Dealing with a craigslist idiot.

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Dieselhybrid said:
I do price negotiations in business daily. He's playing hard, just keep working on him. It's a game man, learn to enjoy it :-D
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Love the game, deal with lawyers on a daily basis, some of the stuff they pull is so funny. Honestly sometimes sitting in a mediation you just start packing up your stuff and walk out the door saying "thank you for your efforts" will literally have them running after you, good times.
 
I'm not taking anything personal, he said he's entertaining offers which means he's not set on $300. I didn't expect to pay $200, but that is how Craigslist works. I could have offered $275, but just like he wants to get as much money as he can, I want to save as much money as I can. It doesn't include a pump, and the sump looks like it needs to be redone, I didn't see any kind of filtration in it, only 2 glass dividers. If it was 100% complete, I probably would have been more incline to give him closer to what he was asking.

It's just one of those things, I knew some people would side with him, just like I feel the guy is an idiot for shutting the door on a potential buyer. More power to the people who feel the need to screen who they sell to. Money is worth the same amount no matter where it's coming from. I imagine the tank has been for sale for 2-3 months because he's so closed minded. Tanks around here usually sell within 1-2 weeks.
 
I agree with him being an idiot for trying to shut it down instead of negotiating, but who knows, maybe thats how he negotiates. And I also agree with you that it probably isn't worth what he is asking, but I've stopped trying to understand people like that and just take em at face value. I'm siding with you man, don't think you did anything wrong really, I would have just tossed out my own bottom line in that position and gone from there, when he said entertaining offers but probably wont move much that would to me mean he wants a short negotiation and not a long one. Probably an old guy, don't sweat it man, he's not your friend, fire another offer at him if you want it.
 
Nah, in the meantime someone local messaged me with a 65 gallon, 36 x 18 x 24 for $30 (tank only). A lid and stand should put me in at under $100 still. I think I'm going to look into that. If that falls through, Petco has their 40g breeders for $40 right now.
 
davenmandy said:
I wasn't going to say anything, but this is how I look at it:

If you are selling something and indicate that your price isn't firm, you are pretty much asking someone to lowball you. That is how negotiating works, seller lists high, buyer bids low, somewhere in the middle is where it is met. I think your mistake is he said he wont move "much", so your offer of 2/3 of the listing price was likely insulting to him. I get why you did it, I just would have felt him out a bit more. I have many times listed my ad as firm and then brought the price down because I over list on purpose, firm to me just means don't bid 50% of my asking price. If you do, you are lucky to get a msg back from me. Unfortunately what really grinds my gears is when I have say my 75 gallon setup for sale, I list price as best offer or please contact because TBH a) I'm not greedy and don't care too much what I get as long as its close, or b) I really want to make money on an appealing item I have and I don't know its exact value, so would rather see what others think its worth before setting a price, or c) to use as a bargaining chip for negotiation when dealing with a more expensive item when people are going to lowball you anyway cuz it's harder to sell more expensive luxury items. Consistantly every time I list something like this I have people asking me what is your lowest price or what do you want for it or how much will you let it go for. I would have listed a price if I knew, sometimes I want to get lucky and have someone pay a lot for something I could have sold for less, sometimes I want to let things go for less than they are worth for a quick sale. I do not reply to these people after the second or third time of telling them I'm just taking offers atm. If I want something, I have an idea of what it is worth and what I want to pay for it (everyone wants a deal), so I am going into the transaction with some knowledge of what a sweet deal would be and what the highest I would/can afford to pay. Straight up if something is nice and you really want it, you'll pay for it. If you just want the cheapest stuff you can get, throw out an offer at least and who knows, maybe you'll get lucky cuz the person really doesn't know what they have. CL and kijiji are a buyers market, selling on there is a big hassle.

Anyway, don't take it personally, I think you should have offered $250 but this guys obviously a bit stuck up so let it go or continue to negotiate. If someone indicates to you their price is pretty much firm, that is their right, try to negotiate, but don't be a doink about it. Can't tell you how many times that I've listed say a dart board online for $25 bucks, get a million ppl that say WILL YOU TAKE 10? and then someone comes to my house with 25 dollars in hand, and I just take the $20 because that's all I wanted in the first place. I find that the pleasure of a smoothe transaction and dealing with someone that isn't looking to save every penny is worth more than a couple dollars I could have made by getting full price for my overpriced item. Same goes with fish, I would give plenty away for free over the years but I refused to take anything less than $5-10 because if ppl don't pay for their stuff they don't take care of it. [/rant]
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nice novel. Quality over quantity


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ts, I think you went too low. I would've offered $250. jmo. but the guy didn't have to tell you to jump in a lake. that's kind of weird. did you maybe threaten to castrate him and failed to mention that to us?

and about low ballers, they never bothered me really. I don't get why some people get upset over it

people will always try to get something for the lowest price possible.

all you gotta do is say no and move on.
 
Sometimes its better to make a short phonecall .
I am sure after 5 minutes you would know the lowest price.
Some people take it the wrong way when you write emails.
 
Well the 65 gallon fell through. I was not told it was promised to someone else first. We even had a when and where on the purchase.... 40g breeder from Petco it is.
 
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