What is " lowball"

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.

Mtheime, if an item is priced correctly to begin with (meaning within 5% -10% of it's market value), then going down the middle on a 75% offer might still be considered low. Conversely, if the item is priced too high, then a split down the middle might be considered by the buyer to be too high. It's all predicated on how educated the buyer and seller are to the proper market value of the item, based on research of comparable recent sales and listings.

"Splitting down the middle" does not work as a blanket principle for buying or selling because it doesn't take into account the variables of the sale. However, it can work if the item is priced properly.