i agree with tvad that asking for "the best price" is highly correlated with not buying an item.
tvad, even though you and i have had our differences in the past, i respect you as a reasonable man and one of great intellect. your wisdom is evident in many of your posts.
if you are interested in the item, you might ask some questions, but the stronger your interest, the higher the probability that you will "bid" on the item, even if your price is less than the seller is willing to accept.
i would use, as a rule of thumb, a principle, i learned in my first economic course in college:
the value in use= the value in exchange., if i were to buy a used item.
i admit to having sold on audiogon, but i have never been a buyer.
