What's up with the ridiculous offers?!?

I also agree that discerning between a current product vs a discontinued product is critical. Even if you own the original, and you believe the SE or the MK2 isn't as good, you're most likely out of luck. And yeah, manufacturers, not all, do rework their product line with distressing frequency. I am convinced that some companies plan this deliberately- they have 3 things to improve on a preamp, for instance, and those 3 improvements may be dragged out over a course of 3 years. You don't want to show the same old stuff at every CES or Audio show- right? 

"What's your bottom line?" Is that a problem? I guess it's a different world. If I ask for a best price and I'm happy with it, I will buy it. If not, well, the seller's bottom line and my top dollar are out of synch.

And who is to say who's being fairer? The presumption of the OP is that the asking price was fair and reasonable. It's not always the case. I get the impression that sometimes sellers overestimate the value of what they are trying to sell. case in point- I recently saw an ad, not here on AG, where I thought the seller was in fantasyland with the asking price. In that instance, an offer of 25% asking would be ballpark. That is not a lowball. 

I've been selling gear for years and years. Low offers are here now and were around years ago. You don't like an offer, thank the person, and move on. No one is obligated to pay your price and buy your gear. Potential buyers owe sellers nothing at all. 

If you are selling gear you have to have  a thicker skin. And you just never know- that lowball tire kicker migh just surprise you after the first round with a decent offer! On the other hand, if I've made an offer on something that the seller thinks is way low, and then the seller gets on my case about it or even insults me and tells me I am wasting his time (that has occurred to me once) you can be sure I will not, no way, no how, up my offer to that seller. There's very little here on AG for sale that truly is one of a kind so I'll just wait for the next time someone else is listing that product for sale. 

I guess no one here has ever been to a Middle Eastern Bazar

Or read Herb Cohen's book. 

Look, no one is forcing anyone here to sell anything or buy anything

Audio is my hobby, not my business. If I buy something, I would love to get a great buy. And let's face it, no on who has gone shopping and found something on sale insists on paying the higher pre-sale price. And when I sell I want to get a decent value. 

Remmber the pre-Internet days? It was so hard to sell stuff. You either put an ad in a local paper or sold to a dealer and got pennies on the dollar.

"I agree with jmcgrogan2, negotiation starts from someone making an offer and negotiate"

negotiation stars the moment you list something for sale

"Is this a new feature in Agon? Listing AUTOMATICALLY negotiates by itself once listed?" 

No, but listing something for sale commences the sales process thus is the start of the negotiations process because the seller is posting at a price point. 

I do do not and have never advocated negotiating against ones self

That's a great question - I think different people have different ideas of what a lowball offer is. 

In in my world, there are 2 types of offers- accepted offers and unaccepted offers- and that's whether I am a buyer or a seller. 

You know, by reading this thread, you might think that someone is forcing our poor unsuspecting sellers to sell gear for less than they are willing to take.

i once bought a piece of equipment- my initial offer was accepted without any question- only thereafter to be told my offer was a lowball offer. That was interesting!

I think it’s time for this thread to die.