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why all the hate for 'make an offer' items?


toptenmaterial

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I do a bit of selling on AA here and there. I am by no means a professional, though I try to behave as such. That being said, I do notice that "make an offer" sales threads get a negative reception. Why is that? Is it because haggling makes people feel uncomfortable?

 

Bingo!

 

You offer too little and it offends people. You offer too much and then you feel ripped off.

I don't mind making offers when it is a trade, but when it comes to cash I generally don't.

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For me it's usually because the seller doesn't want to haggle. Doesn't happen much on this site, but on others and at flea markets they get offended if you make a "low" offer, even if you think it's a reasonable one. Or they don't respond at all and toss your offer out.

That and sometimes they'll respond "I'm looking to get more for it" which confuses me because that means they have a set price/range in mind already.

Edited by SEgamer
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I think it is just the idea that when you make your offer you might not necessarly get acknowledgement and won't necessarily be apprised that if you would have offered more than you would have gotten it. It isn't like ebay where you know how many people bid and you get a denial or counter offer. If it is on these boards by the time he looks again he may have 10 to 20 offers and go oh this guy had the highest and pick him and everyone else just misses out. Kinda sucks to not know I bid a day before this guy and if you would have told me I could bid higher I would have.

 

 

Also you have the opposite where the guy really knows what he wants to sell it for he just wants someone to accidentally bid more than he wants to sell it for, which is fine but if 20 or 30 people are all bidding and he is saying no to everyone because you are not hitting his ebay price he has in his mind then that is annoying to keep trying to figure out what that price is.

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MMAO threads *can* work out for both parties, but typically result in being a complete waste of time. Why?

 

Because most of the time, the seller has an idea of what they'd like to get for something, but are too chicken shit to reveal their "reserve", thinking they'll scare off potential buyers. After you PM them with a price, MOST of the time (if they're not butthurt asshats that is), they'll come back with a "yeah... I was hoping to get a little more" and then leave it at that. Sometimes, NOT all the time, they'll counter and then you have this bidding scenario against yourself, someone else or their reserve price. This is no longer a sale. It's an auction. A silent auction with no standards, rules or etiquette being followed.

 

What's happened a lot here lately though is someone who claims they don't really know what something is worth, will post an offer thread. You PM with a legitimate (not a lowball offer) and they reply saying they need to do some more "research", but that they'll get back to you. Hours or a day or two go by and then you see that the seller has already sold the item you were interested in (and you were the first to make the offer) without giving you the common courtesy of trying to up your bid, let you know what's going on or anything else. Pretty scummy.

 

The way I see it, people really should be posting prices along with their goods in a marketplace forum. Anything without a price, deserves to be placed in the auction sub forum because that's exactly what it turns into most of the time. ;)

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I can only speak for myself. Yeah I am not very fond of haggling that is true. I think the other thing though is it boils down to this. You have something to sell, the buyer wants to pay the lowest possible price obviously including cost and shipping. You as the seller also know how much you are willing to accept for said item, so I do not see a point in the "bullshit" to be perfectly honest. In your mind YOU KNOW you will not go below a certain amount so whatever that amount is put a price above that you would be really happy to get and ask for that, IF it does not sell for that within a reasonable time frame then price it at or just slightly above what you are willing to accept. Buyers just want the damn thing without the hassle, without the guesswork, without bidding against others, we have enough of that shit from Ebay. List your item, list a price and the first that responds and pays gets it. That is what I would prefer. Now I have only been in the buying game BUT AT SOME POINT I really need to sort my collection and start selling. If I put something on Ebay I intend to put a minimum based on what I am willing to accept, if it does not sell then perhaps I will look to trade the item. If I post here or other forums it will be listed with the price I want, possibly suggested items I would trade for, I do not intend to bother with any of that "make an offer bullshit" because I hate it so why would I do that to others? You asked and there is my answer. Thanks. OH BUT LET ME ADD, I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS SHIT IF THE SELLER REFUSES TO SHIP TO ME OR OFFER TO SHIP TO CANADA! NOW THAT PISSES ME OFF TO NOT EVEN HAVE THE OPTION.

