Dealing with low ballers...

[sin-n-dex]

Sometimes it's easy, you just decline all offers. My genre has a "type" of low baller (usually another dealer).

They give you an offer that's a bit low, but still reasonably fair, so you accept. Then it's followed by another 20 offers that are not reasonable (some may be close, some make no sense).

I had myself one of those recently. It started with a 15-20% discount on an item. And then I started getting offers of $15 on $25 coins (that contain one ounce of silver). He said "I hope we can make a deal". I replied to this one offer with "you need to start being more reasonable with your offers if you want to make a deal. Melt is $14 an ounce and eBay and Paypal take 10%. There's no point in me selling here if I'm losing money."

The offers got a lot more reasonable really quickly... I said "think 10-20%, if it's more than 20%, I'll probably say no". When he realized what he was offering wasn't work, he turned it around to just send me a message from each listing so I could "send an offer" with my best price (that I decided is my best price right now).

This tactic resulted in several items being sold at a price I thought was fair.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@lja440 wrote:

That does sound risky. I never really got into stamps but man oh man I can tell a reused or fake stamp from a glance or by feel (20 years delivering mail). I have seen a lot of old stock used and wondered if they were from someone's collection. I once managed a laundromat for a short time, one day found a fistful of  silver quarters and dimes while rolling the coins for the deposit.

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The old stock came from stamp dealers who bought collections, but this postage is unused and has no real value for collecting (because there's lots of it). The stamp dealers sell the postage at a percentage of face value, like 50% or something like that.

As for the risky part of my buying albums without being sure of what I'm getting... all I can say is that it's a lot of fun. In January I was in good financial standing to waste lots of money on stamp albums when I knew I wouldn't see any money back for months and years. I've got 15% of my investment from sales in 2020, and there's around 10 albums plus some dealer stock books hanging around to be processed, so I've got lots of stamps to work on (and from the looks of my store, lots that are already for sale). Selling stamps every couple of days, sometimes more than once in a day. So this seems to be working for me.

C.

[femmefan1946]

. I have seen a lot of old stock used and wondered if they were from someone's collection.

Yes.

Every collection seems to have at least a few years worth of postage, mint, never hinged, often in the original packaging from the Philatelic Fulfillment centre and never opened.

We sell postage (Canadian) as an important part of our business and the biggest "all postage" collection we bought recently we paid out $15,000 to a man who had been collecting four of everything for his four, now adult, children. Who now had told him they would prefer the money.

The face value was over $50K.

Collecting is a hobby -- not an investment.

[a_c_green]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@*victory_inc* wrote:

I wish I can show you the conversations that I have had with these low ballers in the past

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I would see no reason to carry on a conversation with them in the first place. 

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Over in my buying account, if I decide to offer a lowball price, I'll have a reason for it, something to explain why what I'm offering is nowhere near what they want to get. In the comment section of the offer, I might point out some piece that's visibly broken (if the seller hasn't mentioned that), or some important piece that looks to be missing, or some error of fact (e.g. it's a low-value version, not the high-value version that the seller thinks it is), anything to persuade the seller to see it from my point of view, such that if he held out for a higher offer from some other buyer, he could be looking at a Not As Described dispute from that other guy further down the road.

This usually works pretty well: I get the lower price, and the seller doesn't get a NAD dispute from some other (unhappy) buyer.

[comicsun]

Depending on the avenue of contact I just kindly reject. I look at as added traffic that feeds the eBay's algorithm. Good luck

[sin-n-dex]

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@a_c_green wrote:

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@*victory_inc* wrote:

I wish I can show you the conversations that I have had with these low ballers in the past

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I would see no reason to carry on a conversation with them in the first place. 

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Over in my buying account, if I decide to offer a lowball price, I'll have a reason for it, something to explain why what I'm offering is nowhere near what they want to get. In the comment section of the offer, I might point out some piece that's visibly broken (if the seller hasn't mentioned that), or some important piece that looks to be missing, or some error of fact (e.g. it's a low-value version, not the high-value version that the seller thinks it is), anything to persuade the seller to see it from my point of view, such that if he held out for a higher offer from some other buyer, he could be looking at a Not As Described dispute from that other guy further down the road.

This usually works pretty well: I get the lower price, and the seller doesn't get a NAD dispute from some other (unhappy) buyer.

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I get that on my end, like if it's something that has a high cat. value but isn't rare and generally sells for less, someone might point that out with their offer. I just check what they've told me, and usually it checks out.

Fortunately I don't end up with too many SNADS. I don't remember the last time someone actually filed one... I might have gotten a couple of messages from buyers, but there's usually a good reason (like the date is hard to read and I read it wrong, that happened on a UK coin. When he pointed it out and I realized it was Edward VII I knew my assessment of 1901 was incorrect, it was 1907.) Stuff like that.

I have gotten buyers who read languages that I don't and use that to SNAD the item (like I sent them the wrong one when I sent what's in the picture, I just couldn't read the language that well). So now my Arabic, etc, items have disclaimers on them that I don't read Arabic and you get what's in the picture, and no I can't guarantee I correctly identified it. Those items sell, albeit not for lots of money, and buyers are happy with them.

