Topic: Your take on "OBO" sales

[82rustbeast]

I'm in the process of selling my 3rd gen right now, and I've sold a few other vehicles over the past two months. And something that has really started to bother me, is that 99% of the phonecalls or texts I get ask the question, "what is the lowest you'll take on this?"

To which I reply either, "I am open to offers," or, "depends on what your offer is."

If I was to tell a potential buyer to what the lowest I'd take on a sale, I should've posted it at the "lowest" price in the first place.

Am I just being an about this, or do I have a point?
We all have experience selling things on here, so what your guy's thoughts?

[Sparkplug]

People always ask me whats the lowest ill take, or will i negotiate, I tell them plain and simple, I dont negotiate over the phone, they can come look if they like, bring cash, and maybe we can talk.

I LOVE ads that say 2200 OBO, but ill work with you on price. Why the hell would I give you 2200 when you plainly just stated I can give you less?

[82rustbeast [OP]]

Exactly! Basically all the obo does is just leave it open to a random offer within reason of their listed price. But also it sometimes works to an advantage for some people, they have their idea on what they'd like, but if they just raise the price a bit then they may be able to be talked down to the actual price they want for it

[Toymin8r]

something that has really started to bother me, is that 99% of the phonecalls or texts I get ask the question, "what is the lowest you'll take on this?"

To which I reply either, "I am open to offers," or, "depends on what your offer is."

I hate it when I tell them the lowest I will take for something over the phone, then they drive for 3 hours and nitpick whatever it is I'm selling and then offer me less.   To which I say, "I already told you the lowest I would take".   They respond with, "but that was before I knew about.......(something...just nitpicking)".   Then I say, "you shouldn't have asked what my bottom dollar was over the phone then you moron" .  Well I left the moron part out but you get the idea.  


Or I was selling a 1986 extra cab 4x4 pickup a few months ago.  nothing special,  rusty but ran and drove great.   I had a guy that drove for 4 hours pulling a trailer and then lowball me, even though I told him over the phone that my price was negotiable but don't bother making stupid offers.  He was mad when I laughed at his offer and went back inside, leaving him standing in my driveway. 

[Rocksurfer]

I always say the price is only negotiable in person, the price posted is firm on the phone. Come take a look at it and then we can talk.

[Shamb]

yea that is annoying, i typically just tell them to make me an offer.... if they ask "what's the lowest you'll take?"   i'll tell them to look at the saling price...... people are retarded sometimes.

[chim]

I have sold many many cars on craigslist... and have bought many as well.. I personally don't like to offer because 1. my offer is going to be considered a low ball... or 2. I should have kept my mouth shut and offered less!! I know that everyone selling something has a number they wont go past.. that's what I ask for when I ask "whats the lowest you will take" .. makes it easier for everyone..  and yes the obo is just a start for the range that you want to sell it in...  So when someone asks whats the lowest you will take.. just tell them! There has been several times when a seller wouldn't just give me a number so I said forget it...

[Shamb]

well typically when your asking price has an "OBO" behind it the base price gives you an idea of what the person wants.... sure you want to get it for as little as possible... but still.. there's a difference..

think about someone trying to sale you a toyota pickup for $2000 OBO   that mean's the person would like to get $2000 but will take a LITTLE off the asking price... this doesn't mean offer me $500 or even $1000 for that matter.. because typically I (personally)  will tell you to get bent.

I too have sold MANY vehicles on this forum, pirate, craigslist, ebay, cars.com and autotrader.

[chim]

Basically my main point was... there is always a price that someone is firm at... if the ad is not listed as firm, then tell them the firm price when they inquire...

[82rustbeast [OP]]

These are all great points. Chim you're right about saying that someone should state that their price is firm to avoid any problems or confusion.

My 3rd gen for sale right now is getting calls like crazy. I have it listed for $2800. I didn't specify firm or OBO. I had a guy call me this morning and ask, "what's your lowest price?" I said, "I don't negotiate over the phone." To which his reply was, "will you take $2000?" I was infuriated! I said hell no! Then he quickly responded, "how about $2300?" I was trying not to call him a bad name, so I said how about you come look at it then offer me your price. He beat around the bush a bit more then hung up.

It's people like that who need a good ass kickin.

[brainlessfool]

These are all great points. Chim you're right about saying that someone should state that their price is firm to avoid any problems or confusion.

My 3rd gen for sale right now is getting calls like crazy. I have it listed for $2800. I didn't specify firm or OBO. I had a guy call me this morning and ask, "what's your lowest price?" I said, "I don't negotiate over the phone." To which his reply was, "will you take $2000?" I was infuriated! I said hell no! Then he quickly responded, "how about $2300?" I was trying not to call him a bad name, so I said how about you come look at it then offer me your price. He beat around the bush a bit more then hung up.

It's people like that who need a good ass kickin.

man, some ppl. will ya take $1900?




















sorry, could not help myself.

