Buying and selling annoyances

[MrKat]

Ive done online selling and buying for quite a while now. The biggest issue I have with it is the people who purposely do not keep their end of the agreement. You know the process - I put something up for sale, they contact me yada yada yada...and after some discussion we agree on a final price and time/place to meet. In most cases I do end up already taking some off my asking price - Im always negotiable, but it really annoys me when they try to milk every penny out of my price.

So as we meet and complete the transaction - they try to negotiate with you some more. "How much did you want again?" Its like uhh dont play stupid, this has got to be the oldest trick in the book. You know what we agreed on, dont try to re-negotiate. Then they will be like "oh well, (X.XX) hows that...?...Ill take it right now for so and so"

Then I just usually make up some ***** like "Oh i have 2 other people asking about it too and are willing to pay (X.XX)"....in other words, if you arent keeping your agreement then F OFF is basically what Im saying. Why do people bother doing this? Seriously...I find it rude and just umm bad business practices. Stop wasting our time by trying to make a 5 min sale last half an hour by negotiating.

[CatDog]

im happy, i havent came around that yet in real life, though i expect it.

most people just try to get a lower price in PM or phone, but in real life I haven't had any people back out last second.

[Jon Lai]

I think you're just unlucky. That, or those guys are just very bitchy.

[TapemanPL]

yea those people are kinda just being *****...if i'm buying or selling when i call before the meet i always confirm the price so theres no funny business like that

[MrKat]

yea those people are kinda just being *****...if i'm buying or selling when i call before the meet i always confirm the price so theres no funny business like that

Even if you confirm right before meeting up, Ive still met a few people who still try to negotiate when face to face. I mean if they already know I wont go any lower, why try to milk it some more? Hey I just tell them, if you dont want to pay the price we agreed on fine, so long and Ill just sell to the next person in line. You dont agree to buy it forsure at a certain price, then in person try to offer less...its a punch in the face to the seller.

[VorteC]

Okay you're not gonna believe this, happened to me 1.5 years ago. This guy calls me and asks how much I want for my Archos av500. I said $300 which is already fricken low. He's like "can you budge on the price a bit?" i'm like sure.. so hes like "how about 270" and i wanted to get rid of it quick so i said sure. he wants to meet near his work, so i said yes to that.

When I get to the place, he unwraps the packaging spreading it accross the floor (i didn't really care if i got dirty cuz he was gonna buy it anyways) and after about 5min of checking everything out, he breaks this line "To be honest, I've only got about $100 right now, so if you wanna sell it for that it's a done deal"

In my mind, I must have cursed at him with a billion swears, but I acted calm and I said "alright, can you pack it up?" he packs it, i take it, and i drove off.

[itcareer]

Even if you confirm right before meeting up, Ive still met a few people who still try to negotiate when face to face. I mean if they already know I wont go any lower, why try to milk it some more? Hey I just tell them, if you dont want to pay the price we agreed on fine, so long and Ill just sell to the next person in line. You dont agree to buy it forsure at a certain price, then in person try to offer less...its a punch in the face to the seller.

I think you are taking it too seriously. I've never had the problem because I always confirm before meet up. As soon as buyer starts trying to renegotiate after price was confirmed by both parties in PM, and especially if buy arrives late, I have fun by asking if they brought the online coupon code with them or start taking about MIR. If that fails and they start low balling more with a take it or leave it attitude, just start high balling. This is also why I try to meet the buyer close to home so I don't incur travel expense in case of low baller. Just pay what we agreed upon dam it! :)

[TapemanPL]

Okay you're not gonna believe this, happened to me 1.5 years ago. This guy calls me and asks how much I want for my Archos av500. I said $300 which is already fricken low. He's like "can you budge on the price a bit?" i'm like sure.. so hes like "how about 270" and i wanted to get rid of it quick so i said sure. he wants to meet near his work, so i said yes to that.