 

Oh and one last thing. And I am not saying this is you or anyone specific but often I see "HERE ARE MY ITEMS, MAKE ME AN OFFER, DON'T LOWBALL ME BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IT IS WORTH!!!!"

 

Well if you know what it is worth THEN JUST FUCKING ASK FOR THAT AMOUNT.

Edited by OldSchoolRetroGamer
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My experiences with make offer threads have been quite negative. I usually start out with a low offer (do you really expect me to start with the highest I would go?) and then either get no response or an "I'm offended" response. So 99% of the time make offer threads are a complete waste of time and therefore I generally avoid them. It's like "Oh this is a make offer thread. Close it out and move on to something more productive."

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Sometimes, NOT all the time, they'll counter and then you have this bidding scenario against yourself, someone else or their reserve price. This is no longer a sale. It's an auction. A silent auction with no standards, rules or etiquette being followed.

 

This is the best explanation, and frankly, it's not just here at AA (considering I have never bought here, but do see the hate out for Make Offer threads), but on any forum where this is the case. If I want to deal with auction houses, Ill go to ebay. If you have a price I can buy it at, and don't have to be worried about being one upped, then Ill consider it.

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Simply put, some sellers are offended by the offers and some sellers like to put down buyers, or the no response method mentioned above. I find it's much easier for both seller and buyer just to have a set price on something instead of PMing an offer and getting then getting yelled at. Nobody likes to be yelled at. Trust me, it's not fun and it can make others feel pretty crappy.

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Frankly, I will go out of my way to ignore anyone who tried pulling the 'I'm offended at your offer' when what they were asking for is offers.

 

Yep, I don't see how anyone could ever be offended by an offer regardless of how low. All they need to do is thank the potential buyer for the offer and politely decline. If you're really such a sensitive seller, just post a reasonable sale price and add OBO to the end of it. Otherwise, just stick it up on Ebay and see how high it goes.

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OH BUT LET ME ADD, I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THIS SHIT IF THE SELLER REFUSES TO SHIP TO ME OR OFFER TO SHIP TO CANADA! NOW THAT PISSES ME OFF TO NOT EVEN HAVE THE OPTION.

 

Yea its a pet peeve of mine. I can understand to a certain extent but we're not a third world country here. I think it has more to do with having to actually go to the post office to ship to Canada. I've heard that a few times as an excuse

 

Oh and one last thing. And I am not saying this is you or anyone specific but often I see "HERE ARE MY ITEMS, MAKE ME AN OFFER, DON'T LOWBALL ME BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IT IS WORTH!!!!"

 

 

Yep, you've perfectly encapsulated the reason I try to stay away from MMAO threads.

Edited by AtariLeaf
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Oh and one last thing. And I am not saying this is you or anyone specific but often I see "HERE ARE MY ITEMS, MAKE ME AN OFFER, DON'T LOWBALL ME BECAUSE I KNOW WHAT IT IS WORTH!!!!"

 

Well if you know what it is worth THEN JUST FUCKING ASK FOR THAT AMOUNT.

That is so true.

 

There was a game I was interested in in one of the "give me offer" threads, I asked him "How much for the game?", the response I get: "Taking offers".

 

I don't have time for that.

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If you want to sell something, you already know what price you're willing to accept.

Make an offer threads usually seem like one of two things to me:

Seller is fishing for a noob to make a crazyhigh offer,

or seller is too lazy to price their stuff.

 

We've all seen the sale threads that just sit there when unpriced,

but then when "Bump. Prices added." happens stuff starts selling.

 

Notice how nobody has chimed in here saying

"You all are sadly mistaken. Make an offer threads are the best!"

Seems opinion here is pretty unanimous.

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I would agree with most of the responses so far, it really turns into the seller taking as many offers as he can and then responding to the highest bidder. I generally post FS items with a price and say OBO if I'm not really sure how accurate my pricing is. If someone responds and says they'll pay a little less, done deal. I don't wait and see if someone responds willing to buy at my original asking price.

