Is it ok to negotiate and/or offer less than the listed price? What qualifies as a low ball offer?

[navetsea]

Sorry 'NO' won't sell it for that but thanks for the interest. 'YES' I will sell it to you for that price! Is it so hard to say NO....so difficult to say YES? Why get upset? Why let any of the game bother you? We all know the process. The seller holds the cards, has the last word, is the decider, in control. The price for this piece of my engraved artwork is $ 750. Wanna buy it? View attachment 319227 View attachment 319229 View attachment 319230 View attachment 319231

man, if this is the paddle, I don't dare to imagine the canoe

 

[Tom71]

Interesting discussion here.

Subjective approach:

I list jackets for what I think is fair. "Think" as in "really no clue what a used jacket is worth". I am always open for offers. I feel fairly confident, I will know when somebody is just taking advantage of me. Never once had that issue in these parts.

When I buy via a big corporation, I will always try to secure the best price for me. Super´s example of buying (brand new!) cars is a good one. Unbelievable how huge the margin usually is...

When I buy here, I make up my mind first if I do want the jacket and if I want to buy from this particular seller. If so, I don´t haggle. I consider TFL a special band of brothers, and I would rather see both buyer and seller happy than even trying to get a "good deal" for myself. Certainly dont mind other approaches though.

I have a friend who when alone in a Kebab-shop makes a habit of asking if he could get a 4 Euro Kebab for 3 Euro and claims to be succesful 20% of the time. He does it "for the fun". Different strokes for different folk, right...?!

 

[dannyk]

The obvious part of the whole equation which has been touched on 100 times now but can’t be answered because it’s different for everyone is just what low ball means. If something is 500 and in general agreement it’s worth somewhere around that. Would 450 be low, 400, 300, 200...what does someone consider laughable, insulting, offensive, etc...that point will be different for everyone. Some have said they don’t like haggling or playing the game at all. For them this conversation won’t apply really. Some have said if they think a price is fair they won’t offer anything less. Honorable but can’t be expected to apply to every member. And back then low balls I have said I have received them and sent them. Some may have said that’s not cool. But my definition of lowball will be different than yours. I recently got a jacket that I said I sent a low offer on. And it was accepted. Although to be clear in my mind it was a feeling out. I saw what the jacket was listed at and I sent way less and it was simply to see if the seller would be willing to move at all. I didn’t really want or need the jacket at all. It was a seller I didn’t know. Just seeing hey will they come down at all. And to my surprise and honestly to my shock the offer was accepted before I even got off my phone. Can I be blamed for that situation? Or what about in my example above of 500. I personally send an offer of 450 cause I think that’s what it’s worth to me and can’t see going above that. But to the seller they are convinced 500 is the lowest they can go. They may consider the offer low. But a third person comes along and thinks whoa this is a 400 dollar jacket tops and sends an offer. Now the seller and if I as the first attempted purchaser would say nope that’s wrong. Where do we draw a line for low? That’s not determinable. Different for all.

 

[Mich486]

I agree there definitely is a certain degree of subjectivity on how much an item is worth to someone. Heck I never found a buyer that thought it was worth more than my asking price though it’s always less...

 

[navetsea]

I never buy jackets, but unless I'm at tourist market like in Bali where everything is marked 400% up its original value I feel bad haggling to a person over something he wanted to sell , just either I want to buy it or not, is all.
on the other hand I don't take it into heart if other people try to haggle my price whatever price they say though however laughable it is ... I just say I can't do it for that price for strangers when it's pure business, and do it for free for people I consider family or relatives if they offer me laughable price out of their ignorance... if you are a doctor or architect or craftman, etc, known for certain ability in your family, it is your family members first who mostly expect things done either for free or very hastily or offering completely uneducated price than complete strangers, so I'm thick skinned in that aspect, I just do it for free, product labels, xmas card, book cover, company logo, brochure, bday party invitation card... they know me to draw weird comic, and so they asked me to make all these things sometime need to be finished in the same day... I mean how to hate family member who offer me $2 for promotion logo for his carpet.. right.. there is no beginning to it
I do them all for free made them ashamed a bit for asking the second time.

 

[Ayeteael]

In my mind, buyers haggle because they don't really want/need something but need to justify purchasing the item by getting it below market/list price. Sellers accept haggling because they want to sell the item and its been sitting/available for X days. If something is priced well, it sells immediately. We've all seen it in the classifieds. No haggling is necessary or proffered bc the item will sell itself at its price. Conversely, you can take the position that if something lingers, its priced too "high" for the majority in the marketplace. I don't see haggling as some affront or slight to the seller, but I'm also generally aloof when it comes to these arms-length transactions. Maybe that says more about me than the I care to divulge.

 

[CatsCan]

This reminds me of a scene in Life Of Brian, if you remember that movie. In the end, he was offered the flask for free but then asked, what was wrong with it, that it cost nothing!

