OT: People who buy?

I wasn't sure where to put this to get some good feedback, but I was wondering if potential buyers are like those on Craiglist. Do they PM the sellers with some outrageous low ball offers? I understand if the seller is asking way too high, but on a moderately priced item.

No, I'm not trying to sell items by avoiding to subscribe! Yes, I'll probably get a subscription soon.

When I price something to sell, I always leave a little room to dicker. When I buy something, unless it's a real firesale price I try to negotiate a bit. If the seller won't budge, and the item is priced fairly, I usually take it. I do not make ridiculous lowball offers, and if the seller says something like "$40 firm", I either buy it or I don't.
I think a lot of those lowballers are looking to flip the item on feepay or similar sites, something I never have and never will do.

mweintraub said:

Do they PM the sellers with some outrageous low ball offers? I understand if the seller is asking way too high, but on a moderately priced item..

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That has not been my experience here. In fact, it is usually quite the opposite. If an item is priced even a little too high, then it is mostly ignored. You can even beg for offers and not get any....especially if the original asking price is unrealistically high.

What I do find really annoying however is the ever larger number of folks who PM and say they will buy but, never follow through with the paypal payment. There are also many who seem to dither too long and miss a well priced item and then get all upset because the seller chose to sell to the buyer who came first with payment.

Thanks guys. Yeah, I'm getting sick of the 40-50% below asking prices offers. It really took me too long to sell a Nikon 50mm 1.4D. I've got some more gear to sell so I'll be posting it here when I subscribe. Thanks.

Buyer's market -- and you have a lot of people here who have a pretty keen idea of the market prices of equipment. But by the same token I've never seen anyone publicly post to an ad telling the person that his pricing is out of whack -- which might be a helpful thing to do.

Regarding one of the comments from BradS, if I contact a seller and have an exchange with him, darned right I'll be annoyed if he then sells it to someone else without telling me he intends to do so, or doesn't at least say that he's entertaining other offers. That's simple courtesy.

Nick Merritt said:

Buyer's market -- and you have a lot of people here who have a pretty keen idea of the market prices of equipment. But by the same token I've never seen anyone publicly post to an ad telling the person that his pricing is out of whack -- which might be a helpful thing to do.

Regarding one of the comments from BradS, if I contact a seller and have an exchange with him, darned right I'll be annoyed if he then sells it to someone else without telling me he intends to do so, or doesn't at least say that he's entertaining other offers. That's simple courtesy.

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Nick, some forums (the US LF forum, for example) have rules that prohibit posts telling a seller that its asking price is ridiculous. APUG might have a similar rule.

In general, it seems best not to interfere with attempts to sell.

I don't buy much gear anymore. The last item I bought via APUG was a very rare lens that I thought I could use and that seemed -- I could have been mistaken -- grossly underpriced. I saw it, did a little looking around, sent the seller a PM to the effect of "I'll buy it. I'd like to pay by PayPal. My address is ... Tell me how much to pay and how PayPal knows you." He replied with a question "Do you think I set the price too low?" "Yes, I do, otherwise I wouldn't have offered to buy. If you want off the hook, you're off the hook." He sold it to me for the posted price, shipped at his cost. Daniel Stone is on my permanent good list.

In the camera world there are three prices: the eBay price, the KEH price, and the oops price. Ebay shows what the market value is, at least for very popular items. KEH often has prices way above eBay norms, but folks still buy from them because of their guarantee (even though they don't actually test the items they sell). And then there are the prices that are way too low or way too high. Oops. Sometimes the low prices work because the seller just wants it gone. The high prices get dismissed.

All the items I've bought here were fairly priced, and that's the way it should be. Nuff said.

Dan Fromm said:

In general, it seems best not to interfere with attempts to sell.

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I 100% agree with you, Dan. Most likely you will just p*ss them off.



I only tell people what something is worth if they ask me. Sometimes even then they get aggravated. When the item doesn't sell they will find out that they are asking too much.

I sell a bit on Ebay and have people ask me to end auctions early all the time for some low ball price. I just politely reply no and thank them for their interest. Life is too short to get aggravated about it.

Wolfeye said:

In the camera world there are three prices: the eBay price, the KEH price, and the oops price. Ebay shows what the market value is, at least for very popular items. KEH often has prices way above eBay norms, but folks still buy from them because of their guarantee (even though they don't actually test the items they sell). And then there are the prices that are way too low or way too high. Oops. Sometimes the low prices work because the seller just wants it gone. The high prices get dismissed.

All the items I've bought here were fairly priced, and that's the way it should be. Nuff said.

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+1
And I'll add that they were priced fairly or better & honestly described - and the folks I've dealt with have been a pleasure to deal with.

