Annoying bargaining when selling antiques

Disgustedman said:
At auction, Royal Worcester china and porcelain can go for anything between £1,000 and £30,000, depending on the design.😳😳😳😭😭😭😳😳😳
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I know but I was feeling generous and have always supported the local hospice as they took good care of both my uncles. I hope they raised a lot of money. I don't think any of it was really old though (y)
 

Deb, you called the b*****'s bluff and good for you!!!

Haggling can be the norm, but people will turn down offers for second hand stuff also. Thrift stores don't haggle. Not the ones in my town. Flea markets probably still do.
 
Nathan said:
debodun, I don't know how you put up with those types, I'd rather throw an item in the trash rather than deal with predatory buyers.
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Exactly my thoughts. After the death of my Mom my wife and I had a kind of garage sale, not because we were short of money but we wanted to 'size down'. There were so many people with greedy eyes that wanted to make a bargain buy. After one hour I ceased the garage sale.
When my wife and I are going to our local animal shelter we don't higgle (thank you for the new word I've learned from this thread) as most of the other people at their garage sale, but mostly pay more than the price they want, since we know it is for the animals.
 

Nathan said:
debodun, I don't know how you put up with those types, I'd rather throw an item in the trash rather than deal with predatory buyers.
I used to sell a lot of computer hardware on ebay, not any more after getting burned by crooked buyers 'working the system' and getting ebay and/or Paypal to force me to refund them, while they keep the item. About a year ago I just took all my vintage computer stuff to e-waste, shed a small tear, then moved on.
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that's the reason I stopped selling on Ebay.. all my items were excellent condition, I have a 100 % FB .. but I noticed more and more people were complaining about Ebay favouring buyers, and refunding money unfairly with no come-back for the seller ... so I stopped selling there before it happened to me..
 
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debodun said:
That's why I do a "cash and carry" sale. I don't ship - I can only see too much hassle and a lot of complaining by buyers. When people come to look, they know exactly what they're getting and no complaining afterwards. However, a lot of people shy away from coming to my house. I admit I'm a nut, but a harmless one. People these days act so mistrustful - like everyone else is a homicidal maniac.
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Not a Nut... just a little eccentric.. 🤗
 
debodun said:
Then how can a price be set if you don't know what someone will pay?
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You set a price that you believe is the item's value, and then see what kind of offers you get. The best offer is what the item is worth ...to the one who made the offer.

That's why antique dealers often sell via auction. Obviously, you're not going to hold an auction, but still, an item is only worth what people are willing to pay.

There are definitely those who are out to get a deal so they can resell an item for a lot more, though. I know you sometimes do research online to find out what items like yours are going for, and that's really smart. It's the best you can do when you can't hold an auction, but you can only use that online value as your base price. In the end, you've got to take the best offer, and it's usually going to be lower than the values you saw online.
 
CallMeKate said:
That's terrible what that guy did!
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Just a blowhard thinking he could intimidate me to get stuff dirt cheap. But he did misrepresent himself saying he'd buy anything in any condition.

Another ploy is the "unwed mother" - "I have 6 kids and I'm a single mom, so I don't have any money." Well, is that MY fault? I see this from time to time on NextDoor - "Anyone know where I can furnish a house for nothing?" followed by some hard luck story.
 
debodun said:
Just a blowhard thinking he could intimidate me to get stuff dirt cheap. But he did misrepresent himself saying he'd buy anything in any condition.
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I made that mistake once during a yard sale and learned a very painful and expensive lesson. A guy came and asked if I had any jewelry, particularly class rings... and I didn't. BUT I decided to show mine that I never wore anyhow, and he paid me double what I thought he might offer. Six months later gold skyrocketed and I cried to find out what the ring would have been worth had I not been so much into the "yard sale high" that day. :cry:
 
debodun said:
Just a blowhard thinking he could intimidate me to get stuff dirt cheap. But he did misrepresent himself saying he'd buy anything in any condition.

Another ploy is the "unwed mother" - "I have 6 kids and I'm a single mom, so I don't have any money." Well, is that MY fault? I see this from time to time on NextDoor - "Anyone know where I can furnish a house for nothing?" followed by some hard luck story.
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This happens with monotonous regulalrity on our local whatsapp.. Incredible because we live in an affluent area so someone with 6 kids and no furnishings isn't very likely.. however now the lastest is.. that they've rescued a Ukrainian family, and have found them some housing, but they have nothing.. so everything is needed for them from the bottom to the top . a Couple of months ago they were even asking for a 'free car'' to help the Ukranian mother of 6 get to her job... Bearing in mind this Ukranian mother of 6 kids.. had just supposedly arrived in the country 3 days prior, she was very fast finding work.. Astonishingly, people rise to the occasion every single time, and offers fly off the counter so to speak... jeez!!
 
When I was having a moving sale, I think a lot of people thought they'd get stuff on the cheap because I was selling out of desperation. Well, what I didn't sell in now in the basement of my new house.
 
debodun said:
Just a blowhard thinking he could intimidate me to get stuff dirt cheap. But he did misrepresent himself saying he'd buy anything in any condition.

