auxilary Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 nothing quite as low as this. the subject for my ad on CL said "cleaning out garage, stuff for sale:" and the manifolds were listed for 50 bucks. This is the email I get: can i have your ------------------ -a set of upper/lower intake manifolds for a series 4 FC rx7 turbo. $50 ------------------ for free or something? i dont need them but atleast they wont be in your way... what the crap? just because I said I'm cleaning out the garage doesn't mean I'm going to give it to you for free. In fact, there's a price listed! I replied with "$50 and they're yours." If he replies with another lowball, I'll say "it's now $60" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
av240z Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 hahaha, what in the hell, knuckleheads in this world i swear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 I had a guy ask me to send him my control arms so he could install them, test them, and then decide if he wanted them... This guy was offended when I told him to seek mental help! Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumo Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 I witnessed this once in a flea market Lady: How much? Dude: $180 (Excersice machine marked down from $250) Lady: i give $100 Dude: Naa, it's $180 Lady: $100 cash Dude: nope Lady:$100 *This went on for another 8 minutes* Dude: Nooo! it's $180 NOT NEGOTIABLE!! (starting to raise his voice) Lady: cash $100! Dude: ( all flustered and finally starts to grin) I tell you what lady, just for you, one time offer only take it or leave it. $350. Lady:(suprised look) No i pay $180... Dude: Pay me $350 right now or take a hike Lady walked away.... Dude: Geeeez! what a @%@# Audience including me : clap, clap, clap, clap True story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 Its just different styles of negotiating guys. Don't take it personal. If you've ever negotiated with someone from outside the US and northern Europe you can expect this type of lowballing. Its not a sign of disrespect - in fact, its considered disrespectful to the seller if the buyer walks in and pays full price WITHOUT negotiating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted December 1, 2003 Author Share Posted December 1, 2003 yeah, but there's a difference between saying "hey, I'll give you $15 for the item since you're asking $50" and "hey, how about you give them to me for free?" Not to mention that we're in the US, and not Europe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denny411 Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 There is a difference between lowballing and just wanting something for free. My post in the buy/sell forum may have prompted this type of offer since I`m only asking enough to cover shipping, packing and my time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 Aux, don't EVER have a garage sale. Between the early birds and the chiselers, you'll just be angry at the end of the day... Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted December 1, 2003 Author Share Posted December 1, 2003 not a garage sale, I was just selling off spare parts from my Z and blown rotary motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest zfan Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 Don't you just love some people. Makes you want to slap the poop out of them. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cusp Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 My girlfriend is Jewish/american. Her mom came from Israel. I firmly believe that stereotypes are always based in at least some truth. That said... You would not believe the CHEAPitude this lady is capable of. Unbelievable. She has a teeth whitening dish for her top teeth, but not for the bottoms. I bought some crest whitestrips (they do 2 weeks for each, top and bottom.) They cost about $30 bucks. She asked me to sell her ALL my bottom tooth applications for 5 bucks. 5 BUCKS!!! She bumps to $7, and I tell her flat out that I'd be losing a bunch of money on the deal. Then she says that nobody sees the bottom teeth anyway, and I'd be wasting my time whitening them. I wanted to tell her where to shove it, but my girlfriend might not like that. GRRRR!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denny411 Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 I know a a lady that was so cheap that when she took her three daughters shopping for school clothes, she would let them ring up everything at the register and then offer them 30% less than the total. It always ended with a discussion with the store manager and AT LEAST a 20% discount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave240Z Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 This is not all that surprising, especially in the bay area where there are large amounts of immigrants from all over the world where this type of negotiating on price is commonplace. Try going to the flea market sometime and see how things are bought/sold, it's quite interesting. My in-laws run a dash cover business there and when I help them on occasion (mostly during the summer) I always get "lowballed" on things but I understand it's just how most of the world buys things and move on. In the end, it's not necessarily about price (although anyone would love to get something for nothing) but about the actual negotiation process and the feeling that they were able to wrangle out a better deal because of it. Ironically enough, some of the things at the flea market are actually MORE expensive than if you bought them at a regular store. You can see this on Ebay as well when people bid more for items than what they retail. That said, I think this guy was looking at this from the perspective that he didn't need the parts, hence he didn't want to pay but was willing to take them off your hands; hence he was doing you a favor. Ultimately it was for you to decide whether getting them out of your garage was worth giving them away. Obviously, that's not the case but the guy had nothing to loose by asking other than your refusal to give him parts he didn't really want anyway. I wouldn't be particularly insulted by this unless he kept haggling me about it. You can see this type of thing quite often actually, when you see old appliances or other household items in front of a house with a "FREE" sign on them. Basically, it's worth it to the owner to get rid of the parts for FREE to save on what would otherwise cost them something in terms of an ad in the paper, disposal fees, etc....So, even though the taker isn't necessarily paying the person anything, they are giving them something in the form of saved money, time, effort, etc....Whether or not that makes it worth your while depends on what those things are worth to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auxilary Posted December 1, 2003 Author Share Posted December 1, 2003 understood, and you're probably right. But if I was going to throw them out, I'd smash them, take pictures of the smashed pieces, and email them to him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave240Z Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 understood, and you're probably right. But if I was going to throw them out, I'd smash them, take pictures of the smashed pieces, and email them to him. That's too much work, simply take pics of them in-tact sitting in the trash. That would get to him because they'd still be good yet you would be throwing them away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Nope, you are wrong there! Smashing everything gives a certain amount of sadistic gratification that cannot be quantified. It's like slapping the person who lowballed you I worked in car sales for years and would have "our friends from countries far away" come in and 'negotiate' from about half of retail. Not worth my time. That is the kind of customer that you will have to invest a day's worth of work and customer satisfaction skills for $100 commission. Yes, I did aquiese and actually worked with such people for a day (or more) for a measily $100, but at least I moved inventory when things were slow. Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Speedmade Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 OK guys, I have the cheapest human story. My buddies ex-fiance (because she was so cheap!) got married to this other poor guy and they had a kid. The day they were taking the baby home, the hospital staff noticed the child car seat was about ten years old. The staff refused to release the child. So the mom had to go to Target and buy a new seat. On the way home, she boxed it back up and returned it. And put her new baby in the ancient car seat. NICE!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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