When I get to the place, he unwraps the packaging spreading it accross the floor (i didn't really care if i got dirty cuz he was gonna buy it anyways) and after about 5min of checking everything out, he breaks this line "To be honest, I've only got about $100 right now, so if you wanna sell it for that it's a done deal"

In my mind, I must have cursed at him with a billion swears, but I acted calm and I said "alright, can you pack it up?" he packs it, i take it, and i drove off.

man i would have punched that douche in the face. this is why we should just start a thread to expose all the lowball buyers...then maybe some of them might stop

[Kasakato]

I always try to put a verbal agreement into a semi-official agreement. I always come up with a draft contract with the final price, submit it to the seller/buyer and get an initial confirmation. A copy is printed and brought to the meet-up for signing. As I have already printed out the agreement, its impossible for them to try and renegotiate without having to reprint it.

[jaigandhi5]

in a perfect world..**** is perfect..

unfortunately we don't live in this so-called perfect world...

btw i have the same issue

[vladislav]

That's why I never go out of my way to meet buyers unless they have very good feedback, if they want something they come pick it up and if they start lowballing the door is right there.

[Jucius Maximus]

Camera-phone photos in the ads really annoy me. Those photos are too small and grainy. Give me nice high quality photos taken by a proper camera.

I have also had a few where the people contact me and say that they definitely want the item, and then magically disappear. That always annoys me.

As to people who try to renegotiate when you meet, I have not seen that.

[Cyber6]

Camera-phone photos in the ads really annoy me. Those photos are too small and grainy. Give me nice high quality photos taken by a proper camera.

+1



I also hate the "I can't post pictures cause I don't have a digital camera" .. give me a f*cking break !!!... everyone and their dog have a digital camera these days. Even if you don't have a camera, I bet you know someone with one. I am not asking for a dslr, a crappy 1 megapixel will do. :|


C.

[MrKat]

I think you are taking it too seriously. I've never had the problem because I always confirm before meet up. As soon as buyer starts trying to renegotiate after price was confirmed by both parties in PM, and especially if buy arrives late, I have fun by asking if they brought the online coupon code with them or start taking about MIR. If that fails and they start low balling more with a take it or leave it attitude, just start high balling. This is also why I try to meet the buyer close to home so I don't incur travel expense in case of low baller. Just pay what we agreed upon dam it! :)

Im not taking it too seriously, and like I said I ALWAYS confirm the price we agreed on prior to meeting - unfortunately in some cases it is completely pointless in doing so.

Lets take for example my last sale - where the buyer tried to offer $100 less than "our agreed price"...in other words 100%, he said he would take it forsure at that price." He practically asked me for a week non stop whats the lowest I can do and I told him...so as we agreed on a FIRM price, and he said he would forsure take it, we meet up. And what does he do? After he sees the stuff "How much did you want for it again?....I'll give you X.XX right now"...(basically $100 less than what we agreed on). Then I just told him, no...and he practically kept asking over and over and over again and throwing me with all these lame excuses "Oh but I had to drive over here...."

Give me a break kid, you were the one who need the item ASAP, what do you expect? Oh I suppose I should have shouffered the product to his front door with a 6 pack beer? Sheesh...and it was like maybe a 10 min drive. Geez Im surprised he didnt ask me to deduct his gas off the price. Asking once or twice is fine, but contstantly nagging over it..."oh cmon, oh plz, putty plz" Gimme a break, save yourself the pitty. He did finally end up paying up the price we agreed on (after 15 mins of non stop begging), and he was all upset over it...but why ask 300 more times in person if he already know what price we agreed on...its annoying and makes the seller look like a total cheapskate. I was this close to just calling it off and telling him to hit the road as he was just pissing me off with his non stop begging...but frankly I rarely do that because it basically wastes both of ours time...and if we've gone that far, I really try to just get the sale over and done with.

That's why I never go out of my way to meet buyers unless they have very good feedback, if they want something they come pick it up and if they start lowballing the door is right there.

same. Either I meet the buyers at my house (or near) or in and around my work...or I can go near their home/work "IF" I happen to be in their area.

[ji2o0k]

that is really bad trading etiquette in my mind if you guys have a confirmed price and the buyer tries to lowball in person when you meet up.

I have been fortunate that I haven't encountered such buyers and if I did, I definitely wouldn't sell it any lower than the confirmed price that we agreed upon.

If I am the seller, I try to meet up near my house or work so I am not inconvenienced.

I hear you guys about a buyer wanting an item, pretty much everything is confirmed and then they disappear. I hate that too. But I try not to let it bother me too much.

