Let's Talk About Kijiji

[Slava]

Originally Posted by you&me

I negotiate in my business all day, every day... Opening with "what's the lowest you'll go?" is an absolute non-starter for me.

I've made the first move by listing a price. It's your turn to make an offer and I'll either counter or flat out say no; I'm not going to negotiate against myself.

I just respond with "well it's listed for $X.xx, so obviously that's what I think it's worth".

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by you&me

I negotiate in my business all day, every day... Opening with "what's the lowest you'll go?" is an absolute non-starter for me.

I've made the first move by listing a price. It's your turn to make an offer and I'll either counter or flat out say no; I'm not going to negotiate against myself.

Most people selling on Kijiji are not professional salespeople, though, and often you'll see an item that is objectively overpriced. I'd rather start with a, "Hey I like your thing, but honestly, your price is too high. What's the lowest you'll go?" than pretty much any other starter. Most people will reply with a new price lower than their listed price, so with one question you're already saving yourself some money.

I mean, you can hate the question, but it gets results 99.9% of the time. It's saved me thousands and when I'm selling something, it's not offensive or trouble at all when somebody asks me. Like, I'd rather talk to a guy that is serious about buying, but just wants a better price, than a guy that wants it for free and delivered to Timbuktu.

Buying an expensive car? Yeah, I'll probably start the conversation in a classier way by actually asking for more details about the car and worrying about price later. But if I'm buying a weed eater I have no shame about starting with the "what's your lowest price" question.

[Misterpants]

Kijiji needs a blue checkmark function where we can weed out the deadbeats. Especially people who ask questions and then step away from their phones for a week.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Misterpants

Kijiji needs a blue checkmark function where we can weed out the deadbeats. Especially people who ask questions and then step away from their phones for a week.

Questions are fine, but there's a special place in hell for the "hold it for me until ____" no-shows

[redforever]

Originally Posted by you&me

Questions are fine, but there's a special place in hell for the "hold it for me until ____" no-shows

I never hold anything unless they are willing to e-transfer me 50% of the agreed upon price.

That is an easy way to weed out those who are serious and those who are not.

[Chingas]

Originally Posted by redforever

I never hold anything unless they are willing to e-transfer me 50% of the agreed upon price.

That is an easy way to weed out those who are serious and those who are not.

And most of the people on Kijiji that ask for a deposit transfered are flat out thieves. I will not give any stranger money sight unseen.

[Wormius]

I see no benefit from a seller’s perspective of holding an item for any amount of time unless a potential buyer is enroute.

[Roger]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Most people selling on Kijiji are not professional salespeople, though, and often you'll see an item that is objectively overpriced. I'd rather start with a, "Hey I like your thing, but honestly, your price is too high. What's the lowest you'll go?" than pretty much any other starter. Most people will reply with a new price lower than their listed price, so with one question you're already saving yourself some money.

I mean, you can hate the question, but it gets results 99.9% of the time. It's saved me thousands and when I'm selling something, it's not offensive or trouble at all when somebody asks me. Like, I'd rather talk to a guy that is serious about buying, but just wants a better price, than a guy that wants it for free and delivered to Timbuktu.

Buying an expensive car? Yeah, I'll probably start the conversation in a classier way by actually asking for more details about the car and worrying about price later. But if I'm buying a weed eater I have no shame about starting with the "what's your lowest price" question.

I have zero faith in the tactic. Asking what the lowest price off the bat is like asking grandma how many cookies you can have before you're a good kid for the afternoon. It's an off-putting question that does not help negotiations at all.

Most of the people buying on Kijiji that are using that tactic are people that are expecting you to either drop your price immediately, or else ignore you. I'm not talking about a $4 pair of kids shoes, trying to get bargained down to $2. Doesn't need to be an expensive car. When it's a $10,000 vehicle, and the clown is opening the discussion requesting my bottom price, and I refrain, and then I get offered $5000, it's a capital F.U.

Without knowing how many times you've dealt on Kijiji, I'm just guessing that you've left a lot of money on the table by pissing people off before dealing with them in person.

What's your lowest price? My lowest price is that I'd rather haul it to the dump than deal with a cheap #### that can't actually make an offer.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Roger

I have zero faith in the tactic. Asking what the lowest price off the bat is like asking grandma how many cookies you can have before you're a good kid for the afternoon. It's an off-putting question that does not help negotiations at all.

Most of the people buying on Kijiji that are using that tactic are people that are expecting you to either drop your price immediately, or else ignore you. I'm not talking about a $4 pair of kids shoes, trying to get bargained down to $2. Doesn't need to be an expensive car. When it's a $10,000 vehicle, and the clown is opening the discussion requesting my bottom price, and I refrain, and then I get offered $5000, it's a capital F.U.

Without knowing how many times you've dealt on Kijiji, I'm just guessing that you've left a lot of money on the table by pissing people off before dealing with them in person.

What's your lowest price? My lowest price is that I'd rather haul it to the dump than deal with a cheap #### that can't actually make an offer.

By asking the what’s your lowest price question the buyer has weeded out the sellers that they don’t want to deal with. If you want the best deal you are looking for someone who just wants whatever it is gone. They aren’t looking to buy your car that you have an idea of it’s value. They are looking for the person who wants a few hundred more than the dealer offered.

So by asking what’s your lowest price up front they are saving everybody’s time. You should thank them instead of considering it an FU. They could come out, see the car, act interested and then low ball you. This would piss you off much more. An email lowball has zero cost.

[Regular_John]

Honestly when selling I much prefer the “what’s the lowest you’ll go” folks to the ones offering you 50% of the list price or some irrelevant trade.

