OK you list something with a fair price with room for negotiation and someone answers with a stupid offer, how do you respond or do you even bother?
Sold something the other week and by the time I lost my Sunday waiting around I've figured sometimes it's easier just to bin an item or give it to a friend and mark it up to, "Don't compulsive buy on OzB"
Low Balling How Do You Respond?
jizmo on 04/05/2026 - 11:34
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^^ This
Or simply say, 'Thank you for the offer, but no'.
I think most expect you to come back with a revised fee, but a simple 'no' message ends the discussion.
Yep. Nothing wrong with the buyer offering a price. That is what he is prepared to part with to make the transaction happens. If you don't agree, just respectfully decline and move on.
<<lowballer here.
<<blocked
Sometimes, silence is golden.
Honestly just thank them and say that you have other party interested at the moment. Its simples.
^ This. I wouldn't block them as one of the comments above suggests. No point blocking random people for silly reasons who are simply trying to find the bargain. Some may have a real financial compulsion too.
how do you respond or do you even bother?
Depends on how much time you want to waste.
Just block them.
how do you respond
I double my original asking price.
I do that too, and I get some really confused people. They usually point out the initial price that is lower, so I kind of ignore that and tell them that I can do it for 20% less (than the doubled price). They usually stop messaging after that.
I found this also works very well in Asian countries that negotiate prices using a calculator. Just decrease the offer, don't raise it to get closer to theirs.
I'll have to give that a go
I click on 'View Buyer', then click on an item they are selling and lowball them. :p
Was selling a brand new sealed samsung flagship phone at a fixed price of $1400, offers me $1k cash - upon clicking his marketplace profile I could see he was selling a $3k car. I offered to swap the phone with his car. Two minutes later, he blocked me lol.
If it's not worth selling on ebay I just give it someone I know or donate it to the op shop. Gumtree was the worst for lowballers. You'd get people who try to bargain you down. "I only need a table with 3 chairs not 6", then they'd proceed to offer you less than half the asking price. Then there's "I only want a camping fridge but don't really need the cover, how about half price?". I'd just block them, like wtf am I going to do with the cover.
I donate most things as well. I wish we could get a tax deduction. When I lived in America they would give you a tax deductible receipt for the value of your second hand donation.
You can claim the value of a donated item if purchased in the past 12 mo provided you are donating it to a deductible gift recipient.
The system avoids all the double dipping (claiming depreciation, writing goods off, then giving the product at end of deductible life cycle to a charity who decides it's worth $x, sells it ultimately for $x-$500 and you claiming $x in deductions).
$9.1b was claimed in tax deductions for charity related donations in 22-23 - both in kind donations as well as people donating goods of value purchased in previous 12mo.
If Australia opted for the US model where some random charity operating expert "decides a value of a product and issues a receipt" I'm sure we would see a significant amount increase on that $9.1b which ultimately comes out of the tax payers pockets.
there is nothing i want Australia to be like US
@Muppet Detector: oh yes a billionaire who likes little boys to hang out with him playing dress up, no thanks
@helldoodle: A billionaire who has vacuumed up so much of the money that the common person now lives in poverty and resorts to crime.. who rather than work on supporting social services to improve the lives of people, spent it on creating weapons and spending time beating the shit out of poor people.
You get them even giving stuff away. They start scoping out other stuff to take. "You wanna keep the bike bro?"
tell them sure, but im stuck on an oil rig…..
Don't take it personally.
Think of it as a game.
I recently had a tonne of things I had to sell on FBMP and it was horrible the people on there.
But I never got angry, simply ignore or comeback with your preferred price and they go away.
In my experience, Scamtree has now oddly become the "elite" option, while FB MP turned into a complete cesspool. The only option on FB seems to be specific interest groups.
Gumtree is dead in my experience, might depend on category and location but I only got absolute lowballers and scammers.
I used to post on both FB and Gumtree but gave up on the latter since the effort wasn't worth itI had the opposite experience. Almost all the items I sold in the past 6 months were through gumtree, and people were surprisingly normal. On the other hand, people on FB mostly lowballed me then left me a 1 star review because I sold the item to someone else, or agreed on the price and made arrangements to pick up items, then blocked me without saying anything.
Ignore them , or send them to 476 boundary road Archerfield for pickup
Then they’d complain they’re getting screwed.
"$130 for 20 minutes? I only need 2, how about $13"‘I want a refund, only lasted 1 pump when you have a three pump guarantee’
I just leave and delete the chat
This is the way.
I was selling a TV on marketplace and the price was excellent/ cheap.
But needed to get rid of it but didn’t want to lose money.
So in the ad I wrote “I am asking for $100 but if you want to haggle then imagine the price is $200 and offer me $100. You’ll get it half price”
I just get tighter undies, no more low-balling.
Put the price up. Every message the price goes up.
If they're proper lowballing, I usually ask them if they'd accept and even lower offer and they often get the message.
yeah I have done this before.
Sometimes I go "how about I send this to you for free?"
Some laugh, most times it goes unanswered and it stops.
