Why do so many sellers take offense to offers on their listings?

There has been a lot of talk about sellers egos but a low ball offer suggests one of several things to me.

1. That buyer is a Low Baller Phenotype(there system has $100,000 worth of retail goods they got for under $10,000). They almost don’t care what they are buying as long as it’s at a fire sale price. They enjoy showing pictures of their system and regaling stories of their incredible deals to anyone that will give them a pulpit.

2. That buyer is a Win at all Cost Phenotype. Their goal is to beat you in negotiation. They aren’t interested in a fair price. They want to win and want you to lose in the negotiation...great ego boost and they can continue to look at that piece of audio gear daily reminding them of their conquest.

3. Haven’t taken the time to investigate recent prices of what that item sold for. Their mindset is some fraction of the retail price regardless of other market forces like scarcity, age etc...

Bottom line is that I don’t want to deal with any of them. My prices are always firm, based on current trends, and typically slightly below market value. There are enough fantastic buyers out there that someone realizes it quickly and rarely do I have something for sale more than a few days. I want the buyer to "win" knowing they got a good deal. I win by securing a sale before the ad goes stale.

Have any of you ever used "stereobuyers"?  Full page ad in Stereophile.  I am trying to sell My Vincent hybrid 150 Watt integrated which retailed for $2000 when I bought it.  I was expecting $800 to $1000 for it as it is in Primo condition.  They offered $400!  I am still insulted.

Knowledge is king, do your due diligence on the item you are either buying or selling both technically and financially. When it comes time to list or buy you have confidence in making a good transaction. One lesson I learned the hard way, is when you purchase an item with the idea that someday you will sell it to upgrade or no longer need it buy something that will retain some resale value. Case in point: Bought a Triumph Trident 900 motorcycle years ago for a good price and rode it for several years and then decided to sell. It was in perfect condition with only 5,000 miles, but Triumph is a niche brand, not like Honda orYamaha, and appeals to a certain crowd so it took a while to sell at 1/2 of the original cost. Now only buy items that I have confidence in selling in reasonable time at mineable loss.

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@schw06 if you are selling at a reasonable price then you are probably not the person I am referring to in this post. One time I offered a pretty low offer on a piece because it had been on the site for over six months. At that point I don’t think there are any offensive offers.