Unpleasant incident with bargain seeker

[ziliangchong85]

Hi all, just thought I'll share this incident that took place this afternoon.

I was contacted the night before about a D300 I wanted to sell. I agreed to lower my asking price after the prospective buyer said he could get the camera at a lower price at those 2nd hand shops at Peninsular and asked if I could match it.

The next day, we met at City Hall to deal. I thought he was a sincere buyer as we had confirmed the meeting one more time through SMS before I headed out. At City Hall, he brought along a friend and he proceeded to check the camera for more than 15 minutes before pronouncing he was satisfied with the condition as it was very mint.

I thought the deal was in the bag but to my utter surprise, he started asking me what my best price was. I replied that we had already settled on the price through SMS but he said that was an "indicative price" because now he had other 2nd hand shops offering him 80 dollars less than what we had agreed upon. Then he and his friend proceeded to say that they could just walk over to Peninsular to buy the camera so I should match their new asking price since I had gone through the trouble of bringing my camera out.

Now, I know $80 might not sound like a lot, but it's lack of the principle of the deal that put a bad taste in my mouth. Those who use club snap know that the price is settled before the meetup; we're not a brick-and-mortar shop set up at the convenience of buyers to walk in and out of to bargain.

I had taken the trouble to meet the buyer at a place of his convience and am frankly irked by the fact that he tried to use my goodwill to pressure me into accepting something we had not agreed upon. I tried explaining this to the man but he brushed it off repeatedly with his "short walk to Peninsular" excuse.

Everyone is out for the best deal for himself, that much I understand. But I just thought that at the very least he could have left the bargaining on the phone and the dealing in person.

Anyway, decided to share this here as I don't want others to have their time wasted in the same manner as me. If a middle-aged dude who goes by Cheong contacts you with the number 96432470 and wants to buy anything from you, make doubly sure that you guys etch the dealing price in stone.

Don't let your time go down the drain to another "indicative price".

 

[ziliangchong85]

Anyway sale thread with pics of the cam is here you guys can see for yourself the condition.

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/threads/937079-WTSell-DSLR-Nikon-D300-PICS-INSIDE

Cheers

 

[edutilos-]

I'm not sure how your pricing is, but if it's in line with previous sales, you're using a Nikon, you should just wait especially if you can afford to.

If I were you, if you could afford to wait, I would just say, "good, go Peninsula buy, please, got a lot of other buyer want to buy my camera" and walk off. In the first place, if you're selling below market price, it's already a bonus, don't understand why people want to bargain further on the spot sometimes.... I only give discount when I'm late (even by 5 minutes).

This kind of person has a 钓起来卖 attitude, in the long run, he will get his just desserts when he meets someone who has a lemon and offloads it to him at a "bargain" price.

 

[kei1309]

just walk off. no point arguing with people like that.

 

[wdEvA]

hope u didn't sell it to him at the discounted price.
i kena this kind of people before.
and I just tell him, fine.. take it at the agreed price of the deal is off.

 

[creampuff]

Don't capitulate when people press you on price. This is quite normal because there are all types of jerks out to get the best deal they can get.
If someone can claim to get a better deal elsewhere, why are they still talking to you? Think about it...

 

[sidloojl]

Hi all, just thought I'll share this incident that took place this afternoon.

I was contacted the night before about a D300 I wanted to sell. I agreed to lower my asking price after the prospective buyer said he could get the camera at a lower price at those 2nd hand shops at Peninsular and asked if I could match it.

The next day, we met at City Hall to deal. I thought he was a sincere buyer as we had confirmed the meeting one more time through SMS before I headed out. At City Hall, he brought along a friend and he proceeded to check the camera for more than 15 minutes before pronouncing he was satisfied with the condition as it was very mint.

I thought the deal was in the bag but to my utter surprise, he started asking me what my best price was. I replied that we had already settled on the price through SMS but he said that was an "indicative price" because now he had other 2nd hand shops offering him 80 dollars less than what we had agreed upon. Then he and his friend proceeded to say that they could just walk over to Peninsular to buy the camera so I should match their new asking price since I had gone through the trouble of bringing my camera out.

Now, I know $80 might not sound like a lot, but it's lack of the principle of the deal that put a bad taste in my mouth. Those who use club snap know that the price is settled before the meetup; we're not a brick-and-mortar shop set up at the convenience of buyers to walk in and out of to bargain.

I had taken the trouble to meet the buyer at a place of his convience and am frankly irked by the fact that he tried to use my goodwill to pressure me into accepting something we had not agreed upon. I tried explaining this to the man but he brushed it off repeatedly with his "short walk to Peninsular" excuse.

Everyone is out for the best deal for himself, that much I understand. But I just thought that at the very least he could have left the bargaining on the phone and the dealing in person.

Anyway, decided to share this here as I don't want others to have their time wasted in the same manner as me. If a middle-aged dude who goes by Cheong contacts you with the number 96432470 and wants to buy anything from you, make doubly sure that you guys etch the dealing price in stone.

Don't let your time go down the drain to another "indicative price".

