As an eBay seller, chances are you’ve already communicated with several different types of negotiators. On eBay and other online retail sites some buyers try to negotiate for a discount or to buy only part of the listing. Let’s take a closer look at five common personality types of eBay negotiators.
1. Lowballers
You’re selling 200 LEGO Green Plant Flower Stems for $20. The Lowballer sends you message, “I’ll give you $9.” You might feel insulted by some of these painfully low offers, but don’t take them personally. Just take a breath, keep your cool and compose your response. If you don’t want to send a counteroffer, just respond with something like, “Sorry, prices are non-negotiable.”
2. Lower Price Lawyers
A buyer might try to “prove” your item is worth less than your asking price. For example, they’ll message you something like, “You haven’t sold any 2×4 LEGO bricks this month, so I’ll buy them from you for less money.” They might also say, “I see another seller offering this for a lower price.” Some Lower Price Lawyers are Lowballers, but not all Lowballers are Lower Price Lawyers.
Some sellers might allow a bulk same item discount for 40 LEGO cookie tiles.
3. Bulk Discount Seekers
There are two kinds of bulk discount requests. One kind is for buying many different items, the other is for buying many of the same item from you. Sometimes buyers will just send a vague message like, “I’m planning on buying lots of items from you. Do you give discounts?”
4. “I only need one piece” People
Your listing is $1o (free shipping) for ten yellow and black danger stripes LEGO tiles. The buyer only wants one tile. Some buyers may even ask to buy the item for a rate where you’d lose money, like $1 or maybe $3. If you sell the item at $1 you are losing money since a stamped envelope costs $0.49, Paypal fees are $0.33 ($0.30 plus 2.9%) and eBay Final Value Fees are $0.10 (10%). Did you do the math yet? Yep, that’s $0.92 in shipping and fees for a $1 item. That’s not even including the cost of the envelope or any eBay listing fees.
Some buyers turn into LEGO Lord Voldemort minifig heads when they don’t get their way.
5. Hotheads (Luckily, a rare breed!)
Sometimes an eBay member may lash out at you when you politely decline their offer. Remember to always maintain the moral high ground. Respond to the message in a neutral, diplomatic tone (if a response is required). If the member is just spouting a written temper tantrum (“Wah, I didn’t get my way so I’m taking it out on you!”) without any actual followup questions, then just leave them alone. Thankfully, eBay hotheads are a rare breed–I’ve only had the pleasure of dealing with maybe one or two hotheads out of thousands of transactions. Most people are polite, especially if you are being polite.
At worst, negotiations can swallow up minutes or even hours of your time. At best, though, negotiations can boost your sales and revenue! You’ll want to decide in advance under which circumstances you’d be willing to negotiate with a buyer or whether you’re willing to negotiate at all.
No matter which type of eBay negotiator you’re dealing with, it’s essential that you are both maintaining your professionalism and have prepared a negotiation strategy in advance. If there’s no crying in baseball, then there’s definitely no crying, whining, cussing or badmouthing in LEGO selling. That is unless you’re barefoot and just stepped on a LEGO brick. We can make an exception for that.