buys American a lot, I'm used to things being +shipping. I'm perfectly willing to pay the actual shipping charge, but when a seller starts trying to tack every little extra expense on top... gas, time, "handling", packing materials, etc... it pisses me right off. Sure I know it's a hassle to box and ship stuff, but that's part of the game. As a seller, you shouldn't act like you resent the "hassle" of having to actually sell your stuff. Your expenses as a seller should be factored into the price of your product, not added on top like hidden fees.

"Making a profit" or even "breaking even" as a seller is also not something I'm concerned with. These are used after-market toys, that I'm trying to get rid of. Anything I sell is a toy I didn't want anymore, and a bit of extra money I didn't have before. Regardless of what I paid for it, I usually sell my stuff for around half the retail price... a "fair" price for anyone (unless it's damaged, or I know it's gone up substantially in value due to rarity).

Haggling after the deal has been struck seems really tacky to me... but other than that, I wouldn't get too bent out of shape by lowball offers. If you're not okay with the price, you're not obligated to sell it, and you can be straightforward about that.

I think this should put it in perspective... now if only EVERYONE in the Junkion Exchange would just read this, and get a clue.  

zmog

 

"Making a profit" or even "breaking even" as a seller is also not something I'm concerned with. These are used after-market toys, that you're trying to get rid of. Anything I sell is a toy I didn't want anymore, and a bit of extra money I didn't have before.


I agree 100%....unless the person I am buying from has a legit business than whatever the toy sells at is a profit for them. it is something that that person does not want anymore. I do not care what the person bought it for originally...not my problem. I want the best deal period.

 

I had a friggin blast haggling at Botcon, but never lowballed anyone. But man it was a pain in the ass having to ask just about every booth i came to for a price on each item. I might as well have made a flash card and saved my voice  

Another thing about not pricing stuff, is that it basicly tells the seller "I'm interested in this, let me bend over here"
It's when they won't deal at all with you on an item that isn't priced that's frustrating. I mean, if you aren't gonna budge off that price, then you shoulda just put a tag on the damn thing in the first place  

 

Yeah, some people get a real kick out of haggling. It's an adventure, or a measure of masculine prowess or something. It's too much of a competition.

I prefer a non-confrontational, low-stress approach... here's the price. You want it, you can have it, thanks very much. There's no uncertainty, no whipping out the fast-talking members to compare size, no wondering afterward if you could have maybe done better...

But then, I'm very Canadian, so I tend to stay in my comfort zone, keep my distance, and not take any chances or step on any toes. The less actual interaction is involved, the better. It's how we roll...  

Another approach I rather like is highballing your stuff slightly. If people want it, they'll buy it, but if they're on the fence, you can default to your "real" price, or throw in a bonus, because you're a nice guy   and they leave feeling like they got a deal, and you got your price. Everybody's happy.

Of course that works best in person, not so well online... and your "real" price has to be a legitimately good buy, because otherwise it's not going to feel so special (and people might get turned off by your initial price if it's too insane).

zmog

 

Haggling doesn't bother me too much, if I think I'm being lowballed I'll just say no, no biggie. What DOES piss me off however is those folks that say they want something, have you hold it, don't pay when they say they will, and then never reply to your PM's when you try to get ahold of them.

If I've taken the time to drive to the post office to find out shipping, you can at least have the courtesy to get back to me saying you've changed your mind. I can't even guess how many potential buyers I've lost that wanted something I was holding for someone else just to never hear from that person again. 

 

Interesting...

I think every board I've traded and sold on has a group of people who have issues with how other people sell. I don't see the problem. Buy from buyers you like, don't buy from buyers you don't like. Skip threads and hit the ones who give you what you want. It's easy and shouldn't peeve anyone. It's like going to a car lot. There are 200 cars on the lot. You don't want a mini-van, so you skip those. You don't want a convertible, so you skip those. You don't want a four-door, so you skip those. You're left with cars you'd like to look and some you'd like to test drive. But you don't sit around and complain about the ones you skipped over (unless you do...then I can't help you...).

I don't know...I don't put prices cause I like the haggle. I just sold an Arcee for 6 shipped and a couple of RID cars for 15 shipped. I can live with the prices and the other guy got the price he wanted. I didn't make money...or I might have depending on what I paid for them. Others offered prices I didn't want to take at the moment, so I told them, thanks and I'll think on it. I'm not looking to get more money out of them, but I'll consider their offers on it. If they don't get my stuff, then they'll have to keep looking for what they want at the price they want to pay for it.

It shouldn't be about lowballing and high-selling. It should be about the fun of collecting what you like, dealing with the people who you like to deal with, and the excitement of getting what you want at a price you want to pay for it. Anything else is moot.

On that note...buy from me...

etmartin

 

Well not so much competition, though Cobra Zartan getting the Unicron statue for $100 was a fun one to try and one up, though my Soundwave bust for $5 pales in comparison, it was more of a "your price is ridiculous, but here's my ridiculous price, can we meet in the middle?" kinda thing. and considering it was my first Botcon, it was also my first real haggling experience.

