I hate it when I under price things.

Toyman01 wrote:

SVreX wrote: Both if you ASSumed I was talking to Toyman. I wasn't.

I retract my statement. Apologies.

Accepted.

I apologize for the lack of clarity, and effing up your thread.

Well since that's solved! As far as under pricing things, I look at whether or not I was fine with the money I made. When I was 8, I sold my Scooby Doo alarm clock at a yard sale for $10. There are a bunch on eBay now for about $60. Would I have liked $60 now? Of course. But $10 to an 8 year old may as well be a million, so I don't regret it.

+1 on having a larger pool of possible tenants. Slow dime vs. a fast nickle, ect.

joey48442 wrote: Here's a question, and it's never happened to me, but if I say "best offer", could I actually sell it above my listing price, and not feel like a jerk, if people keep offering more? Joey

I've been in this scenario twice. Showed up, with trailer, prepared to buy a car at asking price, seller had made appointments for multiple people to show up at the same time.

Scenario 1: Seller pulled the "I said best offer so let's all bid" and he proceeded to start an auction while half of us got in our cars and left.

Scenario 2: Seller said the only fair thing to do is to throw our names in a hat and pull a winner. Other buyers started offering more than asking price but he wanted to be fair and he pulled a name and sold it at asking price.

I know which one of those people I'd do business with again and which I wouldn't.

I always overprice my stuff, everyone wants to negotiate so leave yourself room to do so.

An auction or bid has an undetermined outcome.

OBO is used in scenarios where the HIGHEST potential selling price is generally predetermined. It usually involves offers which are less than the asking price.

That does not prevent someone from offering over the asking price. It's just very unusual.

JThw8 wrote: I always overprice my stuff, everyone wants to negotiate so leave yourself room to do so.

I do the same. And some stuff I have a LOT of room. The only time I didn't was when I was selling a car I got a sweetheart deal on, and I sold it for my break-even. I think I may have made $20 on it.

I would say with rent, there is a pretty good benefit to having the rent be too low: People won't leave. I could have easily afforded a nicer and bigger place when I lived in my last location. But I didn't, because I was getting such a great deal. It kept us in that house a lot longer than we normally would have been, caused much less work for the landlord, and in the long run probably saved him money as well since he didn't have to have it sit empty for any time.

SVreX wrote: And you should work on temperance, and assuming positive things about the other guy.

You mean like you did in your "greed" diatribe?

"OBO" quite simply (and literally) means whoever makes the best offer. Period. Regardless of my personal distaste for the use of OBO terminology, and even if it most commonly ends up functioning as such, nowhere have I ever seen it actually defined as "or best lower than asking offer".

sigh I WISH I could have this problem with my Prius, everyone keeps offering 3/4 or so of what I have it listed for.

JThw8 wrote: I always overprice my stuff, everyone wants to negotiate so leave yourself room to do so.

I thought I was going to be a little on the high side. Apparently I didn't do enough research.

After doing some more digging, there are a couple of driving factors. Most houses in the area are larger, newer and consequently more expensive, some as much as twice. There are a few apartments and condos in my price range, but no houses. We allow pets and the back yard it fenced. I could probably have priced it in the $1600-$1800 range. I'm good at $1400. My payment, insurance and taxes are well below that.

In reply to Toyman01:

Sounds reasonable to me. I could easily find an extra couple hundred dollars of value with the likelihood for better tenants and longer average occupancy times.

In reply to Driven5:

We have had a very good run with tenants. Nice people, timely payments, and pretty much never heard from them. That's worth a few hundred a month.

I will say, I do keep the house in pretty good shape. Nice paint, newish appliances and when crap breaks, I fix it pronto. I think that goes a long way to keeping the tenants happy and easy to deal with.

I still should have done some more research.

In reply to Driven5:

Changing an advertised price is greedy and unethical. Sorry if that rubs you the wrong way, but the rest of us are past that. If digging up dead stuff is your thing, become a gravedigger.

