Craigslist/other sellers-how do you deal with lowballers?

[RCBH928]

Sorry if I sound stupid but...
1)The scam was to use fake service to send the money and the scammer will only pay taxes for a new powerbook?

2)How does the escrow service protect the seller? He already sent his stuff...

3)Suppose the scammer's scam works, the guy seller can still report him because there must have been an address and a place for pickup.

4)The seller must have been crazy to post this article on the internet, there is a hundred ways for the police to catch him because none the less I think there is multiple illegal stuff happening in the prank, he must be in jail, or in a very smart way erased all clues leading to him, including IP address of time and place of the poster on something awful . com .

5)I don't get why does it matter to put a value on the package. Is it for insurance or is it for paying taxes? If it is for paying taxes then I can lie about the purchasing price and or say the truth and I can be honest. I know a guy who bought a bmw m3 and sold it within 1st year or 2nd year for 50% less of its price, obviously less than original value. Also the lady in fedex asking for what he paid for it, maybe it was paid for 5 years ago. How is value decided?!

I find it funny and awkward that there are tales and something like urban legends on the internet. Any one share the feeling?

whoever said that he sold a 93 grand cherokee for $500 , I am sure it is heaven where prices of cars are in that price range.

I am sure lowballers(new term learned) might upset a lot, but it might be worth a shot don't you think? From what I know, some people will be willing to sell lower than the price asked for. I also know that people(at least around here) tend to price things over just to make the buyer feel good when he asks for a discount and gets it. Example, furniture store wants to sell a table for $100. So he puts a price on it for $120-30. When the consumer comes in and insists on a discount , he gets it for $100 and he goes out smiling thinking he is smart. To be fair, people around here almost refuse to pay full price(always haggle) any way so this is a nice way to get around it. I can tell you for sure(and if you are going to travel) in places like in Thailand and Lebanon, haggling goes like this:

You ask a store owner for a t-shirt price. He says $100.
Do not bargain within the $70-80 range, go like this
$10 thats all. ITS THAT MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE!!!
of course the seller would refuse and complain, in the end he would sell it for $10. Also from what I know, the real price can be like $5 and he just scammed you!!
So lowballing works sometimes.

[MrPopo]

There's a cultural difference at work, kingmohd. Out here we don't have the culture of bargaining that you have. There's really only a few things that people haggle about in the retail sector; cars, furniture, and real estate. Pretty much everything else you're just paying whatever the sticker price is. So when we offer something for $500 and the guy responds with an offer of $100 we don't see that as the start of haggling, we see that as a guy lowballing us.

[RCBH928]

haggling is not that bad in my country,
I would consider $100 out of $500 is lowballing. But what If I offer $350-450. Its less of a price, I do not think it is lowballing , and the seller might just accept. I mean a sure sale is better than a hope to sell whatever at the price you wish for, unless you do not want to let go of your commodity for less than price asked.

[Jrecee]

Sorry if I sound stupid but...
1)The scam was to use fake service to send the money and the scammer will only pay taxes for a new powerbook?

Yes

2)How does the escrow service protect the seller? He already sent his stuff...

In a scam the escrow service is fake, so it doesn't. In a real escrow situation:

-The buyer gives his money to the escrow service
-The seller gets confirmation that the buyer has paid and sends the package
-The buyer inspects the package. If he approves of it, the escrow service transfers the funds to the seller
-If the buyer does not approve of the package, he sends it back. Once the seller confirms he has received the product back, the escrow service sends the buyer his money back.

3)Suppose the scammer's scam works, the guy seller can still report him because there must have been an address and a place for pickup.

Possibly. The problem is, these scams are almost always done from a different country than the seller is in. Since the escrow service was fake, there's no insurance or guarantee there. I imagine trying to track down someone from another country to get justice is near impossible.

4)The seller must have been crazy to post this article on the internet, there is a hundred ways for the police to catch him because none the less I think there is multiple illegal stuff happening in the prank, he must be in jail, or in a very smart way erased all clues leading to him, including IP address of time and place of the poster on something awful . com .

Yeah, from the fact that he was worried several times during the prank, I don't think he knew what he was getting himself into.

5)I don't get why does it matter to put a value on the package. Is it for insurance or is it for paying taxes? If it is for paying taxes then I can lie about the purchasing price and or say the truth and I can be honest. I know a guy who bought a bmw m3 and sold it within 1st year or 2nd year for 50% less of its price, obviously less than original value. Also the lady in fedex asking for what he paid for it, maybe it was paid for 5 years ago. How is value decided?!

It's for customs. If you're getting a product from another country you have to pay import taxes on it. I think the value is decided based on the sale price. And yes you can lie.

[Reverend]

For the right way to deal with scammers. Here ya go,

http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/

This is the most epic prank I have ever heard of!

[V3rtigo]

I once had a guy with the nerve to ask me "what's the least amount of money you will take for it?" to which I only replied "what's the most amount of money you are willing to pay for it?"

when i bought a car about 10 years ago, it was listed at 12.5K. I asked the guy the same question, just to see how much room i had to negotiate. i was hoping he'd say 12k, and i'd offer 11.5k. Well, he said 10K, I said, sold! you never know till you ask. I sold that car 5 years later for 10.5k...

[RCBH928]

thanx Jrecee for answering all the questions

as for the escrow service , look at it this way:
If the buyer does not approve. He can keep the product and lose the money. But the seller will lose the product and not get the money. The money will just hang in there in the account of the escrow company . Maybe that is a little problem with the service module.

MrPopo
read the post above, you can ask for lower prices and it won't be lowballing . It doesn't hurt. though personally i hate to haggle, I like to pay whats on the sticker and I sell what is on the sticker. I mean if you are willing to sell less why put higher price then lose all the time negotiating? Not to mention it might send customers away if they think the price is high.

[Jrecee]

"If the buyer does not approve. He can keep the product and lose the money. But the seller will lose the product and not get the money. The money will just hang in there in the account of the escrow company."

I don't think this can happen. Both parties have to confirm the status to the escrow company. The seller in that situation could file a complaint with the escrow company that he never received the product back. Remember, in a real escrow situation your real name, address, and bank account information is on file. Also, there are probably requirements about how long the transaction can take, and the buyer will probably be consistently billed by the escrow service until the transaction is completed.

I've never used one but these are my assumptions. Like everything there are loopholes. I'd recommend looking up a real escrow service on google and reading their terms for more information.

[MrPopo]

MrPopo
read the post above, you can ask for lower prices and it won't be lowballing . It doesn't hurt. though personally i hate to haggle, I like to pay whats on the sticker and I sell what is on the sticker. I mean if you are willing to sell less why put higher price then lose all the time negotiating? Not to mention it might send customers away if they think the price is high.

I agree that asking for a lower price isn't necessarily lowballing. I was just pointing out that until recently with the ease of craigslist there wasn't much haggling going on in the States for most retail products. So it's easier for an offer to come off as lowballing.

[RCBH928]

I never sold online(ebay or amazon)
but those of you who did or do,
do you find your products selling quickly?

I revisit many products on amazon and find the same merchants selling the same used product for months. It is not moving.