OBO ? and how do you feel about these situations

[echorec]

Here's a sample scenario:

I listed a pedal last night, thinking I'd wake up and it'd be sold. Well I got up this morning and had multiple offers and nearly 20 watchers. I didn't want all that though, and I don't remember the item having a best-offer feature enabled. (Could it really be a Reverb glitch, or did I forget to uncheck the box?) I swear when I was reviewing my listing for typos, there was no best-offer button within the finalized posting.

Anyway...if you list a pedal accidentally with a best-offer option and someone offers you $165 on a $168 pedal, does that irritate the shit out of you? I don't know how to handle these people. Sure, I could accept the offer. It's just $3 after all, but my concern is for future, unseen consequences. Is this the type of flakey buyer who will decide he doesn't want the pedal a week later? This is my biggest fear when dealing with people who can't come up with an extra $3. If he can't cover $3, then how can I think he can cover the whole pedal? (I've had multiple bad experiences with similar events.) My other hangup is that I hate it when people send me offers without any message. Call it idealistic/sentimental, but I like being dropped a note during a negotiation. If you say, "Hey, I've got exactly $165 in my PayPal, is that cool?" then of course I'm going to accept it, even if you could be lying to me and just a miserly shit who feels like he's won the day by saving an extra $3.

I was an early migrant to Reverb, and I've tried so hard to avoid eBay (fuck their customer service policies, hidden phone numbers, and outrageous fees). The culture of Reverb, though, really sours me on the overall experience. On Reverb it seems no one is negotiating. I get lowball/questionable offers all the time and no one ever responds. Ex: I list a $900 item, hoping to get $825. A guy sends me $750. I don't even bother sending a counter offer of $780 anymore, because on Reverb, 99.9% of offers are final offers. No one can be bothered to begin a dialogue or show some basic level of courtesy. Yes, I know several of you will say that's the nature of online commerce in general. It doesn't mean I have to conform. I'd rather lose money on a sale a couple of weeks later to someone, whom I genuinely like, than take the quick cash from someone who's going to cause me problems or make me nervous about a possible return.

---The people who pay late and send low offers seem to be the ones who never leave feedback and are prone to complain about shipping delays outside the seller's control. ----I don't want anything to do with these types, if I can avoid it. I want to sell to musicians/hobbyists, not misers and dickheads, who go from so lazy and passive to exceedingly demanding, when they get buyer's remorse. (this pedal doesn't work and I've never had this problem before: translation, it's flawless because I inspected it twice, but it's too complicated for me and I can't just come out and admit that I don't know how to use this equipment) I had this fucking Reaganite day trader earlier this year. He sends me an offer $20-30 below what was already a steal, and I reluctantly accepted. Then he got it and said it wasn't working. Of course I lost 20 fucking dollars on shipping to a guy who worked for Merrill Lynch or some shit. (he wanted a refund before he even returned the merchandise) Not to mention I was stuck in limbo with my funds and the anxiety of worrying about relisting something that could be faulty.

In my experience, there's only one reason to use the best-offer feature, and that's to trick people into thinking they've pulled one over on you. I list things slightly above market value, and then when people offer me what I want, then I'm free to accept (an item often sells for $450, so I list it for $525-550). Based on dozens of experiences, if I list the item for $450 to start, then it's going to sit for 2-3 months, rack up a bunch of deadbeats and window shoppers, but it will never sell. If you let people think they're masterful negotiators (scoring something for $100 off asking), then you can make sales so much more quickly.

[D.o.S.]

Really digging the new ILF logo:

NSFW: show

[D.o.S.]

The last time I used Reverb I wound up sending the guy more money than what he asked after he calculated shipping and realized it was short. I got my module fine, the seller was happy, everything was good.

Just don't sell to shitheads? It's worked for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[echorec]

Just don't sell to shitheads? It's worked for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

That's what I'm trying to gauge---the collective shithead-radar. I'm just curious if/how other people pre-screen these types. Are -$3 offers huge red flags for possible shitheads? Based on numerous bad dealings, and a ton of experience with total time-wasters, I have a fairly concrete attitude towards these situations/persons. I'm still curious how others handle these situations.

