Why do people get so bent out of shape on offers?

Especially on blowout. I made a couple offers for big lots and people get all bent out of shape because they are insulted by my offer. They even "threatened" to post my offers publicly in the tread. Is this common practice over there? WTF?

It's not like I'm offering $5 for a card that sell for $25. You are offering to sell your cards, I'm offering to buy them all. I'll take your junk with the good. I expect a slight discount when buying in bulk. You don't have to like my offer nor accept it, it's not the law. Just say "I'll pass" or counter with something you think is fair.

People are like "Its wastes my time with all these lowball offers, yadda, yadda, yadda"

Seems to me you are wasting more time typing up some big harangue and mouthing off when you really don't have to....

Never understood why anyone would get all pissy when someone offers you money for your card...yet some people act like you just threatened to steal their house and sell their family into slavery when you make an offer they don't like. A low offer is not a big deal, simply say "no thank you" and move on. That's all there is to it.

In case people have noticed, its still just cardboard and money is worth a whole lot more in this economy. Some guys
are old school and still think they can sell garbage for 40% book.

schmidtfan20 said:

In case people have noticed, its still just cardboard and money is worth a whole lot more in this economy. Some guys
are old school and still think they can sell garbage for 40% book.

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Cardboard > Paper

DUH!

care to post an example? i think it'd be funny!

Oh boy, dont get me going on this

i have no idea.

real us dollars for cardboard pictures of men?

seems like the us dollars should not be laughed at

Because some people take it as an insult to their intelligence.

Yes that is a fairly common practice over there.

Wes said:

Because some people take it as an insult to their intelligence.

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What do you mean, I don't understand. :?

Negotiation is a lost art. It would seem that most become so incensed by an initial offer that they forget the fact that most offers are flexible. Also, many people have a specific personal value attached to their cards, regardless of SV/BV, and let pride get in the way of negotiations.

Wes said:

Because some people take it as an insult to their intelligence.

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As in, the buyer is trying to pull a fast one on them?

boomo said:

Oh boy, dont get me going on this

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I bet you've come across some real doozies in the past

Shi Guy said:

Negotiation is a lost art. It would seem that most become so incensed by an initial offer that they forget the fact that most offers are flexible. Also, many people have a specific personal value attached to their cards, regardless of SV/BV, and let pride get in the way of negotiations.

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I've been finding this out to be so true. Good post.

Best thing to do when you receive a low ball is to counter with a real offer, aka retail price or cash value. People who post Price OBO lots put extra "meat on the bones" so it can be negotiated away with offers. Most buyers are just fishing for a deal, hoping you are desperate like the sellers on Pawn Stars, and willing to sell your stuff at 25%-50% of retail price.

RE: The original question.

Simple, because 90%+ of sellers think they set the market value by saying they want a certain amount.

It's the same as buyers who use a poorly-named steal eBay sale as a reason why a card that normally sells for over $100 should run them $15. Conversely - as sellers who use sales of "Jersey number" cards as the going price for the entire print run.

It does irk me a bit to receive offers on ebay that are less than half of what the card is currently selling for. However, I could always stop that by setting an auto-decline, which at times I forget to do. For example, had a Syndergaard orange ref auto on ebay for like 105 bin/bo, last closed at 98, most offers were between 35-55. I was looking for 85 and up on the card, but the closest anyone got was 65. Stuff like that does dig at you a bit.

markakis8 said:

Wes said:

Because some people take it as an insult to their intelligence.

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As in, the buyer is trying to pull a fast one on them?

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Yep. If I offer you $20 for a $100 card, I'm basically saying that I think you're an idiot and I want to take advantage of you and rip you off. Or at least that's what people who get bent out of shape think.

Wes said:

markakis8 said:

Wes said:

Because some people take it as an insult to their intelligence.

Click to expand...

As in, the buyer is trying to pull a fast one on them?

Click to expand...

Yep. If I offer you $20 for a $100 card, I'm basically saying that I think you're an idiot and I want to take advantage of you and rip you off. Or at least that's what people who get bent out of shape think.

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I agree with what the user above me said. I've had people tell me a card that's never sold under $200 sold for $80 at it's lowest point but commonly sells around $120, and I am 100% sure the card never sold under $200 and I have worthpoint proof. So if your offer is reasonable but slightly below eBay value that is rarely a problem, but when you offer $60 for a $300 card, it is insulting. Whether it is cardboard or whatever, a lot of people put worth on these things and I can understand some sellers getting bent out of shape when a buyer is trying to rip them off. Like I said if you want to try to offer me $180 on a $250 card that's ok, but if you offer me $30, that's insulting.

boomo said:

Oh boy, dont get me going on this

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I was just about to type the same thing. Just had a "blowout" with someone over on Blowout about this same exact thing, except it was a trade, which is why I usually don't do trades. He refused to make the 1st offer, so I was happy to throw something out there for the cards he had that I wanted. He replies with - Based on his calculations I'm offering $18 worth of cards and he's at $24 and throws in "I am sure you have seen my prospect sell list, what I sell at is there,so you can see I am not tossing out arbitrary values." and a smiley face at the end of the sentence to make everything ok. He also threw in a few other back handed comments to really make me want to work with him. In addition, he doesn't make any type of counter offer or suggestion on how we may be able to find a meeting place on the trade, so I send back a reply asking him to take off a few of the cards on his side that I valued at a combined value of around the $6 gap we had. I also couldn't resist throwing in this comment since he was obviously trying to be a dick - "Also, since the prices you are currently selling cards at were set by you yourself, they would by definition be arbitrary, so I'm not sure that's a good example."

His next reply also contains no counter offer or suggestion on what he thinks it would take to work out a trade, but instead chooses to be a dick again - "Thanks anyway, not sure where your math and value comes from,but we are way off and rather than get into an issue, I am going to walk away." Ummm, it was a $6 gap to begin with, so how can we possibly WAY off now?? Oh, I know. Its b/c I called him out on his "arbitrary" comment. My last reply to him basically said - Why don't you just make me a counter offer on what you feel would be a fair deal instead of expecting me to make all of the offers and you just sit back and insult me w/o trying to even work something out? He replied again, but I'm don't have the time to go back and forth over $20 worth of cards, especially with no help from the other peson, so I just chose to not reply again.

I mean, this is an absurd way to approach any type of trade involving ANY item, not just cards. Some people just can't get passed their own egos and greediness to see that they do the EXACT same things when communicating with others on these deals that they themselves are so high and mighty about others doing in their own posts. They are also the same people who want to buy a card from you for $1 and then sell it back to you a week later for $50. I'm so over those people....