Low-Ballers Need Not Apply!

ridewiththewind

ridewiththewind

♥ Hippie Hustler ♥
Silver Member
I am sure that this one will get me flamed...but, big whoop...I feel it needs to be said!

This Wanted/ForSale Forum used to be a really great place to pick up a nice deal on a cue, or even offer up opportunities for highly sought after cues that we might not otherwise have.

However, as of late, things have begun to take a turn...and it's gettin' ugly. It's bad enough that now we are having more and more frequent incidences of fraudulent dealings here.....but then, to top it all off, we have those who are constantly trying to get something for nothing!

These are the ones (and you know who you are) that really just raise my hackles. Very often, most cues here are already listed at a very fair price. We're not a bunch of new-nicks here....most of us know the value of that which is listed for sale. Some of us will list for a slightly lower price, for a quick sale, some of us (most) will list a cue at a price that leaves built-in room for negotiation....that is often part of the fun.

You have absolutely no clue as to how utterly disrespectful it is to particularly established sellers here, when they list a cue(s) at a fair market price, and allowing for haggling room....for someone to come in with an offer that is so completely low-ball, that it is a slap in the face!!! If you want that 'steal of a deal'...take your sorry butts back to fleabay...I'm sure there is something that you can find for yourselves there.

No.....I do not currently have anything listed for sale...but yes, I have had it happen to me. No, you will not even get me to waste my time with a response to your 'offer'...if that is what you want to call it.

If you think I am out of line with this post....fine, you're probably one of the ones I am talking about. I have a lot of friends here, and I am hearing more and more that they just cannot seem to be able to find the true offers for all the low-ball offers that flood their inboxes.

If you see something that you like, make a fair offer on it......but do not make an offer that you yourself would never think to accept for one of your cues!!


Lisa ===========> tired of the direction this forum has taken. :mad:
 
Here's one vote for "Not Out of Line".

True story: Not too long ago I listed a cue at a giveaway price. Top cuemaker, 95% cue, listed it at 25-30% UNDER current used market value. Under wholesale, just to move it super-quick. Flooded with PMs offering my price and more.

One Goober offers exactly 25% under my price! I replied to his PM with "Hahahahaha - that's funny". He then comes back with this rambling BS about how I should respond like a professional, not disrespect him, and that my reply was out of line!

My phone was ringing off the wall with buyers begging me to sell it to them, and this nit is trying to low-ball what was already the steal of the year.

Some of you may snow, I mean know, who he is. But between goobs like that and now all of the bad/sour/rip off deals that we have, I only buy/sell with someone that I know or have done deals with in the past.

</babble>

-von
 
tap tap tap. I agree with you. The way I see it if you can't afford an item or just plainly don't want to spend the money, just shut up, enjoy the ads, and move on. Don't need to put a harsh remarks/comments on the posting itself and try to low ball it. This kind of attitude that ruins the market.

EDIT: Any offers (low ball or not) is one step closer to a sale, as long as through the PM. That's why we have PM, hence PM=Private Message, a private communication between a seller and a potential buyer. However lately there has been a trend where ridiculous offers and harsh comments were posted on the ad itself. It's kinda degrading to the seller itself, assuming the seller asking price is fair/not out of line and everything that he advertise is legit.
 
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If people didn't occasionally take a low ball offer then no one would make them.

I personally ask a price, but if it doesn't move then I may move on to one of the lower offers or I may just keep my cue. I don't have a problem with people offering me what they want to pay, I have the right to reject the offer.
 
I totally agreed w/ you all the way... i have an item here F/S and the guy PM me and said " well i don't need another cue same as you and i don't want to low ball you and he offered me almost half of my asking price" what a guy lol...but hey i do respect his offer but nevertheless i still have the item...so if anyone want the item f/s from me..just pm me lol..


Jun :)
 
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I do not mind getting offers. Because then I get a choice. I can choose to accept, decline or counter offer. It also gives me a chance to offer that same person a cue in the price range of their offer. Which then gives them a choice. I have made many sales by doing this. So I do not mind offers. If there were no offers you would never sell anything. Because if someone accepts your price. That is an offer to buy therefor a sale is made.
 
i kinda agree. obv everyone knows ive been lowballed. lol. however. i see alot of ppl on here that jack up the prices of their items. i know bc i deal direct with a few guys and i know what i pay. nothing wrong with getting offers like troy said. accept, decline, or counter offer.

i have an old adams on her i wasnt 150$ for it. i think its a steal. to me the shaft is worth that. if someone made me a lower offer i might take it.
 
