Anyone pay 1st price, Even if it's fair ? Poll

If the price is fair AND you really want it, you better jump on it and buy immediately. In the past, my tendancy is to always try to get a little better of a price BUT that has backfired many times. A realistic price from a verifiable source is going to be viewed by unknown thousands of buyers and it will get sold. Most people that come here to shop know there aren't any free rides... you can't by a highly regarded piece of gear for pennies on the dollar. Meanwhile, while your busy waiting and/or emailing trying to haggle the item may slip out from under you and be gone. Of course their will always be another in most cases but a good price is what you'd eventually pay for it anyway so why wait... get it home and enjoy it that much sooner. I'd even suggest if you have questions about the item and want an answer before deciding to buy just include them with your offer, based on a positive response about your question. Like if they don't list the faceplate color or something like that. Because by the time a seller gets back to you and then receives back your answer, it may be too late as somebody already got it. DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST AND KNOW WHAT YOU WANT, that way when it comes up, you can act swifty and get it.

I generally asked to use paypal and I have no problem paying the fees. If I ask for paypal, it's my responsibility when using that service to deliver the -actual- amount of money agreed on. BUT! Some people have started charging more than the 2.9%. I saw some guy charging 4% the other day, which is sleazy as heck.

Plinko, yes, the person who wants to use Paypal should pay the fee. That means if the sellers only form of payment accepted is Paypal, the seller should pay the fee. However, if the seller has other payment options, such as money order, personal check, COD, etc, in addition to Paypal, and the buyer chooses to use the Paypal option, then the buyer should accept the fees, unless he can negotiate it into the sale price, like is sometimes done with shipping.

Sailfishben, I agree. I too have acted quickly, but not fast enough. I find when a real deal is there, you need to recognize it and move quickly. Twice in the last month I responded to an ad with a simple 'I'll take it', no questions asked. Both times I came in second, the item was sold within minutes. When the price is right, do not hesitate, it'll go very quickly. While doing your homework is a great suggestion, it cannot prepare you for the best deals. I always find the best deals on items I'm not looking for. I find that what I'm researching/looking for, never pops up in a great deal. By the time I research something I wasn't looking for, just because of what appears to be a great price, it's either sold, because the price was too good, or not sold, because I found out the item didn't have the value I thought it had.

If only that great price would pop up on exactly what I was looking for, exactly when I was looking......then I know it'd be time to head for Vegas!

Cheers,
John

Now that 'research' thing should already be done way ahead of time so that should some ad come up, you can act right then. I didn't mean to imply if you find something to then research it... you'd probably be too late to get it. I do agree the best deals I see are always on things I haven't considered. It takes a lot to lay off of those sometimes. My wife comes home from shopping with a few un-needed items and invaribly says 'But it was on Sale'. Anyone need a high quality toaster with a built-in GPS tracking device? But your point on those 'not looking for' items is well taken and could result in a terrific improvement to your system in an overlooked area.

Just so we know--and depending on your Paypal account the fee is over 3%. One % more ain't quite "rip-off" status. (A note for our penny pinching buyers.)