Low ball offers

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Unless i see " firm" after a price, I assume the seller is open to a little negotiation.
I don't consider an initial offer of 20% less , even 25%, to be insulting.
 
I've purchased several knives form the forum, none of which I've given asking price.
Also- I've been warned by mods for consistantly "low balling".
i would be very surprised if I could get the money I paid for the knives back if I were to re-sell on this forum...
I say put "Firm" on asking post or deal with offers, who knows maybe someone out there is interested in dirty socks...
Chad
 
Get nailed with this on eBay as well. Everyone is looking for a deal. Be clear about your willingness to work with offers.
 
Some guys get bent out of shape when you ask for $10 off asking price for a common $200 range knife. When your buying LNIB it's not new at all. It's been fondled, opened numerous times and god knows what else. I'd rather pay a few extra bucks and get it brand new from a dealer. No hassle returns and unmolested.
 
If it's a guy that I bs with often I threads he's definitely getting a buddy discount. I often times get the same two or three people offering me their leftover trades though. Like I don't want your mpr + belly lint in exchange for any of my knives. I also don't want the 6 8cr13mov bladed knives that you don't want or Emerson with the chipped tip and rusted screws but in otherwise good user condition for a nib Taichung Spyderco.
 
I think the 10% threshold is a pretty good estimator.

However, it is the nature of people to lowball (most people anyways). If I were selling, I would take a hint from Pawn Stars and mark up my price by 20% (rounded to the nearest $20 or $50 or so). That way, if someone lowballs, you still get your price.

Mark it up enough where it compensates for lowballs, but not so much that the tactic is too obvious. Though tbh I never plan to sell my knife, it fits me suspiciously well. So well, that the milling pattern somehow matches my scars I got 18 years ago.....ok too much info, sorry
 
You also have the crazy sellers who want to resell their lightly-used-for-only-ten-years widget for MSRP. SMH.
 
I'll be completely honest and maybe it's just the 0200 beer talking but guys who lowball super low bother me, but so do the ones trying to negotiate to save the price of a happy meal. If you are so hard up for six bucks maybe you should be purchasing something else, like groceries. Then again, I just invent most of my prices and don't do deep market research. I think, it all boils down to we are all trading toys around. I lose $100 here, lose $150 there. If it's my ideal EDC to use until light sabers come out, then it doesn't matter if it's $200 or $800, it's what I need and I must have it. Everything else is just toys. Certainly price shop if options are out there, but if a dude has what you need score it, or not. Consider skipping a couple happy meals, they aren't real food anyway.
 
Papal gift, net to me, insurance extra, my wife forgot to send it, all sales final, you should have asked.
 
I am new but already fed up with low ball offers....Sometimes I post silver coins for sale and people pm me offering below melt value. That doesn't even make sense. I usually just say no thanks but some reply as if they are insulted that I can't sell my silver coins for less then anyone else in the country haha
 
The only times I'll negotiate are when sellers ask for 4 - 5% PP fees......bugs the snot out of me. If they're willing to lose a $200 sale for $5 - $8 they can keep it.
If it's something I'd really like to have, and the price is somewhat fair....I don't haggle. As long as the price is all in.
Joe
 
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Lowball offers can be annoying and some are downright amusing, especially when people just don't seem to be able to read a situation. I have had examples where people have offered me a box of cheap knives plus electrical appliances and what not for a higher-end knife. And it is funny when they do that in a non-Exchange thread where they can see my entire collection and I am clearly not into the type of knives he was offering, even if he offered me a box of them.

My perspective on offers has changed a little for the following reason:

There was a time when I was very active on the exchange and I knew exactly what the knives I was selling or buying were worth. So I listed my prices as firm and I didn't negotiate, except for "forum friends", multiple or repeat purchases etc. I would accept and even offer goodwill discounts without being asked.

But I have not been actively following the exchange for probably two years now. With the current prevalent practice of deleting prices after the sale, I think it is very difficult for occasional sellers to determine a fair price for some items. And things are very cyclical on specific knives. There are times when one thing is the hot thing and they sell for premium but a year later it is something else. I don't want to gouge anybody but also don't want to throw good money away.

So now I try to find as many data points as I can before I list but sometimes you cannot find even a single data point on older or rarer knives and that is when things become harder, and you have to be open to negotiation and to let the market help you determine the price. In those cases however I think, for me at least, that it becomes an emotional rather than a market based decision, e.g. "I paid X and even though the market says it is worth X-100, I am just not willing to sell it for that". Or if someone offers you a price and you look at his other postings and if you see he is a serial lowballer or tire-kicker then again, for emotional reasons, it becomes easier to decline his offer. In such cases I think that it is a little easier to get annoyed by the lowballers but for the occasional buyer that sends you an offer, in good faith, that is much lower than what you expected, it is just a standard part of business and a data point that can help you.
 
