-I never had much success shooting out lowball offers for half of asking price
-Instead I ask what the lowest they will take if I bring cash over now. Whatever they say I ask if they can go any lower until I get a No. Then I tell them we are not in the same ballpark. I tell them I’m sure their item is very nice and I want to buy it today with cash but I have a strict budget and can only afford X. It comes off much less insulting when I explain why the lowball offer, it is my situation that has caused the lowball offer and since you have already got a discount the offer is no longer half. You can explain you are sorry you cannot afford it but if they change their mind you would love to take it off their hands. Then follow up, and always be nice.
-If you can relate to them and get them to like you in your emails and/or phone calls it helps a ton. For example, “My spouse keeps me on a short leash with expenses if you know what I mean?” This can get a response such as, “I know exactly what you mean, I tell you what, I like you and if you pick it up now or if you can come up a bit higher then it is yours.” You can use sports teams, struggles, common interest, etc but when you relate to them and they like you it does wonders.

I hope this helps.

I don’t know why some people (myself included) are scared of the word ‘no’. I like your take on the ‘no’ answer. Taking the ‘no’ as a ‘maybe’ later on as they get more desperate.

Here’s an update:
I had one seller call me back, the one selling for 475. Turns out she is going on vacation next week and won’t be back until the 5th. So now I have a week to turn chicken again (bawk). Just kidding. I asked her to send me an email when she gets back so I can look at the treadmill. In the meantime, I am going to continue to look on Craig’sList and get more practice. I am also going to follow up once with the two that did not respond to my email.

It takes courage at first, but with practice I expect it will get easier.

I hope the sellers go for it. What I like the most is it seems you know what the items are worth and buy for around half. And you are playing the numbers. You may only get one of the 3 but what is the worst that can happen? You get a NO. Following up always helps, time often leads to motivation. I used the skills I acquired from this buying activity to negotiate a seller down from 35K to 17.5K over time, 15K to 10K and got seller financing on another. Finding motivated sellers is key, asking nicely and explaining your position will either result in a huge victory or a No. And you can always counter and followup on the No. Best of luck!

About a year ago I bought a treadmill off Craig’s list and resold it a couple months later for more than I bought it for. I think I will try this again only implement the negotiation strategy when buying.

So here we go. I found three treadmills that I am interested in. Two sellers appear to be motivated as they are moving soon, we’ll see how motivated they are when they call me. All of them require that the treadmill be picked up, one for $200 by today at the latest. Two are listed for $200 and the the third is listed at $475.

Since I don’t have a truck, I need to a)have it delivered, or b)borrow a truck from a friend. If I have to pick it up I want the price to reflect it. So I am not going to pay more than $100 for the two listed as $200, and no more than $ 235 for the one listed as $475.

Now I have no intention of buying all three, I don’t have that kind of capital…yet. But if I can buy one and resell it for $300 that would be a good profit, don’t you think?

I’m actually in the market for a new Blackberry- this would be the perfect opportunity for me to sharpen up my negotiating skills and get a steal on a new (used) phone at the same time.

I’ll report back with my results…
.-= Stephani Davis´s last blog ..Hump Day Updates- Brought to you by Chef Steph. Hehe. =-.