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As a buyer I hate make-an-offer threads. Give me a starting point. If it's too high and I really want it then maybe I'll haggle if the door is open to that. I can't think of one instance where I entertained a make-an-offer thread. A lot of sellers may have missed out on sales because of it.

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You really need to list a price because lets face it market values are different depending on your area. W/ebay and such aside some items are in higher or lower demand in certain areas. Like I have a Gamestore near me that gives me stupid trade values on stuff. I mean model 2 genesis systems $15 all day. Now obviously a genesis can be had for $5 all over the place. I know I'm not going to sell it for less than the credit, because that credit is as good as cash to me for new games.

 

This is just one example on why make offers is bad. Generally the only time people use MO is when they want to get more than the items is worth. The only reason I can ever see make offer is on something very obscure in which their isn't much of a market and you want to feel out what the value is. However I personally wouldn't do that myself because I refuse to sell w/out knowing the value lol. I would rather do a "whats it's value" thread 1st then offer it up for sale.

 

Just keep it simple. Do your own research and decide what you want and ask it, then go from there. I generally ask the lowest I'm willing to take, I don't like the back and forth time wasting. I know what I can get via ebay (minus fees) or locally and price it as such. Then there are just some items I may feel is worth more or less than going rate just because I have been buying/selling/collecting for so long and know how prices fluctuate.

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I dislike "make an offer" threads too, but I will say that I recently picked up a bunch of stuff and am not 100% sure what it's all worth, especially since prices on Nintendo-related items are in such a wild state of flux right now and some of the stuff I have is weird (e.g. how much is a sealed Vice: Project Doom worth?).

 

I have a sale thread on another site where some of the items are "make an offer", but I'm gradually adding prices based on my research, plus photographs as well. If someone wants to jump in with an offer and save me some time taking pictures and comparing prices, I'll definitely take that into account.

 

I can also think of a few other reasons that sellers have "make an offer" threads that haven't been mentioned yet:

 

- Seller is hoping that someone will overestimate the value of the item and make an excessive offer, but doesn't want to be seen openly demanding overinflated prices, especially if he's bought things from other sellers at a great price.

 

- Similarly: seller is flipping items obtained from other forum members at a lower price, and wants to keep it on the DL so that he doesn't get an angry note ("I sold you that for $5 and you're asking $20?!").

 

- Seller is willing to give a good deal to people he likes/trusts/who write with a friendly & respectful tone, or wants to charge premium prices to people he doesn't like/trust/who write in textspeak and act rude.

 

BTW for buyers, a way of cutting the Gordian knot is to say "My budget is X, I'm interested in A, B, C, D and E. How many of those things can I get for my budget?" I've done that a couple of times, and it's actually worked well.

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Put a price on your damn items. If you're not sure what it's worth then it's time to either do a little research, or put the item up for auction.

 

There is a local shop here that doesn't put prices on some of his games, and when you inquire about it he wants to check some 'source' of his and tell you how much it's worth. I don't even ask people who don't price their items up front, because frankly it's insulting and and a borderline attempt to rip someone off.

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I echo allot of what has been said so far. I'd also like to make the point that if you are not certain what an item is worth A) you can ask and people will generally tell you on AA or B) put a price you are happy with, but be willing to take "or best offers."

 

When I sell stuff I make an effort to look everything up and give it a fair price. That said, I'm usually always willing to make a deal if someone buys a few things, or if I find that I was wrong. When someone asks you to make an offer, because they are lazy and don't feel like looking it up themselves, causing countless people to look it up just so they can make an educated offer... then the seller gets offended at the reality of the value, and tells you off. That's bad, but the WORST is when you MAKE a deal with someone like I did with that Master System kiosk a year ago. The guy says Hmn "sounds like we may have a deal then" and a day later says he got more from someone else and it's gone. YEAH... that put sand in my vagina.

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