Lowballers an tyre kickers.

[Kiwi cop]

Last year I bought two new .22 rifles. A S&W M&P 15-22 and a Chiappa lever action.They joined three other other rifles. A Brno #2 bolt action, a Stirling Model 14 bolt action with scope and silencer (plus streamlight mounted above the scope) that has been my long term nighttime small game rifle and another Stirling, a M16 action in a sportier M20 stock.

My gun cabinets are now at the full mark, and any new purchases require me to sell off something to make room for it (no, I wish I could get another gun safe but there is just no more room ) So this evening I listed both of the Stirling rifles for sale (the M14 minus the streamlight, which I will now mount on the Brno, and the M 16/20) on a local internet auction site.

An auction is one thing. You make the minimum bid and sit back and wait to see if it is successful. You can also decide on a maximum bid to place. But when there is a fixed price it is a bit different.The asking prices were not ultra low, but neither were they too high for the guns listed (both could be purchased for under NZ $400). After an hour and a half I have received two messages for each auction from lowballers making insulting offers!

I knew it would happen but it still grinds my gears

The last time I bought a gun off this site it was the Chiappa. it was an open auction with no "buy now" so I asked the seller to put up a "buy now" price. He asked me what I was willing to pay and I told him it was his gun and his right to put a price on it. As it was his "buy now" was right on what I was willing to pay, but it was still his right to name the price.

Lowballers and tyre kickers. Grrr.

 

[BigBoy99]

Just to chime in, the same with people who request more information or additional pictures and when you send them, no response. Not so much as "Thanks for the additional info." You never hear from them again. I guess people are just rude.

 

[ladder13]

People value a product higher when selling than buying, I ignore the offers.

 

[steelslaver]

What is a low ball offer? Somebody list a gun for a grand. Its up for a month so, I offer $900. Am I a lowballer? In my case the guy thinks it over and counters with $950. Then its my turn to think it over. I take it.

Now in a pawn shop, I might make an offer of 1/3 off the tag price, just to start the ball rolling. I have had that accepted. Usually they come back with another number.

Just what is the % that makes you a low baller.

If I listed something at a$1000 and some one emailed me an offer of $500 I would just toss it in the spam box along with the offers of beautiful women wanting to meet me now. Part of life

I have never made an offer on a auction listing lower than the minimum even when I know the gun has been relisted a couple times. I figure at an auction the minimum is already the bottom line.

 

[Camster]

Just to chime in, the same with people who request more information or additional pictures and when you send them, no response. Not so much as "Thanks for the additional info." You never hear from them again. I guess people are just rude.

Years ago,when I still did my photos with a 35mm, I had a fairly expensive gun listed on a gun chat forum, with a few pics.Received an inquiry asking for more pics of certain areas,so off to buy film,take pics,get the film developed,scan the photos, etc.
After I sent them to him, he thanked me.Also said that he wasn't looking to buy the gun-he was just curious about what the features looked like.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

I have an undeveloped out on the West side of town.
You know what undeveloped means?
It's close to some other lots that are developed.
So I run a Craigslist ad.
The developed lots run about 70k.
Undeveloped run about 20k.
So the double digit crowd think they can get a 70k lot for 20k!
When they ask what exactly does undeveloped mean?
That's a pretty good indication they don't have a clue!

 

[Skeet 028]

You know...In some dealings this is a double edged sword. When I ask someone how much they want for an item(gun etc) and they say make an offer. Rather than do a lowball I just say..give me your bottom figure (which usually is not a bottom figure). If they won't I won't make an offer. Many of them aren't really serious about selling the item and are just trolling. I just recently called an advertizer in the local sale rag.. He listed a few guns for sale with no prices. When I called he said when I asked the price for 2 handguns make me an offer. What?? without even seeing them? My immediate response was without looking at them I would not make an offer and I couldn't buy and sell the gun both. Meaning I was interested in buying the item...but I wasn't going to set his selling price too. The one real problem now days is everyone goes and looks at a site like Gunbroker...sees the inflated listing(not actual selling) prices and think they have gold plated merchandise. I recently sold six long guns for my wifes doctor. It took almost 6 months to get reasonable prices for them close to what she would have gotten from sales on line...after fees shipping etc which the doctor had no time to do.

