CL: Fun With Lowballers...

[caferacer]

brilliant!
I wish some one would counter MY low ball offers with such creativity
(that is when they are not accepting them)

[castpolymer]

Originally Posted by Big_Bend

Agreed.





Agreed.


Leave the low ballers alone. Nothing wrong with what they're doing.

The Epi LP Goldtop I just sold was listed at 56% of the new price ( including a brand new Epi LP hardshell case ). I got lowball offers on that price. The guitar was in near mint shape, completely setup and had new Elixir 10's on it. I usually list gear in the 55% - 65% of new price depending on the condition of the gear. The LP was posted for three days ( reposted once per day ). No spamming or over pricing here. The longest I have ever had a piece of gear up on CL is probably two weeks ( with all of them eventually selling ).

[Jakedog]

Originally Posted by castpolymer

The Epi LP Goldtop I just sold was listed at 56% of the new price ( including a brand new Epi LP hardshell case ). I got lowball offers on that price. The guitar was in near mint shape, completely setup and had new Elixir 10's on it. I usually list gear in the 55% - 65% of new price depending on the condition of the gear.

Good policy. I have friends at several local shops. When I want to sell something and I'm not sure what to list it for, I ask them what similar pieces are selling for used. Sometimes they say "we usually list those at $XXX". Well that's a listing price, what do they usually SELL for? "Right about $XXX". Ok, now I have a real number. So I discount ten percent off that and let her fly. I'll also check closed ebay sales and undercut those a hair.

I don't generally sell to make money. When I sell something, it's generally to get it the hell outta my house. The faster I can do that the better. I price my stuff GREAT. And mostly still leave a little wiggle room. I don't usually take a huge bath on stuff because 1. I buy smart, and rarely if ever buy new. 2. I make money with all of my gear. If I buy a guitar for $500, and gig it for a week it's usually paid for. If I gig it for a year, I could give it away for free and be so far in the black it wouldn't matter. So for me, selling a guitar is like found money anyhow. If I own for any time at all, I've made way more with it than I've spent on it. The guitar has turned a profit long before I ever list it.

[middy]

Originally Posted by castpolymer

The Epi LP Goldtop I just sold was listed at 56% of the new price ( including a brand new Epi LP hardshell case ). I got lowball offers on that price. The guitar was in near mint shape, completely setup and had new Elixir 10's on it. I usually list gear in the 55% - 65% of new price depending on the condition of the gear. The LP was posted for three days ( reposted once per day ). No spamming or over pricing here. The longest I have ever had a piece of gear up on CL is probably two weeks ( with all of them eventually selling ).

You're doing it right.

Unless it's collectible, I usually won't pay more than 2/3rds street price. If it's mint and I really want it now, I might go up to 75%. When I sell stuff, I price it at 2/3rds.

It's the people that consider my 2/3rds offer "lowballing" that really irk me.

[Toto'sDad]

If I notice that something has been on craigslist for a long time, I'll offer a low price, because clearly the seller is an idiot who has no idea of the real value of what he is selling.
Then, if he accepts, I withdraw my offer, because I had no intention of buying the thing. I just wanted the guy to know what an idiot he is.

Oh, so YOU'RE the guy! I musta talked to you once when I was selling a Tele. I got calls just like that. A guy called up offered $500, I said OK, he said, I just wanted to see if you would drop your price, never mind. I thought it over, you actually helped me decide I was selling to cheap, I pulled the ad a few days, relisted at $850, sold for $750.

Thanks for calling, you made me and extra $250! Thanks again!

[Mike Eskimo]

Around here, in Hooverville, "Wouldja take...?" is always the first response.

Haven't seen it, aren't gonna show up anyway but still - "Wouldja take...?"

[sax4blues]

I wonder how this fits with the threads that pop up here with the title "CraigsList Score!!!!", and go on to tell of some item the person got for cheap.

[losergeek]

I've got a friend on another board that was plagued by trolls for a while so anytime one of them would start, he'd reply by copying and pasting a gigantic, random wikipedia article into their thread.....I suggest doing the same in your email replies to the lowballers.

[horsespatoot]

Originally Posted by middy

Are you one of those guys that asks 90-100% of street price because the item is "like new" and says "price is firm" and then spams that same item every day for months at a time because nobody is buying it?

Because those guys are worse than low-ballers.

Amen to that brother.

[horsespatoot]

You may know the item you are selling is in pristine perfect operating order .... the buyer does not know that information. In this day and age, a smart buyer cannot take the sellers word for condition.
If it's in such perfect shape why is the seller selling it? IMHO ... 50% of retail is a beginning listing price. I would never pay 80-90% of retail price for a used item. Collectibles are the exception but even then .... a collectible bought on Craigslist can be a gamble. If I were to sell a collectible, I don't think Craigslist is the venue to find the qualified buyer with the cash to meet my asking price.