[rai_dei]

I hear ya guys.
But what about some of the sellers here?
My biggest peeve is when they try to bump up the price by saying they have more "offers" at the last minute, even though they had agreed with me on their price and terms.

[TechRock]

this type of thing has happen to me with used textbooks this yr:

-Msg girl about the textbook for $25
-She said yes, I can, i can meet you at Square One (which is already a frickin 30 mins drive for me)
-I said yes, lets set a date to meet up
-Msg me back 5 hrs later and go "hey do you want the other book, i can sell it for you in a package for $40
- I declined because i could find the other book for $15
- She pulls some b/s that someone want to buy the book now but if you take it in a package for $40 she would save it and sell it to me
- I said whatever and tell her to meet me at Square One after two days
- The day before the deal, she calls with an unknown number and go "Hey, someone here is willing to offer me $50 bucks for the book...blah blah blah"
-I 'm like FINE (just want to get the deal done)
- Then the day we were suppose to meet, she never show up at Square One or reply back to me on facebook or her "cell phone" after


waste of time....

[hagbard]

Ive done online selling and buying for quite a while now. The biggest issue I have with it is the people who purposely do not keep their end of the agreement. You know the process - I put something up for sale, they contact me yada yada yada...and after some discussion we agree on a final price and time/place to meet. In most cases I do end up already taking some off my asking price - Im always negotiable, but it really annoys me when they try to milk every penny out of my price.

So as we meet and complete the transaction - they try to negotiate with you some more. "How much did you want again?" Its like uhh dont play stupid, this has got to be the oldest trick in the book. You know what we agreed on, dont try to re-negotiate. Then they will be like "oh well, (X.XX) hows that...?...Ill take it right now for so and so"

Then I just usually make up some ***** like "Oh i have 2 other people asking about it too and are willing to pay (X.XX)"....in other words, if you arent keeping your agreement then F OFF is basically what Im saying. Why do people bother doing this? Seriously...I find it rude and just umm bad business practices. Stop wasting our time by trying to make a 5 min sale last half an hour by negotiating.

People try that all the time. No big deal. I laugh, say I'm happy to keep it for anything less, and they pay me the agreed price. Haven't had a problem yet. BTW, if I'm selling I NEVER agree to bring it to them, they always have to come to me. I'm sure that saves me tons of frustration.

[cloneman]

What I find worse is how desperate and uneducated people are (or pass off as) on free ad sites like kijiji. Lowball offers at 1/3 of the price, very poor grammar and spelling, excuses to try to get you to drive to their house and deliver it to them personally, it's kind of pathetic.

Thusfar, albeit with limited experience, RFD is the best place I've traded on. You won't get an "outrageous deal" on B/S/T, but certainly a chunk off retail and some genuine honesty. It's a true refresher sometimes.

[thesober]

What I find worse is how desperate and uneducated people are (or pass off as) on free ad sites like kijiji. Lowball offers at 1/3 of the price, very poor grammar and spelling, excuses to try to get you to drive to their house and deliver it to them personally, it's kind of pathetic.

Thusfar, albeit with limited experience, RFD is the best place I've traded on. You won't get an "outrageous deal" on B/S/T, but certainly a chunk off retail and some genuine honesty. It's a true refresher sometimes.

From my experience RFD has the most lowballers by far, i usually go to craigslist but noticed that a lot of people are interested at first but then you don't hear back from them.

[sexpuppet6000]

ive never had a problem with this.
not on the phone or in person.

[VorteC]

ive never had a problem with this.
not on the phone or in person.

maybe you're one of the lowballers

[ali123]

what I do is when i'm in a deal with some one ,like for example i'm going to pay him/her $40 for an item but then all of the sudden he responds back and says "i sold it to someone for $50 sorry" I respond and say "ehhh well I got it off ebay for $20 anyways lol" it makes me feel so much better...

[Kasakato]

what I do is when i'm in a deal with some one ,like for example i'm going to pay him/her $40 for an item but then all of the sudden he responds back and says "i sold it to someone for $50 sorry" I respond and say "ehhh well I got it off ebay for $20 anyways lol" it makes me feel so much better...

Are you...two?

[ali123]

Are you...two?

HUH? i know my grammar sucks, so you probably misinterpreted me..

