Does the *groveling for a sale* thing work for you?

[dubiousgain]

And by that I mean, sending a watcher of ones listing, a lesser price offer; And to be sure, call it what you will, but in my opinion, that IS, groveling.... and I don't think it has ever panned out for me. I think that 80% (if not more) of my watchers, are chronic watchers, for various reasons.  And by the same token, as a warcher, I don't think I've ever accepted a seller's offer)  So back to my  original question, how many times has sending a watcher an offer, resulted in a sale for you?

[lovefindingtreasures2]

I don't have make an offer on my listings @7606dennis, so they can't make me one. I make the offers to my buyers, puts me in the drivers seat. It's not a price thing, it's a nudge and it works. Clearly my buyers are not leery, they enjoy an added deal and several have left me thank you messages.

I also do it because it seems a great deal of the time I make an offer to watchers, the item suddenly sells at the current listed price. Makes me wonder why/how this happens as it's happened enough times that I know it is not coincidence. Other sellers have reported similar. It happened today, win win.

I'm here to sell 🙂

[lovefindingtreasures2]

@ersatz_sobriquet

Costa Rica was and still is my best vacation ever. The country is beautiful, the people are very kind, and the rain forests and animals were beyond compare. I could have stayed there for a very long time.
Only place vendors bothered me in CR was on the beaches. We spent very little time on the beaches so it wasn't really an issue.

I recommend it, I hope to return one day, so much I have not seen. Compared to Panama, Costa Rica is a true paradise. Panama, not so much anymore. Very dirty. Rain forests all gone to make room for grazing cattle. Rather shocking, but we were there to collect local freshwater fish, plant and invertebrates, not soak in the sun 🙂

[chapeau-noir]

---

@lovefindingtreasures2 wrote:
I don't have make an offer on my listings @7606dennis, so they can't make me one. I make the offers to my buyers, puts me in the drivers seat. It's not a price thing, it's a nudge and it works. Clearly my buyers are not leery, they enjoy an added deal and several have left me thank you messages.

I also do it because it seems a great deal of the time I make an offer to watchers, the item suddenly sells at the current listed price. Makes me wonder why/how this happens as it's happened enough times that I know it is not coincidence. Other sellers have reported similar. It happened today, win win.

I'm here to sell 🙂

---

I always say "I'm running stores, not a danged museum".

[lovefindingtreasures2]

@equid0x.

I wasn't rich or in a tourist trap. And yes, I wasn't happy about it, which was why I was going DOWN THE STREET away from him 🙂

My experiences are clearly different from yours, lol! People are people and vendors are vendors and some will go for the hard sale anywhere you are.

[lovefindingtreasures2]

@chapeau-noir," "I always say "I'm running stores, not a danged museum"."

EXACTLY!

However, now I really, really, really want to go on a vacation somewhere sunny and warm and have the local vendors sell me coconuts with the tops cut off so I can drink the delicious liquid inside!!! Watch monkeys swing from branches as I ponder life's problems with my freshly made Pina Colada, iguana's watching me from the trees.

Wait, where am I again? Oh yeah, home on eBay discussion boards, lol. Bummer. No monkeys. At least, not the type I like 🙂

[chapeau-noir]

Well, with the circus, you get the monkeys.

The last time I had a pina colada was when I was working as a deck ape on a boat - we collected coconuts on the beach on an isolated cay in the Bahamas, and busted them up on the bow with the edge of the bow anchor.  Then put the rum in there - I had one half of one and fell asleep.

Party hearty, that's me.

[chapeau-noir]

---

@dubiousgain wrote:

I guess it's all about synonyms  or in this case,  possibly pseudo synonyms. But look at all of the threads this post has generated, in just a few days...mainly concerned with terminology. That should tell you something.  And look at all of the  thumbs up that  the threads have received. And you have to admit",

 

"groveling" certainly grabbed your attention.

---

So were you groveling for attention?

[southern*sweet*tea]

---

@equid0x wrote:

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

My COGS are practically non-existent, so I can sometimes do a deep discount and still make money.

And this addresses something I have been saying on here for years, which is that professional sellers are forced to compete on the same platform with casual sellers who don't care what they get for an item, or others who do stuff like this "just to keep busy."

---

Sorry for the late reply, I just saw this.

I may be small, but I'm just as professional as anyone else.

I buy large lots of paper. For the sake of this example, let's say I buy a box of 100 pieces for $25.  I sell one item out of that lot for $25-30. That lot is now paid for. My COGS for the other 99 items are zero.  That's how I do my COGS, it's how I've always done them. I don't break down into cost per item.

So yes, for the vast majority of my items, my COGS are zero or near zero, and it's not because my inventory is stolen or taken out of someone's garbage can.

[equid0x]

---

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

---

@equid0x wrote:

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

My COGS are practically non-existent, so I can sometimes do a deep discount and still make money.

And this addresses something I have been saying on here for years, which is that professional sellers are forced to compete on the same platform with casual sellers who don't care what they get for an item, or others who do stuff like this "just to keep busy."

---

Sorry for the late reply, I just saw this.

I may be small, but I'm just as professional as anyone else.

