What is " lowball"


Do any of you have an idea of what constitutes lowball as a general rule. I have purchased things at 75% of asking price and have been ignored at 90%. All my sales have involved some haggling to find a middle ground and some started at what I thought was a lowball, so it annoys me when I am ignored. I guess it is better than getting involved with someone too busy to type NO THANKS and hit send. I'm just curious what everyone considers a rule of thumb in regards to making offers.
mthieme
search the archives, this has been recently discussed ad nauseum...Cheers,
Spencer
Mthieme
You might find this thread helpful regarding your question.

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr_memb.pl?&&listthrd&zzCarmantom
I agree with Dave, and would add one observation. Not all sellers price their items close to market value. It's not uncommon to see overpriced items, and in this case an offer of 75% might be very close to where these items should be realistically sold. However, there is no doubt that sellers of such items would consider 75% offers to be lowball. So, this becomes a matter of interpretation and point of reference. The educated buyer might believe the 75% offer is extremely reasonable, while the uneducated seller might believe the 75% offer is insultingly low.

In a perfect market, where items are priced accurately according to proper market value, I would consider any offer of less than 85% (15% discount) to be lowball.
An ignored offer to me is rude and inconsiderate when a simple no thanks is all that is required. I agree that lowball offers are upsetting but they are a part of the buying and selling process. I would provide a response such as "No Thank You" even if the ad is marked price is firm. Simple courtesy.
I am just surprised that people have no interest in making an effort to agree on a price in the middle, after all obo means the price is up for debate in my opinion.