[felix]

In cases like this, if they don't contact me on or after agreed day of pick up, I just ignore them and move on to the next buyer (or post items back up for sale/bump thread, etc). You can often tell from what they write how interested they are in the item, how professional they are or lack thereof, and how quickly they can pick up. I always confirm price and other arrangements before leaving my contact info. I find this helps a lot in avoiding haggling over the phone (although many experienced traders leave their numbers first, i guess it's a preference). Experienced traders have learned to cope with these annoyances. It's no big surprise and you see these type of threads pop up every now and then.

[ji2o0k]

Are you...two?

HUH? i know my grammar sucks, so you probably misinterpreted me..
i think he was referring to your age..........

as in "are you two years old ?"

[Kasakato]

HUH? i know my grammar sucks, so you probably misinterpreted me..

Saying something like that to express your "anger" is not mature in any way.

[itcareer]

this type of thing has happen to me with used textbooks this yr:

-Msg girl about the textbook for $25
-She said yes, I can, i can meet you at Square One (which is already a frickin 30 mins drive for me)
-I said yes, lets set a date to meet up
-Msg me back 5 hrs later and go "hey do you want the other book, i can sell it for you in a package for $40
- I declined because i could find the other book for $15
- She pulls some b/s that someone want to buy the book now but if you take it in a package for $40 she would save it and sell it to me
- I said whatever and tell her to meet me at Square One after two days
- The day before the deal, she calls with an unknown number and go "Hey, someone here is willing to offer me $50 bucks for the book...blah blah blah"
-I 'm like FINE (just want to get the deal done)
- Then the day we were suppose to meet, she never show up at Square One or reply back to me on facebook or her "cell phone" after


waste of time....


aw man I feel sad that happened to you! What a total ***** she was. Some people have no soul.

[apvm]

I had three buyers in a row who "disappeared" after they said they were going to buy the item, now I have a fourth coming..not sure what the other three will think if I sold it to him.

[HBP]

The worst is if you make a deal with a teenager (ages 16-19), and then they show up with their parents (wtf?) and then the parents start negotiating with you after the fact.

[Sprite_TM]

i havent encountered that yet but read a lot of cases about last minute negotiations when they meet up.

[perplexed_one]

The worst is if you make a deal with a teenager (ages 16-19), and then they show up with their parents (wtf?) and then the parents start negotiating with you after the fact.

get out of here :lol: that's crazy

[BeeBee]

The worst is if you make a deal with a teenager (ages 16-19), and then they show up with their parents (wtf?) and then the parents start negotiating with you after the fact.

That's so funny. :lol: Did you give in?

[HBP]

No way, I'm actually worse than the OP, I hate people who negotiate after finalizing a set price. I'll tell them off.

[Fragle]

I happened to be on the flip side of this, being the buyer in a recent ebay auction.

I bid & ended up winning the auction. I emailed the seller asking for a shipping quote, provided all my info & told him I would pay asap right after receiving the quote from him. Not a word since, no emails, nada. Methinks he ended up selling the item locally for more than the auction price, which is fine cause I didn't really need the item anyways

Sucks though to deal with lowballers or ppl who try to backout or renegotiate at the last minute!

[Ogata]

Nothing topples my bad meetup that I had.

I went to a guy's apartment and he agreed on my price for a computer I was selling awhile ago. He lives in Etobicoke and I drove out of my c/o to his apartment. When we got there, he greeted me with his wife and such. Of course he had the right to test it and such. He asked me "Do you have a license certificate?" I'm like no and I told him I installed a Cooperate Key version that I bought and did not download. He was skeptical at first and said ok. He ran a program to see if everything I advertised was exactly the same and it did. Ran the Vista test to see if it could support Vista as he wanted to run a dualboot system. After all his testing, he tells me he has 2 concerns:

1. Your XP key is NOT authentic and I'm afraid you that if I use Windows Update, it won't be valid for long since I have 5 Authentic XP Keys with Certificates

2. Your Hardrive is a concern for me because I had *8* of these at work and they died within *6* months. (The Harddrive I put in there I only used for school and it was a Maxtor but I haven't ran on it a lot and he even tested it himself).

3. I have an ad from Bestbuy with a REFURBISHED machine selling for $399.99 with a Intel Dual Core CPU and it has the exact same specs but with a better processor. Do you think you can lower the price from $320 to $250?

