The REAL Meaning Of "Lowballing" And What's Wrong With An Offer?

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Gene

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"Lowballing" doesn't mean making an offer to a seller that is lower than his asking price. It means that a SELLER agrees to SELL at a negotiated price and then the SELLER reneges after the deal is made. He tells the buyer that he can't sell it for the negotiated price, (for whatever reason), and must have his original price and then hopes the buyer "buys" the story. :)

I'm a charter member of these forums and have bought, traded and sold HUNDREDS of knives over the years. That being said, I see a lot of complaining lately about "lowballing". I know, I know, they mean offering a seller a LOWER price than he is asking. My response is; "So what"? That's what "trading" is all about. If you don't like what the person is offering, a polite "no thank you" is all that's called for. If one doesn't want to deal with "lowballers" then state such in your ad. A "price is firm" or "I won't accept less" is all that's needed. I make offers to folks all the time. If they tell me "no" then it's time for me to decide if I want that particular knife bad enough to give them what they are asking. Heck, I've even made some good friends, "lowballing". ;)

As stated, I've sold knives here for years and don't mind people making lower offers at all. Even if the offer is ridiculous, (and I've received some "beauts"), a "no thanks" works wonders. I just don't get why making an offer generates all this fuss. Shame on you "lowballers"! :rolleyes:
 
You have a very good attitude about someone giving you a riculous offer for something you are selling. I commend you. I am not as understanding as you are. If I know that someone is purposely offering me way less than the value of what I am trading or selling I have time for that person. If a person emails me and asks if I would be willing to take Spyderco Police and a Leatherman for my DDR Madd Maxx, my email back to him will contain one word. NO!

There are some people that might actually think that they are making a fair offer in the above example. If I really think that the person did not know they were being rediculous then I will inform them that the knife they are trying to aquire is worth far more than what they are offering. If it is someone that I think should know better, they are going to get that one word reply.

I respect your way of looking at these kinds of offers. I also understand those that have no patience for the people that do this. Maybe it is not a good thing, but I am one of the later.
 
Maybe I'm just misreading your misreading of Gene's post, and if so...well then, my misreading will probably just lead to your misreading of my misread intent...

Or maybe I just meant to misread your post to get you to misread my intent...oh shoot, where the heck was I going with this anyway...?

(Aren't you glad I purposefully killed the 'who's on first' aspect...lol)

Anyhoo, along with the other four in my 'top five' of personal motto's, this one I hold dear..."Everything is negotionable"

So, following that line of thought...I'm going to offer less. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I hope no one takes offense, I sure don't... ;)

The bottom line? --revised-- "Any object only has value twice, when you buy it, and when you sell it..." Everything that happens in between is 'interesting', but in the greater scheme of things really doesn't mean 'diddly squat'...that's my read anyway.

Mel
 
I do not mind if someone makes a offer even if it is way low.I would normaly respond with a offer to buy at the same price or even a little higher. A few times I bought knives under what I could have gotten them for any other place that I know of. Also made some good friends. Some peoplearetryingto get over, but I will make a low offer sometimes, and get the knife.Also my best customers are the ones that make money on the knives I sell them. I don't care if they make some they come back and buy more. That is one of the things that makes this hobby fun. The best deal is when both parties are happy, with no doubts, and they still feel good the next day.
 
Gene, you are on the money as usual. A simple no thanks will do the trick, no reason to tell anybody to shove it.

Dave
(one who is lucky to have become Gene's friend)
 
Hey KWM, at least 'NO' is better than 'I don't want your crap' and/or 'shove it up your a$$'...;)

This is how I think it is (in life);

Seller = wants to get the most for his product.
Buyer = wants to get the product for as less as possible.

As long as all involved can work around ill-pleasantries, then worth is in the eye of the beholder. And every BEHOLDER is different.

Gene, I agree with you 100%. A simple "NO THANKS" works a treat. Think it, type it or say it, it can save a whole lot of crap in the longrun....he he he....

The worlds not that big a place after all - is it?
 
i dont see anything wrong w/making reasnoble offers, or making offers for reasnoble trades, most of us know ya aint gonna trade a spydie and a BM for a DRD, but if its a reasnoble offer, i dont see why that would be soo bad.......

if ya aint interested either ignore the offer/say no, not hard at all

or put 'price firm', 'no other trades', etc in the 'for sale' post to begin with

just the way i do things

sifu
 
I understand where you're coming from, and used to be ok with reasonable offers myself. Then the offers became more and more unreasonable. More like "super-" lowballing.

