How do you deal with low-ballers?

If low-ball offers are insulting to you, you shouldn't be selling on the internet....or at a flea market for that matter.
How long does it take to say "no thanks" and move on...?
 
I guess it just depends. It seems like some folks on here think there knife is worth more than it can be bought new for. If Im selling something & I get a offer remotly close to what Im asking I will gen take it. I offered a fella 10.00 less than what I could nuy it brand new from a dealer Ive dealt with before & he acted like I just slept with his wife or something. What really irritates me is when someone says Ill take it then they take a day or so to pay then come back with I found it cheaper, if youll match the new price ill buy it.

If I offer you something Im prepared to pay as soon as you take my offer, hnowever if youy say no then come back a few days later I may not offer the same price again.
 
I am not insulted by low ball offers but they can be very annoying.

There is a couple people I have come across here that email me about every trade I have and offer 50% or less of the actual trade value.
 
Depends on my mood. Most of the time I give a polite no thanks. Sometimes I just ignore them.
 
I try and make it clear in the terms of sale that low ball offers are not considered. However, worth/value is relative to the invidual. Just have to do your best to be as clear as possible in your listing regarding your expectations. I know some folks tend to write a novel of what to do, how to contact, payment methods. To each their own I suppose.
 
I don't agree with that at all. Cars and knives are not equal at all! Even if they were equal to one another what about old classic cars that have sky rocketed in value? Look at the Striders for example, high demand = high price. There is a big difference between low balling someone a little bit and just wasting their time.

eccvets said:
sorry but they arn't insulting you mister high and mighty, they are giving your an offer and if you think your stuff is worth as much as it was new or even more, then you got another thing comming! I hate people which think their old used stuff is made out of solid gold and hate on anyone which is kind enough to give you a real offer.
just to let you know, in real life when you buy something and take it out of the package, it drops its worth by half price and depreciates as time goes on! just like a car, it loses value unless its made out of a precious metal and gems!


all you gotta say is no to an offer if you dont like it.

seriously man, get real!

In the end, money talks and you dont got it so you don't have any right to talk!
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They don't bother me that much unless you make a mistake and say yes.I will admit it happened to me once.I had a knife listed at 425.00 I got a very polite offer from someone to buy it at 300.00.Somehow in my mind I was thinking yeah I will come down 25.00 only for it to hit me that I came down 125.00 after I told him OK.I went through with it but I really watch how fast I reply to an offer now and read it a few times.
I have made lower offers at times,seller might think of it as a low ball but I don't.Offering 200.00 on a 220.00 asking price IMO is OK.
 
Ouch! You sir are a good man for sticking with that trade! I don't think I could have afforded to do such a thing!

u812 said:
They don't bother me that much unless you make a mistake and say yes.I will admit it happened to me once.I had a knife listed at 425.00 I got a very polite offer from someone to buy it at 300.00.Somehow in my mind I was thinking yeah I will come down 25.00 only for it to hit me that I came down 125.00 after I told him OK.I went through with it but I really watch how fast I reply to an offer now and read it a few times.
I have made lower offers at times,seller might think of it as a low ball but I don't.Offering 200.00 on a 220.00 asking price IMO is OK.
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I don't mind if someone offers me close to asking price its just part of selling. I had an idiot offer me a lowball price just as I posted my add so I tried to bite my tounge by not responding only to have the same idiot send me e-mails about my lack of responding in a timely manner. Most of my irritants seem to be the one who are registered users. I am not all registered users at all, most are first class, but I have never had issues with a gold member or higher.
 
From a buyers standpoint, i pay what the buyer is asking - if I think its too high, i just back off and keep looking. Sometimes thats alittle tough on customs, but if I want it bad enough, I tell the buyer that I'll take it and send a USPS MO. I then shortly recieve a box containing that which I crave. The buyer gets what he wants and so do I. Win-Win for both parties with no hard feelings. i'd rather do that than see my name come up in a thread in GB&U or have a buyer think less of me. Perhaps its because I deal with this all day long being in sales and don't wish to bring it here.
 
See knifes come, I see them go.
Make a few bucks lose a few bucks,
nature of the beast as far as Im concerned. The price I pay to play.
"It does not hurt to ask" is what everybody says
other that somebody's Pride, that can be a fragile thing.
Its nice to get a deal,
I have asked for deal, I have given a deal in some sales
some how that keeps me somewhat sane.:D
 
You beat me to it!
I have accepted several offer less than my asking price... Why? Because no one else did, and I wanted to sell it.
I'm not talking about $500 knives for $30, that's a joke, and does not warrant a reply let alone wasting your time to snap back a rude reply.
However, Getting uptight over 5-10% less than your asking price is absurd.



