Lowball Comments and Insults - Bad for Business! Opinions?

[Blake]

Well this is something that I've seen countless times and almost happens everyday. I look at sales threads and see a member asking for offers on his/her domain with no clear guidelines on price. Well what happens is another member comes into the thread and posts an offer of say $20 to get the ball rolling. Well what happens next is just dumb in my opinion...the seller usually insults the person who submitted the offer and calls them a lowballer. Now personally I think you are burning bridges doing this and also passing up the potential to negotiate a better price.

Now lets take a closer look at this situation and see if we can't figure out what is going wrong with this scenario. First off the seller and person making the offer joined a "Domain Forum" which equates to a reseller platform 99% of the time. Now knowing this ahead of time when placing a name up for sale you should not be surprised when you get reseller offers from members. Lets face it we are all here to get domains as cheap as possible and then turn around and sell to end users for a higher price ...pocketing the profit margin. Now with this mindset how ridiculous does it look when you insult a lowball offer!

I wonder some days do fellow members not haggle with pricing? Personally I never pay retail prices at stores/domains/etc. I find coupons or deals and it's not for the lack of funding it's just principle that I want to make my money/investments go as far as they can possibly go. When I submit an offer it's simply from a reseller stand point. I'm not one to pay end user pricing when I need to have an upside on the purchase as well. I guess this may sound like more of a rant but it's something I wanted to discuss and see if I'm just the odd ball out here.

So do you feel insulting a lowball offer is wise? Do you haggle prices to do your best to get the highest profit margin? Do you dismiss offers that are too low instead of being courteous and talking with the person? Lets here what you have to say....I may just be crazy and it's 3:30am

Blake A. Worthington

*This is not the opinion of Namepros.com and doesn't represent Namepros.com stance*
**This is my personal opinion**

 

[Name Trader]

I think it's just ignorance on the part of the seller. If they cannot give a ballpark of their expected price range, then any offer should be treated with respect. I think it's certainly bad for their rep/business if they insult lowball offers when they haven't given any guidelines as to their expected price.

 

[Sabre]

Agreed with Stub. Just because someone enters with a 'lowball' offer, doesn't mean that their pockets aren't substantially deeper. Plus, insulting someone on a public forum isn't exactly the best way to show that you are a professional seller.

If I am interested in a domain in the 'Make Offer' section, I nearly always contact the seller asking them for a ballpark figure. I would say 95% of the time, I receive a reply back with a response that effectively says 'there isn't one, make me an offer' at which point I give up and move on unless the domain is a true gem. That reply to me simply says 'I have no idea of the value of my domain // I'm looking for far too much money for this domain'

When I receive a ballpark figure back, I negotiate and purchase the domain somewhere in the region of 70-80% of the time.

I think sellers sometimes forget that we are in a market recession and any lead should be pounced upon and taken seriously. Realistically, a sensible reply takes only a little longer than one that completely puts the seller off for good.

 

[Steven]

Yeah, it's not good to insult anyone making a low-ball offer.
One time, I provided initial $100 offer and eventually increased it to x,xxx. If the seller insulted me, I would've stopped my offer.

 

[biggie]

:talk:

insulting a potential buyer because they made a lowball offer is a bad practice, "IF" you care about whether that person will or won't increase their offer or "IF" you care about what others think of you insulting a poster in your sales thread.

