Blocked from bidding because I'm dishonest

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Even if an item is overpriced offering 50% of what the seller has it listed for isn't going to get negotiations going it's going to end up how this ended up. In those instances it's usually best to just pass on the item as many sellers are likely to take offense to the low ball offer. I also find that tons of sellers include b/o yet simply won't even negotiate at all and will decline no matter what your offer is.

 

Just remember, no one has the right to not be offended.

 

Agreed. But offending a seller might cost you a coin -- or a good source of coins -- you might want to buy. Offending a buyer might cost you more than just one deal. Satisfied customers tell their friends. So do dissatisfied customers. That's just the way it shakes out.

 

Mea Culpa (there goes that Latin stuff again). I have made low-ball bids on coins I really wanted but could not afford. It has never been my intention to be insulting, but if a dealer wants to take it that way, that is his choice.

 

I have never in my life ever low-balled anyone on ANY offer, and I'm not going to start now. I know I would take it as an insult. Offer 50% or less, EXPECT to be banned. Better to just pass on by. Then again, I hate haggling as a statement of principle. If I ever offer a fixed price, THAT IS THE PRICE I EXPECT TO BE PAID.... PERIOD!

 

Do you iron your underwear? : - )

 

I have made one or two half price offers which were accepted. When I see an inflated "Buy It Now" price with "Or Best Offer", half the "Buy It Now" is where I always start. It quickly levels the playing field and makes for honest negotiations.

 

Low ball offers are annoying to some and can look at you as a waste of time. I used to get them all the time. If the bid is too low, they will not counter since there will never be common ground. I can see a low ball offer on a inflated price but some are just trying to start the negations too low.

 

No, and I ran a business for over 25 years, and I threw out of my store anybody and everybody who thought my prices were negotiable. They weren't. High end cameras; Nikon, Canon, Hasselblad, Leica, etc. My prices STARTED at what I needed to have, period. Cameras never were a profit center; they were a loss leader. Photo finishing and consumables kept the lights on.

 

I just counter a lowball offer with a very small drop. It sets the tone and tells them you're willing to deal at a fair offer. There is absolutely no reason imo to not counter a lowball. You'd be surprised how many people who start at a sub 50% offer that will accept an 80%+ price by the last round. There are those that just throw out crap to see what sticks but by the second round you'll know who they are

 

Guess I'm very conservative with my offers. I usually offer about 20% less and usually put in a comment "willing to accept counter offers." If a seller is 50% away from where I'm at I don't bother. Now if it's a McChord or Mildenhall token all bets are off. That thing is MINE!

 

You're absolutely right.... but on the other hand, the chance of his being insulted should be expected and not cried about if it indeed happens.

With this little story as an example, even if.... IF the mistake claim is true, it doesn't matter for the simple fact that the seller cannot read this guy's mind, and may not have understood what he was trying to say anyway. From his position we can only assume that he saw a guy lowballing, not once but twice, and simply had enough, especially when we consider that the OP, for whatever reason, found it necessary to announce his intent to put in other offers. One would have to be a glutton for punishment to subject themselves to what, by all indications, would be more and more nonsense.

What this should be, instead of the finger pointing BS, is a lesson for the OP in how we are responsible for our own actions, which includes how clearly we express ourselves to others, and cannot rightfully blame someone else when things do not go our way.

 

Sorry, but I still feel that if you offer a "Or Best Offer" option, you are somewhat contractually bound to consider all offers. Kurt, you weren't offering the cameras on a OBO basis were you?

 

Only very occasionally in special circumstances, like used trade-ins. Still and all, an "or best offer" should be reasonably expected to at least be in the ballpark, and not an order of magnitude lower. Sometimes one signals a truly expected price with their choices of least significant digits in an ask price.

 

I consider all offers. On some occasions, for a little less than a nanosecond.

 

I almost never shop prix fixe listings, with or without OBO inclusion. I have my EBay app set to only show me traditional auction format listings, so in all honesty, my opinion on this really shouldn't count for much. I'm Pennsylvania Deitsch, and we're genetically prone to favor auctions and disfavour haggling and offer/counteroffer negotiation. In my business experience, cultures tend to view these things VERY differently. For those from the Indian subcontinent, no price is ever taken as final. Germanic peoples tend to mean what they say from the start, no room to dicker. Same with many East Asian cultures. Guess what ethnicity of customer I had issues with often.

 

An order of magnitude lower would be offering 10% of the asking price.

 

Now THAT's just flat out funny....