I got that twice on eBay. The first was when I was auctioning a like-new Jacoby four-pointer starting at $400.00. PM: "I'll give you $100 for it." The second was when I was auctioning a fountain pen for $25. PM: "Please cancel the auction and sell the pen to me for $10. I'm a struggling college student."
 
I think that if a pm is sent with a low offer no harm done but if its posted in a thread then it kinda scares buyers away. As a seller you just have to hold the line and not give away your cue but thats up to them,if someone needs 900 bucks to pay the rent or lose there roof well they may not have a choice.I love to buy a cue and try it out and when I'm ready sell it and try a new one but with the market like it is that just doesnt work anymore. I use to have 15 -20 different cues in a year, but now its maybe 3-4 the last year or so. One,I have lost intrest in the pool world and two,the market is just not there anymore. I have a few cues now and I have come to the conclussion that there gonna be around for awhile and that may be good for my game anyway,but I won't sell them at 50% value . I'm amazed at some of the cues I have seen for sale lately that dont sell even at low prices,but I imagine its the same in baseball cards,knives,guns, and any other collectors market,the whole economy's in the dump and I dont care how they paint it,3-4 bucks a gallon effects everything we do.
 
Lisa,
I don't think your post is out of line, it's really your point of view. BUT I have been doing this for so long you learn to roll with the punches. I get a low ball offer and I just laugh it off, or call Sean and we laugh about it and usually find out he got lowballed by the same guy. It's the name of the game. Dealers low ball, buyers low ball dealers... it's just the nature of the beast. It's the biney whitches that come to the forum and gag on the offers that you have to watch out for :p

But seriously it's no different then getting trade offers for a James White and the other party wants you to take some newbie cuemaker that just fired up his Hightower and hasn't gotten thru chapter one yet, even up. You just deal with it and move on.

It's no different than car dealings, antique dealing, any of the niche collectible/dealing genre's. We can go on and on, but in the end, the only thing that matters is the fact the next morning you get to see the sun rise and do it all over again. :)

JV
 
Sales 101

An offer low ball or not is the 1st step to the SALE!
An offer in most cases means you have a COMMITTED buyer.
Why would you want to chase a COMMITTED buyer away:confused:

I can guarantee 90% of all low ball offers are not the buyers true number he or she has in mind when making a purchase, it's a number thrown out there to get the negotiating process started......period. ( meaning he or she is fishing for a counter offer.) If you don't feel comfortable, or feel negotiating is a slap in the face ( believe it or not some people feel this way I can respect that.)

A. Please print the word FIRM next to your price ( This will more than likely limit your potential buyers, but this will also keep you out of the haggling loop)

B. Have somebody else sell your cues for you that understands the psychology of the sale.

Lets face it the successful sellers on this forum are the sellers that make the buyers feel good about their purchases (Bamacues ) Sorry Mr. Lolley your secret is out;)

Believe it or not this GOOBER has sold a few cues on this forum, and when I receive what I feel is a low ball offer I will decline RESPECTFULLY, counter, or let the buyer know we are to far apart.

GOOBER <------- understands the psychology of the sale, and understands this isn't personal it's just plain old fashion business

GOOBER <----------- can't string a paragraph together to save his life..:D

Just my .02 RESPECTFULLY
 
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RayDM said:
I see your point but nonetheless disagree. I have sold high end cues here before and have gotten lowball offers as well. But I just either tell them no or tell them my bottom line price and they can buy or not.

And as far as feeling they are disrespectful by offering to get something for nothing, I don't see it that way. They are just playing a game and I can choose to play along or not.

Again, just my opinion.

thanks,
ray
Click to expand...

Yup. gotta agree with you here.
 
Lisa,
How do you know what a "fair market value" for a cue is. The market for cues is just that, a market. Which btw, is like all markets, efficent. an offer is something someone is willing to pay. It could be that that is all he money someone has, or it could be all it is worth to that person. That is why with any thing that has no par value sells in a range. so that 4 point mottey might have a range of 1200-1800. Now, colors, patterns, condition, season, economic landscape, supply, will all dictate where in the range the price will sell.
This is not to say that obscene offers just even merit discussion,for they should not, but I think that with the free exchange of cues so should be the discussion and offers.......take em or leave em......
 
