"What's Your Best Price?"

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.

If you have "obo" (or best offer) next to your price then I feel the buyer is justified to ask the question "what is you best price". Some potential buyers do this so that they don't offend the seller with an offer that he may consider too low. If you feel you should ignore the question and wait for a potential buyer to make an offer then that's your choice.