Tell him he's dreamin
I always just turn it back around on them - it's actually kinda fun. Let's say you're selling an iPad Pro for $1500 and they lowball you $800.
Lowballer: Oi 800 cash pickup today
You: Hey mate, gimme a sec and I'll link you to an older iPad Air as that's probably more in your price range. Maybe go for a Pro once you've got a bit more savings, there's no shame if you can't afford it.What's your best price?
My best price for me is the one i've advertisedI've had low ballers ask this question, I respond and they offer something lower.
Do they not understand what best price means?I’d respond: what is your best offer?
simply block them.
Dont need any time wasters.
I sell on eBay and every now and then get someone pushy for a deep discount. I just tell them 'Thank you for your message, but I would like to sell the item at the current price'. If they respond with a few percent more I'll say 'I've only had it listed for a few days'. If they keep pushing I just ignore them.
I've heard of ebay sellers blocking difficult customers, then putting their name up on the sellers forums and other sellers blocking them as well.
Sounds more like an urban legend.
I can't imaging many would block someone, potentially losing a sale, just because someone else got low balled. Also sellers have better things to do than hang around in forums waiting to block people when another person was low balled.
Sounds more like an urban legend.
It was a thing in about 2012 (at least). But it was against eBay rules and deleted pretty quickly if it happened.
Often somebody caught by surprise would start a thread "Watch out for xxxxx" or "xxxxx did this to me, I need advice" not realising they were being naughty.
At the time there were some private groups operating too where the name and shame lists often lasted longer but the mods read in there as well and would purge things from time to time.
Maybe not for lowballing, but it does happen for dodgy practices such as claiming the item never arrived.
It is possible to block all buys and messages from ebay users, but I've only done that to three people in five years. The low balling is annoying but I just ignore them. I only block people who were outright rude and/or left completely unreasonable and angry feedback after I tried to resolve the problem in their favour. Those are customers I can easily do without.
99.9% of users on eBay are great.
It's half true. Family member has a ebay store and blocks difficult customers.
It would be a waste of time to send their names to some forum, and receipricate blocking.
Can’t you just change your username
I usually base my price on current listing prices and also past sales on ebay. So I feel like it's quite fair. For super low ballers, I ignore them. But for others I give them a counter offer. If they're pushy I explain to them why. Usually the low ballers have no justification for their price so they don't push further.
I had one low baller respond to my same item price comparison with: 'That's great you previously sold it for that, but I only have $15'. I was probably dealing with a child, so I just ignored them.
I also get people using the 'I'm a pensioner' line to get a discount. Sorry, but that does nothing for me.
The worst is when you've listed it for free (leftover turf free on nature strip) and get abused because you haven't sat out there to ensure no one's picked it up, or you get asked to deliver it 20kms away
Isn’t the trick to put a sign on it for sale for $50, which will guarantee it will disappear overnight
I never list anything for free, I'll put a small token amount on stuff to fend off the time wasters, and then surprise the person giving it for free when they come collect
Yes even $5 or $10 filters out the people who dont really want it. Funny how people will spend time and fuel to collect something only because its free.
best one i had was after agreeing on a price for a 42" used panasonic plasma, he proceeded to tell me he had to catch the train and walk down from the station to my place which is about a 1.5km trip each way.
i thought it was a stich up as you would need a bit of muscle to carry the plasma so blocked him.I reply with a simple "Hi, lowest price $x"
If they keep messaging anything besides agreeing to it I will leave on read and not reply. You are just risking bad feedback by continuing, and blocking seems a bit excessive to me unless they keep messaging/harassing, or they agree to meetup but then don't show and don't respond.
I usually just say, "no thanks", but I think your response is better when you are willing to accept lower offers.
I've said "no thanks" also when I've put in the ad that the price is not negotiable. Most the time I list items for 5-20% more than I'd accept as most people do like to haggle a bit when buying (me included), and find people are more likely to purchase if they feel they are getting a better deal - even if only a few %.
Depends on how much of a lowball it is, for example: if they offer $50 for something I'm selling for $150, I just block or ignore them. It makes me angry when people offer stupidly low amounts.
by the time I lost my Sunday waiting around
I don't do that any more, either. I had one guy stuff me around, for what purpose I don't know, when I was trying to sell a pair of headphones, he seemed okay with the price, he just didn't respond to any of my messages in a timely manner and seemed averse to committing to a time to come and actually pick the item up, so I eventually got tired of it and said I had changed my mind and wasn't selling it any more, but not long after that I had a knock at the door, which I assume was him, as I wasn't expecting anyone. I didn't answer the door because I couldn't be bothered if it was him.
I just say "sorry I won't sell it for that amount"
FAR COUGH DIG ED.
If it's on fbm and the offer is ridiculous and put abruptly, I just leave the conversation without responding especially if the description says price firm.
When i post something for sale, i include that the price is firm and to only contact me if they’re happy with the listed price. I then list it for around 20% more than i want.
Some people will offer what i wanted and think they won. It works.
Generally posts on Marketplace are crap. People forget to add sizes, don't provide context for their pricing, have rubbish photos and poor descriptions. They often deserve low ball offers. At the end of the day, the item is only worth what someone is willing to pay and often sellers are deluded and not even aware of what the item costs new.
