Dealing & Buying in bad times

[Archive]

Posted By: davidcyceback

Whether you are the buyer or the seller, it's acceptable for the buyer to make a lower offer. The seller might accept it, he might not, he might offer a price in between.

I would look for, but not expect discounts from everyone. If a dealer is able to hold cards until prices go back up, he doesn't have to sell anything at a discount right now. If market price is $50 and the dealer figures it will be back up to the old $100 in one year, the dealer may not have reason to lower his sale price to $50. He may figure $50 is the price for people who have to sell, and he doesn't have to sell.

But, again, there's nothing wrong asking for a lower price. Even the above seller might accept an offer, as he's used to people making offers in good times and bad.

Also note that dealers are usually well aware of what they paid for the item, and that value is often more important in a sale than going market price. Their profit is calculated as sell price minus buy price, not market value minus buy price. You're going to have an easier time bargaining down the price from someone who found the genuine Mickey Mantle signed baseball in a trashcan than someone who paid $1,000 for it.