I do research and try to find the best price that is good for both me and buyers. It's the way low offers that annoy me a little. I politely reply and tell them I can't go that low and thank them. It seems to happen no matter what price or item. I wonder if people do it on purpose just to do it and see if someone will bite.

A lot depends on want or need. I may want something but not need it, and as such I would only pay X for it. If I need it and have the money X becomes X + Y. If I need it but only have Z dollars, I may offer someone Z dollars if it's somewhere in the ballpark.

If I just WANT something and have no money... well, that's story of my life.

I did buy from one idiot on another forum who sent me repeated messages when I didn't pay him after two minutes. Seriously, repeated messages after two minutes.

When I buy here or elsewhere, I always send a note saying when I plan to pay (although a 10-minute wait was too long for that idiot).

Most people selling on Dregslist are listing something like a Pentax K1000 for something like $250.00. Yeah, right. I'm going to jump all over that deal, for sure.

Tom1956 said:

Most people selling on Dregslist are listing something like a Pentax K1000 for something like $250.00. Yeah, right. I'm going to jump all over that deal, for sure.

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AH yes, the $250+ professional K1000. I see that often. (Nothing against the K1000!)

Tom1956 said:

Most people selling on Dregslist are listing something like a Pentax K1000 for something like $250.00. Yeah, right. I'm going to jump all over that deal, for sure.

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But Tom, it's extremely rare and in mint condition!

I like it when they don't understand that a Kodak Brownie is not worth a lot of money. Like Rick on Pawn Stars says, "Just because somethings old doesn't mean it's worth money!".

Recently saw a Nikon FM10 on Craigslist for $400, less than 2 weeks after I gavfe one away on here. my biggest complaint with craigslis is the dozens of responces that I get and never hears from them again.

Nikon Collector said:

Recently saw a Nikon FM10 on Craigslist for $400, less than 2 weeks after I gavfe one away on here. my biggest complaint with craigslis is the dozens of responces that I get and never hears from them again.

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The over priced FM10. Seen that too!

That was my big pet peeve for a while, but I don't consider any of these people who reply as buyers until they seem responsive and actually show interest. I consider them just window shoppers.

Wolfeye said:

A lot depends on want or need. I may want something but not need it, and as such I would only pay X for it. If I need it and have the money X becomes X + Y. If I need it but only have Z dollars, I may offer someone Z dollars if it's somewhere in the ballpark.

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+1

People here, on this forum and LFF are generally quite the friendly bunch in my experience, so far.
I generally do not like making an offer - unless I know how the seller prices their goods - some might sell to a big markup, some at break-even. Hard to guess!

On eBay though, there was this one seller, who wasnt just rude but had the ridiculous notion that the 'make an offer' button existed solely for someone to offer him a higher price than the buy-it-now price.
Even there, however, 3 of 5 people are courteous.

Sent from Tap-a-talk

One thing to bear in mind is that things aren't time limited on APUG and similar forums, unless the buyer says so, so patience is a virtue. I'm usually not too rushed to sell things, so I'm happy to wait several months for a reasonable offer, or I'll put it on eBay, if I just want to get it out of the way.

APUG regards the classifieds as a space for private transactions between individuals who may arrange their transaction any way they want, as long as it doesn't otherwise become destructive to the community. So you can post "best offer" deals or even stage an auction with whatever rules you want (as long as it doesn't become disruptive to the forum). The most effective stratedgy, however, is to make a normal classified ad stating a price you would be happy with, and it will come.

D,.

Myself, I don't like to haggle. Some people do, and consider it part of the fun. If someone would offer me a somewhat lesser price for something, I'd consider it. Never refuse a serious offer! On the other hand, I cheerfully ignore low ball offers. On eBait, I block those people from ever bidding on my auctions w/ no communication to them one way or the other.

If its on my want list, at a price that compares to the recent market market value for same item and quality, I will pay sticker and be happy. If it is on my some day list, then I will follow it bumping down. If it rides down to a zone I am comfortable with I PM an offer at the current offered price. I see no reason to beat the price down on a fellow member who puts the item into the forum to preserve it in the community. Occasionally I will pick something up at the 'now or it goes auction point'. Only when I think the asset needs preserved in the community.

As someone who has bought quite a bit of stuff (photo gear, hunting & fishing gear, etc.) on both Craigslist and forums, ridiculous behavior from both buyers and sellers is not at all uncommon.