It's exactly the same conclusion you would come to if you walked into a convenience store, picked up a Coke with a $1.59 price tag on it, then found the guy at the register charging you $1.99.

We said the same thing regarding OBO. Not sure why you want to make an issue of it. However, I would note that the keyword is "or".

$100 OBO implies a willingness to sell for $100. Why offer $110? It should have been sold the minute an offer of $100 was in hand.

SVreX wrote: In reply to Driven5: Changing an advertised price is greedy and unethical. Sorry if that rubs you the wrong way, but the rest of us are past that. If digging up dead stuff is your thing, become a gravedigger. It's exactly the same conclusion you would come to if you walked into a convenience store, picked up a Coke with a $1.59 price tag on it, then found the guy at the register charging you $1.99. We said the same thing regarding OBO. Not sure why you want to make an issue of it. However, I would note that the keyword is "or". $100 OBO implies a willingness to sell for $100. Why offer $110? It should have been sold the minute an offer of $100 was in hand.

Agreed. You want me to offer over your asking price, don't ask that price. I will walk away from games like that.

SVreX wrote: In reply to Driven5: Changing an advertised price is greedy and unethical. Sorry if that rubs you the wrong way, but the rest of us are past that. If digging up dead stuff is your thing, become a gravedigger. It's exactly the same conclusion you would come to if you walked into a convenience store, picked up a Coke with a $1.59 price tag on it, then found the guy at the register charging you $1.99. We said the same thing regarding OBO. Not sure why you want to make an issue of it. However, I would note that the keyword is "or". $100 OBO implies a willingness to sell for $100. Why offer $110? It should have been sold the minute an offer of $100 was in hand.

Doesn't this sometimes happen with home sales? You offer above asking if you think it is worth it to you and if you fear there are multiple parties offering at the same time.

thought that was semi-standard in real-estate.

In reply to SVreX:

Agreed. I was actually in a Guitar Center a few weeks ago and bought a guitar and a few other things, including a strap. The price on the strap was $12.99, but when it was scanned it came up as $14.99. I made them change the price to the lower number. Not that $2 is a big deal, but it's a matter of principle.

StainlessWings wrote: *sigh* I WISH I could have this problem with my Prius, everyone keeps offering 3/4 or so of what I have it listed for.

I'll give you a grand for it and come pick it up tonight!

SVreX wrote: Both if you ASSumed I was talking to Toyman. I wasn't.

Funnily enough, I knew that you were talking to me and not to toyman.

If 10 people came into my "store" looked at the item I had for sale, said "I really want that, but I have to think about it" I still see no issue with raising the price.

Supply and demand and all that jazz. I own a business, currently breaking into the market, low low prices. You can bet once people start using my services more (only playa in the province) that prices will go up a bit... not much, but a bit.

I expect everyone to do the same. No different than people who say "well, somebody else called first..." and I'm all "has cash exchanged hands? I'll give you the money right now". Money is the language I speak

rcutclif wrote:

SVreX wrote: In reply to Driven5: Changing an advertised price is greedy and unethical. Sorry if that rubs you the wrong way, but the rest of us are past that. If digging up dead stuff is your thing, become a gravedigger. It's exactly the same conclusion you would come to if you walked into a convenience store, picked up a Coke with a $1.59 price tag on it, then found the guy at the register charging you $1.99. We said the same thing regarding OBO. Not sure why you want to make an issue of it. However, I would note that the keyword is "or". $100 OBO implies a willingness to sell for $100. Why offer $110? It should have been sold the minute an offer of $100 was in hand.

Doesn't this sometimes happen with home sales? You offer above asking if you think it is worth it to you and if you fear there are multiple parties offering at the same time. thought that was semi-standard in real-estate.

No. It does not.

There is a difference in real estate sales.

