what i thought. It is a cultural thing i guess.
I miss the days when people knew how to haggle
- Thread starter KokoTele
- Start date
I love haggling. If you go back through the Archives here, you'll see all sorts of bragging by me over buying this guitar and that amp. To me, it is part of establishing to the buyer and seller that the deal is a sound one and that each party is suffering only the minimal amount of pain or inconvenience. No deal is 100% perfect, but if you can come away from the transaction with a sense that you bought from a good person (or that you sold to a good person) then the ability to move on to another sale of another thing at a later time is an easier task. When things get ugly in a sales transaction, it leaves either the buyer or seller (or both) with lingering bitterness - this can make selling the next thing a real chore. That's not good.
I bought a used Saab wagon from an older guy in South Carolina, two months ago. He advertised at $ 7,500 and I really inspected the car well and drove it thoroughly, and offered him $ 7,200 but we closed at $ 7,000. Why? He wanted me to buy the car, not someone else and we'd gotten along so well. Haggling is not just about getting the lowest or highest price. There's more to a great transaction than that.
I bought a used Saab wagon from an older guy in South Carolina, two months ago. He advertised at $ 7,500 and I really inspected the car well and drove it thoroughly, and offered him $ 7,200 but we closed at $ 7,000. Why? He wanted me to buy the car, not someone else and we'd gotten along so well. Haggling is not just about getting the lowest or highest price. There's more to a great transaction than that.
I found, in Jamaica, that when Americans just paid the marked price and never looked the vendor in the eye, that bothered the vendor. It was as though the American thought the foreigner wasn't worth the time of day. My reaction to seeing such a transaction, before my eyes, was to concentrate on the human being I was dealing with and paid about as little to the item bought as I could. Much more fun that way, and besides, when the vendors like you they practically give the items to you.
I love the line on American Pickers when the guys says "That is MY best price. What's YOUR best price?"
I just had someone who expected me to bargain on his behalf and got mad (instead of chuckling) when i raised the price in response to "Whats your best price?" and said "$$$ would be even better!"
I just had someone who expected me to bargain on his behalf and got mad (instead of chuckling) when i raised the price in response to "Whats your best price?" and said "$$$ would be even better!"
Likewise. And same goes for selling anything. 2 of the last 3 (non-musical) items I listed locally for sale, II had to weed out people contacting me with lowball offers, despite clearly stating price was firm and I was not in a "need to sell" position. Worse yet, about a third of those were people who responded with absolutely nothing but a dollar figure. In other words:
me - itemxyz for sale, $2000 firm, etc.
respondent - $1200
Um, no, and don't even expect a response if you're coming at me like that.
I think folks who have no genuine need to sell, probably deserve some of the nonsense they have to deal with. My attitude is, if I don't need to sell it I don't try to sell it. I might let it go to someone who knows of it and finds a way to talk me out of it. Or I might give it away.
Respectfully, if you have inadequate need to sell something, you're imposing in your own way on the people who are trying to make deals happen. When you get approached, you're almost certain to collect too much for your things......or you'll be interacting with people who tend to make everyone else's life miserable. Both ugly scenarios. You're a good guy - you deserve better than these.
If I may be so bold, treat prospective buyers with more empathy and humanity at the outset, and you may find yourself selling the item to someone you could see as your friend or close neighbor. Make up your mind, if you are ready to sell or not ready.
I realize that you're going on what limited information you've got here, but I can assure you that you've made some incorrect assumptions as to my level of empathy and so forth.
I'll just say one of those items was a pickup, and I made the choice to sell it because I only used it maybe 5% of the time and it felt wrong to let it just basically sit and rot when it could (and ultimately did) go to someone who had more need for it. And I assure you, the young man who bought it paid considerably less than similar trucks were selling for.