From that point I got abit mad since he didn't tell me that beforehand and I could have gone with another buyer but he was first in line. I said to him $290 was my best offer and he shaded me about the XP Key I gave him and that he doesn't want to use 1/5 of his authentic keys to install and then his wife said a few things...gave me some juice....gave me a can of beer from denmark. In the end, I told him $260 without the Hardrive which is what I have on my FS thread now. We agreed on it because I didn't want to lug it back home and he said "Its ok you don't have to decide now, we can figure this out later TOMORROW or I can come to your house". He even tried to price match everything I sold and took my Zalman 9500AT for $20 bucks?!?! I sold him a quality quiet system and he dare compares it with a Refurbished HP machine from Bestbuy. Some guys here are selling their machines on BST for around the same price I asked for it here and I hope you guys don't get screwed like I did.

[itcareer]

Nothing topples my bad meetup that I had.

I went to a guy's apartment and he agreed on my price for a computer I was selling awhile ago. He lives in Etobicoke and I drove out of my c/o to his apartment. When we got there, he greeted me with his wife and such. Of course he had the right to test it and such. He asked me "Do you have a license certificate?" I'm like no and I told him I installed a Cooperate Key version that I bought and did not download. He was skeptical at first and said ok. He ran a program to see if everything I advertised was exactly the same and it did. Ran the Vista test to see if it could support Vista as he wanted to run a dualboot system. After all his testing, he tells me he has 2 concerns:

1. Your XP key is NOT authentic and I'm afraid you that if I use Windows Update, it won't be valid for long since I have 5 Authentic XP Keys with Certificates

2. Your Hardrive is a concern for me because I had *8* of these at work and they died within *6* months. (The Harddrive I put in there I only used for school and it was a Maxtor but I haven't ran on it a lot and he even tested it himself).

3. I have an ad from Bestbuy with a REFURBISHED machine selling for $399.99 with a Intel Dual Core CPU and it has the exact same specs but with a better processor. Do you think you can lower the price from $320 to $250?

From that point I got abit mad since he didn't tell me that beforehand and I could have gone with another buyer but he was first in line. I said to him $290 was my best offer and he shaded me about the XP Key I gave him and that he doesn't want to use 1/5 of his authentic keys to install and then his wife said a few things...gave me some juice....gave me a can of beer from denmark. In the end, I told him $260 without the Hardrive which is what I have on my FS thread now. We agreed on it because I didn't want to lug it back home and he said "Its ok you don't have to decide now, we can figure this out later TOMORROW or I can come to your house". He even tried to price match everything I sold and took my Zalman 9500AT for $20 bucks?!?! I sold him a quality quiet system and he dare compares it with a Refurbished HP machine from Bestbuy. Some guys here are selling their machines on BST for around the same price I asked for it here and I hope you guys don't get screwed like I did.

whoa I would never go to a strangers house like that. Could have spiked the drink, and especially not carrying a computer.

"I went to a guy's apartment" yikes!
http://www.biography.com/biography/images/episode_images/dahmer_Jeffrey_320x240.jpg
"and then his wife said a few things...gave me some juice....gave me a can of beer from denmark."


SCARY
You could have been on http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cold_case/index_e.htm

[CSK'sMom]

The worst is if you make a deal with a teenager (ages 16-19), and then they show up with their parents (wtf?) and then the parents start negotiating with you after the fact.

I hope you realize that there is absolutely no protection as a seller if you deal with minors right? They can actually come back months after the deal and demand a full refund as legally they cannot enter into contracts. Legally you would have to refund their money. You should actually be thanking your lucky stars that their parents showed up with them to make the deal(s)....

[Ogata]

whoa I would never go to a strangers house like that. Could have spiked the drink, and especially not carrying a computer.

"I went to a guy's apartment" yikes!
http://www.biography.com/biography/images/episode_images/dahmer_Jeffrey_320x240.jpg
"and then his wife said a few things...gave me some juice....gave me a can of beer from denmark."


SCARY
You could have been on http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cold_case/index_e.htm


He gave me the can of Denmark imported beer after the transaction and when I left as a c/o. But how can you justify them PRICE MATCHING with 2 unidentical machines?