IF you don't care, then you'll keep addressing potentials as "lowballing scumbags" whenever you feel the need to do so



the other side of this coin is:



some folks "know" they are submitting lowball offfers and some do it intentionally.


some do it because they don't know any better. they get their price ranges from other sites that list what is or is not premium, based on letter combo and some have prejudices against certain numbers 0 > 9.


i hear/read a lot of crap from potential buyers about how chinese don't like this number or that number, so they say your price is too high.


but how many of those mo fo's are selling names to the chinese?

also, chinese people aren't the only potential clients who use numerical domains.

so, there is a "learned" experience that attributes to, and highly influences lowballing in general.


from the sellers point of view, when they have spent time and money to acquire maybe a LLL.org that has lite traffic and revenue.

they post the name "with the stats" and the offers received are lower than bids would be, if the name was in auction on namejet.

they won't consider the traffic or revenue in their offer and if they do, they only consider that...and not the intrinsic value of the domain without any stats provided.

too many just wanna play games, and most of those games exist in the mind of the one playing with the sellers time.

perhaps the seller has received sooo many lowball offers that they just snap one day on an innocent poster, a poster who has no idea of domain values but they just like the name listed for sale.

now you know both sides, so please.... don't be lowballing me!

 

[GiftedDomains]

Well there are low ball offers and there are low ball offers.
If someone lists a LLL.com or one word premium .com in make offer section and someone says "30 dollars", then thats an insult from the "potential buyer" and i would have no problem with seller insulting the buyer back.

But if someone lists a medium quality or low quality domain and doesn't mention a min. price, then no one should be insulted for lowball offers.
All offers should be welcomed. You don't have to sell at that price. You can simply ignore or talk to the lowballer. And yes, sometimes you can even negotiate with someone who started with 50 , up to 1000 and more.

 

[equity78]

I agree that its easy to add a ballpark or minimum offer you are looking for the domain. Sabre I do the same thing if someone says there is no ball park then I have no interest in the domain.

This is a reseller forum, of course there are the few outlier sales that take place on a forum, but for the most part people are looking for wholesale pricing. You have plenty of places to list to try to get more for the domain.

 

[freedom30]

If someone lists a LLL.com or one word premium .com in make offer section and someone says "30 dollars", then thats an insult from the "potential buyer" and i would have no problem with seller insulting the buyer back.

...so in essence, it is jolly good in that scenario, according to GD, to insult the buyer. It is so hard to say "no thanks, that is just too low". No, ya gotta get your shorts in a wad and feel insulted. No, GD doesn't mind a buyer being insulted at all in that case.

Cute, but NOT a professional business attitude for ANY market, let alone domaining. Some people Never grow up, it seems. That is the problem when one takes the business personally instead of as just a business.

I had plenty of lowball offers but "No, thanks" have always been the words I used. I don't care what price is tossed up there, it's just a business, it's not like I am the one the potential buyer is insulting, but that's just me...

 

[infmoney]

I don't take any offers personally AT ALL. It's best to just say "no thanks". Why attack someone who's just trying to make a buck or save some money like all of us are.

The other day an enduser told me he'd pay $7 for one of my domains and instead of blowing up on him, I said "no thanks, have a nice day". When you insult a person that is throwing out a low offer you just look unprofessional and child-like and you shut down the negotiation before it begins.

 

[biggie]

:talk:

just for the hell of it, i'm gonna play devils advocate:



you guys/gals are talking about manners, politeness, etc.


does that shiz-zit really exist in the "dog eat dog" business world of today?

some approach others with reseller mentality, but under namepos logo, i don't see where it says "reseller forum"

because you "expect" to buy at wholesale prices, doesn't mean seller purchased their names looking to sell at wholesale values.

sellers save buyers time and effort and do them a favor, by going out and doing the research and waiting for auctions to end, so they can grab good names.


they may offer them here to give you a chance to purchase them, cuz maybe you was too busy to attend auction or the lists are too long for you to read thru or the name didn't show on a third party site that claims you can bid thru them.

now after the seller has went thru all that to get this name....here you come with your lowball mentality thinking maybe you can catch a sucker...oh i meant an "uninformed seller" and get a steal of a deal.


i do sympathize with the potential buyer who gets insulted, but if they had made a higher offer.....then maybe it never would have happened.


potentials MUST accept some responsibility for the offers they make, because every offer is a form of communication.

some folks are scared to offer too much, cuz they think they may be over paying


well, if your arse knows value, then you really won't overpay...will ya?

and if you do know value and yet you still lowball, then don't ya deserve some verbal lashing?

sticks and stones will break my bones, but words with premium letters will never hurt me!