About 10 years ago a fellow bought two SF Twin Reverbs from me at a fair market price. He the pointed to my 1965 BFTR and asked how much. I replied that it was not for sale and I had never priced it. He asked something like..’well, what would you take?’. I wanted to end the ‘haggling’ because the amp really was not for sale, so I took the route of pricing it above what I thought was fair market value. It was not pristine and did not have original speakers but rather was weighted down with EVLs. It had a quad of low hour 7581s in it….sounded magnificent. So, thinking that a high price would convince him that I did not want to sell it, I said $2800…..he started counting out Benjamins. The stack was enough to assuage seller’s remorse. However, it was the best TR I have ever owned.
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With all due respect this is just BS. Just because I’m not in dire need of cash doesn’t mean I should have to put up with some rude jagoff hassling me about price with lowball offers and/or in general deal with obnoxiousness.
There are many reasons to sell a piece of gear other than dire financial need. I may want to free up cash for another purchase, or simply to make some room in the house for some new stuff. Perhaps I don’t want to see a piece of gear go unused. All of these are perfectly good reasons to sell.
I don’t think that anyone should have to justify their desire to sell their item to anyone else. Either you want it or you don’t. Don’t be a dick about it.
I have a haggling in Bali story! I have no interest in buying souvenirs but my wife devotes a couple days of each vacation to souvenir shopping. In Ubud, I was tagging along to carry the stuff when my wife said, you do the haggling, I'm no good at it. As a joke, I took the item my wife selected, and after a brief exchange, politely said no thanks and good bye. The shopkeeper chased after me down the street and gave me a better deal!
My wife likes to tell this story to show how good I am at haggling, but in truth, I didn't want to buy the item -- it was heavy
There's also this whole thing about stating a first price. Some people don't want to be the first one to give a price, because that boxes you in. So you get two people saying, what's your price? No, tell me your price!
I don’t find this to be true. In most cases the seller posts their price in the ad. Many times the person responding to the ad wants you to negotiate against yourself on your own item by telling them your best price.
How about, No! I’ve posted my price if you want to pay less, make a counteroffer.
I have had maybe 75 craigslist transactions over the past 10 years (and many more prior)
I typically make a counteroffer to the asking price BUT, in other sales (like garage sales) there is no price listed and what @BigDaddyLH posted is just like that. I always have fun with that stuff and offer a price to break the ice.
People always have the option to call off the negotiation and refuse to budge or stand firm on their price. No problem with that for me.
KeithDavies 100
Tele-Holic
We visited Marrakech recently. There's not a fixed price in sight. I felt a little uncomfortable arguing over, effectively, a few pounds with some guy who clearly has way less money than me. So on my own, I would probably have paid asking price half the time, and walked away the rest.
My wife, on the other hand, is from Cameroon and grew up with that whole way of haggling and negotiating. I think half the traders she dealt with ended up seriously regretting their friendly "Madam, come and look in my shop." Scared me to death!
I heard the rueful phrase "Madam, are you sure you're not a Berber?" three times!
My wife, on the other hand, is from Cameroon and grew up with that whole way of haggling and negotiating. I think half the traders she dealt with ended up seriously regretting their friendly "Madam, come and look in my shop." Scared me to death!
I heard the rueful phrase "Madam, are you sure you're not a Berber?" three times!
My wife and I were in India and we were told what to insist on for a bicycle rickshaw ride to the bus station. We were also told not to fall for paying for two bicycle rickshaws -- squeeze into one.
So we did that then had to watch the rickshaw wallahs skinny legs as he pumped up hill. At the bus station all I had was a large bill. He took it and broke it at a market stall rather than giving us the "I have no change" excuse. I tipped way more than the agreed price.
I also abhor the buyers that don't read the description.
Or even worse purchase, then read the description and then want a refund, before the item ships.
Crazy GAS being passed!
Chandlerman
Tele-Meister
Local cash sale only, no trades, the price is firm.
Trenchant63
Tele-Meister
This is me. I don’t mind haggling a bit to justify my offer price. But I go in with what I want to pay based on my research. Normally offering slightly below market unless the item has been out there a long time in which I’ll be a bit more aggressive on the discount from market.
Instead of haggling, there are too many that prefer to torpedo the seller online when he or she doesn't bend to a ridiculous offer.