As a buyer, if I feel a seller is asking an unreasonably high sum, I generally ignore and move on. Occasionally, I might send them a PM or email with extremely polite wording, letting them know that they might have incorrectly estimated the value of their offering. The handful of times I've done this have resulted in a wide variety of responses, from a rude rebuke, to profuse thanks. Usually, I make sure I can link them to a retail sale page or something similar, to show them just how out of whack their price is (before I bought my LX7, there was a girl selling an LX5 on craigslist for $350...while an LX7 was selling for the same amount brand new).

On the buying end, I never make counter offers unless the ad specifically states that they'll entertain offers or what I'm willing to pay is close (say, within 15%) of their asking price. Usually on Craigslist, I'll accompany this with an offer to come to them as opposed to meeting halfway.

If I'm not making a counter-offer, I don't say anything unless I'm ready to buy, and when I do make that decision, I try to act as quickly and decisively as possible. Letting them know in the very first message that I want to buy, and asking about payment arrangements. I make it very clear that I am willing to pay their asking price, and that, even if I don't get back to them immediately, I can have payment to them within a short time frame (usually with an explanation of what's going on, like, "I'm leaving the office and have a dinner party, but I should be able to read and respond to any reply you send by 8pm). Basically, I want to get the transaction completed smoothly and quickly.

If the seller seems chatty, that's great too, and I've often made a bigger purchase when they casually mention that I might be interested in another product they're planning on posting soon.

Cold said:

If I'm not making a counter-offer, I don't say anything unless I'm ready to buy, and when I do make that decision, I try to act as quickly and decisively as possible. Letting them know in the very first message that I want to buy, and asking about payment arrangements. I make it very clear that I am willing to pay their asking price, and that, even if I don't get back to them immediately, I can have payment to them within a short time frame (usually with an explanation of what's going on, like, "I'm leaving the office and have a dinner party, but I should be able to read and respond to any reply you send by 8pm). Basically, I want to get the transaction completed smoothly and quickly.

If the seller seems chatty, that's great too, and I've often made a bigger purchase when they casually mention that I might be interested in another product they're planning on posting soon.

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You, my friend, are my favorite buyer! I do the same too. A buyer once told me I've won on a sale over another because I was very descriptive and helpful in my email replies.

I think there's a few factors here that I'd like to comment on.

First a communication issue, which on a place like this many people only login once a day, and check the messages reply and then leave, so if they're trying to buy a lens and I say I would like this lens but I'd like more information on it what is the price or would you ship to this place, and in the meantime other people are contacting the same seller and/or buyer and saying oh I'll take it right now should the seller wait to answer the questions of that person, or should he sell it to the person who is actively ready to buy at that moment. It's really a factor of being polite versus being business savvy. And Innoway it's a version of what is polite for now versus what was considered polite in the past, I think that the older generation believe in taking your time and expect people to be honorable, but the new generation sort of are more trained to simply sell to the first purchaser and not wait and be polite to those who have already been in discussion about something. However, after having bought and sold a bunch on here, I've learned that people often disappear even sometimes when they seem honorable, and so you kind of have to just sell to the first person that comes along otherwise you end up with A lot of waiting, and often disappointment when that person disappears and the other buyers who came after and had the money were not willing to wait and bought the item somewhere else.

On the second note about price, often times I see things on here that are valued way higher than I would expect to pay, and also things that are of average price, and things that are low priced.

If I see something that's really high and it sits for a long time, sometimes I will contact the buyer and suggest that they lower their price and give them information as to why any private message, I think that this is at least a little fair, some people might be angry at this, but it also is sort of unfair to ask someone to pay for something that is way higher than it should be.

There's also the aspect of what the "common asking price" is of something versus it's actual value, often times lenses for example are available at a given price and everyone knows that Exline's sells for $600 and that's the asking price for almost everyone, but there happened to be a surplus of those lenses out there and so why would I pay the same exact price when there are so many lenses available why shouldn't I suggest to the seller hey I'll pay $500 instead because I know that it's a supply and demand situation and why should I pay more when I can pay less, if the $600 range were truly the asking price there wouldn't be so many out there because people would have bought them already, so it shows that for the value they are overpriced in this given market buyers and sellers etc. That's how I see it anyway.

So yeah I will send someone a lowball offer if there's tons of the same item available at the same price obviously that's not a very good price or they all would be sold...

I also personally hate paying shipping, and I think it's sort of funny when people who sell in the US only refuse to eat the $12 shipping cost on a $600 item, it's like a little stab wound for me, so I always offer $600 even with something like that. And no I'm not paying your PayPal fees either, if you choose to use PayPal then you should except the fees involved in the protection that PayPal gives you and not try to weasel it out of your buyer, I also find that insulting. I know it's all perspective, you could easily build that into the price of the initial item, but I think it's just really annoying when they try to build it into the additional costs afterwards.

Not sure I covered everything but these are some of my thoughts.