Haggling With Sellers/Buyers, Buy It Now / Best Offer

A lot depends on the listing for me.

I always come in low with the first offer to see if the seller will counter or not. If they dont and its a commom coin I move on, if its a really hard to find one I may go ahead and buy it anyway or make a second closer to the price offer.

I can in low for two reasons. The first is that I want to see how much the seller really wants the listed price, if they only take a couple dollars off then theyre pretty set, but sometimes their counter will be significantly less than the list. But more importantly I come in low leaving room to haggle unless I'm doing a 1 time offer.

I only buy slabbed coins so I will also check the pcgs site and see if the coin has been at auction or sold before and they have record of it. If they do I will mention what it went for and what the numismedia value ect is. A number of sellers will be willing to sell it around those prices some just either dont care or are into the coin for more than that, which I respect they want their money back but it wont be from me.

It really is hit or miss though. Id say maybe half my offers end in deals. Especially for moderns Ill usually have to make offers on a couple versions of the same coin till I find a seller I matchup well with.

My biggest pet peeve is the best offers that get automatically rejected for being below the reserve or whatever. If you arent willing to sell a coin below a certain price start the bidding at that price, or they should at least have the minimum best offer listed or something. Dont see the point in having best offer feature if a seller wont even review a good number of them for not being close enough to the list price

I'm with ya there basebal21! Was interested in a coin that was $125 BIN or auction with "mystery reserve" - yuck. I bid up to $105 and then quit on it. Look later and it ended with a $123.46 top offer but DID NOT MEET RESERVE. W-T-Heck? Was the reserve $124.99 on a $125 BIN?Why waste people's time?

Or they'll auto-reject all offers below 98% of BIN. Just set the price at 98% then and don't add the BO option! Some seem intent on wasting other folks time!

Then why not just offer the $110 to start with?
As seller I list BINs at what I want for the coin and I never list for more than the average ebay close price. Most of my listings never sold until I started using the make an offer option. It seems no matter how reasonable you make your prices people always want it cheaper. Its crazy but people will be happy if they snag an item for 50 cents less than the listed price. I don't like the make an offer system but its the only way I can sell using a fixed price. I'm considering just going with plain auctions. The problem with that is if you list at you min price for a start bid no one bids. If you make your start bid low then you run the risk of not meating you required price. Adding a reserve costs and deters a lot of bidders..

Exactly! It would be quite idiotic to offer your best as the first offer, IMO, unless you really aren't that interested and are not willing to haggle at all. Even if the seller flat rejects it and doesn't counteroffer, you still have 2 more offers to make to entice them.

Unless it is a coin I am very ambivalent/blase' about, it is rare that I offer my "top of range" until the 3rd/last. And when I do, I send a note saying that is my last offer so they don't waste their or my time with another counter.

IMO, you have 3 offers to make, so why not use all 3? If a seller isn't willing to entertain more than 1 offer - then it is their problem and they aren't very good at selling/business! IMO

Someone mentioned not wanting to squabble over a dollar. IMO, if it is low cost coin then heck yes I will haggle down to the dollar level. I am a % guy, when $1 is 10% or 20% of a cheapie coin that makes a big difference. When it is a 4 figure coin, sure it is different and $10 is only 1% or less so that is a very different perspective.

People skills sometimes come into play when haggling at a show. If the dealer is someone I respect and do a lot of business with I am less likely to haggle as much ( and don't have to ). There is a dealer that is at every show I go to. He has some high grade coins that often interest me. But he doesn't mark prices and is usually WAY HIGH, like 30% or more over retail, so haggling is typically moot and I rarely bother.

I rarely even look at his stuff anymore - it is a waste of time. Last Sunday I ask him about a coin and he finally quotes me a price below retail( retail is 215 and he quotes me 195 ). I thought maybe finally we'll get somewhere. I offered him 165, and would have taken it for as much as 175 as it was a very nice coin even though raw - most of his coins are PCGS/NGC. He counters with 193. He's a complete waste of time!

Anyone who buys from him gets ripped off. I guess one sale and he covers the table costs, but I have yet to see anyone buy anything from him EVER, and he seems to have the same coins show after show. Normally, he would have started at 285 or more. I'm pretty sure I asked about that exact coin once before and he said 295 then! I once asked about a 3-legger AU55 PCGS he's had at every show, I had just bought one for 1100 that looked almost exactly the same, he wanted 2200.

Ah...the art of the haggle. Some like it a lot, some don't...regardless of what camp you are currently residing in (seller versus buyer).

First, decide what ANY item is worth. Then, you need to figure out what the other party is willing to do.

I absolutely love that this topic was started. I have such an issue with ebay's "best offer" as a buyer, although as a seller, I would argue it is a good tool, but more often than not it is a roadblock to successful ebay transactions.

Some would argue, that I am quite skilled at the dance of negotiation as it is a requirement in my professional life. Putting a negotiation on ebay, I can guarantee you there is usually no rhyme or reason LOL.

First things first, you can not allow the negotiation to be emotional. As a seller, you are bound to receive offers that are insulting. I have listed two items in my ebay life with a best offer. One was a non numismatic collection I wanted 3100.00 for. I didn't get one offer above 100.00. Eventually relisting it at auction it sold for 3900.00. Second was a 1931-S with a buy it now of 135 which was FMV, I received one offer of 80.00 countered for 127 and never heard back. Next day a buyer purchased it without even making an offer.

NOW... here is what I hate! Just a few days ago a seller had a 1970 small date proof PF67RD (not cam or deep cam) listed. FMV is 80 something... his buy it now was 279.00. I offer 70, knowing now that his counter MAY come back at actual FMV, which to be honest I would have paid + 10 percent if he had asked as I really wanted the coin. He comes back at 269.00. I kindly counter at .99 cents with a nice note telling him what his coin is worth.

IMHO, he either doesn't want a sale, or he is preying on the less savvy.

I consider those sellers to automatically be ones who are looking for someone to take advantage of and wouldn't buy anything from them.

Had to vent... sorry... this always bothered me... LOL

I used to work in a jewellers shop and have bought and sold lots of watches in the past. Generally as a seller I won't haggle on cheap stuff, I give a fair price and it is take it or leave it. More expensive items really it depends what it is (in the secondhand Rolex or Cartier market really trade prices are so close to retail value that it isn't really possible to haggle but on some other brands trade is far below retail and there is room to do a deal)

Very often I will not use the "make an offer" button as a buyer... either the price is good and I want the item enough to buy it or it isn't. I would only bother to haggle on a sizable purchase (both on the bay and in real) in both cases I offer immediate payment (cash in real as often people will avoid tax if they can) also it pays to be particularly polite when haggling, I often refused sales because the haggling was too aggressive and I didn't want to do that customer any favours because they came across as rude.

It pays to shop around and give the seller the oppertunity to beat someone else price, and to make ludicris low offers is generally a waste of time unless you are in a much superior bargaining position (like in the jewellers shop when the customer is plainly desperate to sell something)

Coins/notes are a hobby to me, not something I am trying to make a living at. Therefore I can pay a little for convenience, a little over on something I particularly take a shine to or something I am desperate to aquire. It doesn't mean I am willing to be ripped off but it means that I wont quibble over cents.