People who get personally offended by low ball offers are a red flag, sensitive souls who are easily offended. If you have healthy emotional regulation one can either ignore the offer, simply say NO or negotiate.
Low ball offers can simply be the starting point for negotiation if you let it. Or it actually conveys someone's willingness to pay for the item (especially considering their travel and time costs if they have to travel far) which on occasion will be better that you get something rather than being prideful and putting the item back in your cupboard to never be used again and simply thrown out at some point.
My recent favourites include seeing old kmart crap that cost $15 new getting listed for $50 (canvas print), and seeing laminate "wood like" furniture getting listed for the same price as solid hardwood.
For every "low baller" there is a delusional seller.Exactly. So many sellers have no idea. Recently I have seen used and old version hdd drives being sold for more than new prices of latest models.
Then there is the well used stuff that were expensive new but now in such a state they should just be offered free. The ads hanging around for ages trying to get some nominal anmount off someone.
If someone ask for 50 dollars off I add $50 dollars on the price
ill give you 25 for that 50
75 for you now
On Facebook marketplace I just send a thumbs up and leave it
"Thanks for the intrest but firm on price"
Then if respond with something idiotic ignore.
For gumtree I usually drop the price by $10 each time it expires and I relist, therefore my item will meet the market. Until I won't be bothered and I will drop more but the buyer has to meet me before friday / the weekend, and pay cash. I explain this policy for the other low ballers. If you want cheap, you wait, and then first hand over the cash to me will get it.
Selling second hand online is a game. If you’re not up to dealing with numbskulls, don’t do it.
Low ballers get either no thanks or too low. Anyone asking for best price gets “listed price, or make an offer”. I’m not interested in selling stuff for less than what I think it’s worth, doesn’t matter what they think it’s worth. Sometimes it takes ages and I drop the price. Equally, sometimes it’ll take ages and I’ll end up with a couple of buyers at full price.
I ever list anything for free, but have given a few items away for nothing upon sale time. It just seems harder to deal with people who want freebies.
They will receive 1 dickpick per $1 below my asking price
I'll offer you $0.
thats maximum dickpicks for you then kind sir
Please clarify, do the dickpicks include the low balls?
😲
Low Balling How Do You Respond?
A cheeky tickle.
My strategy is to always list below the market price and ignore any offers. Marketplace is good in that I usually get someone interested in buying what I’m selling within an hour or so. I always try to sells things quickly to avoid the annoying “is this still available” messages.
Accept the offer, then send them directions to your local comedy club and tell them to try their jokes there
The local comedy club is the pick up point
Just ignore them
If they ask 'what the lowest is you can go', respond back with 'whats the highest you can go'I usually hit them up with "I actually have some other items within your budget", then list cheaper stuff. Suddenly they go from trying to lowball you to insisting they can afford it.
On FB marketplace one of the time wasters offered $50 for $1500 item. I checked and saved his buyer profile and when they advertised an item for $1200, I showed interest and asked them to be available at 11.30 pm for a pickup at a public place and as you can guess, I never showed up.
I once calculated the value of my free time (disposable income on spare time) at around $20 an hour
so for me - anything that brings me less than that for my time invested would be a put it out on the street for our inner-city passersby - for electrical items that are still good, I usually stick on a note 'works fine!' and it's gone 30 minutes later.
OK you list something with a fair price with room for negotiation and someone answers with a stupid offer
One man's treasure is another man's trash. Maybe it's not worth as much to him? I'll lowball without hesitation and rarely is the buyer offended, it's the nature of capitalism.
Fuel + time calculations can often result in a 50% lowball discount.
Depends a little on the mood I'm in. Most of the time I just ignore. I have on occasion said along the lines of no thanks and then ignored any further reply. I've never had to but would block if they pester or become abusive.
Selling things online I never seek to make silly money and always price things very competitively, if significantly lower to aid in a quick sale. Someone asks me about X for $150 "what is the lowest you will accept", I say $150.
I've always just added 20% or so to my starting price. Can go back thru lower offers later if no easy sells.
If your selling a good in demand item for say 50% of retail EG: $1000, someone offers you a stupid offer of say 200-500 - then I come back with the counter offer of $1200
it also depends if you want/need a quick sale or willing to sit on it
I was under the impression that anytime someone interacts with your ad, like message to ask a question, it helps your ad's exposure as the algorithm will pick it up as item of interest.
If true (and depending on platform), they have helped you even just to low ball.
Many potential buyers don't know how to negotiable effectively except to piss off the seller. If you want something at a reduced price, you need to offer something in return to show you are genuinely interested if the price is right, not by starting with "what's your best price"?
Example: I am interested in xyz, would you consider $x? I can come around today or tomorrow at your convenience.
Exactly. Most of the low ballers don't even have the money and aren't even committed at their low ball prices.
But totally agree with the idea: tell the seller what they want to hear… "I won't waste your time I can come now and I have the cash ready"
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Honestly just thank them and say that you have other party interested at the moment. Its simples.