A real estate offer to purchase is complicated. The offer includes price, but it also includes many other things, terms, etc. Dates are part of the offer. Furniture, carpet, appliances, drapes. Specifics of the quality and type of title. Even the credit worthiness of the buyer is part of the offer. Everything is negotiable in real estate. And the seller has the right to a review period before an offer is completed, or accepted.

You might ask $200k for your house, but I might offer &220k. Sound good? I forgot to tell you the terms- I need you out of the house in 2 days, expect you to hold the note, want you to leave it completely furnished (including your kid's baby pictures), and I want you to include title to your BMW.

Ok, that's odd, but it could happen.

Offers over asking price typically happen during the review period of other offers, with no details of the offer.

It's not the same thing, because in real estate the price is only a small piece of the offer, and an offer must be considered in its entirety.

There is another VERY significant difference in the real estate example...

The higher offer is VOLUNTEERED by the buyer. Sellers don't randomly up their prices.

That's completely different than a seller choosing to up the price after advertising it.

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

HiTempguy wrote:

SVreX wrote: Both if you ASSumed I was talking to Toyman. I wasn't.

Funnily enough, I knew that you were talking to me and not to toyman. If 10 people came into my "store" looked at the item I had for sale, said "I really want that, but I have to think about it" I still see no issue with raising the price. Supply and demand and all that jazz. I own a business, currently breaking into the market, low low prices. You can bet once people start using my services more (only playa in the province) that prices will go up a bit... not much, but a bit. I expect everyone to do the same. No different than people who say "well, somebody else called first..." and I'm all "has cash exchanged hands? I'll give you the money right now". Money is the language I speak

Changing your price due to supply and demand, or shifting market conditions is normal.

Bringing someone into your store by luring them with a low price then changing the price in the middle of the deal is different. It's called a "bait and switch", and it's illegal.

SVreX wrote: Bringing someone into your store by luring them with a low price then changing the price in the middle of the deal is different. It's called a "bait and switch", and it's illegal.

But he wouldn't be doing that (I don't think). He showed a product at X price. Lots of people came, but nobody bought it "yet". Like you said, real-estate is a bit more complicated then a popsicle purchase from the corner store.

rcutclif wrote: Doesn't this sometimes happen with home sales? You offer above asking if you think it is worth it to you and if you fear there are multiple parties offering at the same time. thought that was semi-standard in real-estate.

It's not at all uncommon in a competitive real estate market. My former neighbors next door and across the street both sold their homes last summer for appreciably more than asking, and the new neighbors commented on how competitive the market was. This also extends to other negotiable (non-retail) transactions, like a desirable rental property or even a desirable CL item.

The simple fact is that any negotiable good or service is essentially an "or best offer" type of situation, whether it's explicitly stated or not, and can subsequently be negotiated either above or below asking as the situation dictates before being accepted by both parties. Regardless of whether it is the seller, buyer, or both who choose to respond to the market conditions, there is nothing inherently wrong with negotiating any of the terms of the sale (including price) beyond that originally asked.

Even on CL transactions, for many sellers there can be a considerable number of other considerations, in addition to the price. Some potential factors include things like date and order of initial contacts/offers, number of contacts/offers, communication effectiveness, viewing date availability if necessary, purchase transaction date availability, and pick-up/drop-off location and date availability, with each being weighted differently for any given seller on any given item.

In reply to Driven5:

As previously noted, it is not unusual for buyers to voluntarily make offers over listing amount in a competitive market.

That is NOT the same thing as the seller raising the price.

But there is also a legal technicality...

In legal terms, a real estate listing does not actually have a price. A listing amount is an invitation for an offer, not an offer itself. You, as purchaser, make the offer. They, as seller, can accept, or counter.

It's kind of a loophole in the consumer protection laws about deceptive advertising related to real estate.

Consumer Protection Laws

If I am selling it, its cause I want it gone. If I get my price, I am happy. It the price makes another person happy, I don't feel the need to subtract their happiness from mine. Quite the opposite, it makes me feel good that I helped a guy out.

Being upset because you got what you wanted and made another person happy seems juvenile.