I usually respond based on the persons attitude or approach to me. If they are nice then I simply say No if they are low balling...if they have an attitude or try to argue then I become a sarcastic smart ***.

Recently I listed an $800 set of wheels on Craigslist for a friend for $250 with tires, He sold his car and just didn't want them sitting around so he figured he would blow them out....I get a response of simply "$100 for the wheels".....to me this is pretty rude. I responded with "Go to the scrapyard and hunt through the pile of scrap aluminum...if you're lucky you'll find them before they shred them." If people would have the courtesy to communicate in complete sentences rather than bark out a low ball offer then they might be surprised how easy it can be to negotiate with someone.

I often just ignore or reply "No" to rude people but every once in a while if in the mood I'll respond like I did above to that guy.

I would just blow most of it off and not worry about it but also think people sometimes need to be responded to in kind just to help them realize their behavior is unacceptable. Most people can get along great but opening the conversation by insulting the other person never ends well.

Every niche car group is going to have their "spectacular specimens"....I've seen it in every group and sometimes it's hard not to label a group when you encounter more than a few but for the most part the greater group of people in these groups are good guys in it for the same reason you are.

 

Hahah your entire reply is great but this response ftw!!! I never have first hand experienced low-ballers, but if they are so annoying why not just ignore them until them come up to a reasonable price?

 

+1 couldve have put it better

 

Compared to many other sites, Driver is has the highest rates of HIGH BALLERS.

 

350.. 370.. The point is valid..

I'm a little past selling something on an Internet forum. Too much hassle. I usually just pass things along.

 

Thanks...lol. Typically low ballers never come up to a reasonable price...they either go away after you tell them no or they only come up slightly. I had one come back with 3 offers on a '96 Mustang I sold a few years ago but all were extremely low ball offers. I kept telling him no and he kept coming back. I had the car listed for $2500...a steal for a dead reliable GT...I had little in it and just wanted to move it along and he offered $1,000...then $1100...then $1200. I only responded No once and he just kept on even though I Ignored him. Fortunately people like this are rare but this is why I like responding just to screw with them like the pit bull idea. I figure...make a ridiculous offer, get a ridiculous response...after all it's only fair

 

My favorite is to go up. "What, $500? You listed them for $400!". "That's the price for someone who hasn't gratuitously pi$$ed me off. For you, $500".

 

Ive been lucky here. Its the coupe guys who low ball! jk

 

I'm not a lowballer, I'm not a highballer, I'm just a baller....

 

I'm selling a fender and some fairing parts for my Triumph Daytona 675 on a different forum. Last night I got a PM asking me for a shipping quote on the fender. I priced this piece at $40 plus shipping. It's a brand new aftermarket part, and the OEM goes for $160 or so. All in all I felt it was a very fair price.

I quoted shipping high at $25, as I normally do, but informed the buyer that I would refund the difference for shipping if it was less, and if it was more then I'd cover the difference. While I was waiting for his response, I measured the box again and input the values in a shipping calculator. The shipping was actually going to cost less than $15, so I messaged him letting him know.

Right after I sent the second one, I got a response to the first PM asking if I'd go $55 shipped. I said yes and sent. Right after that one sent, I got a response to the second PM saying "oh, with the revised shipping quote, would you do $45?"

Haha, nope. I told him $55 was fair, then he came back with $50. Long story short after a little more back and forth we agreed on $55 shipped.

Then comes the kicker. He didn't even need it! He was doing all this JUST IN CASE! I had just spent close to 30 minutes haggling with a guy that in the end had no intention of purchasing.

All in all I've had great experiences with buying and selling on forums and eBay, Craigslist, etc.

That said, the landscape for private sales on these sites has changed a lot over the years, and my jaw still drops regularly at some of the stuff I come across.

The most blatant disrespect, in my mind, is someone who has no intention of purchasing coming into a thread and putting the seller's price on blast. I've seen high prices a few times, and normally just PM the sellers with what I've seen similar going for. They're generally appreciative and adjust their price accordingly.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... a little courtesy goes a LONG way.

 

This College kid calls me yesterday, tells me that all he has is 250.00 for this 370Z intake, (that's exactly what i was asking for) , but he then asked if i could do the install too.
He was very nice & Polite, I said ok to the install, because he didn't try to lowball me at all. He ended up not getting it.
Point of the story is when your cool, Im cool,

But this morning i get a call from this lowballer he asked how much , I say 250.00 socal pick up, he pauses and says 125.00 & he can pick up in thirty minutes .
This guy awoke the beast ,& it was time to make an example of this lowballer!
I say OK , come on out , I also tell him that I'm super broke & need the money fast , He laughs at me & says too bad for you, I give him an address about a mile away from my pad , hes super excited ...thinking hes tha bomb,his drive was about 20 miles or so . he texts me saying that hes getting off the 101 , & I say ooooo bro somebody just sent me the 270.00via paypal, and because your offer was so lowball that i had no problem passing you up,
He was pisssssed, but OH WELL,


that's how you send a message ,
waste my time ,I'll waste yours!

 

Too some that's childish & mean,to others it's poetic justice

 

orly?

 

I don't know... too many words in the first few posts - so I can only surmise that based on thread topic + post above, that I'm supposed to ask:

Shawn; will you polish my **** for five bux?

 

WTF yall bitching about? Dont like the offer--reject it, it is just as simple as that.
No matter what price you post people will always assume you can sell it cheaper, so next time list your **** with jacked up prices so when you do get low-balled, you actually be getting reasonable price.

low-balling is natural thing to do, it is done in all transactions and layers of our society
Just recently (in 2008) when Wachovia was in trouble Wells Fargo and City Group expressed interest in purchasing it. City Group offered $1 per share while Wells Fargo offered $7. Before the recession Wachovia was trading at $30+ per share. That right thur is a low-balling at its best, and a successful one, Wells Fargo ended up buying it.