Does the "what's your best price?" offer work for people?

[tfarny]

I think that's fine - you're not leading with it, you've made the offer, and he said he'd negotiate but didn't give you a number. What else can you do? Aside from walk away.

There are not really any society-wide rules for polite negotiations, and in a major urban area you're possibly talking with people from other cultural backgrounds anyhow, so I don't think there really is a right or wrong way. I just do what works for me and is not too aggravating. If any pre-sale coms are aggravating or otherwise a red flag I just walk away. There is always a lot of other junk for sale instead.

 

[chris m.]

I don't use EBay anymore but one nice feature of a standard listing (at least how they used to do it) is you actually have your lowest price as a floor, which is secret, but then it goes out for bid. And then you wait to see who wins as the highest bidder. You sell it for a number you were willing to accept, and they buy it for a number they were willing to offer. The listing and bidding process automatically creates competition, and the market determines the final strike price.

If I'm using Craigslist, or selling my house, or whatever, as a seller I'm basically trying to create the same scenario-- get ideally at least a handful of buyers and put them in competition with one another so I get a good final price.

If I'm on the other side-- the buyer-- I try to cut out the competition by giving a competitive offer and saying let's do the deal, now, at this price, and you don't have to hassle with other buyers or deal with this anymore. I will give you the $$ now, no flaking, and you can have this whole process over with, and I'm sure saving you more time and stopping the headaches rom dealing with flakes is worth something to you.

If a buyer does the same thing to me-- I'm OK with that. Make me an offer that's real and allows me to have this over and done with, and I'm all ears. I'd love to get this done right now....but I can't go too low, either. I might even say a number. Let's say it's listed for $300. "I tell you what. I think $300 is a great price, but if you give me $270 cash right now, and that's you saving 10% and me saving the hassle of dealing with other buyers that might be flakes." They might come back with $250 and I might take that. But no way am I going to reveal my true bottom price, just as I wouldn't do that on EBay....

 

[P Thought]

I tell 'em, "Seven dollars, but there are a couple of 'favors' involved. . . ."

 

[telemnemonics]

Offering $150 for a $650 item is way way better than requesting the seller haggle themselves down while the lazy good for nothing buyer waits.

A seller hearing a way way low offer has no reason to get mad, just counter $600 or $550 and see where it leads.
I'm not really interested in buyers OR sellers that anger easily in price negotiation.
Travel a bit between cultures and you'll find many methods, most of which end in the same place, buyer and seller come to an understanding which may or may not result in the sale.

This includes styles of offering very low to feel out the seller.
Many sellers price a used CV Squier $100 over new retail.
Or a non standard item based on a guess of value.

A vintage lap steel?
Not a standard value and not many buyers!
That money would get you a '50s double neck Fender!
How long will a seller stick to a price if nobody will pay it?
Longer than a day, sure.
Negotiate the cheap offer up and take their phone number.
Maybe in a month a new number works for both parties.

 

[Piggy Stu]

Some guy kept messaging me for my motorbike offering me half price, capitalising that he was offering CASH that he would pay TODAY. Just told him I wouldn't deal with him

As per previous posts, when people offer me 30% of asking, I counteroffer at 170% of asking, telling them I can be a bigger clown than them

 

[OmegaWoods]

Different people have different approaches to negotiation. I wouldn't talk money unless they've seen it. At that point, my retort to a question about best price would be answered by a question about best offer. Alternately, you could say "not much room to negotiate but I'll give you 10 bucks off asking."

 

[Sax-son]

There are two different types of buyers out there. Those that truly interested in what you have to sell, and those who are on a fishing expedition and wanted something as cheap as they can buy it for flipping and hoping to latch on to a desperate sucker. I initially try to sell something close to the reasonable medium as I can. I may bargain a little bit, but once I suspect they are just disrespectful low ballers, I walk away. I have no time for those assholes.

You have to be patient! If they suspect you are a little over ambitious to move something, they will smell blood in the water. Some things I have sold in days or a week. Others, may have taken me six months or more. Remember, all you have to do is sell something once and it's gone. You just have to find the right person and be somewhere in the realistic price zone. Don't get tempted when they start waving a little cash in your direction. This is a ploy that works psychologically in order to get something for under it's real value and the seller takes the bait for the quick resolution.

