Haggling, a pet peeve. - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Skid Row Joe · #16 10-10-2013, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skippy

An hour? If it's taking you an hour you're doing it wrong. Every time I've done it, I've arrived at either a selling price or a conclusion that a deal won't be made in a few minutes; sometimes less.

X2 Every sale/purchase I've made as an adult took seconds to make the deal ~ not even 1 minute to arrive at an agreed to price. Deals don't take but a few seconds to do, max.

elchivito · #17 10-10-2013, 06:21 PM

I like the haggle on almost everything. What gets me are the mouthbreathing lowballers on Craigslist. Post a car and ask 2K.
Phone rings "you take a thousand for it?"
" you haven't seen it or driven it"
"uh huh, you take a grand for it anyhow?"
"didn't your daddy teach you how to dicker? Come see it and make me an offer. Money talks"
"'K, bye"
they never come and look. Do people actually say yes to them often enough to make it worth while to make blind, lowball offers?

aklim · #18 10-10-2013, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe

X2 Every sale/purchase I've made as an adult took seconds to make the deal ~ not even 1 minute to arrive at an agreed to price. Deals don't take but a few seconds to do, max.

If you are haggling it takes longer than that. I take a few minutes only if I am shooting you a price and its take it leave it.

aklim · #19 10-10-2013, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elchivito

I like the haggle on almost everything. What gets me are the mouthbreathing lowballers on Craigslist. Post a car and ask 2K.
Phone rings "you take a thousand for it?"
" you haven't seen it or driven it"
"uh huh, you take a grand for it anyhow?"
"didn't your daddy teach you how to dicker? Come see it and make me an offer. Money talks"
"'K, bye"
they never come and look. Do people actually say yes to them often enough to make it worth while to make blind, lowball offers?

That is the kind of crap I don't want to do. Not fun. I'd hang up or tell you to go fawn yourself

TylerH860 · #20 10-10-2013, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elchivito

I like the haggle on almost everything. What gets me are the mouthbreathing lowballers on Craigslist. Post a car and ask 2K.
Phone rings "you take a thousand for it?"
" you haven't seen it or driven it"
"uh huh, you take a grand for it anyhow?"
"didn't your daddy teach you how to dicker? Come see it and make me an offer. Money talks"
"'K, bye"
they never come and look. Do people actually say yes to them often enough to make it worth while to make blind, lowball offers?

This happens to me nearly every day. It takes all the self control I have to remain polite. I slipped yesterday when someone asked if I would take 40% of my asking price after only a 10 second exchange to discover if the car was still available. I started laughing, saying no between the laughing, and decided to just hang up rather than recover from it.

I put firm on all of my craigslist ads to weed out lowballers. Still doesn't stop them. When people come out in person and are serious enough I usually have a little wiggle room if they have to feel like they haggle.

My favorite line is "Like I advertised, my price is firm, but I don't want to miss a deal over a hundred dollars."

Usually my prices are low enough already. I'm sure if I wanted to play the game I could make more money, but like turning inventory quickly and don't like haggling.

With trade ins I try and get a number from them first, but most won't do it. When I give the appraisal I tell them how much I plan on selling it for, how much I estimate it will take to recondition to be sellable, and how much profit I would like to make. Then if there's an issue its with how much I think I can sell the car for, not how much I'm trying to make off of them.

Diesel911 · #21 10-10-2013, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by martureo

Maybe that's what rubs me the wrong way. The fact that they won't even let me know the ballpark of the price range they've got in mind.

Haggling is like Fishing.
There is more to a Fishing Trip then just catching a Fish. You have to enjoy most of the whole experience.

I make an offer of what I am willing to pay for the item. If they say no I am normally done and don't contact them again; and I am not required to contact the Seller.
A few times after the Sale ended the Seller has come back with a 2nd chance offer. Most often is what I offered.

I generally prefer "Buy It Now" stuff on eBay; but, I spend a lot of time on the internet finding out what the items value is.

From what I have seen on eBay there is quite a few Sellers selling stuff that they have no knowledge of and also no knowledge of the value of the item.

Sometimes I wonder what was on the mind of the Seller. I bought 2 original used Tail Lights for My Chevy Astro Van at a total cost of $16.50. The Seller only ask $6.50 for the shipping.
When the item arrived I found the Seller had paid over $12 for the USPS Postage???
After eBay and PayPal fees the Seller must have only mad a Dollar or 2 from the sale.