Another ploy is the "unwed mother" - "I have 6 kids and I'm a single mom, so I don't have any money." Well, is that MY fault? I see this from time to time on NextDoor - "Anyone know where I can furnish a house for nothing?" followed by some hard luck story.
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Next Door is becoming increasingly just a site for begging. "I just moved into town and need free furniture and appliances. Must be delivered as I don't have a truck." What astounded me is someone actually offered a washer and dryer! One guy actually wanted someone to co-sign a lease for him because his parents wouldn't! I guess he was looking for someone who just fell off the turnip truck! :ROFLMAO:
 
caroln said:
Next Door is becoming increasingly just a site for begging. "I just moved into town and need free furniture and appliances. Must be delivered as I don't have a truck." What astounded me is someone actually offered a washer and dryer! One guy actually wanted someone to co-sign a lease for him because his parents wouldn't! I guess he was looking for someone who just fell off the turnip truck! :ROFLMAO:
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I guess if someone believes these stories, they deserve to get taken.
 
When I got the kittens off of Craig's List, I met the woman at the Walmart parking lot. Safer for me, safer for her.

People will scam anyway they can. I hear Etsy is going the way of scammers also. People claim they didn't get their items etc or it's not as described and they keep the item and get the money refunded. I feel bad for the sellers. I could never do that. How do these people live with themselves? And I bet they never get payback.
 
caroln said:
Next Door is becoming increasingly just a site for begging. "I just moved into town and need free furniture and appliances. Must be delivered as I don't have a truck." What astounded me is someone actually offered a washer and dryer! One guy actually wanted someone to co-sign a lease for him because his parents wouldn't! I guess he was looking for someone who just fell off the turnip truck! :ROFLMAO:
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Yeah, I left ND due to political BS. and FB had it's own crop of "I need this, that and that $600 couch, because it's got to match the recliner!"

Pretty typical is one woman who about once a month claims she's out of food and wants a hot dinner delivered. The bible states "The love of many will grow cold"

Well, with scum out there begging when they're just lazy, then there's a reason why!
 
debodun said:
A woman in church approached me about the antique stoneware jugs she saw I had for sale on Marketplace.
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My perspective on this is very different from earlier comments on this thread. When I think about your church, Deb, what comes to mind is the people you begged last fall to ferry you to several eye doctor appointment that required them getting up at 5:30 am, drive you 60 miles, wait a staggering 6 hours for you, then drive you home.

You were quite desperate according to your posts - and these people STEPPED UP!!! That's what members of a community (faith or otherwise) do for one another. Even when it's an astonishing inconvenience. They don't look at what's in it for them - they look at how they might make someone else's life a little better.
debodun said:
When I was having a moving sale, I think a lot of people thought they'd get stuff on the cheap because I was selling out of desperation. Well, what I didn't sell in now in the basement of my new house.
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So you moved it to your new house. Congratulations on a basement full of stuff that you don't want or need.

I'd have been far more impressed with your post if you'd said she wanted both for $15 dollars and you decided to give them to her at that price, knowing she'd get more joy out of them in her home than you were getting by letting them collect dust in your basement.
 
StarSong said:
I'd have been far more impressed with your post if you'd said she wanted both for $15 dollars and you decided to give them to her at that price, knowing she'd get more joy out of them in her home than you were getting by letting them collect dust in your basement.
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Yeah we certainly can't put a price on a person's joy. But you're quite welcome to sell YOUR stuff for cheap. I'm sure you'll make others very happy.
 
I went to a flea market to sell some surplus items.
I marked everything with price stickers. Many knickknacks were priced at $2.
One woman came along and said - "Will you take 50 cents for them"?
"No, the price is $2, not 50 cents.
She persisted asking to pay 50 cents for a long time.
I got rather peeved and said - "I am trying to make some money here. Selling at 50 cents will not see that happen. Please go away and harass someone else. I will take them home rather than sell them at 50 cents.
"Go on, I will give you 50 cents."
Go away, I am not selling to you"
She eventually left.
The stall keeper next to me said she does this every week, with many stall holders. She buys super cheap and resells on the free to advertise publication, Gumtree"
 
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StarSong said:
My perspective on this is very different from earlier comments on this thread. When I think about your church, Deb, what comes to mind is the people you begged last fall to ferry you to several eye doctor appointment that required them getting up at 5:30 am, drive you 60 miles, wait a staggering 6 hours for you, then drive you home.

You were quite desperate according to your posts - and these people STEPPED UP!!!
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She was not one of the people that helped me. You are lumping everyone in the church into one group.
 
When you go into Walmart to buy a pot, and the price is $7.99. At the register, you give the clerk $50 and walk out??????? No one wants to pay more than is necessary. The purpose of bartering is for the seller to get the best price, and for the buyer to get the least price. But if the seller isn't bartering, the seller must make that quite clear to the buyer that's it's buy or walk.
As far as 'antiques' go, the seller usually values them more than buyers do.
 
When I was younger one of the jobs, I had was to purchase furniture and equipment for a large bank holding company. They actually had 13 banks, so the amount of furniture and equipment they required was substantial. Part of my training into that job included attending a training program for negotiating. I recall in the opening presentation a guy that was very well known as a professional negotiator commented that people are very unaware that almost everything is negotiable. People miss out on lots of money savings by simply not asking.

He went on to explain that if you do not try to negotiate something, you can be assured that you will pay full price. Since that training, I have tried to negotiate most everything I have purchased professionally or personally. It has worked, to some degree, more often than not. Sometimes it has saved me more money than I ever thought it could.

But one of the fundamentals of negotiation is the be respectful of others feeling when approaching negotiations and throughout the process. Miss this fundamental and you may get the door slammed in your face, but you will for sure not be able to get a better deal.
 

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