 

[ace22]

lowballers are a fact of life. i once took a gun to sell to gun show. i asked $500 which was a little high. some jerk offered me $200 and i laughed in his face. i later sold it for $450 and the buyer was satisfied.

regarding this..

Just to chime in, the same with people who request more information or additional pictures and when you send them, no response. Not so much as "Thanks for the additional info." You never hear from them again. I guess people are just rude.

i've had that happen countless times including here on the forum. yep many people are just plain rude.

 

[jack the toad]

I understand the frustration but guess will play devil's advocate.
IMO, listening to low-ball offers is part of selling almost anything. Guess that's why I'm not in retail sales and buy more than I sell.

 

[mtgianni]

lowballers are a fact of life. i once took a gun to sell to gun show. i asked $500 which was a little high. some jerk offered me $200 and i laughed in his face. i later sold it for $450 and the buyer was satisfied.

regarding this..



i've had that happen countless times including here on the forum. yep many people are just plain rude.

I usually tell the $200 offerers "sure if you throw in a Model 16 Smith".

 

[Camster]

I understand the frustration but guess will play devil's advocate.
IMO, listening to low-ball offers is part of selling almost anything. Guess that's why I'm not in retail sales and buy more than I sell.

I imagine that low-ballers must get lucky once in a while.
I've been tempted to tell a few that the house has no mortgage-I am not a crack addict....so have a nice day and be gone. (I've had guys show up to look at a very fairly priced car,with that price indicated as firm, acknowledge that the car was exactly as advertised, yet offer 30% less.A fair deal didn't trip their trigger-it had to be steal. That's wasting their time and mine,and the car sold for my price in another two days)
I recently offered an exceptional,flawless,unfired, custom rifle. One fellow came forth, knocked the gun in multiple ways, but would give me 70%. I was tempted to tell him that I would feel bad about taking his money for a gun that had so many things that bothered him. A real buyer stepped up a few days later,paid my price without dickering,and got a sensational gun that he couldn't duplicate for a 1000 more than my price.

 

[Wee Hooker]

"Low ball" is relative to the actual value of the item , IMHO. If a seller is asking somewhere around what an item is actually worth, then a significantly lower offer is "low ball" and says much about the deadbeat making the offer. On the other hand, I see items listed all the time at 150% of what they are really worth. I wouldn't have an issue making a lower offer on something like that .
Example: Guy buys $350 M&P40C, pays gunsmith $600 , to cerakote the slide , add tritium sights, add match barrel,do complete Apex kit and thinks he has a $1000 "custom" firearm. In reality, what he has is a $500 carry gun. He either doesn't realize that he's over valued the gun (that will never sell) or he s fishing for a sucker to get his ill invested cash back.

 

[Kiwi cop]

What is a low ball offer?

Less than half the "buy now" price.

 

[Camster]

lowballers are a fact of life. i once took a gun to sell to gun show. i asked $500 which was a little high. some jerk offered me $200 and i laughed in his face. i later sold it for $450 and the buyer was satisfied.

regarding this..



i've had that happen countless times including here on the forum. yep many people are just plain rude.

Arm chair non buyers,just looking for free entertainment.

 

[Onomea]

If a seller says "make me an offer" after listing and not selling for a while, I feel free to lowball. On the other hand, if he just lists a price, I always ask "Would you consider a lower offer?," before putting my lower offer in.

If the seller says his price is firm, I take him at his word, and either pay his price or walk away.

In general, what I offer depends on a) what I think an item is worth in the market, and b) how much I personally want it.

I do think it important to be polite, whether buying or selling, as in a transaction both sides can easily get offended.