[yotaneck13]

thats y i always put FIRM after my prices then if they come and wanna jew me down i can give a little

[kneedownnate]

I have sold many many cars on craigslist... and have bought many as well.. I personally don't like to offer because 1. my offer is going to be considered a low ball... or 2. I should have kept my mouth shut and offered less!! I know that everyone selling something has a number they wont go past.. that's what I ask for when I ask "whats the lowest you will take" .. makes it easier for everyone..  and yes the obo is just a start for the range that you want to sell it in...  So when someone asks whats the lowest you will take.. just tell them! There has been several times when a seller wouldn't just give me a number so I said forget it...

Seems you and I think alike.  

If I'm asking $1500 for something but will take $1200, when they ask I'll split the difference and let them feel like they got me for less than I was willing to take.  

The one that gets me is when people list something for sale with an obo, then when you talk to them they say they're firm on the price, or say they'll need more than the asking price, or try to pressure you by saying they have 3 other guys (always 3) who're on their way over to buy it.  I usually just say, "ok, you have my number if all 3 flake and you're willing to stick to your obo".

[Shamb]

lol yea Nate that is funny... I get that alot too (i've got 3 other people on their way)   typically when I hear that I just tell 'em to call me if the other 3 fall through.  Sometimes I get a call about 5 min's later telling me they liked my offer.

Now reguardless if they put firm on it or not I would hope the seller has done their homework and knows what the vehicle is worth so the price listed IS the price he/she wants to get for the vehicle... so does it really matter if it says FIRM or OBO?    basically what i'm hearing is FIRM mean's offer them a little less and OBO means low ball the out of them?

Also anyone who's not willing to actually come LOOK at the vehicle before just throwing out number's typically isn't interested.. they're just trying to get you down before even looking at the vehicle.... very stupid.... you have to look at every vehicle you purchase personally if you want to be satisfied with the purchase... either that or your just buying it for parts.

[peacesells]

Anytime I sell anything on craigslist, I set a good price and do not negotiate. I also list any potential problem/problems the item has or will have, it weeds out the non serious buyers. Say you have a truck thats worth $2200 to the right buyer, but youd take 1800 for it. list it at 1800 firm and it sells to one of the first 2 that look at it, its worth the $2200 to not have to meet and deal with 10 shady jackass craigslist "buyers."

Anytime I see OBO, I nitpick and offer 1/4-1/3 of the price just like most others.  The only time I pay full price on an OBO is if the item is better than described, I was a pain in the ass for the seller to meet up with, or if its a smokin deal to start with.

[Tofudude]

Hmmm....when i sell stuff i put the pricer a lot higher than it should be, and have some one talk me down to my price 

[Shamb]

Hmmm....when i sell stuff i put the pricer a lot higher than it should be, and have some one talk me down to my price 

When you do that you run the risk of no one being interested at all.... when I see someone selling a older toyota PU w/ light mods for $10K I just look the other way...

[91 ex-cab]

Hmmm....when i sell stuff i put the pricer a lot higher than it should be, and have some one talk me down to my price 

Thats how I do it. I don't put it alot higher though, if I am looking to get 5,500 I will put 6,500 obo because then when they bargain you down they think they are getting 1,000 off of your price but really you only wanted 5,500 the whole time.

When you do that you run the risk of no one being interested at all.... when I see someone selling a older toyota PU w/ light mods for $10K I just look the other way...

Same here but I still have had plenty of people offer me 2,000 off my price no problem. Any one that isn't interested enough to try and work on the price with you isn't worth your time anyways.

[Rocksurfer]

Most people don't have a car that could get high max blue book, sure most here have done mods to their vehicle but still even with those mods you can't expect to gain much in $ with those mods. Yes you can take those mods and upgrades into account but you will get nowhere near what it was worth or the cost to put it on, in fact the cost of install would be a complete wash. Plus you have to add depreciation into the mix so sometimes your upgrade is a wash. When I look at a modded vehicle I will call a diff gear change a wash since it is not a needed upgrade but will give some $ points if while changing the gears you put in some kind of locker, welded is a wash. Now in the advertised price of OBO I will add the value of the gears but will quickly discount that $ in the actual sale of the vehicle in my mind when haggling the price with a buyer. Gears in a tcase will not even enter the fray if I've upgraded them and if it were duals my price will jump, of course how long they've been in there make a big difference, I won't play the just installed game without a receipt showing a recent install. If you don't have the proof it didn't happen. I keep every receipt even sparkplugs and oil changes. For me OBO means if you can find the things I can't proove then I'll discount them or things that really didn't or are not needed for my application such as if you stuck some graphics on it, that's your personalization of the vehicle that I may not have wanted and if you are asking more for it because of that I will want it discounted. Other things like rebuilt trans, tcase, engine will help your price more than anything but not as much as you put out for it so don't expect a big increase just because you did.