I buy large lots of paper. For the sake of this example, let's say I buy a box of 100 pieces for $25.  I sell one item out of that lot for $25-30. That lot is now paid for. My COGS for the other 99 items are zero.  That's how I do my COGS, it's how I've always done them. I don't break down into cost per item.

So yes, for the vast majority of my items, my COGS are zero or near zero, and it's not because my inventory is stolen or taken out of someone's garbage can.

---

Well, I've gotten lot of reems(is that correct) of "paper" on some of my lots and if you're looking to and can turn it, then maybe you have a new source here. 

Otherwise, I've been "stocking it up" and when it gets to a critical mass I either use it for flyers or donate it to the local schools. 

[equid0x]

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

Other than in the US the waitstaff is generally paid a decent wage and so don't depend on tips to keep a roof over their heads (in Australia a 10% tip for exceptional service is appreciated).  There may be tip jars in coffee shops and the like. YMMV, depending on how you travel.  I'm generally on foot and on a shoestring, and just eat where the locals eat, wherever I happen to be.

I've never been asked to leave a table after an hour or so in the US. Never. My friends and I can spend considerable time when we go out, too - again, we don't go to spendy places, just local joints where people know each other.

One thing I know - there are no absolutes beyond respecting the local manners and customs.

---

I have to totally disagree with that. 

When I live in MD, servants were paid $2.75/hr.... far below minimum wage. 

Out here in Nevada they make at least minimum, but you have to agree thats not much. 

[equid0x]

---

@lovefindingtreasures2 wrote:
@chapeau-noir," "I always say "I'm running stores, not a danged museum"."

EXACTLY!

However, now I really, really, really want to go on a vacation somewhere sunny and warm and have the local vendors sell me coconuts with the tops cut off so I can drink the delicious liquid inside!!! Watch monkeys swing from branches as I ponder life's problems with my freshly made Pina Colada, iguana's watching me from the trees.

Wait, where am I again? Oh yeah, home on eBay discussion boards, lol. Bummer. No monkeys. At least, not the type I like 🙂

---

Well it rings the same to me in the US. 

I'm not running a charity I'm running a business here. 

[equid0x]

---

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

---

@equid0x wrote:

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

My COGS are practically non-existent, so I can sometimes do a deep discount and still make money.

And this addresses something I have been saying on here for years, which is that professional sellers are forced to compete on the same platform with casual sellers who don't care what they get for an item, or others who do stuff like this "just to keep busy."

---

Sorry for the late reply, I just saw this.

I may be small, but I'm just as professional as anyone else.

I buy large lots of paper. For the sake of this example, let's say I buy a box of 100 pieces for $25.  I sell one item out of that lot for $25-30. That lot is now paid for. My COGS for the other 99 items are zero.  That's how I do my COGS, it's how I've always done them. I don't break down into cost per item.

So yes, for the vast majority of my items, my COGS are zero or near zero, and it's not because my inventory is stolen or taken out of someone's garbage can.

---

Then, you're not doing it right, because GOGS means "Cost of Goods Sold" which is not your whole lot, its the thing you sold!

[7606dennis]

---

@lovefindingtreasures2 wrote:
I don't have make an offer on my listings @7606dennis, so they can't make me one. I make the offers to my buyers, puts me in the drivers seat. It's not a price thing, it's a nudge and it works. Clearly my buyers are not leery, they enjoy an added deal and several have left me thank you messages.

I also do it because it seems a great deal of the time I make an offer to watchers, the item suddenly sells at the current listed price. Makes me wonder why/how this happens as it's happened enough times that I know it is not coincidence. Other sellers have reported similar. It happened today, win win.

I'm here to sell 🙂

---

Perhaps you should consider adjusting you prices if you have to offer price reductions to get buyers.  It is possible that some potential buyers simply pass on your items without you getting the chance to offer them a deal because they do not watch your items.

[chapeau-noir]

---

@equid0x wrote:

---

@chapeau-noir wrote:

Other than in the US the waitstaff is generally paid a decent wage and so don't depend on tips to keep a roof over their heads (in Australia a 10% tip for exceptional service is appreciated).  There may be tip jars in coffee shops and the like. YMMV, depending on how you travel.  I'm generally on foot and on a shoestring, and just eat where the locals eat, wherever I happen to be.

I've never been asked to leave a table after an hour or so in the US. Never. My friends and I can spend considerable time when we go out, too - again, we don't go to spendy places, just local joints where people know each other.

One thing I know - there are no absolutes beyond respecting the local manners and customs.

---

I have to totally disagree with that. 

When I live in MD, servants were paid $2.75/hr.... far below minimum wage. 

Out here in Nevada they make at least minimum, but you have to agree thats not much. 

---

That seems more qualified than 'totally' - and wait staff are not servants. OK, I can be qualified, too - probably 2/3 of the states do not have the basic wage and have to rely on tipped wage differential.  And even at minimum wage, for the most part they still have to rely on tips to make ends meet.

[moondogblues]

"Well, I've gotten lot of reems(is that correct) of "paper" on some "

My mother was a writer...so I know. It's REAMS...500 pages in a ream.