Another consumer-related poll

[zzbottom]

Say you're in a shopping environment where negotiation is reasonable to anticipate (i.e. Used car dealership, flea market, antique shop, Craigslist, etc.) and you see something for sale that you might be interested in purchasing. You notice the price and it's significantly higher than you're willing to spend on the thing. What you're willing to

Comments

[zzbottom]

So I have a globe up for sale. It's a nice 16 inch globe on a well-built oak floor stand. I have it list for $175, which is a slight discount over what I believe you'd pay on ebay. I was offered $45 and it left me a little dumbfounded. Maybe it's just me.

[chienne_folle]

Anything less than half feels insulting to me. But a lot of people have no idea how much their stuff is worth; if the offerer doesn't know that you're a pro at the resale biz, they might think you're one of them...

[awfief]

This! But I'd clarify to say "insulting" isn't the right word for *me*. I'd be chagrined to offer that, so I wouldn't. Or I'd say something like "Just on the off chance this will work, I really want THING, but my budget will only allow me to afford X. Would that be workable

[zzbottom]

I did receive a different email some days ago from a gentleman who very nicely explained his situation of just going through a divorce, needing to set up a household, but always having wanted such a thing all to preface him saying that he had a spare $75 and if I was interested in moving the globe, he had that to offer. It was a perfectly reasonable approach and told him that I wasn't able to sell at that price, but appreciated his offer. That was an entirely reasonable approach in my book.

This most recent case was an email, the entirety of which read "45 cash?". If someone can't manage an entire sentence, even if they're writing from their phone (which they were), then I don't feel a need to share the best side of myself with them.

[veek]

Price negotiation is *really* culturally and context-determined. In the U.S., I generally probably wouldn't make an initial offer less than 70% of the asking price.

[plymouth]

Yeah. I put 50% but that's pretty conditional - I couldn't really imagine asking less than 70% without some kind of caveat - i.e. I found a flaw they hadn't noticed, or I saw one for sale elsewhere recently for much less than they're asking.

[moominmolly]

I think I would say half? But in reality I probably wouldn't offer that little unless I knew they were totally out of line (vs just not being willing to pay that much).

[rosif3r]

i put a number, but it's not that simple to me. i would say it's a combination of factors, including things like cost of item, type of item, and venue

[zzbottom]

There is an apocryphal story of a "yard sale jerk" .

Jerk approaches owner with item in hand that lacks a price tag. Jerk says "I didn't see a price on here, would you take a dollar?" The owner replies "Oh, I was only asking fifty cents for that." Jerk says "Oh, would you take a quarter?"

[rosif3r]

yup. punch in the mouth...

[gipsieee]

I think the owner was foolish in that instance and should have simply said, "sure."

[42itous]

I think it depends a lot on what the object is and what the price is. Is it hand-made? Could I buy something like it elsewhere? Is it something I've been wanting for a while? Is the asking price more than $100? Less than $50? The answers to those questions and others would affect whether I would walk away or hazard an offer.