In addition, something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it so you also have to be mindful of that. I have had to come to the disappointing conclusion, that some of what I am trying to move may have a soft market at that moment. I will then pull it from sale and wait until another time. It's not worth it to me to sell it for pennies on the dollar so I will put it away until later.

When I hear that phrase "What is your best price", I go into the "red zone". I just hang up or don't answer the text. I have heard that cliché so many times it's like ghetto bargain bazarre lingo.

 

[chris m.]

Offering $150 for a $650 item is way way better than requesting the seller haggle themselves down while the lazy good for nothing buyer waits.

A seller hearing a way way low offer has no reason to get mad, just counter $600 or $550 and see where it leads.
I'm not really interested in buyers OR sellers that anger easily in price negotiation.
Travel a bit between cultures and you'll find many methods, most of which end in the same place, buyer and seller come to an understanding which may or may not result in the sale.

This includes styles of offering very low to feel out the seller.
Many sellers price a used CV Squier $100 over new retail.
Or a non standard item based on a guess of value.

A vintage lap steel?
Not a standard value and not many buyers!
That money would get you a '50s double neck Fender!
How long will a seller stick to a price if nobody will pay it?
Longer than a day, sure.
Negotiate the cheap offer up and take their phone number.
Maybe in a month a new number works for both parties.

All of this is true, and it is a reminder that you need to do market research to really know what something is worth. Here's a great example. I have an aunt who lives in Mexico. If you are a gringo and you go to a Mexican market to buy something-- for example, let's say you want a hand made leather belt or a Mexican blanket. The initial price they will quote you is typically about 10x what they would expect to sell the exact same item for to a local. You offer half of their price, because it still seems like a pretty good deal (in U.S. $$ terms), they come up just a little bit so you don't think you should have offered even less, and then they still end up with about 4x to 5x what they would normally get. If you knew the actual market price you would have realized their original price was way high compared to what they routinely accept. But it's high because in their experience that's a price that most gringos are perfectly willing to pay-- because it's still a good deal for them-- due to much higher income, strong dollar, etc.

If you actually knew this information, you might still be willing to pay the higher price-- a gringo tax-- just because you still feel like you're getting a good price that works for you. You might be a generous person who doesn't really care about getting the rock bottom deal.

On the other hand, you might feel that even though you would have found it to be a perfectly acceptable price to you before you knew the true local market price , now that you have that information you really want something much closer to the local market price, even though you would have been willing to pay much more when you didn't have that knowledge.

That's actually one cool thing about the used car market-- when we are talking business to business, such as car dealer to car dealer. There's no emotion involved, they all know what the going wholesale to wholesale price should be for Model X, Year Y, Condition Z, mileage Q. There might be a tiny bit of haggling around the margins on things like delivery fees, etc., but it's pretty minor. Those dealings are very cut and dried, like a local Mexican buyer dealing with a local Mexican seller. But then you or I come along to buy that same vehicle and we are being quoted prices that have almost nothing to do with the prices they deal with when talking to each other. The very best salespeople are able to sell you something at a price where you feel like you got an incredible deal, and can't wait to go buy from them again in the future, and yet in actuality they got a LOT more money out of you than their actual rock bottom price.

Fortunately with on line resources like Kelly Blue Book, etc., the playing field has leveled quite a bit in terms of being able to understand what things should really cost. Similar tools are available for market research on music gear, too.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

I advertise the price for 17.6% above what I want for it. Then in the ad I will say something like "mention that you are a local musician for 15% off the price". I won't haggle beyond that. Except for when sometimes some kid shows up and I just give it to them for nothing.

 

[The Angle]

I see "What's your best price?" as a lazy way of asking whether there's any flexibility in the asking price. I often open a CL negotiation by asking whether the seller is open to offers; many sellers don't state in their listing "OBO" or "price is firm." "What's your best price?" is a weak opening to negotiating; you put yourself at an immediate disadvantage with it, because you're signaling "I'm not very comfortable doing this, I don't have an actual price limit in mind, and I probably don't even know what this item is really worth. I'm asking you to knock off a few dollars so I can feel good about buying it."

 

[Timbresmith1]

I tell 'em, "Seven dollars, but there are a couple of 'favors' involved. . . ."

That’s like 50 cents an inch!

