What's your best price for cash?

nero1701

I really don't get why this question is an expectation on getting something cheaper?

I've a couple of guitars on ebay and had a guy firstly ask..where are you? I've replied, then informs me "You'll have to meet me halfway, i'm in Dagenham". So I've replied, ok, I'm happy to meet you at J24 on the A12.

Then pops up the question " What's the best price for cash"

Well, cash is an inconvenience these days, firstly I've got to count it, I've got to trust that it's real cash, I've then got to deposit the cash into the bank so in reality, I should be charging a premium for the inconvenience.

Do you expect discount for "Cash"
 

MrTee

Only if an alternative payment scheme involved installments, which I assume a private sale wouldn't

trevA

I always thought that "cash" in this sense was just a euphemism for "off the books". Electronic transfer would still be viable.. but you have to wait for it to appear in your account before driving away.

I think if I had driven to buy something and wasn't going via PayPal then I'd be looking to pay less than the original price due to the lack of buyer protection. Item could be fake or I could get mugged would be my main risks of worry.

Teyeplayer

If he is making you work for your money it’s best to walk away. A simple ‘would you be willing to meet part way’, is so much better than ‘you’ll have to’ and usually helps you to weed out the tyre kickers and dealers. As you say, cash is inconvenient, so I’d be blunt: ‘you’ve got my best price and are costing me fuel and time, so cash will carry an administration surcharge’ see how the door handle responds to that.

mrkb

Cash is more hassle than bank transfers, so I’d put the price up to cover my time to go to the bank to pay it in.

fretfinder

I don’t expect a discount for cash. I frequently get asked ‘what’s your best price’ which is fine and I may well ask the same question if I’m interested in buying something.

The last time I took a significant amount of cash for a guitar, £2k, I counted it twice and it was £100 short. The buyer counted it and said, innocently, ‘you’re right, oh gosh I’ve no idea how that happened, no worries I’m sure I’ve got another £100 in cash on me.’ And sure enough he did have the other £100 in cash in his wallet ready and waiting. I can’t prove he was trying to pull a fast one but…

I agree with you that cash can be a pain to handle and bank transfer is my preference, or maybe PayPal if it’s a member on here who I know very well.

nero1701

All i replied with after that was, I'd rather deal through Ebay, please feel free to use the best offer option, Went silent from there.

TheBigDipper

No surprise there, then. If someone wants to pay cash and asks you to drive somewhere, it's a recipe for a no show and no sale.

Good luck with getting a reliable buyer sometime soon! 

LessPaul

Who wants cash nowadays anyway?  Bank transfer / paypal / tap n’ go - just so easy now. 

imalrightjack

Cash to me includes direct funds transfer. 

Petepassion

Cash is often preferable if you’re self employed. 

robgilmo

Haggling isn't a bad thing, something is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay. I would trust cash more than an electronic payment, 

CarpeDiem

There’s also less chance of the buyer trying to reverse the transaction if you’ve accepted cash.

Sarge

Petepassion said:

Cash is often preferable if you’re self employed. 

A lot of banks charge businesses for depositing cash, so again that can be a hindrance. 

PLOP

I don’t care about cash for gear, because I tend to treat it as a float. I mean the money I make from this sale is normally earmarked  for something else I have my eye on. At the moment, I’ve got a Paul on gumtree, and I’ve had some messages with no other content than “what is your lowest price?” Which I feel is quite abrupt when they can’t even even be bothered to type the word Hello

I think I have the guitar listed for a fair price based on exact same models sold recently, and obviously via gumtree there are no fees to consider. 

if I list something for £350 for example, I would normally be willing to knock as much as £50 off, but only if the buyer seems polite enough to “deserve it” you know what I mean? if they are clearly interested in playing, or have spent time asking questions about it specifically before arranging a meet. 

notsopro

I do wonder these days if the question about 'cash' actually means 'how much would you take if we did the deal outside of 'ebay, reverb, etc'. 

It is a strange one that I've had a bit of experience with lately, because these days I'm guessing we all take advantage of the e-bay fee discounts etc, and I've actually had people get annoyed at me for saying 'actually mate, I'd rather pay Ebay £25 on this £1000 transaction' as whilst I don't trust them all that much, I'm happy to pay to know I've got something to fall back on.

Best one I had was a message on Facebook "I'll have the X-guitar you have on ebay, I've worked out the fee's are going to be £x amount, therefore I'll come and collect it, I'll give you (price minus fee's excl delivery) then you save on the fee's and I get the guitar cheaper" To which they were very upset when I replied and suggesting that I'm not sure how that was any benefit to me at all.

Dave8

imalrightjack said:

Cash to me includes direct funds transfer. 

Same, so it always makes me think... what is the other option? I don't have a credit facility

Iamnobody

PLOP said:

I don’t care about cash for gear, because I tend to treat it as a float. I mean the money I make from this sale is normally earmarked  for something else I have my eye on. At the moment, I’ve got a Paul on gumtree, and I’ve had some messages with no other content than “what is your lowest price?” Which I feel is quite abrupt when they can’t even even be bothered to type the word Hello

I think I have the guitar listed for a fair price based on exact same models sold recently, and obviously via gumtree there are no fees to consider. 

if I list something for £350 for example, I would normally be willing to knock as much as £50 off, but only if the buyer seems polite enough to “deserve it” you know what I mean? if they are clearly interested in playing, or have spent time asking questions about it specifically before arranging a meet. 

£300 for the Paul?

nero1701

notsopro said:

I do wonder these days if the question about 'cash' actually means 'how much would you take if we did the deal outside of 'ebay, reverb, etc'. 

It is a strange one that I've had a bit of experience with lately, because these days I'm guessing we all take advantage of the e-bay fee discounts etc, and I've actually had people get annoyed at me for saying 'actually mate, I'd rather pay Ebay £25 on this £1000 transaction' as whilst I don't trust them all that much, I'm happy to pay to know I've got something to fall back on.

Best one I had was a message on Facebook "I'll have the X-guitar you have on ebay, I've worked out the fee's are going to be £x amount, therefore I'll come and collect it, I'll give you (price minus fee's excl delivery) then you save on the fee's and I get the guitar cheaper" To which they were very upset when I replied and suggesting that I'm not sure how that was any benefit to me at all.

I'm presuming it was an invitation to deal outside of ebay, as you say it is listed on an 80% FVF "discount" i'd rather pay ebay the fee, hand over face to face and be done, I don't mind meeting halfway within reason.

TeleMaster

I'd just say there's no difference and go from there. 

You can't be surprised that people will use every excuse to get money off. 

Strat54

How much for cash is just an old school dealing term likely now somewhat outdated. I come from a couple of generations in the retail motor trade, It was a question heard numerous times daily. The self employed like cash...fact. The move to make us all use card payments is a way for the powers that be to end the black economy which is still HUGE. If you aren't or have never been self employed then you cannot imagine the scale of this. The rise of card payments is linked to the rise in prices to compensate for the now unavoidable declared income and thus tax paid. This has not yet reached my local asian takeaways who still refuse cards, don't have a till register or indeed a till roll lol. I swear if we abandoned cash these places would close. Cash is for now still king as the old saying goes....but the net is closing in, the party is ending.