If I don’t know the seller, I negotiate. Few are unwilling to take a fair offer, and most I find are priced a bit high with this in mind. Some dealers are just unreasonable and disconnected from the market, and will not sell at a reasonable price. When they reach for a Beckett and quote a NM price for the VG card in their case, wish them a nice day and move along.
If I know the seller, I know the price discount range they work in and if that range will make a particular card work for both of us. One I just pick the cards I want, he tells me how much, and I pay him whatever he says because I know he is more than fair to me (only dealer who has sold me cards for less than I’ve offered because my offer was too much in his eye) and I trust him. I pay a tad bit higher at shows than online because it is 0 risk and I can see the card. Sometimes it’s worth paying 5% more on item X as part of a deal to get Y and Z along with it.
If I’m buying junk or commons, I offer to buy a lot at a steeper discount because it’s junk they really just want to get rid of. Nobody has yet turned me down for offering 50% of the sticker list price when buying bulk junk wax and factory sets. Quality material, there is obviously less room to go low and you can’t do this.
I never offer a price that is unfair, even if we don’t make a deal I make sure my offer is within normal selling prices and not a lowball. This one deal may not work out, but not trying to cheat anyone or rip them off makes them willing to try again on another item at the next show. The amount of guys I’ve seen offering $20 for Mantles is amazing.
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