 

[stxrus]

I get a chuckle when the ad reads $XXX OBO.
Right away they are saying I’ll take less. This is for virtually anything from music stuff to vehicles to tools to you name it.
My asking price for anything is usually about 5-10% above what is considered fair market value for this area. So a $75-$150 wiggle room for a $1500 asking price.

 

[The Angle]

it's high because in their experience that's a price that most gringos are perfectly willing to pay-- because it's still a good deal for them-- due to much higher income, strong dollar, etc.

I have a friend who spent some time working in India. Everywhere he went, he was followed by hawkers selling cheap junk. He'd ignore them, shoo them away, sometimes yell at them. One day, one especially persistent fellow blew up at him, yelling "You're an American! This stuff is practically free to you! Just buy something and help us out!" He pondered that for a day or two. Afterward, he bought a few things every week and gave them to local kids. It cost him almost nothing, and he wound up making friends instead of alienating everyone.

 

[Masmus]

It really depends on the item. If I'm selling something generic or had value to me I will be open to negotiation, if it's something unique and valuable that's a different story. I once had a truck that I had forever and had recently rebuilt the engine and transmission. I moved and NEEDED to sell it. I put an ad on craigslist and kept lowering the price until it sold for a lot less than I wanted to but that was what the market offered and I took it. I have also kept items that I knew were worth more and being low balled then sold for later at the price I wanted

One thing I have done is once I have finished negotiating I will ask -is that the best you can do- it's a little less confrontational since if the seller doesn't want to discount any further he can say yes. This has worked for me in the past,

 

[Old Smokey]

I usually play along if there is not a huge amount of money at stake. Like, if I'm selling something for $200 and someone asks what's the best you can do? Maybe I say $180. Even if he was 'this close' to offering me $190 and I just shorted myself out of ten bucks, I'm not going to lose sleep over it. At the end of the day, the deal got done, I got some cash and the buyer walks away happy. If I don't play ball and he walks, I don't get my $180 and I'm forced to haggle with some other numbnuts.

 

[Obsessed]

I’m a bonafide cheapskate and enjoy the art of negotiations. Regarding music gear, unless the asking price is a deal in itself, I would never pay asking price. So as a strategy for buying, I’ll start out lowballing to test the waters and start the process. If negotiating goes well, then I’ll typically get a better price than I thought I could. Start lower, aim low is my motto. Now, if that does not work … as I am about to walk away with cash in hand, I will always ask, “what is the lowest you’ll take?” You macho sellers out there melt like butter in the palm of my hand almost every time.

You won’t believe how devious I was at auto and motorcycle swap meets using my 12 year old nephew at the time. He grew up to be quite the negotiator too.

 

[Peegoo]

I always list a fair market price with the word "firm." That puts off most folks that are looking for a desperate seller.

If any prospective buyer has a problem with that, RTFM, ya goober! It's written right there. Where did you see "best offer?"

 

[KokoTele]

70% or 80% of new is pretty rich, I think. Most of the time I expect to get more like 50% of the new, out the door price.

New prices have very little to do with the used market price. I understand why some people use it as a rationale, but it's not the right metric.

There are really only 2 things that count: recent sales of comparable items and comparable items currently for sale. Fortunately for music gear, ebay and Reverb give us good info on what items have been selling for. Apply some fudge factor for condition. If there are upgrades, add about 50% of the cost of the upgrade.

Take a DRRI for example. New price is $1500 for the standard one. 80% of that is $1200. Their price guide shows average recent sales right around $800-850, which is more like 55% of the new price. https://reverb.com/p/fender-65-reissue-deluxe-reverb-22-watt-1x12-guitar-combo#price-guide

There are a ton of them on the market between roughly $750 and $950: https://reverb.com/p/fender-65-reissue-deluxe-reverb-22-watt-1x12-guitar-combo?canonicalFinish=Black

If you think you're getting $1200 (80%) for a used one, I think you've badly overestimated the market. If I were selling one in very good condition, I'd probably price it around $800-$850, and wouldn't move much from my asking price for maybe a month. I'd clean it up well and post it with good pictures and lots of detail, whatever it takes to make my amp (and me as a seller) more attractive to a buyer than someone else's amp.

If I needed to move it fast, I'd price it around $700-750 and wouldn't budge. It's already a deal at that price, and I know it. Anyone who's spent 30 seconds shopping for one knows it too.

