Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion For what ever it is worth......

welcome to Oldgas..

I would NEVER dream of offering somebody only 50%, or even 60% of what they were asking. If we're that far off then we see things differently and I move on. If they don't have a price on an item they are selling, then in my opinion there is no such thing as a low ball offer and they have no right to be upset.

Enter Pawn Stars, Hardcore Pawn and all the other "reality" shows. They routinely offer as low as 10% of what the person is asking and usually agree on less than 40% of the sellers initial offer. People entering the hobby seeing this can only think this is the norm, until they are educated?

Of course those that have been doing this for just a short time know that those shows are BS and an offer of 50% or less is an insult, but that life and we all educate low ballers in a way that pleases us.

I hate negotiating, both as a buyer and seller. If I'm selling something, I already have it priced. I will accept one offer and I'll counter stating this is the lowest I'll go. If they offer less after that, then the price goes up. A lot of people walked away upset at that, but I'm a man of my word and that's how "I" do my part in educating them.

TOTALLY AGREE.
Even better after they walk away & someone else buys the item, then 1st refusal comes back & sees item is marked SOLD or item is GONE!
Love it when they ask what I sold it for? Most times my reply is, It don't matter, it's GONE.

This is what I do for a living, and I learned from my dad who did it and he learned from my grandpa who did it, I make quite the living "picking" but let me tell ya those shows that are on t.v really make it a lot harder, although they can be educational. I just had one of my gas pumps up for sale, it needs a restoration but the first 2 offers were less then half of my asking price.

When it comes to buying pumps (mainly the common stuff) I'll even use Jack's book to show the farmer or seller what the current value of the thing is. Most of the time this works because it gives them peice of mind knowing they got current book value. Trading "up" is a better advantage if they are willing to do it. Takes to long to explain this concept. Low balling is a DANGEROUS move because it can blow your chance of owning it. Good Luck Goober

I think buying and selling is a skill honed through experience and developed over time. Requires an ability to build rapport and instill a sense of confidence and integrity. Once a level of mutual fairness has been established then it's matter of reading the other party. Usually the more experienced and confident party will be able to exert some amount of favorable persuasion over the less experienced party.

Much like a card game.

In many countried i've visited haggling is expected, and appreciated even on new merchandise. The art of haggling and eventually reaching a good price making both parties happy is an enjoyable part of the process to me in many cases. However, that doesn't apply if the person says they're price is firm and I always ask if they're negotiable first. Of course if you say "make an offer" you get what you've earned.

I've visited the same barn for multiple years and discussed the same item each time before finally going home with it. Those are treasured picking times to me.

I also quite often buy items outright that are fairly priced, especially if it's something I have to have.