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Is Not Responding To An Offer Just Plain Rude?

Think about it in the context of a BUYER using the Audiogon system - 

1 - “Lowballers will be politely ignored.

What constitutes a lowball offer? Is there a percentage of the asking price below which the offer becomes a “lowball”? If so, what is it? 90%? 75%? ….Is it connected to or disconnected from the length of time the ad has been running?

2 - When the only option is “Make an Offer”.

What am I supposed to do here? Am I supposed to offer more than the asking price? Less than the asking price? If less is OK, then refer to point 1 above.

3 - When the only option is “Make an Offer” and the ad says “price is firm”

What the heck am I supposed to do with that one?

If you’re listing an item with the option of “Make an Offer”, wouldn’t it just be courteous to give the benefit of the doubt to the person submitting the offer, assume he or she is a serious buyer and not a tire-kicker, and just reply one way or the other, in a timely fashion? I mean, there’s nothing lost, right? Just say “NO”. Or make a counteroffer….what’s so difficult?

I just sold a nice preamp to a gentleman who made an offer on it, it arrived with the buyer safely and he’s thrilled with it. So now I have wires hanging loose in my system where a preamp used to be, and it’s almost the Holidays. I found a suitable replacement on Audiogon in the $7K range, made an offer within 10% +/- of the asking price, and…drum roll….….nothing. 

I sat around all weekend waiting for the seller to respond, but they didn’t have the decency to just message me and say no. So I was stuck with the “Seller has 48hrs to review your offer” BS, now I’m back to square one and without the means to play my favorite Kenny G Christmas albums. 

One bandaid fix would be for Audiogon to adopt the ebay system and allow sellers to automatically decline offers below a certain amount. Then they wouldn’t even have to interact with us lowballers and their delicate sensibilities wouldn’t get hurt…..heck, I’d even take a photo of me wearing a mask as I press the ’Submit Offer’ button, if this is a Covid thang…

Whinge over…

Merry Christmas :)



rooze
unsound
7,344 posts
 
@stereo5, if you had read my previous post, you would have read that I posted as much. It’s not that big of a deal.  I’m not that offended.  I don’t need the rules changed. I just think it polite to reply to an inquiring response. If you don’t, don’t.
Happy holidays.
chorus
976 posts
 
When you make a low offer and it is ignored, that is a pretty loud response. Re being tied in for 48 hours- total nonsense. Go try again.
minorl
1,018 posts
 
Most items for sale have a blue book value.  Basically, a low, average and high sale price range for the item.  I believe that Audiogon had/has a blue book option here as well.  Same for cars, watches, etc.
So, first, in my opinion, people that are selling and buying should do their research first on the price range for the item. I typically do.
So, when I list an item for sale, I typically price it to sell.  I don't have much room for dancing on the price and don't tolerate lowballers.
They come in many forms.  There are many out there that are dealers or flippers.  They want to buy something as low as possible so they can flip it for as much as they can. 

So, I am assuming that the potential buyer did their research first.  If they come at me with a ridiculously low offer, I simply ignore them and could not care less if a person feels that it is rude.  to me their offer was not worthy of even a response.  As I mentioned, there is some room for negotiations, but lets be real here.  You have an item that is blue book priced at (average) at $10,000 and some yahoo offers $2000? , $7000 or $8000.  yeah, that's lowballing and won't get a response from me.  Offer $9,000?  I probably would respond.

enjoy
thom_at_galibier_design's avatar
thom_at_galibier_design
729 posts
 
Lowball offers are like pornography. Difficult to describe, but you know it when you see it. 10% is a reasonable (not lowball) offer, however.

Me? I’m more likely to accept a lower offer from someone who takes the time to attach a brief note. So much of this is instinct/perception of how much pain the buyer will end up being.

As far as prompt replies are concerned, people have lives and don’t hang out here 24x7. More importantly, keep in mind that Audiogon is the ABSOLUTE WORST forum architecture on the interwebz.

I’ve noticed sometimes, I have a message in my inbox that doesn’t display in the notification bar, and if I didn’t catch it in my email inbox I’d miss it entirely.

At the end of the day (as noted above), this is business, and taking things personally is no good for either your physical or mental well-being.

... Thom @ Galibier Design
arizonabob's avatar
arizonabob
109 posts
 
Day and night on this one. Seems many of you change your audio systems like I change my socks. I keep and maintain my equipment a long time. I've been on USAudioMart for several years and bought one thing. I was only looking for one specific item and purchased it. I had no transactions at the time, so what's the big deal? My money was good on USAM, made a reasonable offer and it was accepted. I have more than 2K transactions on eBay and don't even use the make offer option, I was tired of absurd 'low ball' offers. If someone is really interested they will contact me with an offer. If you have a number in mind don't solicit offers! Buyers seem to commonly think sellers always ask more just to see if they can get it. If a seller has zero transactions, that's a horse of a different color. But paypal guarantees my purchase, only accepting cash, M.O. or wired funds? I don't think so. By the way, all you sellers adding 3% to paypal payments is contrary to their regulations, but I digress. I'm now looking for 3 McIntosh pieces and again have no transactions here. I have found what I'm looking for and about to offer a bit under 10%. That's not a lowball! I'm looking to keep these as long as I have my MC2105 and C28 (many many years). I know what I want and am willing to pay for them but I'm also looking for the best condition/best price (you know retired/fixed income, blah, blah, blah). One seller has 2 of the pieces and am going to offer 9.75% under asking. Most guys, not trying to be sexist here ladies, like to do a little 'horse trading'. Hope they're not offered from a certain seller on this blog, me thinks you don't seem to grasp the fact you're not the only game in town, and apparently you don't care either. And that's OK, I can always look elsewhere. AB
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