Is Haggling A No-No?

I think there is no harm in asking, unless they have explicitely stated that the price is set.
Also there is a right(polite) way and a wrong(rude) way to do it.

Gosh what did someone say to me when I was selling my little fox...they offered 30% of the asking price (!!!) and said "I know it's not a lot of money for you, but it would be great for me!" I WAS SHOCKED...haha. Oh ettiquette

 

It depends. If the doll is harmed in a way and the seller is selling the doll for the doll's original price, yes. If the seller says no, then no. If the doll is selling for original price, is harmed, and the seller stated no then move on to the next sale.

 

Haggling seems scary but ever since I entered college I've realized the importance of it. If the doll on the market place says "firm", I tend not to haggle, but in most other cases I'll ask for discounts on shipping, trades+money, or discounts if I buy in bulk and whatnot. People won't lower the price until you ask them, and the worst that can happen for asking for free shipping is the seller says no and you either find a different seller or save up the extra $40.

 

I dont think there is any harm in asking for a discount or offering less.
the worst thing they can say is NO, why would it be offensive.
It takes a simple polite message to say that the price is non negotiable, we are all adults.
As long as you are polite!

 

For me it really depends on how much the person wants to get off the price.
I've had items such as hands for sale, which weren't more than 20 dollar. And I got offered like 5 dollar or something ridiculous.
And in euro's that's even less.
I've also had it happen that they offer 100 dollar below the price I've set. Sometimes I put "best offer" in the topic, but going down $100 is just ridiculous in my eyes. Also a bit rude maybe.
I don't mind it when someone offers to pay a little less, but it has to be fair and it really depends on the way I'm approached in the first place.

 

I think it really depends on how much discount someone want's. If it's just a small price or a really high discount. But as long as the doll or the items are not damaged, I think haggling is not needed.

 

Well when I was communicating with the original owner of my doll head, he had his faceup included.

I did ask if it were possible to get him for a bit less if he were blank (not too much less, mind you). Of course I was polite, and she responded that someone else had made an offer on the head with the face, but since I inquired about the head first, she was holding off to let me decide. I ended up going on ahead and buying the head with his faceup (obvs)...which is a pretty good faceup, I might add.

I thought an instance like that would be acceptable.... but I wont haggle on anything if someone expresses that they are firm on their price... and unless they specifially say OBO, I assume the price is firm.

 

If the seller does not say that the price is firm then go ahead and ask, especially if you are looking at buying multiple items. Worst that they can say is no.

 

I've haggled mostly in cases where I'm buying lots of clothes at once. In one case, it was where I was taking the take-it-all-for price, and haggled off what was basically the shipping cost. That owner didn't have any more MSDs, so they ended up tossing in a bunch of other random stuff that wasn't really saleable but that I appreciated because I didn't really have much at the time.

In another case, I was buying almost everything in someone's clothing post, and negotiated that down by a little bit too. My most recent price break was from someone leaving the hobby, though. Nothing was really name brand, though, so it's not like there's anything to back it up on. The first lot was partly shirts from MoC, and the second was some well-made handmade stuff of unknown origin.

Didn't really negotiate on my first couple purchases, which were wigs. I think they were marked as firm.

But as long as it's not marked firm, I'll throw in an offer. Especially if they're charging PP fees. But if I find something I like, but I'm not sure on the price, even if I have some money, I'll just subscribe to the thread because usually people mention in a new comment when they bring the price down. That's how I got the jacket.

 

I think it's fair to make an offer as long as the seller didn't state "price is firm" on their sale. Of course I do think it's a little rude to offer a price well below what the doll typically sells for.

 

I think haggling is fine - I've had people send me offers for items I have on the MP many times. If their price is too low, I often give them a counteroffer. For instance, I had someone offer $50 for an outfit I had listed at $65. I countered with $57 (halfway between my price and the offer).

