Lowballers!!!

[SplshMtn99]

Urgh!!!!

I posted a dresser, chest of drawers & mirror on Craigslist for $200 -- VERY nice condition. I tend to list items VERY fairly. Not looking to get rich -- just to get rid of stuff.

Caller asks if I'll take $175 due to distance they'll need to travel. Not thrilled, but ok. Language problem with directions....so he puts wife on phone. She asks me to reduce to $150. :mad I'm thinking, maybe I'm out of touch & maybe my price was high. Sigh -- OK.

They get here tonight....and he looks at furniture & they start talking to each other (not in a language I understand)... asks if I'll take $130. "NO! You already talked me down from $200!!!" He offers $140. I stood there looking at the floor & counting to 10 & holding my tongue. I took the $140 but they KNEW I wasn't happy. Just wanted them gone.

SIGH!!!!!

On the other hand, I also sold a brand new in the box patio set this weekend & got 10 people wanting it!! (Bought at 1/2 price clearance sale.) That's how fair my prices are. I just didn't have as much interest from others in the furniture.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

SplshMtn99,

They seem like the same type of people who on the last day of a garage sale complain because you didn't reduce the prices like they think you should have.

 

[SplshMtn99]

Actually, at my yard sales, I've been told more than once that my prices are LOW by shoppers!!! And I dont' get many people haggling because they know my prices are fair. I even usually have stuff for free -- and have had people want to give me $ for stuff. LOL

This just ticked my off tonight.

 

[Marseeya]

If they didn't speak English, maybe they come from a culture that likes to negotiate prices. Aren't we about the only culture that doesn't do that?

I know it makes me uncomfortable to try to negotiate.

 

[Sleepy]

Negotiating prices with street vendors can be fun thing, but I would never do that with someone selling things out of their home. With a street vendor, he can start off with a pair of sunglasses at 20Euro. I can talk him down to 2 pair for 10Euro.

 

[SplshMtn99]

That could be it, but there is a difference in negotiating & insulting me.

When they got me to $150, I told them THAT was the lowest I would go. That was on the phone. They hadn't even gotten here yet.

The distance they traveled was not MY problem. It was theirs.

To lower the price THREE times is an insult.

 

[MOMTOCUTESTDOGEVER]

If you were that insulted, you shouldn't have accepted the $140 offer.

 

[DVCLiz]

There was an easy way to handle this. You should have said, "Sorry, $200 is my best offer." You let them reduce the price twice before they even got to your house - why wouldn't they assume you might lower the price further?

I think you're a little bit mad at yourself for not standing firm in the first place. But it's not the fault of your buyer - if you had a firm price you should have stuck to it.

 

[sajetto]

If it were me I would have said "uhhhhh sorry its $200 or nothing. Have a safe trip back."

 

[irishbosoxfan]

HAHAHA---I think I need the web address of your craiglist---I just entered craiglist then dotcom and you would not believe what I got!!!!

 

[HayGan]

HAHAHA---I think I need the web address of your craiglist---I just entered craiglist then dotcom and you would not believe what I got!!!!

It is craigslist.com not craiglist

I hear ya about the lowballers! I've had that happen to me on 8 out of the 10 things I have sold on there. Frustrating but I've started pricing my things up a little to account for the bargaining.

 

[Kim&Chris]

I think the whole "negotiation" thing is a cultural thing. My friend works at a Hallmark Card store in a very, um, diverse neighborhood. Without fail, several times a day, someone will bring a few greeting cards to the counter and say "I'll give you $5.00 for all of these". My friend takes the cards, rings them up, gives the correct total, and says "we don't negotiate here. If you want them, here's the price". Most of the time, they pay the correct price, but many times they argue and leave.

 

[Charade]

I would have said the price just went back up to $200.

 

[Kim&Chris]

I would have said the price just went back up to $200.

ITA. I would have followed it with "sorry I couldn't help you....GOOD BYE".

 

[Fionasmommy]

Your experience reminds me of the last garage sale I had - I'm never doing it again.

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Next time, just advertise it as "$200 firm."

 

[Sleepy]

Next time, just advertise it as "$200 firm."

No, you advertise as $250.