If a seller lists a price and says "OBO" does that mean it's OK for the seller to decline your offer of their full asking price because they want to see if someone will give a "better offer" over asking price? I've had this happen to me once and I lost out on buying a pin and was a little surprised, lol.

Nah, that's just a dick move on his part.

That's what I thought too but he said " Or best offer, and I got a better one." Never thought of OBO in that way. Didn't mean to hijack your thread OP.

Exactly what happened here. $2700 OBO became a sale at $2900. http://www.villagebbs.com/forum/index.php?topic=38092.0

I have bought and sold all kinds of things throughout my adult life. ( now 57 years old)
I never once even considered OBO to mean over asking price.
I am so ignorant.

I've learned not to bother with the OBO thing anymore because people are going to offer you less regardless and the OBO just encourages it.

John

Agreed. I don't mind best offer, but normally when I post things to sell I post them at a price to sell quickly so it doesn't get to that point. The only time best offers are annoying for me is when you just post something and you get that guy that offers you 25% of your asking price 10 minutes after it is posted. That is one feature I like about eBay, you can set it to auto decline stupid offers so you don't have to waste your time responding to them.

That's when you reply - thanks for the joke, I needed the laugh.

Getting insulted when trying to come to terms on a price is silly. Bidding and making offers- even offers that someone feels are "insultingly" low- is a valid part of true negotiation (except for the scamming/ stupidly low offers referenced in previous post) Buying/ trading pinball machines is closest to negotiated for used cars. The market is fluid and highly subjective. So, I want to make an offer at a price which I would be willing to follow through. It might be well below the asking price. My risk! But asking price may be someone's "make me sell" price, which is wasting everyone's time too. The selling price doesn't "set" the market, the offer does. No market exists until there's an offer.

Don’t make insulting low offers and people with obo wont get pissy.

Exactly !!

John

I think as seller OBO is a courtesy to you (the buyer) to try and initiate a faster sale. Most people price their pins accordingly and if your within a few hundred bucks you will likely own that pin. Sometimes if you just cant find another comparison to an item putting a crazy number on it and adding OBO lets the seller kinda take an average of what he is being offered to determine the fair market value. So I'd say if its a common item and you know its priced averagely save $50-$100 and OBO them. But if its something you don't see to often try and send them a message first before you throw a crazy number out there and low ball them. You may get some insight on how they've priced their item?

I agree here. Why should some one get insulted if you offer to purchase or trade for their game? Owners have the right to set there asking price and potential buyers have the right to put up their offer price. I also agree a response is warranted if an offer is put forth

Personally I'm flattered when I get any kind of offer on my junk! lol

I don't agree with that, I sell cars for a living. I own a small dealership. I get very agitated with offers. I just got one via email 5 minutes before I read this post. I'm asking $3,995 for a truck and they just offered 2,900 out the door. So after state fees that translates into about a 2,400 offer on a basically 4 grand truck. That to me is a ridiculous offer. If your offering close to half of asking that's pushing it in my opinion.

OBO has always meant a price AS CLOSE to the asking price as possible. Who the hell bargains a price HIGHER than asking??

P1 - "I'm asking $3000."
P2 - "I'd like to pay $3800 if that's cool"
P1 - "I reluctantly except..."

Yep, OBO no longer means they'll accept the highest offer that's close to their asking price. Nowadays, it means they'll accept the highest offer OVER their asking price.

In other words, they're starting an auction. Don't bother to participate because you don't know if the other interested parties are really making the offers the seller states they are, or if there really are other interested parties at all.

It's simple OBO means I'm asking a price, but will deal to get this thing sold. People that are firm that list OBO are dip shits.

Really?!? You sell used cars for a living - that’s ALL about offers and negotion over pricing, is it not? (I don’t own a dealership or anything but it seems like pretty accepted practice). You priced at 4 grand and they offered $3k - that seems perfectly reasonable. How’s the buyer supposed to know what state taxes your paying on it? Any buyer is going to assume you priced it a bit over it’s value and thru negotion/offers that’s gonna come down.

I've also found that if you use FIRM you'll still get offers, and even if you use TRADE ONLY you'll still get offers.

I used to own a used car lot. I did not mind any offer. You make me an offer, even a rediculous offer, and I can work with that.

Low ball me and I can laugh it off and say "I cannot go that low." And then I can make counter offer and negotiation can begin.

Selling used cars is tough business. You sure need a sense of humor. Accept low ball offers as part of the septic tank you have to swim in to make your living or you will go nuts.

The last 3 games I sold on pinside that I did not list as firm received offers that were half the asking price. The one that was listed as firm still had offers more then $500 off. I usually just laugh about it but there is a lot more fishing on pinside then their used to be.

I think higher offers occur all the time in real estate (is that a housegument ).

Back on subject, I had somebody ask me if I had obtained a pinball machine he knew I was interested in. I said no, and he then informed me he had also been interested in it, and had offered $500 OVER asking price on a $2000 machine and he also didn’t get it. Game wasn’t on auction, regular FS listing.

EDIT: oh, i get you now, they wanted their costs included. Did you counteroffer?