I think that if people offer way less than the list price, it needs to be done politely. It's rude if someone says something like, "Your price is way too high - no one will ever buy it at that price. The doll is yellowed and has a broken finger, so it's not worth $500. The best you'll get is $400 from me." If they said something like, "I love this doll! Unfortunately, my funds are low at the moment. If you decide to drop the price to $400, please let me know and I can send payment immediately." Even then, some people might be offended, but at least the second option didn't insult the seller.

 

If the seller puts in the listing that the doll is negotiable then I may try to haggle a bit. And I am always open to counter offers. But if the price is listed as FIRM then I would never ask for a bit lower price. I respect the seller's right to say no to any offer I make.

 

I don't enjoy haggling and I don't inflict it on others.

 

To me, haggling is okay if you're polite about it, although I'd never actually do it myself, because I'm only good at being on the selling end of such encounteres, I can't do it when I want to buy stuf, I have no idea why

 

I won't bother a person who says that the price is set, but if they don't specify or if they're asking for it, I love haggling. I find what I believe is a fair price for the product and offer a bit lower to give them room to counter my offer. I think it's a lot of fun!

 

personnaly I hate answering those kind of messages >.<
you can't just reply "no.", that seems rude and cold! I'm just so awkward with any kind of interaction with people .__.

I usually find it rude to bargain prices.
I personnaly assume/trust the price is calculated accordingly to the worth of the material + work, so you can live off of it. unless the price is absolutely ridiculous, then I go "wow, what a scam" and move along. simple as that. I missed many purchases because of this but I am still alive and doing well people rarely haggle for important things anyway. It's usually for gigantic flat screen telly, collectibles and taxes (and that last one is fraud! :-D ).

 

I depends, if the doll is somewhere near the original price, and you haggle down more than 50 dollars, then no. If the doll is marked up to an unreasonable price by several hundred dollars, and other people have recently sold it for close to the original price, then yes you can and probably should haggle especially if you don't want to wait for another seller with a more reasonable price.

 

I personally have not haggled on the price of a doll because the only doll I've bought off the MP so far was ridiculously cheap to start with, but I don't see the harm in it. I've also sold dolls and was open to haggling with potential buyers.

The only cases in which I feel it is inappropriate is when someone requests something that the seller specifically said they would not do (such as trades or splits) or takes a huge chunk off the seller's asking price in their offer. I think the latter in particular can be very disrespectful.

 

I think it's rude. If both parties were asian and haggling was part of their culture, fine, but you're on an international board where that is definitely NOT part of a lot of cultures. I think it's rude in real life and I think it's rude unless the seller clearly states the price is negotiable.

I've had instances where I've sold a doll far more cheaply than I should have simply because I was continually hounded by the buyer with really stupid complaints, like the postage was too expensive, and that I shouldnt charge that much for it. I don't charge that price for postage, the POST OFFICE does. It REALLY gets old fast.

 

Honestly, I feel like this is waaay off the mark. While I can attest that haggling is a huge part of Asian culture, there's nothing ethically wrong with haggling. It's just what the buyer would rather pay with what the seller would rather receive. There's less people in the world that haggle rudely just to force you to lower the price than people who'd really rather just pay a set amount.

If you have the ability to say no, no matter how uncomfortable you are or how sorry you feel it's not wrong of them. Even when you list firm, it means that the asker knows that you're less likely by miles to say yes. But they still have the right to ask.

Haggling through stating flaws and stuff though, I don't like. Stuff at flea markets, sure. It's part of flea marketing. But otherwise, in a case by case basis, if someone said "Your doll has a broken finger, so gimme $50 off the asking price", I'd be like ".____. *sniffle* Y so mean?". But if they told me that there was the exact same doll listed with the same qualities for the same price albeit the broken finger, I'd probably like take off $20 for them.

To be honest, I find this question ridiculous. People take offense way too easily. I think people feel more entitled to other people's behaviors towards them than they should. Other people aren't here for your comfort. You need to adapt.

I've had someone haggle 40% of the asking price off (which was adequately priced anyways, cheaper than normal price with shipping included) but I still took it. Why? Because I felt bad saying no. And that was completely my fault. Not the other persons. It was not rude of them to haggle, it was merely weak of me to agree.