Like I’ve got a number in my head, presumably lower than what I’ve listed at, the “lowest I’ll go” clearly becomes a take or it leave it price, which saves everyone time.

[RichieRich]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Honestly when selling I much prefer the “what’s the lowest you’ll go” folks to the ones offering you 50% of the list price or some irrelevant trade.

Like I’ve got a number in my head, presumably lower than what I’ve listed at, the “lowest I’ll go” clearly becomes a take or it leave it price, which saves everyone time.

I sold a higher value item a few weeks back on Kijiji... buyer contacted me via the message system, a few questions, expressed interest, started asking pricing flexibility... because they seemed a good sort of person I moved it to a telephone call... where we discussed in further detail which included the "what's your bottom line price?" Next day they came, inspected, and paid up. I coulda messed around further with others on Kijiji however sometimes a quick sale is well worth it, even if I might have left $250-500 on the table.
The flip side is if a posted item becomes stale... if it appears to be good but sits there too long isn't it natural to assume there's something wrong with it? and so more people just pass it by.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by Chingas

And most of the people on Kijiji that ask for a deposit transfered are flat out thieves. I will not give any stranger money sight unseen.

I have never had a problem with people being willing to give a deposit to hold the merchandise. Conversations between buyer and seller are archived and e-transfers are traceable if a problem arises. If they want to see the merchandise first, I tell them I won't hold it, first come first serve...but they can come right over if they are truly interested, end of conversation.

I have had great luck selling stuff on Kijiji. I recently renovated my main floor and powder room. I sold all my kitchen cupboards, my cooktop, wall oven, and dishwasher, kitchen sink, bathroom sink, bathroom taps, and quartz in the bathroom. I also sold all my light fixtures from my main floor.

I also went through all my kitchen things for baking and cooking and sold lots of stuff that I no longer needed or used. I have never had a problem with Kijiji.

[Wormius]

I am not an Apple aficionado but what is this? It has the front of an iPhone SE and the back of an iPhone 11. It this a scam?

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-cell-phone/c...rce=ios_social

[lazypucker]

My general Kijiji selling experience is bad, as I did try selling a few used cars throughout the years.

There's always the low-ballers - I had a used Mercedes listed at $30K where the dealer sells the same year same model for 15% more, and people texting me offering $18K, $21K!! WTF? Are you expecting me to lower the price by 40%?

Anyways, I had a few "interested" parties who wanted to test drive the car. OK, no problem. I meet them at a strip mall, and the potential buyer arrived with a van full of friends, and they went through everything on my car like a coroner examining a murder victim, flipping through everywhere of my car. And then buddy who thinks he is the chief Ferrari engineer started to criticize the car, saying this is no good, that part needs to be fixed, etc....

Such time wasters.....

[Calgary14]

When selling a vehicle on kijiji why do potential buyers insist on talking on the phone about the vehicle? The ad could list every single possible detail about the car and even explicitly state “email or messaging preferred” and they still want to start off the process with a phone call. I can definitely see talking on the phone to make arrangements to see it or buy it, but why do so many people reply with “what’s your phone number?” It almost seems like they just want to talk about cars in general, or maybe get to know the seller, or see if they can get a lowball offer accepted. I don’t want to talk on the phone and I don’t have time to chat with every single person who is interested

[Flashpoint]

Originally Posted by lazypucker

My general Kijiji selling experience is bad, as I did try selling a few used cars throughout the years.

There's always the low-ballers - I had a used Mercedes listed at $30K where the dealer sells the same year same model for 15% more, and people texting me offering $18K, $21K!! WTF? Are you expecting me to lower the price by 40%?

I often wonder what is the line between asking for a discount as part of a negotiation, and what is an offensive “low ball”? For your example above, $21 would have been my opening for an item priced at $30, with the expectation we would wind up somewhere from $25-$27.

I’m always polite “Hey, I know this is a low ball, but it’s what I can do, if it doesn’t work for you, no problem, good luck with your sale.”, but I wonder what sellers think is the line between an appropriate opening and an inappropriate one?

Thoughts from sellers?

[Fighting Banana Slug]

I don't have a major problem with bargainers, but anything approaching 50% discount will not receive a response back from me. If I do respond, it would be my bottom line number, so no further negotiation necessary.

It is a gear grinder if someone then comes back with another ####ty offer. That shows either an inability to read or someone basically trolling.

[boogerz]

Originally Posted by Flashpoint

I often wonder what is the line between asking for a discount as part of a negotiation, and what is an offensive “low ball”? For your example above, $21 would have been my opening for an item priced at $30, with the expectation we would wind up somewhere from $25-$27.

I’m always polite “Hey, I know this is a low ball, but it’s what I can do, if it doesn’t work for you, no problem, good luck with your sale.”, but I wonder what sellers think is the line between an appropriate opening and an inappropriate one?

Thoughts from sellers?

If the buyer asks me good questions, come sees the thing in person (and arrives on time), and generally puts in some modicum of effort into justifying the lowball offer, I might seriously entertain it and make a counter-offer.

Most of my stuff over the years has been priced to sell though, so I usually don't encounter lowballers.

[sec304]

One thing I've done with some low offers (reasonable ones) is that I'll tell them that if it doesn't sell within a week then I will take their offer. It's worked so far both ways

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

I don't have a major problem with bargainers, but anything approaching 50% discount will not receive a response back from me. If I do respond, it would be my bottom line number, so no further negotiation necessary.

It is a gear grinder if someone then comes back with another ####ty offer. That shows either an inability to read or someone basically trolling.

Or they know there is always a little room to get more money off.

There is zero cost to making an offer on kijiji so you as a buyer or a seller should never accept an offer. It should always be countered until one party says no.