Have you ever offered someone less money than they are asking at a train show and upset them in the process? I went to a train show in Shakopee MN today to see what I couldn’t live without. While browsing, I saw an Athearn RTR Milwaukee Road RS-3. I’ve seen them on ebay and have considered purchasing one since the Milwaukee Road ran through my town during the same time period as I model. They usually sell for between $70 and $85. This one was priced at $70. I thought hey, why not ask them if they’ll take less. You never know, maybe they’ll say yes! I took the item to the table where they were ringing people up and asked " would you take $60 cash?" He gave me a dirty look and said, " why would I want to do that? I have to pay sales tax on that too." I said, " I didn’t think of the sales tax, how about $60 plus tax?" Another dirty look, a sigh, then " they aren’t even making that anymore." Then he pointed to the regular price to let me know that I was already getting a deal. I said “ya, I know, your price is what they sell for on ebay.” Well, that sealed the deal! Well, not really, he grabbed the box and set it on the table and looked the other way! Now, I know the price was already fair, but to get angry that someone is offering ten dollars less seems silly to me. Since I’m in retail, when I hear they aren’t even making that anymore, that tells me he’s had it a while. It’s not like I offered half or something. I know they wouldn’t pay that much in credit card fees, but it would be close to $3.
No, you weren’t wrong to ask. Up to him to say yes, no, or counter-offer. If he got upset, that is sort of his issue. Might of had something to do with whether or not he was having a good day otherwise.
My take on it is that if I’m not going to be upset if I give someone an offer that he might consider lowball, then I shouldn’t be upset if I get a negative reaction. All part of the game.
The way I see it - never hurts to ask, the worst they could do is say no. OK, in this case, emotions got involved and in at least one case, feelings seem to be hurt. But I feel that just reflects lack of professionalism on the seller’s part. Had it been me, I would likely have simply been a bit more up front and simply said something along the lines of “Sorry, can’t do it, that’s the lowest I can go.” No need for rudeness. I do not feel asking for a lower price - or making a lower offer - is offensive. I do feel that EXPECTING a lower price, for whatever reason, is a different matter, such as “Hey, I bought x and y and z from you four years ago, you should give me a better deal on this”.
I don’t think it can ever hurt to ask, but it often depends on how you ask. I know many dealers who don’t really appreciate it when a person says something like “I’ll take that off your hands for xxx” and then gives them a lowball price. That isn’t asking and comes off like they’re doing you a favor. If you ask nicely and someone takes offense, then that’s their problem.
I don’t know if using the eBay line is always a good ploy either, because they can just as easily tell you to “Go buy it there, then.”
A lot also depends on the type of show and what you’re buying. If it’s a large show where a dealer has a lot invested in tables, travel and hotels, they may not be as inclined to negotiate. Especially if it’s an in-demand item. On the other hand, if it’s a smaller show where they don’t have high costs to cover or if they are selling older items, they may have more room to discount.
I had a similar experience to yours when at a train show I saw a Walthers structure kit that I had been looking for. The seller had it priced MSRP at $24 and I offered $15 and willing to go as high as $18. When I pointed out that her price was msrp, she became irritated and made it clear that she wasn’t going to budge on the price so I simply said “Ok,” and I walked away.
I don’t think you were wrong for offering a lower amount, however, it sounds like the seller you were dealing with became pretty irritated when you quoted ebay and you didn’t sympathize with him after he stated that he had to “pay tax” on the item.
Expect that reactions like his come with the territory, so you have to be emotionally prepared to deal with it. Some sellers are quite flexible and willing to negotiate, while others have the charm of Fred Flintstone on a diet.
To be fair to the sellers, consider what happens at these train shows. Typically a number of modelers show up expecting “super sweet deals”. So, following hours of haggling with buyers, it stands to reason that some of the sellers become a bit irritable after a while. I’ve seen it happen at train shows in my neck of the woods.
When I see a model I want and decide to negotiate, I greet the seller in a friendly manner to gauge his/her attitude. I don’t try and pounce a deal right away.
Re your comment: “They aren’t even making that anymore”.
I didn’t bring up ebay until the end of the conversation. The show was the Great Train Expo with mainly Minnesota dealers. This guy had a hobby shop here in Minnesota I guess so I suppose that WAS a good price to him. I was friendly about it and said, “I don’t suppose you’d take $60 cash, would you?” It was the beginning of a two day show so my timing probably stunk!
I had a similar experience to yours when at a train show I saw a Walthers structure kit that I had been looking for. The seller had it priced MSRP at $24 and I offered $15 and willing to go as high as $18. When I pointed out that her price was msrp, she became irritated and made it clear that she wasn’t going to budge on the price so I simply said “Ok,” and I walked away.
I don’t think you were wrong for offering a lower amount, however, it sounds like the seller you were dealing with became pretty irritated when you quoted ebay and you didn’t sympathize with him after he stated that he had to “pay tax” on the item.
Expect that reactions like his come with the territory, so you have to be emotionally prepared to deal with it. Some sellers are quite flexible and willing to negotiate, while others have the charm of Fred Flintstone on a diet.
To be fair to the sellers, consider what happens at these train shows. Typically a number of modelers show up expecting “super sweet deals”. So, following hours of haggling with buyers, it stands to reason that some of the sellers become a bit irritable after a while. I’ve seen it happen at train shows in my neck of the woods.