 

[freedom30]

:talk:

just for the hell of it, i'm gonna play devils advocate:...



...and if you do know value and yet you still lowball, then don't ya deserve some verbal lashing?

sticks and stones will break my bones, but words with premium letters will never hurt me!

...I do not have the attitude, desire or need to compromise my values of business etiquette because someone lowballs a premo domain name.

That is just sophomoric and has nothing to do with the day to day business of selling...

so, no, no instance where a buyer deserves any kind of abusive verbal assault just because he/she lowballs a name, period...

 

[equity78]

Yes civility and manners still play in business. Common courtesy does not go out of style because some who do not possess these traits don't understand them.

Secondly this is a domain forum not a fortune 500 company in the rough and tough business world.

Someone getting pissed that someone offered them $20 for a longtail.com that is at best average is not the same as what's going on between Apple and Samsung.

 

[GiftedDomains]

...so in essence, it is jolly good in that scenario, according to GD, to insult the buyer. It is so hard to say "no thanks, that is just too low". No, ya gotta get your shorts in a wad and feel insulted. No, GD doesn't mind a buyer being insulted at all in that case.

Cute, but NOT a professional business attitude for ANY market, let alone domaining. Some people Never grow up, it seems. That is the problem when one takes the business personally instead of as just a business.

I had plenty of lowball offers but "No, thanks" have always been the words I used. I don't care what price is tossed up there, it's just a business, it's not like I am the one the potential buyer is insulting, but that's just me...

You have some good points.
Actually i also always try to stay calm and don't take things personal when buying/selling. But sometimes its just too much. Also remember that no one would go to a Car Dealer and say "i want that Ferrari and that Gallardo for 100 dollars", the Car Dealer would probably just show that clown the door. He wouldn't talk half an hour with him and say "no, thank you very much for your offer but the price of those cars is 1 million" - So, yes this is business and your time is money and you don't have time to waste for clowns, do you?

 

[lothos]

"Thank you for the offer but I will have to pass. "

Short. Simple. Non-insulting.

 

[iowadawg]

So a car dealer would laugh?
Only in a nice way.
Hey, in a car lot, you get lots of people coming through and all with some price in mind.

Do you go to a car lot and say, I will buy at the price you set on this car?
No, you go in to save as much as possible on the car by starting at your low price.

Selling cars is a lot different than selling domains.

Except when it comes to both buyer and seller being civil, even if no sale or purchase occurs.

 

[biggie]

here's some more sides:

say, you do insult a potential and they come back with another offer which is "lower than the previous", should you insult them again?

or if you didn't insult them the first time when they lowballed, but when they came back with lower offer, do they deserve an insult now?


or, if you do insult a potential and they come back with a higher offer, did the previous insult stop their desire to purchase your name?

after all it's business....not personal right?

so you should be able to put the insult aside if you're there to do business, unless your feelings got in the way of your wallet.


what if the potential increases offer after you've insulted them and a deal gets done. now the buyer has the name and he comes back and insults you?

do you care if you've made the sale or will your feelings get hurt?


what if someone insults you and it's not a sales thread, but later down the road they make nice offer on your name...do you negotiate or not?


plays jeopardy music while you thinkin

 

[GiftedDomains]

Do you go to a car lot and say, I will buy at the price you set on this car?

Of course not. you always try and get your 10 - 20 - 30% discount.

But i was talking about extreme cases.

 

[Trader]

deleted

 

[alien51]

"Thank you for the offer but I will have to pass. "

Short. Simple. Non-insulting.

"Higher."

That's even much shorter. Just one word. More simple. And direct to the point. lol

 

[lothos]

"Higher."

That's even much shorter. Just one word. More simple. And direct to the point. lol

I might have to start using that one