The Art of HAGGLING.... is it dead?

[letusbuyyourcar]

There is a saying that goes something like " You will catch more flies with sugar than vinegar. " And that is plenty valid for this discussion. Think about it for a minute. If you had any gun listed at say $300.00 and you had countless jerk off offers of $200.00 and one offer asking you IF you could sell it for $200.00 well who are you gonna give the response to?

It's all in how you ask.

 

[napp]

The Internet has made it harder to find bargains on most items. Prior to the Internet, many people based their asking price on what they had invested in the item without having any idea of the real market value. Now, it only takes a few key strokes to nail down the market value for most things. When I had my shop, I also served as a location for entering ads in the Auto Trader magazine. Most of the people entering ads were clueless about what to ask for their vehicle. OTOH, we had a handful of people that were making a pretty good living at flipping autos. I remember one guy in particular telling me how he haggled low prices. He would find a used car listed in the newspaper classified ads (yes they really had them before computers). After going to test drive the vehicle, his opening offer was always half of the asking price. According to him, a surprisingly large number of people would accept the first offer. If they didn't he would gradually increase his offers.

He had two rules that he followed. He never bought a car that he felt like he couldn't sell within a week for at least $500 profit. Secondly, he never bought a car that he would have to sell for more than $3000. In the nineties, that was the sweet spot for what people could pay without financing.

 

[chucklenut]

i think i got pretty good at haggling

i havent seen anyone say this so let me be clear

to be good at business you have to know who you do business with. i wont engage in bargaining or haggling with someone who doesnt know how to do it. no point in coaching them through or countering with a more reasonable offer if they produce super low bids or obnoxiously ask "whats your lowest price". to sum up, the art of haggling is identifying who is and is not a waste of your time. anything after that is just coming to an agreement

 

[ItBeMe]

But than lets say you have a gun for $750 and it worth almost that and some Butt plug says will you take $300 for it. I tell them that will be a good down payment. Or a guy you drop $50 off the price and than he wants you to meet him 1/2 way when you saved him $50 in gas money.

 

[ARCman47]

I may have over-looked some other threads on this subject. Sorry if I did. But, here are some of my thoughts.

I don't know why some get pissed when you make an offer that is lower then what they are listing their item for. After all this is a "trader site", correct?

Or there is the flip side of that coin. There are probably quite a few that miss out on killer deals simply because they don't ask or make an offer.

Don't get offended by low ball offers. Simply counter with another price that's lower than your initial listing if you have room to move. (If you don't have any room to move. you may be stuck with what you have.) If you make an offer and the seller counters back at you. Then either accept that or counter yourself with a price between your original offer and the sellers counter. Trust me. you'll know when the seller isn't going to budge any more. Then you can make your decision.

If you do your due diligence and look up the item on say.. Slickguns.com and see it for $200 less and they get offended because you offered them $200.00 less than they have it listed. And they don't make a counter offer and tell you to take a hike. Then forget about the over priced Pri**k! And Move on.

But, don't over-look that a high number might just be a starting point that ends in one of the best deals you'll get in a long time! I get them like that all the time.

 

[Lobo1]

HAHA! only catch is that the haggling is OVER once you commit!
Unless my NIB looks like this when you show up for the meet.....
(photo courtesy of another ODTer that I stole it from!)View attachment 742314

Look LNIB to me.

 

[ARCman47]

Look LNIB to me.

He should have had Marine spring cups

 

[boomdad]

Here's my take on it and it's not just guns but cars and most other things. I have gotten more than my share of emails about a vehicle I had for sale over the years. Far too many of them would read something like " 1200 CASH! " . And that would be on a vehicle I had listed at around $2500.00. Soi kind of agree with you about haggling. This last generation seems to know little to nothing about negotiating. Here's what I do. If there is something I want or need listed here or anywhere else I just message the seller. When I do I tell them I'm interested in their item but my budget dictates I can only pay X amount and if they can sell it to me for that price then we can go forward. See it's all in your approach. If you go at it like a jerk off you will get treated like one.

I agree 100%!! I'm sure my good nature & gift of gab has helped me before. Heck I even had a guy decide to pay me the full asking price after we met up & had previously agreed on a lower price. If you truly do treat people how you want to be treated then good things will come to you.

 

[Lobo1]

I agree 100%!! I'm sure my good nature & gift of gab has helped me before. Heck I even had a guy decide to pay me the full asking price after we met up & had previously agreed on a lower price. If you truly do treat people how you want to be treated then good things will come to you.

Yessir you're exactly right.

 

[CZ Fan]

I am a master haggler/trader. I don't pay stupid prices, first of all, so that gives me leverage to sell for less than most. I'll leave those $550 stock Glocks alone, they can ask that much all damn day. It makes my ads look great. Secondly, I enjoy haggling not only on my items I trade, but on items I trade into. And, if I for example, only have $500 in a Ruger SR1911, and I put trade value at $600, if you offer me a $525 gun, I'll accept it, if it's something I want, regardless if I drop in value, because I'm already up in value from my original item, so I'm more likely to trade. And, I basically keep this cycle going. Not to make money, but to be able to have wiggle room. Sometimes you trade up on a trade, sometimes you trade down. In the end, it all balances itself out.

And those guys asking "way more in trade value", who won't budge on a price, with 500+ trades are nothing more than flippers making money. I love trading, not selling. Trading is a hobby. Selling is a business.