Originally published at: This Craigslist seller has zero-tolerance for chiselers | Boing Boing
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The spam & scammers are out’a control on Craigslist, so I kind’a understand this…
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Kudos to this person for warning cheapskates to back off.
I mean - asking for a lower price doesn’t make one a cheapskate, per se. Just don’t be a dick about it. Like offering less when you get there. I had a guy want to pay me $10 less so he could pay his buddy who was helping him haul away an 80lb Sony Trinitron. I was like - uh - yeah, fine. Honestly I just wanted it gone.
But when selling collectables I am willing to go lower sometimes. Usually.
But yeah, offering .10 on a .25 item is sttuupppiidddd.
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Perceptions of value are different. It’s fine to offer a lower price and explain you’re not trying to insult the seller, that’s just what it’s worth to you.
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I mean, I have no desire for those barstools but it seems like it’d be a net good to email the seller and offer $0 for them, citing rule 2.
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Just use email account A to negotiate a low price, then use email account B to swoop in and buy it.
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Totally borrowing this for Facebook Marketplace. The first twelve parties interested in a Carrom table I had for sale last month either ghosted or revealed they were only willing to pay 25% or less of the asking price.
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For CL and FB marketplace, I want to get rid of stuff ASAP and not dick around with people for days so I price pretty low.
What usually happens is someone jumps on the item and if they try and haggle, I show them the messages I am getting from people offering full price or MORE THAN FULL PRICE. That usually shuts them up.
I also price things in increments of cash that I know are easy to obtain from an ATM. Like $40 instead of $50, that lessens the chances of “oh man, all I got is $40”.
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Honestly I’d rather deal with this than flakes who don’t show up on time. If you say you are going to be there at 4:30, then text at 4:35 saying you are “just leaving the house, be there in 20 minutes”, or text at 4:25 saying you “have to pick up the kids can we reschedule for tomorrow”? Sorry, already promised to someone else.
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Sounds remarkably churlish to me. Remember, bargaining on a sales price is specific to different cultures around the world. In some cultures, it’s considered rude not to haggle over the price. So, sure, if your price is firm, just say so. But don’t be an asshole over it.
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This isn’t that complicated and doesn’t require such extreme threats.
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Decide what your rock-bottom price is.
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Add 30-50% for haggling.
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If they haggle, you’ve got cushion, if they don’t, you got more than you expected.
Mrs Peas and I just sold a very expensive designer couch set from the 70’s to help fund our new house purchase. We wanted to clear at least a few thousand, but ideally closer to $5000. We priced it at $8000, got a few nibbles and lowballs, but finally ended up selling for $4000. I probably could have countered them and gotten $5000, but it felt like such a win for something that we were given for free that it didn’t matter. And we didn’t have to be dicks about it. Everyone left happy and some rich douchebag is probably having it reupholstered right now for $15,000.
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Yes - this is a great rule of thumb.
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Yes, but…
In the US, haggling over price is not an ordinary process for a retail transaction (except for car dealers, which is one of many reasons that so many of us hate the car purchase process).
I’ve used Craigslist many times, for both buying and selling. I (almost) never negotiate on price. If it’s what I want and the price is reasonable, then I’ll buy it. Easy peasy.
When I sell items on CL, I’ve tried stating that my price is firm, and I don’t want to haggle. Fewer than 1 in 3 responders will respect that request, and almost always will try to dicker. The ad copy is churlish, but I suspect that it comes from the seller’s repeated experience with cheapskates and resellers.
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I assume when a CL buyer arrives they are going to offer something lower, so I always add a percentage when I list it. But even I have specified “Look, this is only ten bucks, I’m not going to accept offers simply because the time and effort of having to meet up with you to exchange is worth at least ten bucks, barring the value of the item.”
And like Loretta I have decided “Sorry, I changed my mind it’s not for sale now!!” when a yard sale buyer is being ridiculous. However I’ve never had to resort to destroying something in front of them. That sounds perversely satisfying.
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Then I think you’ve misunderstood what “culture” means. If the majority of people do it, then that is the culture of Craigslist.
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This.
Been there done that.
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I always price stuff on Craigslist to sell so rarely is there any haggling or need to post a warning like that.
I once offered a seller 10 bucks less for something they were asking a hundred and change for, the seller then chewed me out because it was already priced too low.
Okay, I get that but your listing says or best offer. I moved on.
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I try to keep a range of bills available so that haggling can happen without such limitations. This is true when I’m buying or selling. Related note: When buying, you can’t respectably talk someone down from $40 to $35, then hand them two twenties and ask for change. That’s kind of a dick move.
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Craigslist flakes notwithstanding, this totally bolsters my theory that people who don’t haggle over prices are in fact sociopaths.
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my favorite are the lowballers who ask me to lowball for them, “what’s the lowest price you’d be willing to accept?”
my response is usually something like, “for you? listed price + 25%”
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