I once walked in to a broken down gas station with a thrift shop/garage sale room of random junk with hand written prices.
I was around 10 at the time, and had done my fair share of garage selling/buying to know I had a chance at making an offer.
I offered $5 cash for a used plastic chessboard... a reasonable offer.
The lady snapped back with such attitude about how this is not a thrift shop, blah blah blah. I looked around biting my tongue, refraining from reciprocating some sort of smart-ass reply.
I was wise enough then to walk away with respect for her business... barely
My point?
Some people shouldn't be selling... and that lady was nuts!
Don't be that lady.
And be nice to ten year olds with $5 to their name. They remember when someone is blatantly rude. Someday they might have something you want... or in my case, a garage full.




rayban said:
If low-ball offers are insulting to you, you shouldn't be selling on the internet....or at a flea market for that matter.
How long does it take to say "no thanks" and move on...?
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Is this really an issue? I am still pretty new to this and just figured it was part of the process. I kinda get a laugh from some low ball offers. Hey I like that 200.00 knive. Would you trade me for a used door knob and $20.00. It's all harmless really. Doesn't put me off. Someone should write a book about the knive trading and selling sub culture we all subscribe to.
 
As a buyer, if I feel it's priced too high and doesn't say OBO, I just move on. If the seller comes down to a price that I feel is reasonable on their own then great. If not, no biggie, It's a "want", not a "need".

As a seller, I have never been outragousely low-balled or even had to get into any negotiations over a sale of a knife. Of course, all my knives are users, and the ones I sell are knives I no longer use and usually sold to just off-set another knife purchase.
 
Update: The low-baller finally agreed to my price and said "I'll take it". He then never sent payment. I sent polite requests three times for the payment and he never communicated with me again. Maybe he saw this thread and took offense? Who knows.

Still, there seems to be a lot of "I'll take it" followed by no payment going around lately. This forum is better than that.
 
Los Angeles said:
Update: The low-baller finally agreed to my price and said "I'll take it". He then never sent payment. I sent polite requests three times for the payment and he never communicated with me again. Maybe he saw this thread and took offense? Who knows.
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That's why I block them on the big auction site, and will put them on ignore here. Nothing good will follow a true low-ball offer.


Still, there seems to be a lot of "I'll take it" followed by no payment going around lately. This forum is better than that.
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I think the general "lawlessness" in the individual for sale forum (chatting, posting more than one thread per day, re-posting before 14 days...) certainly does nothing to help the casual observer recognize it as a place to conduct serious (but friendly) business.
 
DylanMW said:
I am not insulted by low ball offers but they can be very annoying.

There is a couple people I have come across here that email me about every trade I have and offer 50% or less of the actual trade value.
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I've got this a lot too. Keep getting offered the same knives with some of my trades. Guess they think I'll like them now since I didn't like them before.
 
u812 said:
They don't bother me that much unless you make a mistake and say yes.I will admit it happened to me once.I had a knife listed at 425.00 I got a very polite offer from someone to buy it at 300.00.Somehow in my mind I was thinking yeah I will come down 25.00 only for it to hit me that I came down 125.00 after I told him OK.I went through with it but I really watch how fast I reply to an offer now and read it a few times.
I have made lower offers at times,seller might think of it as a low ball but I don't.Offering 200.00 on a 220.00 asking price IMO is OK.
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I just had to bring this up again because of a recent experience that seems to be getting more common. I recently saw a knife posted that had been up a couple days, so I PM'ed the seller an offer that was about 7% less than the asking price. Not what I'd consider a lowball by any means. He never even bothered to reply, which I thought was rude. I hear of that happening more lately than I used to.
 
Los Angeles said:
I recently was contacted regarding a knife I had for sale and was instantly put off by the low-ball offer. I had the instant feeling that any further communication with this person would yield no reasonable result - meaning simply that this was going to be a big waste of my time. But replying "stop wasting my time with insulting offers" isn't exactly my style.

Now, a lot of people have an attitude that "it doesn't hurt to ask" regardless of how ridiculous an offer is. Fair enough, I guess, but if you're dealing with me, it does hurt. It hurts your reputation as a buyer and it hurts your ability to get a deal with me in the future. It hurts my time and my ability to get a deal done. I am neither a scalper needing to face reality and drop his prices or a fool who does not understand what a reasonable price is. Low-balling me is just shy of a direct insult.

In this case, all I'm out is just a little time. But I'm still looking for a little advice should I come across this sort of situation in the future.

I'm wondering what everyone here does to handle lowballers?

Thanks in advance,

Kent
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put out your price and say firm.
 
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