ediquitte: haggling?

Is haggling on price expected, discouraged?

"hey man your X aint worth Y"....... makes me very very unhappy

but if someone has a post like this.. "i would like to get 1000 for this" if you send him a pm saying i can do 800 would you be interested? thats no so bad be polite.

think of it like this if your boss came in today and said your wage is to high i think im gonna pay you half price how would you feel...

There are as many answers to this as there are people and situations. Personally I don't haggle when buying something, but that's just me. If I like it and the price is fair, it's a done deal. Many times however, if I express interest but then hesitate the seller offers to haggle a little. Some folks get offended, most don't. As long as it's a reasonable offer they should not get offended...if they do that's their problem. If something is ridiculous to start with I don't even bother looking, why waste my time?

I would rather not see it posted on the board .... should be accomplished via PMs or email .... If you are not interested in an item, do not comment on the price -- too high OR too low. Haggling should be between the seller and potential buyer.

I do not have a problem with making a REASONABLE offer for something. UNREASONABLE offers tend to offend some people ...

Reasonable is all in the eye of the beholder though. I don't tend to haggle. If something is a reasonable price, i'll give it a look, if i don't like the price, I move on. As a seller, i'm open to haggling. All depends on what the item is, how long I have had it or wanted it, and how badly i want it or want to see it gone. Long story short, play it by ear, and weigh each situation. No matter what you do though, as long as you treat people with respect, they will generally react the same way to you. On rare occasions people might get ugly, but those are out of your control.

kinda off topic but kinda on topic. yal ever watch pawn stars? people crack me up this guy brought in a home video of FDR driving past in a parade.. asked how much he wanted for it guy said $600,000. they said its worth about $600. then this guy brings in a flint lock pistol thats "been in his family" for many many generations and wants to sell it for about 10 grand.. ends up being a fake..

Beladran wrote:kinda off topic but kinda on topic. yal ever watch pawn stars? people crack me up this guy brought in a home video of FDR driving past in a parade.. asked how much he wanted for it guy said $600,000. they said its worth about $600. then this guy brings in a flint lock pistol thats "been in his family" for many many generations and wants to sell it for about 10 grand.. ends up being a fake..

I gotta say that I do enjoy that show. I especially like the ones that Rick will ask, "What were you wanting to get out of it?" and the seller says, "Well, I was thinking about maybe a million dollars." and Rick ALWAYS replies, "Uhhh, you're thinking way too much."

In regard to the initial question... I don't personally like to haggle about prices on stuff and never had. That being said, I have talked with several forum members who have told me that they do and expect it to be part of every transaction that they are involved in whether it's buying or selling and that when selling, they tend to mark their prices up some since they expect everyone else to be like them and want to haggle some. Some folks apparently find some enjoyment in it. With that in mind, you will find instances where it's going to be ok but to reiterate what some of the above have mentioned: Always be courteous and respectful with your offers. Do a little research beforehand so that you can feel good about things from your end. Keep it to emails and PM's, not open posts and most importantly, if you don't like the way a transaction appears to be going, just walk away from it. -- Good Hunting!!

Good feedback from everyone. Even the ones that sent PMs so it wouldnt give away their secrets to everyone. Thanks.

We have secrets here ?

Do it privately!

jbpmidas wrote:Do it privately!

I agree. If you don't want to get offended, stay away from gun shows. I have a S&W 64, little worn but cleaned up nicely with some flitz and elbow grease. Was looking for some rubber grips (another pair you coulda had Joe). I was looking and saw a Ruger Speed Six, which I've always wanted. It was priced at 225 but I'm sure I coulda got her down to $200. This was a long time ago when guns were priced pretty well. She asked to look at my gun and I looked at her's. Finally she said "your gun and $150), I didn't even answer her when she was going to get my Smith stainless for $50, I just took my gun and kept walking.
That's one of my stories of insults but they're there to make money and take something off a fool. Find out what the going price is and make a reasonable offer, don't insult the seller and he shouldn't with you on a partial trade. Just say "I'll pass, thanks."

I don't like to negotiate prices.

I either pay what they ask or move on.

Of course, if the seller asks what I would pay for something I want, I'd come up with an offer---but that rarely happens.

I'll go out on a limb here...and say that I've probably done more "deals" on here than any other forum member since MSGO was started....

Every single one of them has been a good experience...and I've met a hell of a lot of nice folks in the process...

As to haggling... I don't think it matters one way or the other...I think people expect to haggle. Hell...half the fun is doing the deal....

If seller doesn't want to haggle...just say firm...

If you are gonna get your feelings hurt because someone says your stuff's too high on here...then you should not be hanging out here..

On the other hand, Lots of banter back and forth detracts from the sellers ad and causes issues for the Moderators and we don't want that either

My

captain-03 wrote:I would rather not see it posted on the board .... should be accomplished via PMs or email .... If you are not interested in an item, do not comment on the price -- too high OR too low. Haggling should be between the seller and potential buyer.

I do not have a problem with making a REASONABLE offer for something. UNREASONABLE offers tend to offend some people ...

+1

I think it's ok to come to a meeting of the minds, but don't run someone's gun/price down in public.

I agree with Captain. Any haggling should be done via PM rather than on the open forum.
Comments on whether a price is too high or too low or whatnot is discouraged in the Classifieds.

I'm with 'neck on this one.
When you go to a gun show you know you are gonna haggle. New/used cars? Haggle. Why not here? I'm a firm believer in getting as much as I can for as little as possible.

Haggle all you want just do it by pm.

works for the seller to, be respectful. if you say OBO, and someone pm's you w/ their offer, and its not a complete insult just say "can't do it" or simply "no." you never know when someone might just be testing the waters....we all wanna get a steal on something. best done in PMs though for sure

JMS39339 wrote: In regard to the initial question... I don't personally like to haggle about prices on stuff and never had. That being said, I have talked with several forum members who have told me that they do and expect it to be part of every transaction that they are involved in whether it's buying or selling and that when selling, they tend to mark their prices up some since they expect everyone else to be like them and want to haggle some.

I do this on some things.. Right now i have a car and a bike on craigs list. Take the bike for example i want about 5k so i list it for 5500 b/c everyone always tries to talk you down and alot of times will go through will a deal more readilly if they think they've talked you down. But some people are crazy. My car is listed for 11k and they offer 3500. I mean really?!

Cliff Cargill wrote:

captain-03 wrote:I would rather not see it posted on the board .... should be accomplished via PMs or email .... If you are not interested in an item, do not comment on the price -- too high OR too low. Haggling should be between the seller and potential buyer.

I do not have a problem with making a REASONABLE offer for something. UNREASONABLE offers tend to offend some people ...

+1

I think it's ok to come to a meeting of the minds, but don't run someone's gun/price down in public.

Well put, Cliff!