What's your best price for cash?

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RandallFlagg said:

“What's your best price” is the laziest, lamest and most ineffective negotiating tactic I ever come across.

It tries to imply the person holding the cash has some kind of power in the deal and that you are a distressed seller desperate to take whatever you can get.

I get it on Ebay auctions, quite frequently. I just tell them that the best price is the highest price it sells for in auction and if they are serious then they should place a bid.

The ones who post the questions and make the most noise about best price etc are very rarely the ones who even place a bid.

What annoys me most is that you have already provided a price as a starting point for negotiating and then the potential purchaser is asking you to give another price without them having shown even enough interest to actual make an offer.

Benm39

If I'm buying I'll usually either just pay the asking price or perhaps ask seller if they'd accept £xxxx . That way I'm making what I think may be a fair offer and it's entirely down to the seller as to whether they'll agree.  I wouldn't expect a seller to hand to negotiate with themselves in bringing an asking price down.  

bgmartinsbridge

Got to agree, everyone who has ever asked me what's the best price (for cash, bank transfer or gerbils) has never made an offer.

It's normally the people who say can you knock a bit off or can we split the ebay fees that buy stuff. 

Albeit on occasions if I've got something on ebay for best offers, someone will say how much are you looking for.  That's a slightly different topic - I've known people take a grand under the asking price on stuff and been shocked when I found out, as I'd have offered way more and have been embarrassed to offer so low. 

I do think saying how much for cash isn't talking about paying with cash, it's saying how much to not buy through eBay or reverb and save fees from the corporations (who obviously need a big profit to pay a dividend). 

Bats_

I always add a bit when asked that or a similar question. 

Jetsam1

I only buy from and sell through shops now. Life is too short to deal with the BS of trying to sell privately. Last time I tried to sell privately I just gave up in the end.

Though I won't be buying anymore!

guitars4you

Wearing my shop keepers hat, the other take on this (and I don't think it has been mentioned yet) is 'how much for cash' was a phrase to indicate no trade in - It was not always a cash payment - Could be card etc, but the point was no trade in

Strat54

guitars4you said:

Wearing my shop keepers hat, the other take on this (and I don't think it has been mentioned yet) is 'how much for cash' was a phrase to indicate no trade in - It was not always a cash payment - Could be card etc, but the point was no trade in

True and always an odd one cos usually there would be money to be made on the part exchange too. 

Dominic

I think to some extent it's old school speak / muscle flex meaning ........
" I'm not here to play ,make it attractive and I'll do the business here and now ,no nonsense "
I guess real cash is also a good way of replying to the spouse ......" Not another guitar pedal thing !"
"what this KOT thing .........relax,it's only £32 "

guitars4you

Strat54 said:

guitars4you said:

Wearing my shop keepers hat, the other take on this (and I don't think it has been mentioned yet) is 'how much for cash' was a phrase to indicate no trade in - It was not always a cash payment - Could be card etc, but the point was no trade in

True and always an odd one cos usually there would be money to be made on the part exchange too. 

Exactly - Unless it was a need for improving cash flow, a nice trade in was/is often more prefarable 

Bennyboy-UK

“What’s the least you’ll take?”

“…I’m not sure, what’s the most you’ll offer?”

Power_Freak

I once had somebody who agreed a price on the phone - when he arrived he told me he "only had £XXX on him", I told him he wouldn't get the guitar for that since we already agreed the price. He left saying that I was "completely unreasonable" and was going to "leave bad feedback online"... Don't be that guy

Blueingreen

I do sometimes ask "what's your best price".  It's not a negotiating tactic as far as I'm concerned. All I'm saying is "tell me what you'll accept and give me a decision to make." I'm not interested in haggling and I won't ask you to take less.  Tell me what you'll accept - which may, of course, be the price you originally mentioned but in my experience often isn't - and I'll say yes or no. 

Yorkie

Blueingreen said:

I do sometimes ask "what's your best price".  It's not a negotiating tactic as far as I'm concerned. All I'm saying is "tell me what you'll accept and give me a decision to make." I'm not interested in haggling and I won't ask you to take less.  Tell me what you'll accept - which may, of course, be the price you originally mentioned but in my experience often isn't - and I'll say yes or no. 

