OBO but really isn't

[TMB 1]

If an offer of $1000 was made on $1250 and seller did not respond to it and dropped price to $1200, you got the answer to your offer. If seller still has it listed OBO and you make new offer of $1050 or $1100, if seller doesn't respond again, you got the answer to your offer. Seller is probably waiting you out to see if you'll up the offer.

[I Swan]

That may be the case in the CA gun resale market specifically due to govt. interference, but in general, buying/selling private party items it is fair game.

I think offering what is $100 over fair market value outside of CA on an off-roster gun being sold in CA, but listed at twice MSRP, is fair when it is BTT'd in perpetuity.

I'm not sure if you're understanding what I'm saying. I'm actually saying someone offering $200 say on a decent condition Sig Sauer P220. I know someone that happened to. Guy actually asked him to take like $100 cash and a gun worth about $100 for the P220.

This I do consider lowballing and an insulting waste of time. Someone offering 5-20% less after a few bumps I would say is reasonable. Someone putting OBO but only wanting to come down say $10-20 on an item valued at say $1000-1200 is pretty unreasonable.

As always nobody has to do anything but to avoid that don't put OBO then. I was recently offered $250 on a $300 item but I did not have OBO on my sale post and don't really care if I sell it or not so did not accept the offer. I'd say it was somewhat reasonable offer though.

[IVC]

I think offering $100-200 either cash or trade value on a gun say worth $800 and sells for that consistently is lowballing and a waste of time.

It is both lowballing and a waste of time, but it still requires a simple "no thank you" if the ad specified that the offers are accepted in general. Any offer is "an offer" and "no" is a valid answer.

If one specifies "fixed price" and there comes an offer below the asking price, it's completely acceptable to ignore it.

[IVC]

This I do consider lowballing and an insulting waste of time.

We just disagree on the "insulting" part. Why so sensitive? What's the insult?

A lowball offer wastes much less time than a wishy-washy buyer kicking the tires. Nobody calls those guys "insulting." Annoying? Sure. Frustrating? Absolutely. PITA? By all means. The same goes for a lowballer.

[deephouse]

[Gryff]

You sound like a friend of mine that thinks you have to accept any offer if you put OBO in your ad. OBO means they are not fixed on the price and will negotiate. A low ball offer like yours is not an offer but an insult.

I've always gotten a chuckle out of people whose feelings get hurt if you don't value their gun at the same level they do.

[wpage]

Evidently 1000 was not his best offer

[1flhtk4me]

OBO to me sounds like the seller will except a price lower than the listed price which they are comfortable with.
However there is a minimum price they will take.

Really no need to put OBO with the price because someone will offer less anyway.

[GM4spd]

Really no need to put OBO with the price because someone will offer less anyway.

Good point. That is why I never use the term in a posting. That’s why I don’t
have to respond to all the lower offer PMs that come in. Especially the ones
where they say “ Let me know ASAP”. They are still waiting.If they repeat
a PM they go to “ ignore file”. Like the Death Penalty—- it eliminates second
offenders.

[AGGRO]

Regardless of what you offered, if he has "OBO" in his title he should respond.

There is no such thing as "insult" or "low ball" - it's an offer and if the ad specifies that offers are accepted, it's his responsibility to answer. A polite "we are too far apart" doesn't take long and clearly conveys: (1) I have received your offer, (2) I will not accept your offer, and (3) we are too far apart so there is little point in continuing.

No, don't agree. Then you get into a string of back and forth when you're not going to come close. So, which IM do you not respond to? The 10th, 20th?

Add in multiple responses from multiple tire kickers and personally, I don't have time for that. I'll respond to the best offer and list *SOLD* on my ad.

I have a day job, kids, hobbies. I don't have time to run an online business too.

[I Swan]

I've always gotten a chuckle out of people whose feelings get hurt if you don't value their gun at the same level they do.

I wouldn't say my "feelings are hurt" but I don't like my time wasted by tards that offer $100-200 for guns that consistently sell for say $800. One of the reasons I consign most my gun for sale to auction. Worth losing the percentage to save time and hassle of stupidly low-ball offers, flakes, trolls, no shows.

I am in no way offended by offers that are in the reasonable price range of regular verifiable selling prices for items I offer for sale.

[VoR]

You have people that are willing to drive 80 miles round trip to save $50 on a Glock at Bass Pro, and they have to drive it twice. This place is ground zero for skinflints.

160 miles is only 5 gallons of gas, so maybe $15. I suppose a person's time is worth something, but maybe they don't mind going for a drive every once in awhile.
To each their own. I have driven to Fountain Valley from San Diego 5 or 6 times to get what i wanted from Riflegear or OC Firearms

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Calif Hunter]

When I sell firearms, I am usually willing to drive a bit for a good selling price. After all, I only have to make that drive once while the buyer has to go to the dealer twice. If I want to sell something, I want to make it easy for the buyer and thus easier for me to sell.

[TurboS600]

on the opposite side, I've had several PMs to my sale, that didn't offer at all, and just said "how low will you go?". That's stupid and I'm not going to answer. I already posted a price. I've never specifically said "OBO", I think on a forum like this it's implied. It's always appropriate to negotiate, even if the seller just says no thanks, which I've also done. I'm not obligated to counter-offer either. Every firearm I've listed I accepted less than I asked eventually, but the cheaper the item, the less likely to bend.

My answer to the bold above is always "how high will YOU go?"

As has been mentioned already, if you don't like the price of something that someone is selling then move on. If you've got a price in mind and you've seen the item at that price before then keep looking until you've found it.

[meno377]

Well yes, you don't have to be Captain Obvious. Of course nobody has to take any offer but they shouldn't be upset when they get what they ask for when they put OBO.

I choose to ignore or put on ignore list MANY CGNers because I can. Many due to marketplace games.

Funny how someone would be waiting on a better offer than $1000-1100 on a $1250 gun lowered to $1200 but to each their own. What could possibly be the magic number, $1190.45?

Actually I do disagree with some here and do believe their can be insulting offers and that is a good way for me to put you on ignore. If someone offers you well less than half for a gun priced with a consistent level of sales around that price I find it time wasting and silly and insulting.

I've known people that have gotten offers of like $200-300 for guns that will generally sell for $800 or extremely lopsided trade offers. Can this possibly ever work here? Or work on a consistent basis? I seriously doubt it.

I don't know why you think it's obvious when clearly you state in your OP that you believe they should remove OBO when in fact some here will wait for a price HIGHER than what is posted. OBO is a way to get around listing the item with no price. We can't list an item without a price. Since this site isn't an auction site, some will take advantage by using OBO to get more than what they list for.