I don't think the goodfella's around here are trying to get the most for their knives at all. They're trying to get as close to what they put into the knives as possible, but end up selling at considerably less most of the time anyway since, if they're like me, they've already got another custom on the way ;). And to be lowballed on an already good, low price is like being slugged in the c@ck.

Just my feelings on the matter. Don't mean to offend, and you're absolutely right about one's ability to ignore lowballing, which is what I do most of the time. Sometimes sifting through lowball emails just ain't that fun, though.

Professor.
 
Gene, your post is right on the money. For the record, I simply wanted to state that it is all in how someone comes across in their "offer" that determines whether the person is making an intentional "lowball offer" and is being rude, or the communication is sincere and the offer is being made with only good intentions.

That being said, any offer is a fair offer if it is made in a respectable manner and a respectable response of "no thanks" is the only way. However, some offers do not read that way and may require a different reaction. I meant nothing more................Ira
 
It doesn't matter what the offer is. If someone has expressed an interest you are way ahead of the game. Depending on your reaction you can sometimes get a second round offer that will knock your socks off. Be polite and be as concise as you can. The first communication is often just an attempt to gage character.

n2s
 
I totally agree that there is no reason to be rude when replying to an offer. I do also think that there are times when being overly polite does not fit the bill either. In those cases I will respond with a simple no, instead of a no thank you.

I do not believe in being rude unless someone has been rude to me first, and even then I will usually refrain. My patience gets short however with people that do not understand when no means no, and they continue to give me unreasonable offers. I have been known to tell people to take a hike and not to bother me again with their rediculous offers. If that means I am being rude then so be it, I can live with that. As far as I am concerned being polite just doesn't always fit the situation. Some people need to be smacked with a two by four, not a pillow.
 
Some people need to be smacked with a two by four, not a pillow.
Click to expand...

KWM,

If they are that hard headed you are just going to be damaging a good piece of wood. :eek:

n2s
 
Most of us here on these forums know the value of the knives we want. Offering a trade value of $200 on a $500 knife is a kick in the nuts to the seller! But coming in at say $450 is fair and plain old horse trading. Who doesn't want to get a bit of a deal and a knife at the same time? If not, go buy at your local mall knife store. There you can pay AT LEAST full SRP. It's like buying a "pre owned" car. Are you gonna pay what's on the sticker? Hell no! (Unless of course it's a classic or collectible, that's a whole other story)
 
I think the main word here is "reasonable" Unfortuantly peoples defination of such can be widely varied.What I think is reasonable someone else may not.I have myself sold items well below the value,because I needed quick cash.I also have received ridiculously low offers.I think when making an offer it should be what would make both parties feel good about the deal.You get a knife at a hell of a price,and the seller shouldn't feel like he lost his shirt.Example: 400.00 new knife,perfect/unused asking price of seller 300.00.Offer 200.00,I would say thats a lowball.Two Spyderco Police knives,plus a Case copperlock for my custom Mayo TNT,I would say that is a lowball trade. I have always either e-mailed a not interested response to lowballers or just ingnored the e-mail.That would be the correct response.If someone can't take a hint though and keeps e-mailing bull*hit offers well then they might be asking for it.One last thing,like I said in another post.If your going to e-mail an offer to a seller,don't make comments like well no one will ever trade you one of those for what you have,or no one will ever give you that much for what you have.While you may or may not be correct in your assesment,those garage sale flea market rude tactics will get you most likely a nasty response.Don't want a rude response don't be rude in your e-mail to begin with.My two cents,
 
I guess I am different.When I see a knife for sale, and I ask the price,and it is too much,I just do not buy it.Bought four at Eugene Show this last weekend.Turned down 50.But I guess I"m different.
 
I was thinking about this...

There's definitely no cause to be rude. Let's say that first.

On the other hand... I've gotten a $10 offer for a $65 knife (both trade values). If it was 50 and 60, that'd be clearly a difference in valueing... I've done $180 for $205 (trade values again), for example, and that was okay. But in this case, it just seemed like someone was trying to sucker me, since this was a knowledgable fellow. I just won't deal with people who try to sucker me like that, regardless of their second offers. Seems like a good solution to me.
 