[caferacer]

1/2 of new,
2/3 if its in nice condition
1/3 if its beat

[Crawfish]

Craigslist is still a bit of an unusual thing to me.

I personally wouldn't negotiate at all via email. I have to see the item. How can you agree to buy something based on a mediocre-at-best, small fuzzy picture of something?

If I want to buy something on CL, and the asking price is reasonable, I go see it. Then I negotiate. The seller then knows I'm serious enough that I showed up, checked the item out, and want to buy it. I figure I have a better chance of getting a better price if I'm there, cash in hand. From the dawn of humankind this is the way deals were struck. Craigslist has put an entirely different element into play.

I guess it's so easy to shoot off an email offering a crazy lowball offer it's worth taking a chance. As someone else said above, maybe the seller is so desperate they'll take anything.

[castpolymer]

Originally Posted by horsespatoot

Amen to that brother.

Read my prior post about my last sale. You will see the price was very fair.

[Hoopermazing]

I have more stories of successfully being a lowballer. It's thrilling.

When I sell stuff on Craigslist and someone else tries to lowball me, I don't mind it a bit. I bite because I don't need the money. I sell gear on Craigslist to clear out space. However, I admire the the lowballer's moxie, especially if it over the phone.

The very nature of Craigslist is such that, quite often, you can catch a highly motivated seller (i.e. someone who does need the money immediately) wave a fist full of 20s under their respective noses and make magic happen.

[Hoopermazing]

Originally Posted by Crawfish

Craigslist is still a bit of an unusual thing to me.

I personally wouldn't negotiate at all via email. I have to see the item. How can you agree to buy something based on a mediocre-at-best, small fuzzy picture of something?

Anything done via email is tentative. You make an offer, and if the seller will entertain it, you go try it out. After which, you make an offer--or a counter offer based on what you've seen--and wave the aforementioned handful of $20s.

Also, many sellers will send you very clear high resolution images if you ask for them... some of them send raw tiff files.

[AutoReverse]

I sell on CL all the time. I've learned a few things from my experiences:

1) Someone will always lowball you no matter how low the price is. I think it has something to do with people feeling like they have to "win" by getting a lower price than the asking.

2) Some will use dishonest buying tactics - like "I saw this in a store for price X - therefore I will offer you that." But when you check to see if that's true, price X is often higher, or they item is not even there for sale.

3) The lowballs tend to send a short and impersonal text-messages - like "how bout 50." Not like "Hello, I'm short a bit of cash but would really like to buy this thing. I can offer you 50 if you're interested." I'm more likely to entertain the latter.

4) The low ballers always show up to get the item if i agree to sell. And they never try to haggle a lower price in person.

[Hoopermazing]

Originally Posted by horsespatoot

If I were to sell a collectible, I don't think Craigslist is the venue to find the qualified buyer with the cash to meet my asking price.

Some character around these parts has been trying to sell a $21,000 Gibson Citation on the local Craigslist for about 3 years.

[caferacer]

Originally Posted by Crawfish

Craigslist is still a bit of an unusual thing to me.

I personally wouldn't negotiate at all via email. I have to see the item. How can you agree to buy something based on a mediocre-at-best, small fuzzy picture of something?

If I want to buy something on CL, and the asking price is reasonable, I go see it. Then I negotiate. The seller then knows I'm serious enough that I showed up, checked the item out, and want to buy it. I figure I have a better chance of getting a better price if I'm there, cash in hand. From the dawn of humankind this is the way deals were struck. Craigslist has put an entirely different element into play.

I guess it's so easy to shoot off an email offering a crazy lowball offer it's worth taking a chance. As someone else said above, maybe the seller is so desperate they'll take anything.

negotiating via email saves time and trouble
if you drive all the way to go see the item in person only to find out that the seller will not budge on price you just wasted your time and fuel (and with the cost of fuel that can add up) by finding out if the seller will come down to a price you think is reasonable first, you can narrow your search

also just because someone makes you a lowball offer does not mean they will not pay what you want for the item
I have had a number of people give me lowball offers only to raise them when I refused and made a counter offer, eventually settling on a fair price

[Hoopermazing]

Originally Posted by AutoReverse

2) Some will use dishonest buying tactics - like "I saw this in a store for price X - therefore I will offer you that." But when you check to see if that's true, price X is often higher, or they item is not even there for sale.

I don't stipulate to the dishonesty angle, but when I do that, I always send a link to the page with the new item. In any event, it's up to the seller whether or not he/she accepts the offer. If it's accepted, fine. If not, no harm no foul.

[Hoopermazing]

Originally Posted by caferacer

negotiating via email saves time and trouble
if you drive all the way to go see the item in person only to find out that the seller will not budge on price you just wasted your time and fuel (and with the cost of fuel that can add up) by first finding out if the seller will come down to a price you thing is reasonable first, you can narrow your search

+1