The Art of the Deal - Topic of the day 7/8/24
How do you approach negotiations on ebay/grailed/depop? Are you a 'buy it now' guy or will you bully a seller into accepting your lowball. What negotiation tips and tricks do you have for those of us who have never done this before?
37 Replies
Sometimes i make an offer? I tend to just be a buy it now guy
I think the huge focus on money and getting the right price for a piece and all that is really so damaging for the hobby
Can be good to make sure you arent getting ripped off, but can really corrupt peoples sense of what theyre even doing in fashion when they become deal and price obsessed
This is obviously different than like people who are on a really rigid budget
But the fact that “how much did you pay?” Is such a common question when people post the new thing theyre excited about feels bleak and buzzkilly to me in a way i probably am no good at articulating
In conclusion: the more strategy you have when buying a shirt, the more lost in the sauce i think you are
I will always submit an offer for 10-20% off the list price. Some things are aspirational, I’ll send in a big undercut just to see what they entertain.
I try to mostly buy from friends where I respect the prices they post
In general I try to make the clothing buying/selling process as painless as possible for all parties
Tip for newbies be normal and respectful and it comes back around
Sometimes you'll get a great deal sometimes you'll lose a bit of money it all balances out in the end
it's easier for me to try and haggle in person, where i'm able to see or feel the product or when i maybe have a relationship with the seller, but in general i try to respect their pricing because they have something i want
online i try to stick to a budget, and, aside from cases where there's defects not reported in the listing or the price is ridiculously overinflated relative to other listings, i'll usually just buy it now
(that said if you frequent ebay you should probably add an item you want to your watchlist; many sellers will send a special offer just for your showing interest)
I generally undercut by 10-20% but I think theres a lot of jokes about "lowballing" that ignore its a great way to get blocked by the seller
if you low ball constantly, most sellers are going to ignore you at best and block you at worst
See so many people being like "I really want this piece, shot the seller a lowball".
Clearly you don't really want that piece since you're risking getting blocked or someone putting in a better offer.
Think some people should rethink their relationship to buying if they are constantly shooting low percentage offers, cause that's a sign you don't even really want what you are buying imo.
As always the power in haggling comes from being willing to walk away, but if you are willing to walk away from something you might wanna think about if you really want it in the first place.
Obviously if the seller is trying to sell for a bad price this doesn't apply.
Probably won't have much to add here but same as zeo, I've bought a good amount from the watchlist offers; I've only sent offers if I thought they overpriced it. And I set my minimum offer threshold and always accept offers as a seller 🙂
I low key enjoy haggling in person at like flea markets. But more for sport than for financial reasons and i don't try to really get the price down.
Haggling can be a fun social game
Most of the stuff I buy is cheap enough that getting a discount is only going to save me a few dollars, so it usually doesn't seem worth it.
Literally had someone say this to me at a (food) market in India :Kek:
I get how it feels soulless to talk about prices, but on the other hand it's so great when you see people realize hey, I can afford the stuff I like too!
But, that being said, I also have a sense of what things are worth, and what I'm willing to pay, and if something is overpriced, I will happily lowball.
My enjoyment of irl haggling aside, I am really starting to come to similar conclusions as Weeg.
I also have been having fun lately with lowball snipes in gixen on stuff that seems kinda cool and is unlikely to attract many bids.
For example, I just got a shirt that way for $3. Plus $8 for taxes and shipping, but $11 still seemed like a good deal.
when I make an offer I often offer what I am willing to pay, not more, and if I'm rebuffed, I'll say they can think about it as long as they want and I'll still be here
sometimes people come back and agree to my offer
but it's a lot simpler than nickel and dime haggling back and forth
I think to really enjoy a piece of clothing I need to forget that it used to be a commodity.
it also saves me the mental anguish of thinking "if I only spent X or spent Y more", because it also fixes my mental pricing schema
I forget that more easily if I didn't spend very much on it.
like if I can't acquire the piece at the set value, it simply doesn't exist to me and therefore can't be missed out on
it's the supplementary strategy to not buying shit that's super cheap just because it's cheap
I have some stuff that I don't wear but can't bear to part with because of how much money it represents.
which is very stupid of me.
and it means I don't acquire a lot of junk too
fair, it is
it took a lot to get over that hill
but it's very freeing to just realize some money and free space back is better than none
maybe running out of closet space will force me to part with some of those items.
i will say on two instances i've sent insulting lowballs but one was aggressively overpriced and toolish (yellow seersucker suit iykyk) and the other was aggressively overpriced and sold by someone toxic (t*ump supporter selling gyw boots iykyk)
don't even think about it as a set amount of closet space or a target of "not full"
the target can be "more empty"
in both of those instances the principle was in the lowball not on the price and i was prepared to own (uh...resell) them lmao; i wouldn't just be trying to lowball in order to live an extreme cheapskate fantasy
sunk cost fallacy is hard but manageable
i try to spur it into actively trying to wearing stuff more
yeah, I'm comfortable with my general level of irrationality.
im a buy-it-now girlie because I want the seller to feel good abt themselves and also because I hate math
if you think you're too rational, you're probably prone to doing stupid shit like voting libertarian
People who just list a few things are a little out of touch with prices. Trying to recoup the cost of something they bought that doesn't fit, but realistically I'm going to put in an offer for what the piece will likely eventually sell for
This seems related enough: how do you guys price items that doesn't really have a history to go off
Would you just keep lowering the price or expect someone to see it eventually that wants it
basically yes
or target the price of similar things
expect a smaller market and lower expectations of what you're gonna get for it
Straight in with a 10% of asking offer.
I'm buy-it-now only cause the moment I get outbid I give up lol
I just want to have the thing
If it’s something I actually want I either buy asking price or offer what I think is a fair price. The degree I lowball is inversely proportional to how much I actually want something, but I’ve gotten lucky a few times. I’m sure it’s rude but idk it’s not like I’m saying mean things or whatever
A guy has got to get those dopamine hits somehow
Is thet a difference between like changing the listing price or just sending lower and lower offers
One's highly visible and one's not
Changing the listing price will bump it and get it seen by more ppl and sell more quickly
Offering will get it seen by one or a few people and make you more money long run but probably sell slower
On ebay/posh I am almost always looking for a more basic item so i find 3 or 4 that seem likely and fav/watch and wait for an offer. Sometimes I will counter. Almost never auction
On posh I will often look at the sellers inventory to see if they have something to bundle