Hell, I think haggling is half the fun of horse (or in this case knife) trading. It's a time honored ritual. Otherwise we would all just run down to the neighborhood knife shop, pay top dollar, and then never sell them because nobody wants to buy a pre-owned knife. (God help us, a tool for cutting might have actually cut something.)
If you are into knife collecting to make money, your in the wrong line. This is supposed to be about fun and getting to play with big boy (and girl) toys.
If somebody comes in with a really low offer, counter with twice what your original price was. They'll get the point or just go away. Story time: I had rehandled a BK&T Brute with micarta. I also beadblasted and parkerized it. It was handsome in a user sort of way but nothing fancy. I went to a local gunshow where I knew a friend of mine who makes sheaths was supposed to have a table set up. The friend was out of town at another show so the sheath was out. As I perused the rest of the show, a guy (who I guess fancied himself a collector and "expert") asked to check out the Brute. He then told me that he had to have it and I explained that it was to be my user and I wasn't planning to sell. This guy kept following me around and wouldn't take no for an anwser. After about half and hour, I finally quoted him about 3 times the cost of a BK&T Brute brand new. He didn't flinch. He pulled a roll out of his pocket and counted off the bills. He left mighty happy with his unique knife and I left with a suckers money. Hey, I tried to discourage him every way I could but he had to have it.
The point to all of this is that it was fun. He was willing to pay and I was willing to take the fools money. It's all a game. If you take this stuff seriously, it will eat you up and you will always lose in the end.
My .02
Doc
 
Two years ago, after my buddy Keith passed away leaving us 100 some-odd mostly production knives, and after we'd decided to sell them and use the money to buy the AMK's/RMK's that Keith had been collecting, we took out a table at the local gun show...

A one time shot, no resale license needed...

So, there we are, Spyderco's, Blackjack's, and Benchmade's galore...

This guy saunters up, picks up a BM Crawford Cub that's marked $60, and asks..."How much?" Ahhh, $60 sez I. (it was a $90 knife)

"I'll give you $50" is his response... Nope sez I, and he walks.

An hour later he comes back, beer in hand, picks up the knife..."How much?" Ahhh, $60 sez I...

"I'll give you $55" is his response... Nope sez I, and he walks.

Two hours later he comes back, fresh beer in hand, drunk, picks up the knife..."How much?" Ahhh, $60 sez I...

"FINE, Here's your damn money!" he says as he throws down 3 bills...he snatches up the knife, curses us, and walks away...

I look at the top bill, a $20, and the bottom bill, another $20, shrug, and stuff the bills in my back pocket...

We soon bagged it as the show ended, and went home to inventory and count it up...

In the process of tallying the results, I remembered the money in my back pocket...

I pulled it out to count...and there between those two $20's was a $100 bill...lol :D

(Thanks, you freaking jerk off, hope you enjoy your new $140 knife...lol)

True story, couldn't make it up if I tried...freaking low baller! :D

Mel
 
It may be diffrent for me because I set up at shows,for the most part selling antique knives. I sell a lot of knives, but it may be easier to get a deal on the old stuff. I can walk into a shop and see three knives, all for $50 each lets say.two of the knives may be worth $1 to $5, but the third one may be a Marbles DeWeese might be worth $
700. So I put $700 on the knife along comes a dealer of collecter and offers me $500. Is that a low offer? Yes but he just bought it. The next show he comes to my tables first and he may have a deal for me.
The new knives are harder to find a real good deal but I buy MICROTECH
for way under list. I almost spent 275 for a very early LCC but I missed it. I have 8 in my collection right now the most I paid for any
of the LCC's was $220.The folks I bought them from were dealers and collectors none were unhappy. They still sell me knives anyway.I guess my point after all this rambling I have a good time, It is no big deal if someone wants a knife way to cheap, I offer to buy all he has for sale at a little more than he offered. I never lose a $500 deal over $5. I have seen it happen. If it isn't fun I will stop doing
it.
 
Sometimes the seller's price is based on what he has in it, not what the knife's new price was. Sometimes an offer is made because the prospective buyer likes a knife, but has no clue as to it's worth. I am very hesitant to buy when I have no idea about the value of a knife. For example, I saw a Gerber MK II new on a bubble card at a gun show for $50.00. I also saw several used MK II's there that were 6-10x that price. If I don't know anything about Gerber or MK II's I am not going to offer $250 or more on a used Vietnam era knife. Sometimes the prospective buyer makes an offer based on what he can afford to spend.
 
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