i agree with cubswin and snowmon.why do you care if you list your cue for $1000 and they offer $500.all you have to do is say no thanks or counter or not reply at all.there are also alot of people here who list cues for prices that are insane.they think that b/c they paid $1000 for the cue made by say ???? that it is worth $1000 in the secondary market.i don't want to knock any cue makers out there but most cues don't bring back what you pay for them.i try to buy the ones that do.some cues go up and down.i get more tired of seeing ads of people trying to sell a $500 cue for $1000+ than i do getting lowball offers.i am not what i would call a lowballer,but some might think i am.i could make a list of well over 100 cues listed in the last few months that were listed more than $500 over and some $1000 over their true worth,and the people get mad when you offer them a couple hundred less than they are worth in an attempt to get a counter.in fact people listing these cues so high are asking to be lowballed b/c you have to lowball if you expect a counter that will get anywhere close to what the value is.i guess i have kind of started going on a different tangent(maybe a good new thread),but i disagree with the post,and if you list a 6 point SW for $2800(meaningless example) then you should expect lowball offers.just ignore the true lowball offers and go on with it.but like you said this is supposed to be a place to get a good cue at a fair price,but some people apparently don't know what market value really is.they think since cue A is being retailed at CuesRus.com for $2800 then they should list it for the same price,NOT.i would like to thank BAMACUE and QUALITYCUES for being the lowest and fairest priced dealers i have ever encountered anywhere bar none.that is really nice to get a brand new cue from a dealer at secondary prices.i don't know how they do it,but i appreciate it.they are both an asset to the site.
 
The thing about taking a "lowball" offer is that the cue will show up back here for sale and the lowballer who talked your cue down is now singing the praises of the great cue he's now trying to make a profit on. If I can't afford it I don't buy it. If a sellers price is too high, the market will tell him and if he wants a sale he'll adjust.

Andy
 
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I am more of a buyer then a seller and bought some cues here recently, I do not normally know what a cue is worth, but I would always like to know the lowest you would take for it. I don't want to pay $1000 for a cue that you would have sold me for $700. I have made low offers just to see what you will not take. I still might end of buying the cue at your price, but at least I know you wouldn't take less. And more important, when I buy something your money is there in the next 10 minutes, no problems.
Not all lower offers are deadbeats trying to steal, some of us just want the most for our money, and want to think we got a good deal. All you have to say is no, counter, or do nothing at all.
 
ridewiththewind said:
I am sure that this one will get me flamed...but, big whoop...I feel it needs to be said!

This Wanted/ForSale Forum used to be a really great place to pick up a nice deal on a cue, or even offer up opportunities for highly sought after cues that we might not otherwise have.

However, as of late, things have begun to take a turn...and it's gettin' ugly. It's bad enough that now we are having more and more frequent incidences of fraudulent dealings here.....but then, to top it all off, we have those who are constantly trying to get something for nothing!

These are the ones (and you know who you are) that really just raise my hackles. Very often, most cues here are already listed at a very fair price. We're not a bunch of new-nicks here....most of us know the value of that which is listed for sale. Some of us will list for a slightly lower price, for a quick sale, some of us (most) will list a cue at a price that leaves built-in room for negotiation....that is often part of the fun.

You have absolutely no clue as to how utterly disrespectful it is to particularly established sellers here, when they list a cue(s) at a fair market price, and allowing for haggling room....for someone to come in with an offer that is so completely low-ball, that it is a slap in the face!!! If you want that 'steal of a deal'...take your sorry butts back to fleabay...I'm sure there is something that you can find for yourselves there.

No.....I do not currently have anything listed for sale...but yes, I have had it happen to me. No, you will not even get me to waste my time with a response to your 'offer'...if that is what you want to call it.

If you think I am out of line with this post....fine, you're probably one of the ones I am talking about. I have a lot of friends here, and I am hearing more and more that they just cannot seem to be able to find the true offers for all the low-ball offers that flood their inboxes.

If you see something that you like, make a fair offer on it......but do not make an offer that you yourself would never think to accept for one of your cues!!


Lisa ===========> tired of the direction this forum has taken. :mad:
Click to expand...

Lisa,

I will be honest with you here. When you're buying or selling or trading, it's just a business deal and it's much better for everyone involved if you put your personal feelings on hold.

When I make an offer to someone, and they respond with the "are you serious?" attitude, I am surprised for one, and pretty much taken aback by it too, and just move on to the next deal.

Chris
 
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On a side note, I would love to hear from Kevin some of the numbers he was offered "offline" on the Szamboti box cue. I bet it would surprise almost everyone. Especially since it went for 55k. I would gather he got some 1500 dollar offers and some other jokers trying to see if he was green.

JV
 
How hard is it to type the word "No" and move on?

Geez, you do not have to take ANY offers on your cues...even if they say they will pay you full price...cause guess what? You are the seller and you have the right to refuse to do business with whomever you want. Just cause a person's post count is 5000 and they have been here forever does not automatically mean they are reputable and should get mondo respect. I personally know of several "veteran" posters that I will not do business with, just cause I been screwed over by them before.
 
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