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I rarely if ever ask for a discount if the price is fair, and I want it. What I do hate, is people that try to low ball me on something that I am offering for an already great price, (and they know it). People I will not deal with, and pass there items by (even if I want them are):

"Shipping is on me, Insurance is on you" No, it's on the seller as that's who it protects.

"I am responsible till I drop it off at the Post Office" NO, it's YOUR responsibility till the buyer receives it.

"As Is, No Returns" NO, if it's not as advertised and I'm unhappy, it's going back, and the seller can explain to Paypal.

" I'll give you $xxx.xx Yes? It's all I have in my budget come on" Next day they are buying $900.00 knives.

Some people want everything for next to nothing, and are very pushy about it, and down right rude.
 
The first offer for anything used is 50% of the asking price. Unless the asking price is already reasonable or the item is actually collectable. If that's too low, turn my offer down and make a counter-offer, I'll come up, you'll come down and we'll make a deal somewhere in the middle.

Getting angry over an offer to buy a used item without a known and generally accepted market price seems silly.
 
JohnWE said:
The first offer for anything used is 50% of the asking price. Unless the asking price is already reasonable or the item is actually collectable. If that's too low, turn my offer down and make a counter-offer, I'll come up, you'll come down and we'll make a deal somewhere in the middle.

Getting angry over an offer to buy a used item without a known and generally accepted market price seems silly.
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So, please help me to understand. If I place a for sale add for a LNIB $1000 Mick Strider custom and list it at $500 you would offer $250 for it?
 
Rusty_shackelford said:
Unless i see " firm" after a price, I assume the seller is open to a little negotiation.
I don't consider an initial offer of 20% less , even 25%, to be insulting.
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Depends on the knife. If you offer me 20-25% less than my asking price for a brand new knife that cost me say $400-$500, then you aren't going to be getting a reply from me. People throwing out silly offers should do it with their computers/tablets turned off. Learn what a knife is worth and you either pay the asking price or don't. Just because someone doesn't write the word "FIRM" in their thread doesn't automatically mean they are going to be in the mood to waste hours of their evening wheeling and dealing with low ballers. There is a difference between a little negotiation and 25% off what may ne an already deeply discounted knife. It all depends on the item, the seller, the condition, and the timing. Don't assume, but at the same time be clear in a sales thread of what you are willing and not willing to do. It keeps the silliness out.
 
knifehunt said:
So, please help me to understand. If I place a for sale add for a LNIB $1000 Mick Strider custom and list it at $500 you would offer $250 for it?
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As I stated and you quoted, unless the price is already reasonable or the item is actually collectable I'd offer 50% of the asking price. In your specific example I wouldn't offer you a dime, I don't knowingly buy knives made by people like Mick Strider.


We or at least I'm talking about buying used knives, not something that normally appreciates in value. I don't buy "collectable" or "art" knives. I'd never offer 50% of the sellers asking price on a collectable or a rare knife because I have no plans to ever buy one.

Not trying to start an argument, I'm just amused that people would be insulted by someone making an offer on a used item that the seller wants to sell. If my offer, or any offer for your used knife is too low, turn it down and take a better one. Seems simple enough.
 
RevDevil said:
Depends on the knife. If you offer me 20-25% less than my asking price for a brand new knife that cost me say $400-$500, then you aren't going to be getting a reply from me. People throwing out silly offers should do it with their computers/tablets turned off. Learn what a knife is worth and you either pay the asking price or don't. Just because someone doesn't write the word "FIRM" in their thread doesn't automatically mean they are going to be in the mood to waste hours of their evening wheeling and dealing with low ballers. There is a difference between a little negotiation and 25% off what may ne an already deeply discounted knife. It all depends on the item, the seller, the condition, and the timing. Don't assume, but at the same time be clear in a sales thread of what you are willing and not willing to do. It keeps the silliness out.
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depends on the knife, depends on how long the knife has been posted, depends on all kinds of variables. I didn't even say thats how i conduct myself when i buy. Just that i don't consider an INITIAL offer of 20-25% insulting. A 20% off sale doesn't exactly turn my head walking through a mall. I don't think its an insulting start point of a potential negotiation. If someone had a $400 knife for sale and i offered $320, i don't consider that unreasonable for a first offer. 25% maybe a bit of a stretch on a higher value knife, i can see that though.
 
So it looks (to me) like what we've clearly established in this thread is: #1) a "lowball offer" is totally subjective & #2) maturity and class can be measured & evaluated by the way a seller reacts to an offer, even if that seller "feels" it is lower than he thinks it "should" be. Some guys have those qualities, class, maturity & good judgement, and some definitely don't.
 
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