 

Dudes, low balling is what you have to deal with all the time if you seriously want to sell Transformers. It's a buyer's market right now and will be for a long long time. The movie might shift things a little more in the seller's direction but don't count on it.

I have watched high priced TF items sell for HALF of their value only 3 years ago in the past 6 months. It's the way it is. This hobby is based on perceived value, it's time to get that part straight.

 

Again, one of the voices of reason on TFW. Good on you Sledge!

Totally agree with this. Post your price if you don't want to be lowballed. It is a very simple solution to the problem.

I've had this happen the other way before, and to this day it is really the only time I've been frustrated buying in the Junkion. The seller had an item priced at a price I was interested in. I checked on shipping charges. Total seemed fair to me (a little marked up... but nothing too bad), so I said everything sounded good to me and where could I send the payment to. I then get a message from them saying they were told they could get more than what they were asking for the item.

I know the seller has the right not to sell an item, but still??

I find this a big problem living in Canada. Canada Post rapes us up the ass on the shipping rates. It is nothing we can control. We cannot ship an item for only $5... it usually works out to $15. Sorry.

Two Sledge quotes in one response!! I know I've been guilty of this before (usually just want to get the items up and in all honesty it is just laziness on my part when I've done it). However, I do not get all pissy if someone offers me a low price on something. The "no thanks" usually works.

 

Put some asking prices on your stuff, and maybe I will.  

Obviously we all just deal with who we want to deal with. However, unless there's some kind of REALLY SPECIAL item on the block, I usually can't be bothered even going through an unpriced item list. There are lots of threads to read, and the ones without prices don't necessarily hold the promise of being worth the extra effort. It's annoying in that respect.

Generally it's to a seller's benefit to have as many people peruse one's sale list as possible, so to me it seems like the advantages of posting an asking price are self-evident. If you've got some kind of extra special super-awesome item for sale, and you like to haggle, well... sure, that can be fun... I guess.

But if I'm looking to fill some gaps in the collection or score some kitbash fodder, it just seems like a needless, self-important waste of time. I'm not going to jump through any extra hoops. Life is too short.

zmog

 

I'd have to completely agree with the sentiments expressed regarding not pricing items in a sale thread. Typically, I back right out of the thread as I don't really have the time to PM on things where I may want to merely find out the price. Usually the buyer asks, "How much are you looking for this?" The seller then replies with a price. If you know the price you want, then post it. It's just unnecessary work otherwise.

Plus, I've had some rather rude responses to offers I've made in the past. The last one was for a figure that I had sold and then later wanted to repurchase. The line that the figure was from was losing value, but I offered exactly what I had sold it for earlier when the line was "worth" more. The seller responded rather caustically to my "low" offer while referencing the prices of unsold eBay items in the process. I added him to the ignore list and moved on. He may very well be a good guy, but that sort of response turns people off and you may lose active members permanently from looking at your sales.

That said, if you're pricing your items, don't merely go by eBay completed sales. If you sell here, you're saving money, so pass that on in the price. (Plus a little more as this seems to be a safer bet now than eBay for sales.) Still, eBay is a good tool to gauge "market value" of your item if you are unsure of a price. This seems to be afflicting the many Botcon 2009 figures right now with prices on the board higher than many of the auctions which have already completed on eBay.

As for things like extra fees for handling and Paypal, there are solutions to make it easier. I know this is only applicable in the U.S., but Priority boxes are free from the USPS and, if you but and sell frequently, you can save up packing material to re-use. Further, carrier pickup is free from home. I usually use it on Saturdays and have never had a problem with packages not making it to their destination. Of course sometimes you may need to actually go to the local post office, and in those cases, just work it into your regular schedule. No special trip should be needed and no handling fees required for making the trip. (If you want charge those fees, build them into the price for the figure; it makes it easier to sell with fewer extra charges adding up to the initial price.)

I also cannot recommend enough the purchase of a small scale if you're planning on selling in any sizable quantity or expect to sell over a long period of time. They're cheap (I think mine was $15 shipped on eBay) and then you can easily quote shipping prices and print labels from home. You can, at least in the U.S., print shipping labels for every single shipping option except for First Class International. Plus, the USPS gives you a small discount for printing at home which you can either pass on to the buyer (I do this to entice sales) or use the money to slowly recoup the cost of the scale you purchased.

Paypal fees are annoying, definitely, but all you have to do is set up two Paypal accounts: one Premier and one Personal. That way you can give the buyer the option of whether they want to pay the fee and use a credit/debit card or not. I know Personal accounts limit withdrawals per month so it's not really feasible for large sales, but it works well for smaller amounts. Online checking and savings accounts are free (I use ING Direct) which can then be used to set up your Paypal accounts. I like doing this so the fee isn't something that I, as the seller, am placing on the sale, but rather it's the choice of the buyer.

I guess these really aren't (all) pet peeves, but rather how I think sales should be conducted to make it easier on both the buyer and the seller. If you put a little bit of effort into it, the whole process is much smoother and works out better for everyone. (Oh, and buyers: remember to always leave feedback!)