Why Offer A Bo Option If You Aren't Willing To Haggle At All

Well, I do that quite a bit too. I agree with Pertinax, your offer was probably too low. I had something listed for $12, and a buyer sent $2.60. I sent back $11.99. If they aren't going to make a reasonable offer, then I'm not going to negotiate. If they would have sent back $8, than that would have made a difference, and I would probably go back with $10.

Offering more than wholesale (3900), and 70% of retail as a first offer on a large dollar coin is FAR FROM AN INSULT offer. This isn't at all like offering $2 on a $12 item! I have bought other large $ coins at under 70% of retail from established dealers, so if they are insulted they are delusional! I recently bought a coin that retailed at 1880(listed at 1775 or BO) for 1150 on my 3rd/last offer, for example.

Truthfully, I do not think from the reply I got, with the counter, that this seller's counter was due to being insulted. Had I offered 5200, I still think the counter would be 5700. They just have no clue what they are doing and think that they will get almost full retail which is just not reasonable or likely - IMO.

If someone makes me a ridiculous lowball offer on a coin I am selling ( I usually set a minimum reject to avoid that ) I simply decline or make a reasonable counter - even though I am an amateur seller that is what all pros I know do.

Personally, I don't think the 4000 offer was insulting at all. Now $2000 or even $1000 would be a smack in the face. The whole point of a "best offer" option is to find the middle ground that both parties are willing to settle on. And FYI, it doesn't turn out that way 100% of the time. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

with SsuperDdave....

Not to mention it's very hard for us to truly understand or to offer opinions on the value the coin without seeing it. And book values often mean squat... Is it exceptional for the grade? Toned? Etc... If your offering more than "book" on your first offer then obviously something's up with it and worth more...

Very interesting on the different opinions on what's an insulting offer or not. I won't throw my hat into the ring on one side or the other. All I'll say is that this seller didn't want to play ball. Don't take it personally. You can always make another offer if you're still interested.

WOW, you guys must not buy hi $ items if you think that was an insult offer, or you pay way more than you should/could. Just WOW! Offering over wholesale as a first offer is VERY FAIR. Car salesmen must love some of you!

Lincolnguy "gets it", some obviously have no clue - including this seller. If he doesn't want to negotiate that is fine - but then don't offer a BO option if it is a waste of others time!! Again, from what he said in the response he did not indicate this was a "get lost" offer at all. Just another unprofessional seller with no clue what they are doing.

If you are going to try to sell a mid-4 figure coin, you should have an idea what the wholesale and retail is on it. It isn't a secret! Heritage has such info for free even if you don't subscribe to greysheet etc.

Which coin, how much, etc. is immaterial to the point I am making tho. Which is that seller's waste everyone's time listing coins with BO option when they aren't REALLY willing to haggle or negotiate at all. They should just list BIN-only if they demand 99% of their BIN price anyway. And I've run into this on much lower cost coins when making much higher %-to-list offers so getting bogged down in the details of my example is missing the point!

The "what is an insulting offer" has been debated in other threads. IMO, some have a warped view of that - for whatever reason - but I have bought coins for less than 33% of BIN so obviously some seller's have ridiculously inflated starting prices as well. IMO, they are hoping to have a few suckers pay those inflated prices but when offered a realistic offer they will still sell - and profit. Extremes ( inflating ridiculously OR lowballing ridiculously ) wastes time and is irritating.

I have views of what a reasonable first offer are that some disagree with - that is a different debate and IMO some of those folks either get ripped off a fair amount or are unrealistic and don't buy or sell much. Typically, the higher the value/price the more wiggle room there is in pricing and negotiating. So what goes for a $10 coin doesn't follow for a $5,000 coin anyway. Just like cars, boats, houses etc. Most big ticket items have a fair amount of wiggle room - some don't know this or don't like to play the haggle game but they are naive not to - IMO.