Does it make sense to "ignore low ball offers"?


Assuming the person wants to sell the item and is accepting offers (since he didn’t say the "price is firm") then why say "I will gladly ignore low ball offers" ?

Why not make a counteroffer to the low ball offer? Thats how cars, houses and most anything that doesn’t have a "firm" price is purchased.

If its because the seller doesn’t want to waste their time negotiating they should say so or simply grow-up a little bit and not get so easily offended by a low offer. Besides, a buyer has no idea what the seller is willing to accept unless you negotiate it.

I’ve sold and purchased a number items after negotiating from a low first offer.

128x128sbayne

Almost all the lowball offers I’ve received were from members with no feedback or a few with very little. Takes a few seconds to hit decline. This is a business site, nothing personal 

When I sell I try to set a realistic asking price. Do I build in some room? Sure. But say I’m selling and asking $5k but figure the first $4250 takes it. If someone offers me $650 that’s not a serious buyer. And even if we were to agree on a price experience tells me that this buyer is going to be an after sales headache. 

Serious buyers only can be used instead of lowball offer cheerfully declined. But frankly, getting annoyed that someone says they will decline low ballers is silly 

 Whenever I see a seller include the totally unnecessary line... "low ballers will be ignored", I say, it's too late. You've already acknowledged the low ballers by saying that. Fugettabadit!

I just politely decline their offer and thank them for visiting my ad. Takes 30 seconds and why get worked up about it? 

I've ignored low ballers (not just their 1st offer - all further attempts as well) MANY TIMES because - well, this is my hobby and I prefer to conduct it in ways that are enjoyable to me. Haggling, entertaining ridiculous lines of questioning (opening with "wHy ArE U sELLiNg"), and other "techniques" annoy the heck out of me, and I'll simply quietly move on (no need for exchanging insults). It won't kill me if a component doesn't move or takes longer to find the right buyer. I generally open pricing at least a little below the recent market, so any offer well below that generally gets a cringe reaction from me. ESPECIALLY if fielded within 24 hours of posting. Sometimes I ignore reasonable offers (not official offers which have expiration - offers in message form) that are a little below my ask - in those cases I'm probably waffling on selling the piece at all around that price, and it's not a matter of annoyance; I simply didn't get around to responding (I should do better in those cases).

Now once a potential buyer proves to be a serious and reasonable fellow, I very often go over-the-top trying to be helpful in their system setup and with any questions they have. I'm very happy to share my experiences in this hobby! 

And of course - once money changes hands, it's job #1 to be professional and promptly get the item delivered as advertised. No drama, no emotions!