Back to topic:
Traditionally for me OBO has meant "I'll take lower, but make it close." In today's market I'm pretty certain it means "I'll tell you I will sell the item to you, unless someone offers more up to the point you actually pick it up."

O' absolutely.

John

What is worse than getting a low ball offer is not getting any action at all. None.

I disagree. When I have a game listed for $1800 and someone offers $400 like on my last sale I'd rather not be bothered at all. It's not worth my time and now I have to respond back.

what he said

This is what happens in a seller’s market, which we seem to be creeping towards in the pinball scene. There are only so many games to go around, and only so many remakes and new games are being produced every year, so buyers are out there who understand they may need to - or can, I suppose- pay more to ensure they get the game. Works the same in real estate - there’s only one of “this” house which is currently for sale.

Who knows how long it will last, either - couple years? A decade? 6 months? I’m sure we will be back to the dearths of the early 2000s someday but now that Pinball is in CANDY commercials we may be in for a good ride

Perhaps, trade would be considered,but not preferred.

My simple response to low offer is no thanks.

I always say “ I just think we’re too far apart to make a deal” and I usually get a counter. I had someone offer me a trade recently that amounted to 2/3 of my asking price, although it technically fit what I wanted in a trade, but not enough cash by half, and I just said “no”. Some deals you can’t make work

I always took OBO to mean they may take a higher offer, or the one most convenient to them. So, nothing is locked in until cash exchanges hands. If it is a long drive, I don't even F with OBOs.

Just put the GD price you want on the GD thing.
Pay the GD asking price.
Don't be a dick.

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Interesting, I've never considered that "obo" seems to be being used to elicit higher-than-asking prices, that's news to me, but I guess pin sales are starting to work like real estate deals (at least in the northwest!).

Serious folks will make an offer if they like regardless if you specify "obo". But putting "obo" will bring out the low-ballers with "cash-in-hand" and other nonsense thinking you are desperate for a sale.

There are 2 signifiers that I always respect in pinball ads: “FIRM”, and “if it doesn’t sell for X I’ll just keep it.” I don’t bother making offers on those. Anything else is subject to negotiation, but there’s an art to it.

1. Start with something positive.
2. Explain why you think it should be priced lower.
3. Indicate your level of interest.

“That’s a beautiful restoration, I can tell you worked hard on it. But I’m worried that it might be harder to sell down the road with the flipper drag and the flaking backglass. Would you be willing to take (X-$150)? Keep me in mind if you don’t get any other offers. This game isn’t one I’ve been looking for, but I’d love to own it for a while.”

I love getting offers like this as a seller. It tells me that I have a backup buyer that is reasonable and is willing to wait. If I really need the game gone, I’ll usually take it. I try not to put “OBO” on an ad. If I priced it too high (which is rare for me), I’ll drop the price $100 until it sells.

EVERYBODY expects wiggle room unless
The game is a freaking no brainer steal. It’s great to say “post the price you want idiot!” But why bother when it’s a near certainty that everybody is gonna offer hundreds less?

On the flip side, here’s an example of a bad lowball offer (IMO):

“You’re gonna have a hard time selling this game, the Pro version is the one people want. I’ll give you (X-$500) but I need you to deliver it and set it up.”

I made that one up, but it’s representative of some of the offers I’ve seen.

I like to end my for sale ads with byob. Much better acronym.

This is probably because 90% of the sellers have no clue how to put a realistic price on a game to get it sold in a reasonable time. I'm not going to play games where I would price it so high its difficult to meet in the middle. That takes time, weeks, maybe even months or longer. My last two sold in less than a week, no haggling.

because some here don't know what OBO means. They think it's just a pinball term like NOS and things sell better if you put that in your description.

Some people think OBO invites an auction. I never understood this but I don't understand a lot of sh!t that goes on in people's heads.

This times a MILLION. The pinball market has been operating the last few years under the assumption that games appreciate no matter what. And the highest price that can be found is the new floor, regardless of differences in condition.

I made an offer for a RFM locally at a reasonable price for it's condition - $2300 - cab was beat to hell, the monitor was failing and the playfield was really, really dirty with broken plastics and missing two Martians and a saucer. It was exactly what I was looking for to restore. The buyer's response? "These sell for $3500 minimum all day on Pinside and there are lots of examples over $4K!" I asked him to show me one that was in the shape his was in and I would revise my offer. Of course I didn't hear back.

No you don't.

LTG : )

I always respond, and I'm always polite. Absurd offers get one-line responses though.

I've been on both ends. If I am selling a game and get an offer too low, why piss the guy off and be a jerk? A buyer may be testing the waters and giving a low offer a shot , even if he would be willing to come up on the price to land the game.
If I am looking for a game, and one is listed higher than I'd like to pay, I don't see the harm in asking if the seller would accept less. If the seller has some arrogant response, it's a good way to learn who I wouldn't want to deal with in the future anyway. It takes 30 seconds to respond back with a polite "no thanks."If someone takes themself so seriously that an offer insults them, they are not someone I would care to associate with. Pinball is fun for me, not a place to deal with drama queens.

Whenever I’ve bought it sold, I have always assumed obo meant as close to the asking price as possible to make both parties happy. I’ve never thought it meant any offer over the asking price. If you’re firm on your price and won’t budge, put FIRM.