"What's Your Best Price?"

I've never had a single sale to anyone making those kinds of queries. One or two have turned out to be real jerks as far as dealing with the their subsequent emails. A few have initiated transactions only to back out later. Many have been a tremendous waste of my time, and have led only to frustration, so I've simply just stopped responding to such queries. My experiences from doing online trading since 97' via eBay, and later through Audiogon, do not reflect a single exception in my recollection. YMMV.

OBO = Or best offer. "What's your best price?" is neither an offer, nor an agreement to buy at the asking price. I agree with Entrope - clearly you have set a starting price. If you are also opening the sale up to offers then if the interested buyer really wants the item they should make an offer. Why would I list an item at a price that is significantly higher than the one he/she would accept? Is there anyone participating in this thread who's had great results in approaching a seller with that kind of question?

Marco

The simplest solution to those that get offended by offers far lower than their own expectations is to put the word 'FIRM' in the ad.

Trelja, as a way out of your confusing you could always offer to pay the asking price. That way you get the equipment the seller gets the money and everybody is happy. Right?

In the end, I'm left feeling confused - not that it's rare for me. Put forth an offer which may be construed as a "low ball", which will offend. Or, ask the seller what their best price is, which will also offend. So, which is the lesser of the two evils?
Trelja (Threads | Answers)

Joe, personally I would vote for the lowball offer. I don't really get offended by any e-mails. The WYBP responses just lack imagination, IMHO. Nothing personal, they don't irritate me enough to start a thread, but they are just so boring. Now a good lowball offer can make my day. Seriously, I've gotten some great laughs and stories out of some of those offers. I don't find them annoying, and they do show some imagination. In some cases, a lot of imagination.........yes, these are the ones you remember....

That doesn't mean that I haven't sold gear at less than my asking price, I have. So I'm not trying to discourage offers at all. I do feel that the seller had the imagination to come up with the initial asking price, the least an interested buyer could do is show a little imagination of their own. That is if they are really interested. I think the main feeling a seller has is that if the buyer can't even be bothered to give a moments thought to what they think a fair value is, they are not really an interested buyer.

Cheers,
John

One of the best things about these forums is the sense of humor many members have. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am literally LMAO in here from time to time. My opinion is that asking for a best price is not a good way to start a negotiation. If your selling price is fair, then someone may make an offer very close to it. The person that wants me to give him a price is going to wait while I wait for offers to buy. I have sold items here that I could have sold several times at full price. When I want to buy something here, I do my research, and make an offer to buy and I am very serious about it. It's all a matter of respect for the other party and I can imagine someone getting "my best price" if there is dialog and genuine interest. I think it's the one liner "what's your best price" that is annoying.