Why do so many sellers take offense to offers on their listings?

"Why do so many sellers take offense to offers on their listings?"

How are you making your offer, is it binding through the Audiogon system or is it a weak-ass, noncommittal PM where it means nothing? I can handle low ball offers and respond in kind. I have nearly 300 transactions on A’gon and have been here 20+ yrs (in spite of my profile saying 11-yrs). What I do here is purely hobby related, in my professional life I sell for a living and know what pre-qualifying a buyer is all about. If you contact a seller through PM you are def relegated to tire kicker status (i.e. time waster). I can’t tell you how many times someone said "ill buy it at X price" through PM and not follow through. The PM function is for asking questions, not making offers to buy.

@saburo I make real life offers. 

@saburo, are these PM’s standard protocol and adhered to by the vast majority of Audiogon sellers?

@dabel I’ll give you some of my stats (anecdotal). . I will have 1 - 10+ private message (PM) inquires on individual items I have for sale, call it 4 - 5 on average. Four out of 5 times the offers come over PM and not through the Audiogon "make offer" tab. Of those offers via PM, I’d say 1 in 5 turns into a sale. Half the PM offers to buy, I think, are well-meaning vacillators that back out. They almost always NEVER contact me later to say why. The other half are time-wasters. My advice to buyers: be sincere and ready to buy. I’ve never regretted not taking an offer that was low, because I don’t price anything that is out of reason. Also, I don’t have to ’make a deal’ I own everything outright and have no debt. I think the vast majority of sellers fall into the same camp. if you need back up to support your offer, use Hifishark.com. the Blue Book is dated and out of touch with current market values.

Good to know, and appreciate the heads up @saburo. The PM had me thinking though, for I’ve proposed (reasonable) offers in such a way before with no response from said sellers. These particular items I knew wouldn’t sit for long therefore I chalked them up as, “snooze you lose.” Dusted myself off and planned the next move.