To a board populated by broke students and low-pay workers, I'm optimistically hoping that perhaps others are somewhat less distrusting of people, and perhaps don't worry about seller's remorse. Or perhaps to people with no funds at all, micro savings is par for the course, and rarely treated with resistance/skepticism when making similar offers.

[neonblack]

I think people inherently want to feel like they "won" or got the better deal so even $2-3 seems like a victory.

[PeteeBee]

I've never had an issue with reverb. I know there have been issues, but none personally. I get really low ball offers as well, but I just let them slip on by. I'd probably just take the -3, although that has never happened to me. Id chalk it up to the buyer being a moron, but I still get 99% of the money I wanted.

[echorec]

I think people inherently want to feel like they "won" or got the better deal so even $2-3 seems like a victory.

That's a fairly concise view of how I feel---as someone who spent too many years in college, though, I can't help but to try to connect the dots to our fucked-up, capitalistic, materialistic, automobile-reliant, sports culture. When I'm driving 50.05 MPH in a 45 zone, and a guy decides he needs to go 50.2 MPH, I think that goes back to capitalism and sports. Western people are so beaten down and poisoned with greed/jealousy/unnatural desires, that they have to revel in these ridiculous micro victories, no matter how seemingly insignificant the stakes. I hate dealing with people, whom I feel are always trying to compete with me, or to win at life. I realize people could see my presentation as wordy and pedantic, but the whole winner-loser culture just irritates the shit out of me, and I really want to distance myself from these types.

[Jwar]

It's only a couple bucks. I wouldn't sweat it. Maybe that's literally all they have.

[echorec]

I've never had an issue with reverb. I know there have been issues, but none personally. I get really low ball offers as well, but I just let them slip on by. I'd probably just take the -3, although that has never happened to me. Id chalk it up to the buyer being a moron, but I still get 99% of the money I wanted.

It's only a couple bucks. I wouldn't sweat it. Maybe that's literally all they have.

These points could both be true, and I appreciate the feedback, but in my universe, it goes back to the give an inch, lose a mile cliche. It's not about the $3, it's about setting myself up to get fucked over. I sell the pedal, and a week later the guy's either crying poor, or he's falsely claiming the item is defunct. (therefore I don't lose $3, I lose $12 for shipping, + gas & time for having to package & ship the pedal twice) Then I'm kicking myself, because I should have known better than to sell to someone, whom I feared could be a moron/prick/shit/douche/flake in the first place.

[echorec]

It's only a couple bucks. I wouldn't sweat it. Maybe that's literally all they have.

Professor Jwar, if that's all he has, am I behaving unethically as an enabler in this situation? Am I really any better than a crack dealer supplying an irresponsible addict?

[D.o.S.]

To a board populated by broke students and low-pay workers,

Have been both, am currently neither -- never sold to shitheads at any point. Maybe you're just selling gear that speaks to the investment bankers of the world rather than the decent human beings?



Perhaps it's a simple case of like attracting like?

[D.o.S.]

But seriously I wouldn't attach an entire cultural critique to someone offering you a nearly-there price on a pedal.

[Jwar]

I'm certainly no expert but I have sold a TON of shit over the years. I've had people tell me, would you take this, it's all I've got. If it's reasonable I say sure. I mean fuck it. I'm trying to sell it, so most like I actually need the money, so I just don't get bothered by the small shit like that.

Now it does piss me off when people low ball over me by like 25 bucks or try to show me ebay adds where they could have paid less. Well guess what motherfucker, I'm not ebay, go buy their shit if you want it.


Those are just my thoughts.

[Chankgeez]

If God is my co-pilot, D.o.S. is my mouthpiece or piece of mouth or whatever.

[echorec]

To a board populated by broke students and low-pay workers,

Have been both, am currently neither -- never sold to shitheads at any point. Maybe you're just selling gear that speaks to the investment bankers of the world rather than the decent human beings?



Perhaps it's a simple case of like attracting like?

That wasn't mean to be condescending. I'm just living a post-university life. I'm now something else---rich-poor (in debt). I think I'm like a magnet, always attracting the opposite pole and always repelling the same pole.

Whereas your soul has just been kissed with some kind of cosmic forcefield that wards off ne'er-do-wells, you beautiful nebulous walker, you. ---Don't be tempted by cynicism, Star Child. Embrace your crystal center.