C.

[lja440]

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@*victory_inc* wrote:

You are not these guys, I wish I can show you the conversations that I have had with these low ballers in the past. No matter what you reply with it starts an argument or accusations. I guess I would never know if I don’t offered you 10% of your BIN if I don’t ask right? 😂/😔 

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Oh I totally get your point. Years ago before the make offer button even was a standard inclusion in listings, I listed my late hubbys Billy Cook saddle. 16" heavy vintage double skirted (back then when it did sell it cost $72  to ship from Ohio to Tx). I had the auction starting at $600 with calculated S/H. I kept getting a message from a guy that offered me $400 with shipping included. He said that the saddle was old and lacking silver. He stated what the calculator said for shipping (I can't remember what it was exactly). He said he only wanted to pay out $400. 

I replied that Yes it was old, It came from the original Billy Cook saddlery intended for ranch work  and not a show ring so therefor the only silver was on the horn and the starting price was FIRM. He messaged me 12 other times  complaining about the lack he saw in this saddle and stating he was offering a "fair" price.  I kept refusing his offer. 

Anyway the saddle ended up only getting a few bids but did sell for just over $650.  He messaged me one more time pleading for me to cancel the sale and sell it to him for $450.  I never replied back to him.

[richards*collection]

Why not give the stuff away because your sick of looking at it and if it has not sold in awhile your going to donate it anyway? ok, so get a couple of bucks for the junk and lets move on and try really hard to get somthing that sells well for us. (rap)

[southern*sweet*tea]

It all depends on what you sell and who you sell it to.

The stuff I sell is worth exactly zero to the vast majority of people out there. They would toss it in the garbage and not give it a second thought. By that respect I should just close up shop now and ride off into the sunset.

If I have a particular piece of paper or booklet listed, one person may value it at $5, another at $50. It all depends on how badly the want it for their collection. 

I gladly consider any and all offers. Lowballs get countered and in the vast majority of cases we come to a price that's agreeable to both of us. I've also acquired quite a few customers through the years that deal with me directly, and it all started with an offer.

If you sell obscure or hard to find collectibles and are  in no hurry, set a price and add best offer. You might be pleasantly surprised at what can happen.  If you sell stuff that other people have, or things that are common and mass produced, then feel free to set your price and stick with it.

[femmefan1946]

While generally I dislike lowball offers,  because all too often the lowballer decides to be rude in the bargain, I respect the choice of selling low when you are sick of the sight of The Thing.

I sold a book the other day that had first been listed in 2009. I have stock that has been around longer! It's why I like having a Store, my monthly costs are low compared to sales, and I can show a lot* of product.

But I have learned a lot from Offers. Some were corrections of descriptions, as sin-n-dex has mentioned. Some were reminders of how long I had been listing items.

And of course, every sale is money in my pocket and a new space on the shelf.

*My Basic Store allows 250 Fixed Price listings, and I learned that is 250 on eBaydotCOM and another 250 on eBaydotCA (Canada).  That's 500 listings for $20Cdn a month or slightly less than 3cUS each.  US sellers can do the same.

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

I have a very direct way of dealing with offers. And let me say that though it is a massive time consuming hassle its also a necessity for a site that panders to flea market traffic....when they dont need to by the way. Great buyers abound here too.

1) If someone offers something absurd, like less than shipping cost, my one and only response is a direct decline with a positive "Thanks so much for your offer. Unfortunately between ebay/paypal fees and free shipping with material costs, I cant sell for less than (your lowest)." I do not bother countering, as it usually adds another step to someone looking for free stuff anyway. If they send back a new offer of my lowest then you have a real person. Countering this person ALWAYS ends in either nothing or someone who will counter back 4 times barely moving.

2) The low baller who isnt far off? I counter with what I want and explain again kindly that I appreciate their interest and that "Thanks so much, this is the least I can sell for with fees and free shipping left to pay. I hope this helps 🙂 and I ship every morning packaged well.

Having that human contact lets buyers know they have someone who communicates on the other end. That alone many times gives you an edge and a comfortable buyer will pay more when risk is taken out of the equation. Always use this opportunity to check your buyers "feedback left for others" to decide if you even want to do business. Its literally our only protection here. Just last week I had a guy offer me 20% of my asking price who had 34 negative feedbacks left for others in his first 50. There is NOTHING to negotiate with a buyer like this. Just the fact you did not accept the low ball offer will be enough to garner a negative. I dont even decline these offers. I let them wait it out while putting them on the blocked bidder list.

[sin-n-dex]

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@richards*collection wrote:
Why not give the stuff away because your sick of looking at it and if it has not sold in awhile your going to donate it anyway? ok, so get a couple of bucks for the junk and lets move on and try really hard to get somthing that sells well for us. (rap)

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There's lots of things I'm sick of looking at... Slabbed coins, large tokens, banknotes... I have no idea who would appreciate such a donation when the prices on some of these things are practically giving it away.

C.

[lja440]

I put items with little value together in a lot. Things that may only get one bid now may have some competition when someone else spots a different item in the lot.