Can't Know · #22 10-10-2013, 08:19 PM

Quote:

My favorite line is "Like I advertised, my price is firm, but I don't want to miss a deal over a hundred dollars."

That is brilliant. Perfect comeback for that situation.

Diesel911 · #23 10-10-2013, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elchivito

I like the haggle on almost everything. What gets me are the mouthbreathing lowballers on Craigslist. Post a car and ask 2K.
Phone rings "you take a thousand for it?"
" you haven't seen it or driven it"
"uh huh, you take a grand for it anyhow?"
"didn't your daddy teach you how to dicker? Come see it and make me an offer. Money talks"
"'K, bye"
they never come and look. Do people actually say yes to them often enough to make it worth while to make blind, lowball offers?

This is what I would do:
Phone rings "you take a thousand for it?"
Me: No. (And, then I would wait for the Caller to comment.)

It is likely the Caller is not expecting you to sell it for one thousand but trying to get you to say something less than the original 2 thousand.

I would not do this but some people would "play" and tell the caller I already have an offer for more than $1,500 and so on.

layback40 · #24 10-10-2013, 08:27 PM

For items under ~ $10k I often have cash. By knowing what I wish to pay for the item, if it is going to be a game of back & forth, I just show the notes & say take it or leave it. Often you will be walking away when they finally agree. I normally have a couple of 100 in my back pocket just in case I need to lift a little. Seeing a roll of notes gets most people all excited & throws them off guard a little.
Once when buying a property at auction, I was the loosing bidder, under the reserve by about $50k. after it was knocked down, I walked the auctioneer over to my car & pointed to a contract for the sale of another property that I had made an offer on. it was on the front seat. He could not see the details of the property. I told him if I didnt buy the property being auctioned, I would be signing on the other property. I ended up getting the auction property for my bid. I find that by being firm you often get things for your offer.

cmbdiesel · #25 10-10-2013, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Air&Road

This is negotiation 101. A good negotiator ALWAYS at least tries to get the other party to throw out the first number. This is one of the most basic principles of haggling.

If it bothers you, I would suggest you tell him that he can give you a price or you will walk away.

Clinton would have offered 50 cents....

Skid Row Joe · #26 10-10-2013, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by layback40

For items under ~ $10k I often have cash. By knowing what I wish to pay for the item, if it is going to be a game of back & forth, I just show the notes & say take it or leave it. Often you will be walking away when they finally agree. I normally have a couple of 100 in my back pocket just in case I need to lift a little. Seeing a roll of notes gets most people all excited & throws them off guard a little.
Once when buying a property at auction, I was the loosing bidder, under the reserve by about $50k. after it was knocked down, I walked the auctioneer over to my car & pointed to a contract for the sale of another property that I had made an offer on. it was on the front seat. He could not see the details of the property. I told him if I didnt buy the property being auctioned, I would be signing on the other property. I ended up getting the auction property for my bid. I find that by being firm you often get things for your offer.

Absolutely. Whether buying or selling.....

The Clk Man · #27 10-10-2013, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidmash

I have had a few cases like that. My opening offer is always one dollar. Then I get a starting price from them like I asked for in the first place and the games begin. It's part of my game to get them to realize if they want to dick me around, I can do the same. Sometimes I'll just tell them never mind and walk away, then they give me a price and the games begin.

That's the way I do it.

Shortsguy1 · #28 10-10-2013, 11:55 PM

I am always surprised how few sellers put a price in their parts for sale ads here or on CL. Very rarely do I NEED a part, but there are many things that I WANT and will buy if the price is right. Since my need is low, when I don't see a price, I just move onto the next ad. Based on this thread and others, I am definitely not alone in that conclusion. Do sellers realize that their negotiation tactic alienates potential buyers from the outset?

sunedog · #29 10-11-2013, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Air&Road

This is negotiation 101. A good negotiator ALWAYS at least tries to get the other party to throw out the first number. This is one of the most basic principles of haggling.

I agree with you 100%. And I have over 25 years of professional negotiating experience.

Stretch · #30 10-11-2013, 09:28 AM

If I'm selling household stuff and just want a little bit of beer money for it I'll put a cheap fixed price. If I get anyone trying to haggle I stay at my fixed price. If they persist I put the price up. I can't stand whingers!