[najibs]

Lowballers are what annoy me.

A week or so ago I had a brand new 4GB and 8GB iPhone. I was asking $500 for the 4GB, and I clearly state that price is VERY firm, and I will not accept any offers even a dollar less.

Some numb skull has the nerve to PM me asking "how about $400?"

I sent him a nasty PM back. Gimmie a break, these are friggin iPhones...they WILL sell. $400 is barely enough to break even, after NY tax and border tax! I ridiculed him on my thread posting his PM.

[CheapScotsman]

Lowballers are what annoy me.

A week or so ago I had a brand new 4GB and 8GB iPhone. I was asking $500 for the 4GB, and I clearly state that price is VERY firm, and I will not accept any offers even a dollar less.

Some numb skull has the nerve to PM me asking "how about $400?"

I sent him a nasty PM back. Gimmie a break, these are friggin iPhones...they WILL sell. $400 is barely enough to break even, after NY tax and border tax! I ridiculed him on my thread posting his PM.Maybe he thought that, since you are an old married guys now, that you are getting a bit soft on your firm.

[Rubyredgirl]

I had an experience like this as well. I was selling my PC for 200$ without monitor or any peripherals. I got about 8 people willing to buy it for that price, I picked one guy in particular because he didn't need to test the PC (it worked fine I just didn't want to hook up a monitor keyboard ect to it). The guy comes to my house, then wants to test it. Damn it, fine, I get a monitor, mouse, keyboard and plug everything in. He starts testing it out.

Everything looks good. However he isn't happy because I am not including Windows XP with it. Hello... I am selling the PC for 200$, Windows XP COSTS 200$, why don't I just give him the PC for free while I am at it? I explain these facts to him, he complains some more.

Then he says ok everything is good and he is ready to give me the money.. 180$ right? No, 200$ thats what we agreed on. He says he only brought 180$. Told him sorry he came all this way then (took him an hour by public transport) but I got 7 other people interested for 200$ and thats the price we had agreed on. Guess what, he found the extra 20$ somewhere somehow.

THEN, The monitor I used to test the PC had an adapter on it that came from my new video card (in my new pc not this one). I had to unplug that adapter to test this PC. He see's this adapter and asks if he can have it. I explain it came with my new PC, and its no use to him with that video card, and I need it for MY pc. He asks again if he can have it.. I had to tell him NO three times. People trying to get free things MY god.

What a hassle just to sell a PC... I understand cheap, "I" am cheap, but this guy was just annoying.

[itcareer]

He gave me the can of Denmark imported beer after the transaction and when I left as a c/o. But how can you justify them PRICE MATCHING with 2 unidentical machines?

you can't justify his comparison, he was using any reason to get a better deal. I bet a person like that would even say "I don't like the case colour" to try to get a better deal.

screw that though, lugging around a computer case. NFW I would add $ to the price for delivery and gas!

[Ogata]

you can't justify his comparison, he was using any reason to get a better deal. I bet a person like that would even say "I don't like the case colour" to try to get a better deal.

screw that though, lugging around a computer case. NFW I would add $ to the price for delivery and gas!

I told him that they were all quality parts aka Asus,Zalman,Antec,Vantec,Coolermaster and he dares to show me a site with parts and thought a Maxtor 80gb ATA would sell for $60.00. I laughed and showed him where I made my prices and he thinks those prices were too high and shows me a place near his area where all they sell is no name parts which of course is CHEAPER but you CAN'T justify that. I told him I took the c/o and gas to drive all the way and all he could give me was a =D.

[DaVibe]

I sold my ACER laptop I bought at BestBuy for $399 ... I was literally asking for the face value of the computer, I added $10 to compensate my time.
I can't tell you how many people messaged me and linked me the ad ...

"BestBuy is selling it for $399" ...
YES ... PLUS TAXES = $454.86
It's like everyone forgets that or something.

I have a lot of similar stories of lowballers and people who tell me "I can get it at ____ for ____" ... my answer is "If that's the case, go there and get it then" ...

And to anybody who pulls the "Oh I only have ..." I'm always willing to leave without your cash. No problem on my part!

[najibs]

Maybe he thought that, since you are an old married guys now, that you are getting a bit soft on your firm.

Hehehehehe