Such a bad ass..yeah, I would have followed him to the apparently cheap store.

 

[saveDqueen]

Luckily, majority of the CS community isn't a cheap-skate like Cheong, I bet he bought cheap equipment to produce cheap photos.

And he had a tag team partner to go along with, do pity you TS, you got several cheap shots by them.

On a side note, maybe meeting up at City Hall to deal might be a bad idea after all..

 

[BigBaby]

Hate this kind of cheapo buyer. If I were you I will just pack up and tell him that you just came from the 2nd hand shop at peninsula. And the shop there offered a higher price than him to buy your camera. Ask him want to go together so he can buy his cheaper cam and you can sell your cam too.

 

[zaren]

the only time when the price is "etched in stone" is if he pays you fully by fund transfer b4 meeting up. otherwise, be prepared for some lowballing bargaining tactics like this one, sometimes. bear in mind that the sale transaction must be mutually agreed for it to go through. either buyer or seller could back out at the last minute, or even change the selling price (you will be surprised). bottom line is, if it doesn't feel right for you, just walk away, as others have suggested. if i was in your shoes, i would ask myself, "how desperate am i to sell this camera?" if i needed cash urgently, i may just give buyer a small discount just to close the deal. if not, i would tell him that what we agreed on was already the best price, take it or leave it. it all depends, and the choice is entirely yours. better still, if you have other potential buyers lined up, just contact the next one on the list and move on.

 

[Canonised]

For every "cheapo" buyer or seller one will meet, there will be another five "sold to / bought from a gentleman" cases. So take heart, Forget about the deal and move on.

 

[esoeij]

2nd hand camera n lens prices in the peninsula shops are rarely ever cheaper than market prices in cs bns based on my personal observations, esp for popular models. Dishonest tactic to wrangle a discount, not to mention ungentlemanly.

 

[coolsigg]

Normally if someone already use such tactics like "I can get it cheaper elsewhere" before meet ups, it is already a red flag. I won't even waste time bargaining with them. I will just tell them to go buy from the shop or seller.

Similarly, there are also sellers that after we had agreed on a price, told me someone else offering them $10-20 higher and ask me to match their price. I will also tell them to go ahead and sell to that fellow. There is no guarantee that if I match, they won't use the new price to pressure other buyers. So why bother? After awhile, you will learn how to sieve out the low ballers and time wasters.

So far, I would say 95% of my deals go through ok and like some said, a lot are nice chaps and we end up talking 15-20 mins about photography and sharing tips. Don't be disheartened, this is human nature.

 

[Ted888]

the only time when the price is "etched in stone" is if he pays you fully by fund transfer b4 meeting up. otherwise, be prepared for some lowballing bargaining tactics like this one, sometimes. bear in mind that the sale transaction must be mutually agreed for it to go through. either buyer or seller could back out at the last minute, or even change the selling price (you will be surprised). bottom line is, if it doesn't feel right for you, just walk away, as others have suggested. if i was in your shoes, i would ask myself, "how desperate am i to sell this camera?" if i needed cash urgently, i may just give buyer a small discount just to close the deal. if not, i would tell him that what we agreed on was already the best price, take it or leave it. it all depends, and the choice is entirely yours. better still, if you have other potential buyers lined up, just contact the next one on the list and move on.

Well said. I see many people here do not get it. If you want to fix your price, make it clear and stand firm with it. If not, be flexible a bit and be happy.

 

[scubagolfer]

1) Regardless it is, meet at place of your convenience and time. This make sure buyer have something to lose if he doesnt make purchase. I know sometimes if you need to sell, you will meet anywhere anytime, but this is a tradeoff .. If he is sincere, and the condition is just as you have mentioned, I dont see why he should still bargain unless he has no intention of buying at that price in the first place.
2) Agree with member that once somebody say they can get it cheaper somewhere, asking you to lower even before meeting, it should have raise alarm bells, once you are willing to negotiate, be expected to negotiate again when you meet up as you have already set a precedent of willing to cut your price.

 

[NoiNoi]

Actually, the illegal reseller use this tactics to obtain the best buy and sell it at over price. Buy at CS, sell at VR zone and hwz.

 

[daredevil123]

This Cheong dude sounds like a trader to me.

 

[ed9119]

moving this in an hour over to consumer corner for archive and future reference for other CS'ers

 

[giantcanopy]

I had taken the trouble to meet the buyer at a place of his convience and am frankly irked by the fact that he tried to use my goodwill to pressure me into accepting something we had not agreed upon. I tried explaining this to the man but he brushed it off repeatedly with his "short walk to Peninsular" excuse.

Lowballing during a meeting on the spot is a lack of proper etiquette. The "tag team" made it all the more deplorable.

Anyhow you just have to be firm.

* And for this very reason, I sell my items at my convenience ..

 

[Royale With Cheese]

So far in all my dealings on CS, only one joker fly aeroplane then didnt want to pick up his phone after.

Lesson learnt, I only deal at my convenience.

If buyer tries to cut the price during meet up, I just look them straight to the eye, no nonesense & say "Look, thats the price, take it or walk away"