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I have a couple of questions about the buying in the sales forum

Started by CycloneComics,

94 posts in this topic

Scrooge

Scrooge

Posted
Posted
I don't have a problem with lowball offers, and don't really see many of them due to the fact that I mostly sell at a deep discount anyway. What does bug me, however, is when someone makes an offer thirty minutes after I've listed the book.

 

Oh, yeah, that's a personal favourite of mine. The book's been up for three minutes, it's had two views, and already somebody has PMed you with 'what's the lowest you'll take'? doh!

 

I do that. If the book is listed at $X and I would pay max $Y for it. I'll PM the offer to the seller. I've had sellers simply respond: "it's too early for me to consider it but let's give it some time and see about your offer."

 

I don't expect the seller to accept right away but I want to let him / her know what I'll pay. Heck, it prevents them from selling cheaper knowing they have my offer on hand. I've both won or lost some of these books.

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RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted
There is so much going on in the marketplace right now that it's nauseating. We have sellers complaining about lowballing while other sellers are listing books aggressively priced books with "BIN's" in hopes of receiving "offers".

 

So which one is it? meh

 

 

 

 

Both, of course.

 

;)

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asteroid-comix

asteroid-comix

Posted
Posted
I don't mind any kind of offers, I can always say no. I think the real lowballer flippers, stopped asking me :shrug:, I usually just toss stuff up here I KNOW I'm going to toss on Ebay, in case someone here needs the book, because I'd rather have a collector from here, but if I get an offer, I might accept it.

 

As for lowballing, I really don't like making offers, I will occassionally, but I usually will just ask if that's the person's best price, especially if I know them. I know that sometimes people build that into their original price. I actually do fine that way, and I very often take the books.

 

That way if they are set on a price, I don't insult them. I like shopping more than I like owning, lol. I don't want to be on anyone's blocked list;)

:applause:
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asteroid-comix

asteroid-comix

Posted
Posted

 

Seems that you're throwing the bath water out with the baby. Your reputation is excellent and your sales threads were pretty successful. Low offers are part of selling and easy to say no thanks to.

 

I've purchased from you and paid your very fair asking price without delay. I would love to see another FT sales thread

 

Think of all those loyal fans waiting patiently for a fix. Think about the excellent exposure that selling here will bring to your new business.

 

Oh, I've wrestled with this over and over. Certainly the ambience of the Marketplace changed sometime around two years ago, which was part of the issue I had, and I also got stung a number of times. There are at least four members of the Probation List that I had to put on there. doh!

 

Additionally, I have been very short of time and dealing with the krap, rather than simply selling books, wasn't really in my best interests.

 

The real shame is I actually loved running a sales thread. :(

Hopefully one day those of us that were not around two years ago will get to see a FT thread. :wishluck:
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jerster

jerster

Posted
Posted

By no means am I a big baller, but when I see a book I like, I usually just grab it. Only a handful of times have I even considered asking for a discount. Usually the ones I spend my time looking at are already priced fairly. If not, I just move on.

 

I've sold a few books here lately too, and the vast majority of PM's I've received have been reasonable. Of course, my starting bids have been reasonable as well :hi:

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asteroid-comix

asteroid-comix

Posted
Posted
For my last sales thread

 

I received four offers lower then my asking prices.

 

Two I accepted right out.

One I countered and was accepted by the buyer

One I turned down because it was 50% of my asking price which was already at 70% of my 3 year old guide.

I tend to price books here much cheaper than I know I could get for them elsewhere. Not always, but most of the time. The 20-30% offers don't bother me and they happen quite a bit. Usually that's a starting point and a deal can most often be reached somewhere in the middle. I got one offer on a large lot of books that was around 40% that irked me. If I make an offer, I try to be fair and stay in the 10-20% range. Sometimes I'll just ask the question, what's the best deal you can give me?

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catrick339

catrick339

Posted
Posted

I like bargains. I make lowball offers fairly often.

 

That being said, unless I'm making an offer on more than one book at a time I usually wait a day or so before I make my bid, to give the seller a fair chance at getting the asking price.

 

If discounts are offered in the thread I might jump on them (Just took a pair of Supersnipes and a Whiz from ARK at his stated 20 percent discount. Thanks ARK!) and didn't ask for more, the prices were bargains already.

 

I'm a bottom feeder though, and often the lowgrade stuff just sits there for a while. Most everyone has been pleasant when I make my not-quite-insulting offers on their books, and I have been told "No thanks" on a fairly regular basis. Been told "You betcha!" pretty often too, often enought that I'll keep on making lowball offers.

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Hamlet

Hamlet

Posted
Posted

I was happy with your offer on the group of books you bought from me.

 

You got a pretty good deal, but I got all of my books moved, and I got to ship them all to one person. There is something to be said for not having to ship $5 books to a dozen people.

 

You waited until it was clear that there wasn't much other interest on the boards.

 

I think the waiting is pretty key to a "lowball" offer. If it is just sitting at the listed price, then there is probably no current demand for the book at that price in this venue. The seller always has the option to hold onto the books or to try a different sales venue. Sometimes the "lowball" offer is better than either of those options, especially for fairly common lower grade material.

 

Thanks again!

 

I like bargains. I make lowball offers fairly often.

 

That being said, unless I'm making an offer on more than one book at a time I usually wait a day or so before I make my bid, to give the seller a fair chance at getting the asking price.

 

If discounts are offered in the thread I might jump on them (Just took a pair of Supersnipes and a Whiz from ARK at his stated 20 percent discount. Thanks ARK!) and didn't ask for more, the prices were bargains already.

 

I'm a bottom feeder though, and often the lowgrade stuff just sits there for a while. Most everyone has been pleasant when I make my not-quite-insulting offers on their books, and I have been told "No thanks" on a fairly regular basis. Been told "You betcha!" pretty often too, often enought that I'll keep on making lowball offers.

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