 

[HoosierDaddy]

man, if this is the paddle, I don't dare to imagine the canoe

I sold that engraved long oar in 2010 for $650 and this for $250 the same year....

 

[steve u]

HoosierDaddy,
Thanks for the pic's....I couldn't finish the Old Testament either.
I thought this was Outerwear.

 

[Bahabp100]

Perhaps a waste of three seconds reading the low offer, but why get offended? Why give the offeror so much power over your emotions? Your getting offended is the far more significant waste of time, as compared to the three seconds reading the low offer. Hit delete and move on to the next offer without skipping a beat. Any intervening offense is wasted energy.



There are no fixed or established prices or values here on TFL any more than there are on E-Bay. Identical and/or substantially similar jackets are frequently listed here for materially different amounts -- sometimes at the same time. Likewise, sale prices for the same or substantially similar jackets are often materially different. Some sellers hold out waiting for the guy who simply must have their jacket, no matter the price. I am frequently astonished by the patience of some sellers with year-old listings. Other sellers are impatient and/or will sell the exact same jacket for materially less depending on their unique circumstances. Sometimes, the exact same jacket is resold here multiple times for materially different amounts. There is nothing sacred about the TFL Classified section. It is a marketplace like any other. People list jackets for unreasonably high prices, middle of the road prices, and below market prices every day of the week.

You state that, when you sell a jacket, you list it for "a price that [you] feel is fair." I believe you -- you are an honorable guy and you have the best of intentions. However, that does not mean that your subjective determination of a fair price is in fact fair. What is fair to one person is a rip-off to another and a steal to someone else. The fairness of pricing is inherently subjective and in a constant state of flux. Past sales provide some insight, but are by no means dispositive of future values or pricing. The most recent sale might be the product of an overzealous buyer . . . or an impatient seller . . . either way, the sale price may be distorted.

I feel that if you offer 50% (or less) of a fairly priced jacket, as an offer for a jacket- that is a low ball offer. That said if the sellers accepts the offer and I’ve had some accept you're probably getting a good price/value but 25% is much more acceptable offer to sellers not a low ball, and certainly 10% is fair discount and is accepted often in my opinion and not unfair.

 

[Bahabp100]

I sold that engraved long oar in 2010 for $650 and this for $250 the same year....
View attachment 319322

How much for the couch?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Hey steve
I can delete my artwork photos in this 'outerwear' thread if you prefer. Just let me know
HD

 

[HoosierDaddy]

What couch ? The wooden plaque is sitting in my leather studio chair in my garage workshop.

 

[Bahabp100]

What couch ? The wooden plaque is sitting in my leather studio chair in my garage workshop. View attachment 319342

Then How much for a haircut?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Free. Only take a couple minutes.....

 

[JoeNiblick]

Free. Only take a couple minutes.....

Would you consider accepting less?

 

[HoosierDaddy]

Yes. I'll give you $5 if you let me do it to my specs !!

 

[JoeNiblick]

@Superfluous I'm glad you started this thread. I've been thinking about the previous discussion.

@handymike I did think it might be a cultural thing, but as an American, I HATE haggling. When I travel abroad, I often pay the asking price in the markets, 1) Because I dislike haggling, 2) I can afford to pay $10 instead of $8 (and in fact, it's worth $2 to avoid doing something I dislike), and 3) I assume the $2 is actually worth more to the seller than to me.

I wonder, too, if it's because we're more like a group of friends here. I'll lowball someone on eBay, but that's only when they've enabled the button to allow me to do so. And I find it odd when they don't counter offer.

More than once I've scrolled past a listing here that's overpriced, and someone has responded "lol." It's hard to know if the seller was just uninformed, or actually hoping to sell an item for more than it's worth.

There's also the other thread right now about not getting duped... To that, I thought, "An item is worth whatever you're willing to pay. You're not getting scammed if you pay what you want to pay for an item you want."

Lastly, I feel like different hagglers have different motivations. It could be for sport. It could be because they can't afford something. It could just be on principle. It could be because they want to buy something at a discounted price, flip it, and make some money. It could be because the item is overpriced to begin with. We're not talking about basic needs here, though. Nobody needs a luxury jacket. If you can't afford $1200, then you can't really afford $1000.

In the end, I hope we can all just continue to be civil. And remember, you don't owe anyone a response. If you're really that angry about a message, ignore it. And if it is in fact abusive, then report it.

 

[steve u]

NO HD,
I was joking...
My Buddy Barney said" Steve ,if you can't laugh at yourself your missing the BIGEST joke in Nashville."
Glad to see it gotten a little lighter.

 

[navetsea]

anyone here ever ask any jacket makers/ vendor a lower price, I see their prices are taking a steeper hike these last few years, wouldn't that be a less personal than asking for a low price to a private person?

I think every jacket vendor here owe you guys big discount for free daily advertisement of their products, I google any jacket name the first result page would mostly fit pictures from here.