And if someone offered me $500, my response would be "For you: $900."

 

[telemnemonics]

All of this is true, and it is a reminder that you need to do market research to really know what something is worth. Here's a great example. I have an aunt who lives in Mexico. If you are a gringo and you go to a Mexican market to buy something-- for example, let's say you want a hand made leather belt or a Mexican blanket. The initial price they will quote you is typically about 10x what they would expect to sell the exact same item for to a local. You offer half of their price, because it still seems like a pretty good deal (in U.S. $$ terms), they come up just a little bit so you don't think you should have offered even less, and then they still end up with about 4x to 5x what they would normally get. If you knew the actual market price you would have realized their original price was way high compared to what they routinely accept. But it's high because in their experience that's a price that most gringos are perfectly willing to pay-- because it's still a good deal for them-- due to much higher income, strong dollar, etc.

If you actually knew this information, you might still be willing to pay the higher price-- a gringo tax-- just because you still feel like you're getting a good price that works for you. You might be a generous person who doesn't really care about getting the rock bottom deal.

On the other hand, you might feel that even though you would have found it to be a perfectly acceptable price to you before you knew the true local market price , now that you have that information you really want something much closer to the local market price, even though you would have been willing to pay much more when you didn't have that knowledge.

That's actually one cool thing about the used car market-- when we are talking business to business, such as car dealer to car dealer. There's no emotion involved, they all know what the going wholesale to wholesale price should be for Model X, Year Y, Condition Z, mileage Q. There might be a tiny bit of haggling around the margins on things like delivery fees, etc., but it's pretty minor. Those dealings are very cut and dried, like a local Mexican buyer dealing with a local Mexican seller. But then you or I come along to buy that same vehicle and we are being quoted prices that have almost nothing to do with the prices they deal with when talking to each other. The very best salespeople are able to sell you something at a price where you feel like you got an incredible deal, and can't wait to go buy from them again in the future, and yet in actuality they got a LOT more money out of you than their actual rock bottom price.

Fortunately with on line resources like Kelly Blue Book, etc., the playing field has leveled quite a bit in terms of being able to understand what things should really cost. Similar tools are available for market research on music gear, too.

Well as a gringo or a citizen who pays 10x the sale price because my income is 10x their income, I don't mind paying a little gringo tax.

If I plow my neighbors driveway for $50 when the yellow pages guys charge $100, and a second home buyer who makes $400,000 a year compared to my neighbor who makes $40,000 a year: if the wealthier second home owner wants to pay the same as my neighbor?
No, sorry, fist off you can afford more.
Second off my neighbor will help me out if my car breaks down and also supports my entire community market.

As far as car values, Kelly Blue Book, and the new trend for online car dealers to use scare tactics to defame used car lots while pretending they are so trustworthy that they will tell you what the good price is???

I offered $1900 for the one owner used XC70 with a blue book value of $4800.
The seller was having a pleasant exchange and I was being a nice honest person, so he countered $1850.
Kelly Blue Book is double or triple auction prices of many used cars!
Of course buyer beware and all.

Part of my point is that sellers and buyers who get angry over normal negotiating, are poorly prepared for the business at hand.
And in many many cases, each buyer pays partially based on how well they dicker, how nice they are, their ability to pay, and of course the sellers skills and mood etc.

I will give a nice seller more $$ than an asshat seller!
And I will take a lower offer from a nicer buyer, or also a buyer who has a legit need for the thing and falls a little short of money.
As opposed to has plenty of money but just wants to cheap me down to a price that's great for them but lousy for me.

Hell, if I really like somebody and am not in need of the few hundred $$, I will GIVE them the guitar for free!
Asshats pay more than nice folks!
Well funded buyers don't deserve my charity!
A cheap price is a form of charity, if we take less than we could get.
Who do we want to make that sort of donation to?

 

[BigDaddyLH]

Many years ago, my wife and I were travelling through Indonesia. I have learned, from every trip we have taken together, that there will be entire days taken up by her shopping for just the most perfect gifts. Sense my enthusiasm?

She literally can't bargain, so I am called upon to do it. She still talks about my masterful performances! (This stands out because nothing I have done before or since ranks with it ). I not only didn't care about the items, I really didn't want to buy any of them. I would leave shops and the shopkeepers would chase me down the street before I relented.