When I see a model I want and decide to negotiate, I greet the seller in a friendly manner to gauge his/her attitude. I don’t try and pounce a deal right away.
Re your comment: “They aren’t even making that anymore”.
You’re one up on me. I was there, sorry I didn’t see you, and I didn’t even see anything to bid on. I went to Beckers to get what I needed and went home. I have had good luck with bidding at flea markets by NEVER at a show.
I’ve never haggled but i don’t think you did the wrong thing. it seems pretty simple to me they got three options 1. you could buy for less than what they want. 2. they may never sell it because you walk away and nobody else bothers looking at it. 3. in the event that somebody doe buy it, the seller may have to go through the same situation.
there may be more but I’m not really gonna play the what if game.
You offered what it was worth to you. He stated what it was worth to him. If you can’t come to terms there is no sale. He has no right to be upset no matter what you offered. You have no right to be upset that he refused your offer. Move on.
I’ve generally found that large dealers aren’t usually willing to negotiate on prices but smaller sellers such as individuals clearing out their extra stuff or small dealers are more willing to accept less than the marked price. I’ve even had people offer items at a lower price late in the day or if something’s an oddball item that no one else has shown interest in. Your mileage may vary.
Let’s say the seller has a Atlas yellow box GP7 for $65.00 since I know my price I start by looking at the Geep and then ask,What’s the least you will take for this engine?
Let’s say he replies $55.00.
I will counter would you take $50.00 cash?
I find 90% of the time its the delivery.
What I hate is the following.Same geep.
What’s the least you will take for this engine?
Seller:: Make me a offer.
You see he has the advantage and will haggle the price up so,I lowball 'I’m by offering (say) $40.00.
He will offer a counter-probably $55.00,I counter $50.00 and most of the time its a done deal.
Remember this…Be fair,polite and be nonchalant.The worst thing you can do is look like you’re chomping at the bits to take that model home.
One dealer wouldn’t back off his counter offer so I said,“Let me think about it” and started to walk off…I bought the engine at my price offer.I made it about 5 steps before he called me back and we closed the deal.
Exactly! That is how I approach too. You just be light hearted and jokingly at the same time you ask whats the lowest price he will take from a cool, broke Model Railroader. (Or whatever line you would like to use to break the ice) I often use the line, ‘Whats the best price you will sell this engine to the COOLEST Model Railroader in the hobby standing in front of you?’ The person usually smiles and replies with a lower price or says that is his best price posted. either way it takes away the ‘awkwardness’ of haggling and asking for a lower price. Give that a try and watch how far you will go.
I’d say that your offer of $60 was better than the other 50 people who may have looked but just moved on. I always offer less than their sticker.
I suppose when you mention what you can get it on ebay for, or point out that the seller is not budging off of msrp, the seller might take it as criticism of his price, rather than just haggling, hence the cold shoulder.
One thing about quoting an eBay price is there is always the shipping costs to be added. So the eBay $60.00 price probably would have been higher.
I’ve never haggled myself, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it, its just not something I’m wired to do. A model railroad friend of mine seemed to live to get a deal on everything and anything. That’s all he talked about in the hobby, not about modeling, prototype, nothing. All about the great deals he got. To each his own I guess.
And…it’s one thing to ask about a discount if you’re buying something that’s fairly high in value or if you want to purchase multiple items. It’s another thing to try and beat the price down on a brand new $3.98 item where the vendor isn’t making that much at full list price.
Say somebody has something I’ve been interested in and it’s priced at $100. To me, it’s not worth any more than $80. So, out of sight, I pocket my extra cash leaving only $80 cash in my wallet. I then approach the seller ready to deal and offer $75. Obviously, that doesn’t fly and he maybe counters with $90. I then open my wallet to count my cash and he clearly sees all I have is $80 (and maybe a couple bucks in change). At this point, he thinks / knows I’m tapped out at $80, so it’s either going to be $80 or no sale.
Not a guaranteed method, but has worked many times !
I’ll haggle a little bit sometimes. Depends on the item. Small stuff under $10 I don’t want to take the time - I just move on if I don’t like the price. If it’s a current item and he’s already got a decent discount or offers one while I’m looking at it then I’ll buy it at that price. Otherwise I’ll make an offer if he’s close to what I’ll pay. Sometimes I’ll offer for 2 items together.
What I don’t do, is bring in extraneous stuff like what it’s selling for on eBay, Micro-Mark, ten years ago, etc. To me that’s irrelevant along with what he sold the last one for, his inability to make a living, what he can get for it in Jersey, etc.
But I don’t see anything wrong with making a low offer, even it’s a fire sale price. He can always say no and you can move on.
Jim,$3.98 isn’t worth haggling over.I only haggle on the higher price items I also have experience in horse trading and know that the seller probably took that geep in trade,bought from another dealer or from a modeler selling his collection and I suspect his markup is 50-60% above what he paid.
Here’s another thing…You start the show in the red(table rent,hotel or motel room,meals gas etc,) and if you having a bad day then you better start dealing just to break even or make a small profit.
Make no mistake on a good day with a nice selection of reasonably price models you can make over $1,200.00.