How to make a reasonable offer below the asking price?

[Azatotht]

Calling all sellers here, I am curious about this.

I have been interested in a few games in the last months but most of the time they are priced higher than I would be willing to pay, even though I feel that I would be ready to pay fair market price for them.

Often the ads would mention the famous "no lowballs, I won't reply to lowball offers" or simply ask for "serious offers only".

For example, let's say a seller is selling game X for 8500. By looking around some forums and the Pinside value bracket (which I know is to be taken with a grain of salt), I figure that 6500-7000 should be a fair price.

What should be done? As a seller, are you going to be frustrated by a fair offer or are you going to be fine with that?

Right now, I am not contacting anyone anymore. Personally, I do not take offense at a lower offer when I am selling, but I feel the market is different now.

So in which camp are you? My asking price or nothing OR try me?

I’m asking because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings with my lowball offers.

[semicolin]

If the price is fair, I send the full offer.
If the price is too high but they don't say that they're firm on the price, I send what I feel is fair.
If the price is too high and they state that the price is firm, they won't hear from me. I'll wait until they update their listing.

On the other side, when I've listed something for sale on kijiji or pinside or here and someone sends me an insulting offer, I just don't bother to reply. No sense wasting more of everyone's time than has already been wasted.

[cait001]

"hi, just wanted to let you know I would be interested in this game for $1800."
and I wouldn't post it publicly because I don't want the seller to feel like I'm publicly shaming them

[pixote]

Pinball seems a bit different with this stuff. Some people get upset if you offer 9800 on a 10k machine. I've had someone offer me 2 years worth of haircuts for a Supersonic. It wasn't anything I was interested in but it's still an offer. I wasn't offended. If someone offered me 1/2 price? Wouldn't be offended, wouldn't accept, but in the grand scheme of life reading the email/message took a whopping few seconds, With that being said we're all different and if someone says no low ballers then I can understand why they'd get a bit mad. In this market I'd say any offer is worth hearing but to each their own. I guess another way to look at it, if someone gets that upset over an offer based on current sales on Pinside or sales on marketplace then maybe they're not someone you want to deal with anyhow.

[Mrhide]

Commence a 200$

[HPR Pinball]

Offre et demande.
Maintenant les prix baisse, je vais peut-être acheter qque chose quand ca va être raisonnable a mon gout !

[tom_454]

My thoughts/philosopy is to start with doing your research to determine fair value for the game (based upon condition) by looking at recent sales (in Canada and the US and Pinside). I tend to assume that any offer below 90% of the asking value should be treated as a low-ball offer and I wouldn't even bother to make it. If the game is priced stupidly high (fisherman looking for a whale) then I wait until the seller comes around to price reality - which is probably never - so I am probably not their buyer.

If the game is priced accordingly (market value, location, my desire) then I will make a reasonable offer. There are many games that I like but do not think they are worth the price (to me) and I am comfortable in the knowledge that I will never own them. I don't mind slightly overpaying (a few hundred) if it was a game that I really wanted and it was convenient (close location) to pick up. I mean an 8-9 hr round-trip is worth something ($200 or so) right?

Some games are higher sought and valued and that is usually reflected in the price and when priced reasonably they will sell quick - so you need to quickly decide how badly you want it. Or else sit back and wait for the seller to drop the price until your comfort number comes up. My experience with this is that someone else's number comes up first - so snooze and you lose.

At the end of the day, you end up with an asset which even if it drops in value, it still has significant residual value. so, if you pay $10k for a machine and after a year it is worth $8k then that is the cost of the entertainment/hobby. Now buying NIB LE's and continually taking a $4k hit is starting to get unsustainable for most people.

It was easier in the old days (15-20 yrs) ago when you could buy a nice players condition pin for $1500, play it and maybe lose/gain a $100 or $200 when you sold it. Much of the fun was in fixed and cleaning them up - nowadays there are far fewer low-cost pins to fix - unfortunately.

Good luck with your hunting Az!

[MIkea]

Totally agree with @tom_464. What I have learned in the past 10 yrs or so in the hobby:
Offering up to 10% off asking is reasonable and should not turn off any sellers, unless, of course, if it’s a fire sale price to begin with.

If it’s listed as ‘firm’, I’ll either wait it out or just say ‘interested in this but it’s a bit out of budget, and I respect that you are firm on price. Please let me know if that changes’.

If it is a high demand or grail pin, just offer full asking price to avoid disappointment over a few hundred dollars.

If you are asking or looking for something in particular (i.e. ‘anyone have a ______ for sale’) in hopes of getting someone to sell something they weren’t really interested in selling, expect to pay a premium.

On the flip side, as a seller, I would not get offended enough to respond negatively to a lowball or offside offer. It takes zero effort to say ‘I have lots of interest, but thanks for the offer’. If they are serious they will respond with another offer or inquiry and if they are just fishing, they will lose interest and move on.

Additionally, as a seller, I don’t really care what the potential buyer thinks whatever I am selling may be worth, and no amount of ‘proof’ (research, past sales etc.) will change that. Sellers pick a number that they need and stick pretty close to that.

Just my experience and 2 cents.

[semicolin]

Definitely concur with the player’s condition thoughts above. Where I used to fix up a couple of games a year and make them really nice, it’s an expensive proposition.

That, and reproduction parts are either often dubious quality or no longer available. There was a sweet spot for a little while when people were screen-printing and hot stamping their own pieces, but due to a combination of either niche sales or licensing scare tactics, it’s just not viable. What’s left is often poor quality with incorrect fonts and colours, and since it’s officially licensed there’s no other game in town. The people who really cared were doing limited runs in their garages, and after one too many cease and decists they’ve stopped. That and many of us feel bad listing something that should be a thousand bucks for five. I’d rather enjoy a nice game; this is my hobby not my job.

I’m putting at least a couple of grand and probably months of evenings into restoring an Elektra right now. Is it ever going to leave my house? I’ll never recover my money or time. It’ll stay forever. I think that’s the case for a lot of games: once people shop and refurbish a machine, if it leaves it’ll be on a trade with someone else who also has a collection: nobody is going to buy it because it can’t be sold for what it’s worth.

[Fifty]

I don't have a lot of cash, but pins come up every now and again that I'm interested in. Often they are out of my price range, by $1-$2K but I'll message the seller anyway with what I consider a reasonable offer. I'll push my limit up as high as I can. It never meets the asking price, but I just lay out the offer and keep things professional in my message. Does it work? No, not often, but I have never got back a "Get bent" or "Piss off lowballer" either. I just express my interest, put out my best offer, and wish them luck with the sale. I find if you take time to not be a dick, the seller won't be a dick either.