"What's Your Best Price?"

12-24-06: Jeffreybowman2k
Come on guys, I don't care if you are from Neptune, "OBO" means an offer LOWER than the asking price.

Greetings from Neptune, where OBO means an offer higher or lower than the asking price. ;)

I think "Best Offer" means best offer. That might mean the most money offered, or the offer that the seller finds most attractive. If someone offered me half my asking price and a two week stay in a Mediterranean Villa, I might well take that over a full price cash deal.
That may not be the most clever example but I hope it conveys the idea. There are more possible interpretations than the one that most immediately springs into your mind.
To take it a step further, imagine that you have advertised your Audiogizmo Thermal Dissipator MK II Rev.3A for $225 obo.
Member "Tipafew" contacts you with an offer of $650 if you cover shipping and PayPal. You can enail him back and have the money in your account in less than 30 minutes. What would you do next? I know I would take a few minutes to explain to him the true meaning of obo and insist that he offer less than my asking price. I've always felt responsible for his education.

Come on guys, I don't care if you are from Neptune, "OBO" means an offer LOWER than the asking price. A seller doesn't need to say "OBO" for a buyer to assume he will take a HIGHER offer than the ask -- every seller is willing to do that.

But let's not lose sight of the point that we all seem to agree on: a buyer whose first and only communication with a seller is "WYBP" has a high likelihood of being ignored -- as well he should be, b/c this response indicates a lack of seriousness and a single-minded focus in disadvantaging the seller. At the very least, a "WYBP" message might be accompanied by something like "I am really interested and would be ready to pay quickly if your best price is in my range." At least then there seems to be a point to the negotiating tactic.

Short simple answer:
You will attract more bees with honey than you will with vinegar...

You have your thoughts on selling and buying practices, others have theirs. The way I see it though, you are the one trying to get the "yours" as well as the "others" to buy your used equipment. If I, one of the others, sent you an email and you did not respond, I won't waste my time sending you another one.

Looks like lots of tire kickers. You may have turned away a buyer.
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.pl?ampstube&1170424383

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A member on another forum site asked an honest question, check out his question and some of the responses. Is it because of the moderators here on Audiogon, or is it because the members here would not put up with it?
Was I justified in giving my response? I have no idea what the follow up response will be.

Jea48 (Threads | Answers)

Responses (1-47 of 47)

07-24-05: Jeff_jones
Threads on both forums are prone to take off on sarcastic tangents now and then. Sometimes they are a lot of fun to read.
The key is to remember that it is not worthwhile to get upset when a jest strikes you wrong. IMHO.

Simple Response to You Jea48:

Lightin up, read things in context, and pay attention to responses to your earlier threads. You don't need to personalize things, and you are not a self-appointed moderator.

We, as sellers, should not be "offended" by the question- what's your best price? Especially if the ad states OBO.
Simply ignore it and enjoy the music. This is serious fun!