 

[kamloops67]

I will offer what i feel comfortable paying if i think the price is high
If the price is fair i usually dont dicker
I have had people try to beat me down too , its part of the game
The people that ask for additional pics then fail to reply are rude , i agree with that

 

[Kiwi cop]

"Low ball" is relative to the actual value of the item , IMHO. If a seller is asking somewhere around what an item is actually worth, then a significantly lower offer is "low ball" and says much about the deadbeat making the offer. On the other hand, I see items listed all the time at 150% of what they are really worth. I wouldn't have an issue making a lower offer on something like that .
Example: Guy buys $350 M&P40C, pays gunsmith $600 , to cerakote the slide , add tritium sights, add match barrel,do complete Apex kit and thinks he has a $1000 "custom" firearm. In reality, what he has is a $500 carry gun. He either doesn't realize that he's over valued the gun (that will never sell) or he s fishing for a sucker to get his ill invested cash back.

Here in NZ second hand .22's are "relatively" cheap. Many are decades old and have not been cared for well, metalwork allowed to rust and with stocks that are damaged. Guns without magazines or good for parts are sold for around NZ$50 (US$35).

A single shot bolt or break open in good condition is about NZ$100 (US$65). A magazine fed bolt action, 5 rounds plus, NZ$175-$200. A semi-auto, 10-15 round magazine has about a 10% markup over a bolt action.

I had an opening bid/reserve of NZ$150 and a "Buy Now of NZ$175 for the semi auto as it is "unusual". A Stirling M16 (a cheap copy of the M16 5.56 rifle stock, which falls within our "assault rifle" category, with a slightly modified Stirling M20 action) in a M20 stock, which put it back into "sporting rifle". The M20 stock had been used as a carving "learning project".

For the 10 round bolt action I asked an opening bid/reserve of NZ$200 with a "buy now" of $225 as it has the suppressor which is about NZ$70 to buy.

Both have been well looked after and came with scopes, the semi buyer having the choice of a red/green dot sight (currently fitted) or a 4 X 20 scope.

Both offers on both guns were under NZ$100.

I also get a lot of tyre kickers when selling. The last time I listed a pistol on our national association trading page I had two people message me "It is sold when.....". Those I ignored. It is not sold until the money is in my bank account.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Not a gun story but: I was at a huge yard sale, the guy had a Nice but Simple display case (well done, home made, Black Walnut, about 24"x32") for $40 a very fair price. It was mid afternoon, and things seemed to be winding down. So I ask if he could do any better on the price? Turns out to be a different guy's case, but he's sitting on the porch, so I talk with him. He tells me how he made it and how he displayed his Knife collection in it. And all I do is agree with him. He comes down to $30. I told him that was a very good price! and I would pay that if I had more than a Twenty in my wallet. I assumed he didn't really want to let it go for that, but the three of us talked about the neighborhood (That's where my wife grew up) But that I was from the next school district North. Turns out he knew my older brother a little bit, and a bunch of the people I knew. So after 20 minutes or so of chewing the fat, I said good by and started to leave. He said, Let he help you get that case loaded in your truck. Was my offer low maybe too low? Yes, but I wasn't insulting, and it was the only offer he got. It hangs on the wall in my family room, still empty! I still haven't figured out what I want to display in it!

Mom always told me to mind my manners, and it would pay off!

Ivan

 

[Golddollar]

It's not just with guns. I remember when I was selling my house in Maryland I had it listed at the price suggested by the agent. A potential purchaser came around on a showing. He thought the listing price was too high. OK, so what's it worth to you? Never heard a peep. I think he was expecting me to lowball myself. I would listen to a legitimate offer (bird in hand and all that) but I sure wasn't going to undercut myself when the guy wouldn't make a counteroffer.

 

[Onomea]

Less than half the "buy now" price.

I'd say that is a down low and dirty ball. I think of a lowball, generally, as maybe ~20% or more less...