That does sound like a negotiation  

Bidley

Blueingreen said:

I do sometimes ask "what's your best price".  It's not a negotiating tactic as far as I'm concerned. All I'm saying is "tell me what you'll accept and give me a decision to make." I'm not interested in haggling and I won't ask you to take less.  Tell me what you'll accept - which may, of course, be the price you originally mentioned but in my experience often isn't - and I'll say yes or no. 

This winds me up no end. I get messages all the time for anything I try and sell saying simply "what's your best price", as if the onus is on me to provide a special deal because they had the immense savvy to ask. I've listed the item and set the price, if they have an offer in mind, it's up to them to make it. If I'm desperate to sell I'll list it at a lower price. I'm not interested in giving people decisions to make.

As far as I'm concerned, "what's your best price" is very much asking me to take less, but without so much as the effort to make an actual offer.

As a result, messages like that go unanswered.

swiller

i rarely buy any second hand music stuff without trying to get a few quid off. Its pretty normal stuff a negotiation, but after an offer is when id ask for their best price. Then its a meet in the middle if both are close enough. 

the pre sale questions from spammer, bots, idiots on faecesbook, e bay etc is way worse than any price debate. 

Blueingreen

Bidley said:

Blueingreen said:

I do sometimes ask "what's your best price".  It's not a negotiating tactic as far as I'm concerned. All I'm saying is "tell me what you'll accept and give me a decision to make." I'm not interested in haggling and I won't ask you to take less.  Tell me what you'll accept - which may, of course, be the price you originally mentioned but in my experience often isn't - and I'll say yes or no. 

This winds me up no end. I get messages all the time for anything I try and sell saying simply "what's your best price", as if the onus is on me to provide a special deal because they had the immense savvy to ask. I've listed the item and set the price, if they have an offer in mind, it's up to them to make it. If I'm desperate to sell I'll list it at a lower price. I'm not interested in giving people decisions to make.

As far as I'm concerned, "what's your best price" is very much asking me to take less, but without so much as the effort to make an actual offer.

As a result, messages like that go unanswered.

Maybe so, but not everybody has the same attitude.  Lots of people, in my experience probably the majority, have an idea of what they are looking for but ask for a bit more because they are anticipating a bit of haggling.  I have no way of knowing that you are not one of those people and as far as I'm concerned I'm entitled to ask the question.  If you find the question offensive and refuse to answer it that's your prerogative.

To be clear I am not asking the seller to take less and I'm not looking for a special deal.  I'm assuming  that like many sellers he has a price in mind that may be different from the price first mentioned. If that's not the case I have no problem with someone sticking to the original price. I then have to decide whether I want to pay it.

I don't regard this as negotiation, I'm just trying to clarify what the offer really is. 

Fishboy7

I think it depends on how the item is priced.  If it's a good price, I wouldn't insult the seller by offering less.  However, if it's priced above market value then it's not unreasonable to assume the seller has priced in some room for negotiation. 

To be honest though I find the whole bartering thing really tedious and usually just walk past anything speculatively priced.  

Yorkie

Bidley said:

As far as I'm concerned, "what's your best price" is very much asking me to take less, but without so much as the effort to make an actual offer.

That’s how I would read that too.

Kurtis

Is the only reason for asking a bit higher the hope that someone might actually pay it?

I really don't see why people don't just price things fairly in the first place and people buy it if the want.


I usually sell anything I have to sell on Ebay as an auction. Never had any problems. 

guitarjack66

fretmeister said:

Petepassion said:

Cash is often preferable if you’re self employed. 

If you trying to evade tax, yes.

I believe card machines are costing small sellers/traders a hell of a lot more. This then means they can't pass discounts onto customers therefore are unable to compete with bigger businesses who can sometimes purposely take a hit short term to kill off potential rivals and then hike their prices when they are the only option. This is another way to hand more power to bug businesses and kill of the smaller potential competition. When our politicians are on those big business' payroll they are going to do everything to benefit them,regardless. This maybe a smaller issue than others but its all part of killing off the little guy for the big guys to control the market.