miriam

Its been refurbished. I hate those.

Rodney

If the seller admits they'll go as low as $50 why do they ask for $100? I already know I won't offer more than $50.

That refurbished 27 or 127 at $400 is just a bit steep for me.
Rodney

mlmack

If you set your price at your lowest limit, there is no room to negotiate. If you set it higher, someone might come in and offer somewhere in the middle of the two.

Of course, when both the starting and lowest accepted prices are ten times higher than normal, well then, good luck.

Rodney

I expect people to set the price higher than they really want. It's telling the lower limit that I find amusing. I don't haggle as much as I once did but I would be starting at or below the lower limit. I learned from my uncle who was a master, I don't think he ever paid full price for anything.
I don't haggle as much as I did when I was younger. Most of my machines are either thrift store finds or off Craig's List. I don't bother calling Craig's List ads unless the price is already what I'm willing to pay and I usually don't try to talk them down. I figure the time and trouble to hold the item and meet up with me is worth something.
Rodney

ThayerRags

I’ve always thought that revealing their lower limit at the beginning was an odd thing to do too. If they’ll go down to that lower limit, why not just price it at that and hold their ground?

I had an odd Craig’s List experience lately when I bought my basket-case Singer 31-15. His first ad came out asking $50, then a few days later he lowered his price to $40. I called him only to find out that another earlier caller was deciding if he wanted to drive a long distance to buy it or not, and if he backed out, the machine was mine.

A day or so later, he called to say that the first buyer had backed out, and I told him when I’d be there to get it. When I picked the machine up, the seller told me that the first guy had talked him down to taking only $30 for it, so I could have it for that amount. The seller was a retired guy just getting into his new occupation as a “picker” and a “flipper” to see if he liked doing that sort of thing. I had thought $40 was cheap enough, so I handed him $40 and reminded him that we had agreed on that price and smiled. He paused looking at me, then thanked me 2 or 3 times, and when I left he told me he would save my number and call me if he finds any more machines before putting them up for sale on CL. Even if he doesn’t ever call me with another sewing machine, I bought some “Good Will” with my additional $10. And I thought that was cheap enough too.....

CD in Oklahoma

sdhaevrsi

Good business practice, CD, and even better display of character. :-)

Rodney

Another reason to not try to squeeze the price down to the last penny. Being on friendly terms with the pickers and scrappers in your area isn't such a bad thing.
Rodney

KenmoreRulesAll

I like this one:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/atq/4654436231.html

KenmoreRulesAll

130 on steroids:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/art/4655713585.html

I really like this one. Hold me back, guys -- keep me strong.

Vridar

CD, I was a member of a pharmacy class action law suit against Wal-Mart for just that false advertising. The outcome was the lawyers got my $1000 plus a bunch more $1000 fees and Wal-mart changed their logo to "Low Prices, Always." They had to drop the "...est." That was the last class action suit I joined BTW.