Is a offer of -20 percent on an OBO ad insulting?

It depends on if his price was good or not. If the price was already attractive, or the going rate, then a -20% offer is too low. If he was high on his price, then it is in line. If you are buying this type of item, you know what the going rate should be. If you were trying to get 20% below that, then you should expect a response like that. Low ballers are not viewed very well on this site.

I think sellers like that are being jerks. This has happened to me also. How do you know how low they are willing to go unless you make an offer? This is called negotiation. You can go higher but you can't go down so you have to start low. Maybe they are desperate, maybe they are just testing the waters, maybe they are just hoping someone really wants it and is willing to pay a high price. If they did not want to get low offers, they should list it as firm, not obo.

I have sold over 50 items here and have received offers that I considered ridiculous. It only takes a few seconds of my time to respond that the offer is too low and make a counter offer. A few times it has even resulted in a sale for what I considered a good price. Yes, most were just tire kickers looking for a bargain, but you never know. Why would I want to drive away a potential buyer?

I have also had items that I did not know the value of. I priced them higher than I thought I could get just to see how much interest there was. I could gauge the value of the item by the offers I was getting.

If these people are insulted by low offers, I would hate to be around when they get spammed with email for loan offers and offers to enhance their sex lives.

While I agree with twi, in part; I also think OBO means just that.A -20% offer on a firm price is one thing. The seller must have thin skin--(Don't we all?--time to time?) He could have ignored you,or just said no thank you. Anyway,we shure know how he felt,huh?

For something to be insulting, it must be personnel. A person that I’m not familiar with, cannot insult me. I do sales for a living. It’s not personnel, it’s a business. By listing equipment for sale, the seller is asking for offers. Most of the offers won’t match the sellers expectations. That, is by definition, how free markets work. If the seller doesn’t like the offer he won’t accept. As a buyer, if you make a lower than asking price offer, it may not be accepted.

What I like about A-Gon is that you can talk to people and determine what type of person you are dealing with. That is not always available on Ebay.. You may have gotten a clue about this person by their reaction to your offer. In sales, a simple no will always work. Why get upset?

Furthermore as a seller, there is no obligation to deal with unqualified buyers. What I mean, is that it is OK for a seller to only deal with high probability prospects. Sellers are under no obligation to answer all the questions that they are posed. I will qualify people by asking them, “If I answer all your questions to your satisfaction, are you prepared to spend $XXX.” It is an easy question to find qualified buyers. I learned the hard way, spending too much time with people who were not buyers.
Have fun and good listening.

I agree with Herman. While I typically offer about 90%, I don't think an 80% offer is deserves that type of response. A simple "your offer is to low would have been sufficient." Often with low ball offers I just send back a counter offer and to my surprise many times they will move up. I am surprised by people being insulted. Your selling an object; a thing. We are all looking for bargains that's why we buy and trade on audiogon. If not we'd be buying retail.

Also who determines going rate? As an example, I have looke at the prices of a Pass X250 (I own the x150). Look how many are on sale here and most of the going rate is around $3500 to $4000. None of them have sold. There is one for $3200 a 20% discount off of the "going" rate and it has not sold yet. I have not made any offers since I am not ready to purchase, but let's face it, the Pass x250 is probably worth in the low $3,000. Yet I'm sure many will be offended with a $3200 offer.

Just my thoughts,
Paul