Anyone else annoyed by....

With something as commonly available as leopard geckos, I agree that 'best offer' prices are a bit of a deterrant. Someone selling a leo should have a pretty good idea of what the animal is worth, and they should also have in mind how much they expect to sell it for.

For uncommon or used merchandise however, I don't think that asking for offers is that big of a deal. It seems a little harder to effectively appraise certain things, and the phrase "it's only worth what someone's willing to pay for it" echoes in my head when I see such ads. If you're not sure how much you can get for something... well, that's what auctions are for.

I responded to a 'make offer' ad once, and the nice lady selling the snakes told me that what I offerred was actually MORE than what she was expecting to sell them for. She was very honest about everything, and I appreciated that very much. Of course, I opted for her price over mine .

As far as adding a surcharge for Paypal payments, I really think that basic accounting principles should apply. When you set a price for something, you should factor in ALL costs of selling a particular item. I know these people that run a very respectable greenhouse/landscaping company, and when they started accepting credit cards, they raised the prices on everything just enough to cover the new expense associated with doing so. THAT makes sense to me, but listing two different prices depending upon method of payment is a little sketchy in my opinion.

I sold a pair of BRBs "best offer" and mentioned a bunch of trade items I wanted. I did that because I really wanted to trade, not sell. I didn't get a single cash offer, and I didn't really expect to. I did get all kinds of trade offers though, which was exactly what I wanted

Originally Posted by Milwaukee Reptiles

Anytime I list "Open" or "resonable offers considered" I get completely unreasonable offers.... $100 for a chameleon I had for sale for $300... HA! Then they even had the balls to counter my "NO" with $125...

Brian, I usually like what you have to say in this forum but how can you get insulted if someone makes an offer that you do not like when you are not setting a price?????

It would be wise for you to atleast let people know what the animal in question would normaly go for......

To tell you the truth, when I see an ad that says "make a reasonable offer", I pass it right up..... I would rather see a set price and lowball from there.....

Another thing I cant stand is when it says, "please contact us for a price"...... Or, "email us for pics"...... If you are looking to sell animals, do it right.....

[quote=Milwaukee Reptiles]Anytime I list "Open" or "resonable offers considered" I get completely unreasonable offers.... $100 for a chameleon I had for sale for $300... HA! Then they even had the balls to counter my "NO" with $125... QUOTE]
I'm guessing that Karen and Gregg missed the "I had for sale for $300" part...but I agree that when you invite offers, you have to expect anything (your choice to accept/decline)

Originally Posted by hhmoore

I'm guessing that Karen and Gregg missed the "I had for sale for $300" part...but I agree that when you invite offers, you have to expect anything (your choice to accept/decline)

The key word in that sentence was "HAD" which would lead me and others to believe that is was no longer up for sale for $300......

lol I always offer a small price on "best offer" ads. I used to play everquest and it worked really well in the game because people would get impatient and come back and either do the deal or offer another deal that was more "reasonable". just go thru all the ads you like the animals in and give a very small offer, if the seller gets impatient or overloaded with product, you might get the product at way lower then market price.

Yes, on that ad in particular I stated "Asking Price: $300, Reasonable offers considered", or something very similiar. It's not like I just left out the price all together... If someone wanted to offer me $250 I would take it, but by setting a price I basically stated if you're not prepared to pay ABOUT that price, don't bother asking.

Since I've worked retail I should have known people are so cheap....

Originally Posted by Jim O

On another note, sometimes a person is legitimately a novice and has no clue what the market is. Their choice is a "Best Offer" ad or an auction. Neither is perfect. But most of the time it is just a ploy.

True, but in the Leo market in particular, it's not difficult to find multiple animals that are close in quality, and price yours according to that. It's relatively easy to figure out market value on Leos.

Originally Posted by Jim O

Also, many times I have offered less than the "asking price" in a fixed price listing and had my offer accepted. I don't insult the seller by offering $100 for something listed at $300 plus shipping but I have offered $275 shipped or something similar in such situations.

Seems reasonable to me, I've done it and I have had it done to me. You want $25 off and you're willing to pay now, Sure!

Originally Posted by Jim O

I also automatically skip any ad that states "PayPal add 3%". To me that's the price of doing business. A seller can offer a cash discount, especially on a big ticket item (but do it as part of a private payment negotiation), but adding a service charge so he can get his money is a big no-no to me. Also, I believe that it is a violation of PayPal's terms of service.

It's actually against Visa and Mastercard policy as well, and it's against Paypal's TOS because they DONT want to lose their visa or MC license... can you image how devistating that would be for their business.

I'm also under the impression that if you can't follow the rules (or research them) about running a business, it doesn't say much about how much you researched your animal's care... or shipping policies... or anything else for that matter.

And to go back to the start of this thread... I skip any ad that ads 3% for Paypal, any ad without photos (I might not give individual pics of all 25 baby dragons, but I will give 2 or 3 "representative" photos at least, and I'm not opposed to taking moer upon request). I'll also skip any ads that don't have any kind of starting price. There. Now I need to go back to work!

Also, I'll be the first to admit that by stating OBO, I did open the door to ALL offers, buth reasonable and unreasonable, so I can't complain too much.... but even similiar ads were going for $250-$325, so I was just kind of suprised when I saw $100...

Originally Posted by Milwaukee Reptiles

Yes, on that ad in particular I stated "Asking Price: $300, Reasonable offers considered", or something very similiar. It's not like I just left out the price all together... If someone wanted to offer me $250 I would take it, but by setting a price I basically stated if you're not prepared to pay ABOUT that price, don't bother asking.

Now that makes all the difference in the world.....

You should never be suprised when someone offers you what you feel is unreasonable...... Everyone wants something for nothing......

I do not think any cham is worth 300 bucks....... So to someone like me that is an unreasonable asking price, but I would never knock you for it....... See what I am getting at????