Trying to do a deal.......
 

......with a guy for a model.

Second hand, he has something he doesn't want, but I do. He tells me what he paid, I ask what he would take. He tells me to make an offer.

He quotes me that he PAID £350. I offer £250.

He ignores me, and when I e-mail him again, a week later, he just says my offer was too low so regretfully, he feels we are too far apart.

Now what's with that?

I asked him how much he would take, he told me to "make an offer" which I did. Then nothing?

Has he never sold anything before?

Well you did make an offer, technically £1 would be an offer, but perhaps he thought you were taking the p!ss.

I suppose it boils down to what the value of the second hand model is to him and you.

Is it particularly rare? At the end of the day there was a fair offer made imo, if he really wanted to sell he'd have come back with a suggested price after your offer to give you a chance to pay what he wants.

They guy sounds like a bit of joker, or he really isn't interested in selling.

It depends a lot on the condition/age/rarity of the model, not just what he paid.

But yeah, from the high level view we have, it does seem odd.

You broke the first rule of buying anything. Do not make an offer if you don't know how much someone wants. As my old boss once told me, can't be buyer and seller.

I'm guessing he thinks you're trying to have his pants down, took offence or thought you were a time waster.

He told me to make an offer, after telling me it cost him £350. I e-mailed back asking what sort of price he thought it was worth, he e-mailed back saying he was open to offers.


I tried him again last night, explaining my position, and apologising if he was insulted, but no response.

Strange behaviour. If he wasn't going to move on the £350, WHY tell me to "make an offer", not once, but TWICE???

We first need to know what the part is
So we can all suggest a value of it
There will be some exprerienced guys on here that will know the value or if they can get it cheaper else where or even a new one at not much more !
Then one of your friends offer £250 and another friend £275
To see if he bites and you set a target figure of maybe £325 if it's worth that

The first thing that strikes me is you say he doesn't want it. That doesn't mean he wants to sell it at a loss. He paid £350 and so why should he make a loss when you want it?

If I buy anything and somebody comes to me wanting whatever it is I have, they might just tempt me to sell it but it certainly won't be for less than I paid for it because I'd have negotiated the best deal possible originally and consequently bought it at a price that somebody else then expects to waltz in and benefit from for free, and any less would just be a píss take.

You might well be better looking elsewhere.

This may be true, but if so, WHY did he ask for offers? Why not just say, "It owes me £350?

The part is an indexable drive for a model railway turntable, using a stepper motor.

His brother bought it, took it to the USA, had it uprated by the selling company, never used it, and so passed it to him to sell for him, here in the UK.

I got the guy's details from the original selling company, (with his permission), when I emailed them asking what the state of play was re supply of that item, having heard it was deleted...it is.

So that's where we are.

He didn't reply to my email last night. The only one I've had back stated that "that combination would result in an unacceptable loss for me, so regretfully, I don't see how we can proceed...." and I only got that after querying if he received my email after 4 days of silence.

No counter offer, no, "you'll need to get closer to my valuation.." nothing. Just didn't respond.

Not sure how to proceed now.

Let him know your offer is good for exactly 7 days, and that if he wants to accept it, he has exactly that long in which to do so.

He's making a classic error. The original price he paid is a sunk cost, it's gone forever, it's completely irrelevant to what the item is worth now. The best he can hope for is to minimise his losses, but he can't possibly expect to recoup them 100%. If he's bought something and doesn't want it, then he's made a mistake and must expect that mistake to cost money.

Offer him the most you're willing to part with, hopefully that will turn his head.

It does sound like he's a bit of an oddball though, just ignoring the correspondence rather than suggesting you up your offer.

By the sounds of the guy you can let him know the offer is good for 3 minutes and it won't change his mind. It isn't Alcazar's position here to play hardball, the seller knows that.

The only mistake the guy made was revealing the cost price, though I doubt that is exact. As far as negotiating a sale he just doesn't appear that interested so there is no "sunk cost". He doesn't have to minimise a loss if he's holding on to it. He knows Alcazar wants it so why not wait for £350 and no doubt make a small profit?

If he paid £350 all in for it then it owes him £350. I could say owning the item makes him a little odd by default too so he probably doesn't get out much, let alone negotiate. :D

He has to know you want it and is either making you up your offer or isn't that interested in parting with it. I wouldn't take the lack of replies as odd, annoying yes, but some people still don't use the Internet like you may assume.

Buying over the net is never a good way to get a good deal. Too many keyboard warriors.

If you had pulled £250 cash out of your pocket I bet he would have taken it.

But sat at his computer he played billy big balls and ignored you.

I've heard back from him, turns out he is in California........I was given to understand I was dealing with his brother in Bristol.

He is working long hours and can't get his home e-mail at work, and is 8 hours behind us, so the time dealy is explained.
He is looking at Paypal charges so we are getting somewhere.

Could you not just build one?

Shirley it wouldn't cost £250+ to make it yourself?

My grasp of electronics stops at how a transistor works, Edd, sorry.

This is one clever bit of kit: It drives the turntable, can turn the loco through 360 degrees, or 180 degrees, and will stop at any one of up to 20 pre-programmed tracks with unerring accuracy. It also has the facilty that, should you lift off the bridge and replace it in a different place, it will reset and go back to what you had previously programmed in.

WAY beyond my capabilities, so I don't mind paying.

I've now done a deal that suits us both, with him paying carriage from the USA.

A win/win in the end then. That's what it's all about.