How do you like to be approached by an interested party wishing to pay cash before the auction ends

Bogwhoppit

I no longer use paypal, but keep a keen eye out for anything within a 60 mile radius of my house. In the past three months I have attempted to contact three sellers to find out if a deal can be made.

The first, I offered £450 cash for a guitar which I was able to collect at any-time. The seller never got back to me and it sold for £395.
The second, I offered £500 and was told OK, then never heard anything back - the auction ended with a price of £450.
The third, pretty much the same as above, except the seller never bothered to find out how much I would offer (except to say it was £60 more then any comparable sold listing).

Is there a secret code or something ???

 

I must stress, I don't blurt it out in the first message !! Like a good alien, I make contact first

randomhandclaps

Do you request to speak directly to their leader?  If not, that might be the issue.

Bogwhoppit

Ed or Dave ?

CloudNine

Some people probably don't even realise they are actually going to lose pots of money (and be liable for all sorts of things) by completing the sale through ebay. So reminding them of that is a good starting point.

They might report you to ebay though I guess, but what sort of person would be arsed to really do that?

siremoon

Maybe they think that you are attempting some sort of scam ? 

(for the avoidance of doubt - I'm not suggesting that you are)

Bogwhoppit

siremoon said:

Maybe they think that you are attempting some sort of scam?

The thought crossed my mind. Although I'm perplexed how cash upon collection constitutes a scam for a low ticket priced MIC/MIK guitar. That would place all Gumtree sales at high risk.

stickyfiddle

I've been on both sides of that situation and usually if the offer made is fair then it goes through. You do get a few people get scared and ignore you (or possibly don't even read their messages)

bertie

I wouldnt accept it.

Bogwhoppit

bertie said:

I wouldnt accept it.

How about I'll chuck in a tin of Quality Street

bertie

as long as its only the green triangles.

Bogwhoppit

Hmmm! I need to think about that .....

mike257

Last time i did it was for a piece of furniture my other half wanted. It wasn't local but I was going to be in the area for work a few days before the auction finished, so I explained, offered a reasonable price and was quite rudely replied to. I offered them an extra tenner anyway,and got another reply biting my hand off to take it - but not until the day after I told them I was in the area. Ended up selling for less than my first offer!

If somebody wants to come and put cash in your hand and you're happy with what they're offering, I don't see the problem with it - especially on an auction with no 'Buy It Now' as you just leave the thing running until the money is in your hand.

Bogwhoppit

mike257 said:

If somebody wants to come and put cash in your hand and you're happy with what they're offering, I don't see the problem with it - especially on an auction with no 'Buy It Now' as you just leave the thing running until the money is in your hand.

Exactly, When I was active on ebay, I sold many items that way. If no-one showed up or decided not to buy, the auction was still on track to finish so I had nothing to lose and ££s to gain.

Fazer

re people not replying - as has been said already it may be that they dont read the messages, it may be that they are scared it might be a scam or simply dont want to be selling that way and 'interacting' face to face, and it may be that they think the price might go higher and dont want to miss out on the possibility (even though from your examples they ended up worse of than if they'd accepted your offer)

Skipped

I have only done it once. I think you have to be bold so that they have to make an instant decision.
Get their phone number. Then say: "I have a gig tonight. In the next hour I am going to buy a guitar either from you or from (local guitar shop). I have £**** cash in my hand"