haggling (was Re: Damn fools (was Re: Dell "Oldest PC" winner on zdnet))

From: Eric Smith <eric_at_brouhaha.com>
Date: Sun Aug 29 19:53:07 1999

Brian wrote:
> Several years ago an old friend from college, my wife and I were strolling
> around a hamfest and came across a rather nice 19" equipment rack. It was
> about 6' tall, had fans in the top and hinged doors on both sides and the
> back. The rollers and paint were even in good condition. After chatting a
> bit, the seller said we should make an offer. While I was pondering if he
> would take $50 or $100 for it and if I could justify that (I was in grad
> school at the time), my wife piped up and asked "How about $15?" My college
> chum and I just stood dumbfounded while the seller thought for a second and
> said "Ok." And that's how I ended up with my rack.

I've found that making lowball offers sometimes is the *best* way to get
things from certain surplus outfits. Two places that I frequent seem to have
a tendency to accept offers for less than $25, but reject offers above that
amount (on similar sorts of items). My guess is that if you offer over $25,
they start to think that the item is valuable and that they should get a lot
of money for it.
Received on Sun Aug 29 1999 - 19:53:07 BST