Weirdest Question asked when selling gear?

Tireguy ,
You are not invited to my home my amps and pre-amp are made by HERRON Audio no guns allowed!

Not a question per se' but a MAJOR pet peeve perhaps-- exceptionally picky, anal buyers, and paranoids . SOME BUYERS INSIST ON MINT, NEAR NEW, PERFECT, MINIMUM A'GON 9/10 CONDITION, AND THEY WANT IT FOR 1/2 OFF RETAIL, THEN WANT TO HAGGLE YOU DOWN SOME MORE, WANT A GUARNTEE, AND OVERNIGHT OR 2ND DAY SHIPPING INCLUDED. Emphasis intended! I should've started a pet peeve thread.

I've had potential buyers try to haggle a reasonable and fair price down, but then are willing to pay for expensive fast, premium shipping????

A'Gon, eBay etc. are sites for selling (mainly) USED equipent! Some don't seem to get that, and think the seller should offer everything a dealer does. To me, trust, integrity, and honesty, and this includes information sharing, are essential to most succesful deals-- and I've had 75-80 on A'Gon and eBay with only one deal that left a "bad taste in my mouth". Why don't others ever talk about these values? Do they feel it show weakness? Personally, I think it shows strength of character.

To some buyers, getting the best possible price, guarntee, and shipping, for a like new component seems to be a very important part of the transaction (game?). Sorry about the "Rant". Craig.

I go out of my way to be polite, friendly, reasonable and professional when making significant purchases of any kind, but as a buyer I ALWAYS ask "why are you selling" and I am happy to answer this question in considerable detail when selling.

How the seller responds -- in their tone as well as their openess with information -- invariably gives me clues to the type of person I am dealing with and their honest perception of the condition, performance and value of the item for sale.

"I love it, its mint but I'm desperate for money or I switched amps and they don't work as well anymore" etc puts me as ease as a buyer and increases the chance of a deal much more than "why do you ask" or any response that smacks of annoyance or none of your business. Does the seller have something to hide?

Why is this such an annoying question? Perhaps someone is suggesting that it is annoying because it is irrelevant -- that it is all too easy for sellers to lie on this question? Now, I really want to buy from you...not. Maybe I just don't get it.

Of course, this question is a separate issue from peoples ATTITUDE and I too reserve the right and delight in choosing NOT to deal with certain buyers.

But you can ask me anything you want about anything. Why would I let that annoy me?

Cwlondon makes a great point. I posted earlier on this tread because the snobometer was pegging big time! This is a problem with high end audio. We don't just see it happen with dealers but now we are seeing it with people who are trying to sell things on the net. If you want to sell you have to make someone comfortable enough to buy. Having said all of that, I have also had some strange questions from people. One guy asked me if I really thought the amp I was selling sounded good. I didn't know what to say other than yes I think in the price range it is one of the best sounding amps. He said okay and bought it. First he trashes it, then he buys it. Go figure.

How about - "Do you accept cash?"

- Dan