I want to buy a boat, a sailing dinghy. A guy I know, who I have an ongoing but not very close relationship with (think distant co-worker) wants to sell one. He says he wants $3000 for it. That sounds reasonable to me, so I say “ok”. He tells me to make him an offer. I stare at him blankly and he says maybe I should try it out first. That also sounds reasonable, so I take it out, it’s lovely, I want to buy it.
I tell him this. He says he wants $3000, I say “ok”. He says for me to think about how much I want to offer him, and send him an email. WTF, I thought I had just agreed to pay $3000 (twice now). Does he just want it in writing, or does he expect me to bargain? I don’t want to offend him by making a lower offer, but I also don’t want him to think I’m an idiot. What is he expecting me to do?
You’re supposed to haggle! Tell him something like “Yeah I talked to another boating friend and realized its not worth more than 2500” so he could be like, “well what about 2750?” and so forth. You dont have anything to lose by trying to save a few hundred bucks.
Did you just say “ok” or did you say “Ok, $3000 is very reasonable for a boat of this age and condition. Do you want a cashier’s check or will a personal check be acceptable?”
A simple “ok” could be taken as “I acknowledge what you said” instead of “I agree and we can move to the next step.”
It’s difficult to parse his intent from what he said, but I’ll go out on a limb and guess that he wants you to think about how much you want to offer him, and send him an email.
I’ve been in his situation selling a boat where I know it is worth, say $2,500.00 so I ask for $3,000.00. Once you get above $50, people tend to make offers rather than just hand over asking price.
Weird as it seems, many people like to haggle over stuff they’re selling.
I was just reading Willie Sutton (the bank robber)'s autobiography, and he talked about a Dickensian old coot who ran an antiques/curiosity shop (with a lucrative side business selling illegal guns and uniforms which could be used in bank robberies). The guy loved to haggle, and Sutton said his standard practice was to pay half of whatever initial price was mentioned, “and how he’d snort and cackle” while the deal was being negotiated.
Yes… he wants something like $2500 for it, but he is “asking” $3000 because he knows people want to deal. But then his friend says OK to the full price he feels guilty that he doesn’t want to rip his friend off. If you aren’t comfortable negotiating, ask him what his “friends and family” price is and that will give him an out.
