reduce pricing, I am open to offers?

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goodstudent

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A buyer first emailed me that he would like to offer $500 for my item. (sidenote: I did not have any price on my item yet as I am not really going to sell it yet, but I can sell it also.)

I have replied an email to a buyer "I can sell it for $700"

The buyer did not reply to me anymore. I guess he might not want to deal at $700.

How can I send another email to him to hint that I can reduce my price a bit? I thought of these sentences "I am open to negotiations." "I am open for offers", but I do not know how to put them correctly for my reply. Please suggest or correct me.

I thought of writing something like this:

Hi Buyer,

Could we deal at $700? I am also open for negotiations.
 
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Raymott

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A buyer first emailed me that he would like to offer $500 for my item. (sidenote: I did not have any price on my item yet as I am not really going to sell it yet, but I can sell it also.)

I have replied an email to a buyer "I can sell it for $700"

The buyer did not reply to me anymore. I guess he might not want to deal at $700.

How can I send another email to him to hint that I can reduce my price a bit? I thought of these sentences "I am open to negotiations." "I am open for offers", but I do not know how to put them correctly for my reply. Please suggest or correct me.

I thought of writing something like this:

Hi Buyer,

Could we deal at $700? I am also open for negotiations.
Your mistake was writing "I can sell it for $700". This could give the impression that you already have an offer of $700. (You know you can sell it for $700, because you have an offer). That's an ambiguous use of 'can'.
You could have written back, "I'm looking for something closer to $700".
But now you have a problem. Whatever you write back to this person, they know that they are your best offer so far, and that you are very keen to deal with them. That puts them at an advantage.

You could write back and say "I'm willing to negotiate. How does $625 sound?"

PS: Don't say, "Can we deal at $700?" That's already been rejected out of hand by the lack of reply.
 

emsr2d2

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A buyer first emailed me that he would like to offer $500 for my item. (sidenote: I did not have any price on my item yet as I am not really going to sell it yet, but I can sell it also.)

I'm confused, especially by the statement in brackets. Why would you advertise something for sale if you're not really going to sell it? I am starting to really hope that all of your buyer/seller posts on here are about a hypothetical situation because if I were a real buyer of a real item that you had advertised, I would be getting pretty fed up of waiting by now and I would probably have stopped replying to you as well.

Advertise the item, with a selling price.
Wait for a couple of offers to come in.
Decide whether or not to negotiate with the highest bidder.
If you're willing to negotiate, engage in brief, straight negotiation emails which end either in a sale or not.
If you don't sell to that buyer, contact the other ones who made an offer.
Engage in the same negotiations.
Sell it to one of them or take it off the market.
 

goodstudent

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I'm confused, especially by the statement in brackets. Why would you advertise something for sale if you're not really going to sell it? I am starting to really hope that all of your buyer/seller posts on here are about a hypothetical situation because if I were a real buyer of a real item that you had advertised, I would be getting pretty fed up of waiting by now and I would probably have stopped replying to you as well.

I mentioned "I did not have any price on my item yet as I am not really going to sell it yet, but I can sell it also." is because I get emails from referrals. I have many old computer parts and I did not have time to price all of them. Some people email me because they knew I have the item and they would make an offer in their first email to me. For example: The buyer first email me: I am interested in buying printer ABC. I can offer $500 for it.
Then I would reply I am looking for $700 and I did not hear back from the buyer.
 
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goodstudent

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Your mistake was writing "I can sell it for $700". This could give the impression that you already have an offer of $700. (You know you can sell it for $700, because you have an offer). That's an ambiguous use of 'can'.
You could have written back, "I'm looking for something closer to $700".
But now you have a problem. Whatever you write back to this person, they know that they are your best offer so far, and that you are very keen to deal with them. That puts them at an advantage.

You could write back and say "I'm willing to negotiate. How does $625 sound?"

PS: Don't say, "Can we deal at $700?" That's already been rejected out of hand by the lack of reply.

Thank you for explaining the "I can sell it for $700". I also sometimes say "Can we deal at $700?" and now then I know that it is wrong.

Qn A) I do not really get it why "Can we deal at $700" is not appropriate. If the buyer offered me $500 and I replied "Can we deal at $700", why the buyer does not get it that I am looking for $700?

Qn B) If I write back with "I am looking for something closer to $700", what will the buyer understand from the sentence? Will the buyer pay $700 for it? Or will he try to bargain because I mentioned "something closer"?

Thanks for all patience in explaining. Really appreciate it.
 

emsr2d2

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The only way to make it clear that you are not prepared to sell for less than $700 is to say exactly that.

My asking price is $700. This price is non-negotiable.

If you mention "around", "closer to", "approximately" etc, then the buyer will certainly take that to mean that you WILL sell for less than $700 and will offer you less than $700.
 

emsr2d2

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The only way to make it clear that you are not prepared to sell for less than $700 is to say exactly that.

My asking price is $700. This price is non-negotiable.

If you mention "around", "closer to", "approximately" etc, then the buyer will certainly take that to mean that you WILL sell for less than $700 and will offer you less than $700.
 

Raymott

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Thank you for explaining the "I can sell it for $700". I also sometimes say "Can we deal at $700?" and now then I know that it is wrong.

Qn A) I do not really get it why "Can we deal at $700" is not appropriate. If the buyer offered me $500 and I replied "Can we deal at $700", why the buyer does not get it that I am looking for $700?
"Can we deal at $700?" does not have a meaning. You can't haggle, or negotiate, or deal at a set price. The sentence would probably be taken to mean "Can we say that we have a deal at $700?"


Qn B) If I write back with "I am looking for something closer to $700", what will the buyer understand from the sentence? Will the buyer pay $700 for it? Or will he try to bargain because I mentioned "something closer"?
What would you do if you were the buyer?

Thanks for all patience in explaining. Really appreciate it.
R.
 

Raymott

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What does R. mean
That is my initial. Since I gave you my reply within the body of your post, I had nothing to write in the reply box. But you have to write something or the post can't be made.
 

goodstudent

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That is my initial. Since I gave you my reply within the body of your post, I had nothing to write in the reply box. But you have to write something or the post can't be made.

Why don't you say "But I have to write something or the post can't be made."

The whole paragraph was using "I", why is "you" needed for the last sentence?
 

Raymott

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Why don't you say "But I have to write something or the post can't be made."

The whole paragraph was using "I", why is "you" needed for the last sentence?
The last sentence applies to everyone. It uses the impersonal 'you'. It doesn't mean you, goodstudent. It means, "One has to write something or the post can't be made."
If I was talking about myself, I would have written, "But I had to write something ..."
 

goodstudent

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The last sentence applies to everyone. It uses the impersonal 'you'. It doesn't mean you, goodstudent. It means, "One has to write something or the post can't be made."
If I was talking about myself, I would have written, "But I had to write something ..."

You are using "had" because it has already happened?

"But I "have" to write something ..." is wrong?
 

Raymott

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You are using "had" because it has already happened?

"But I "have" to write something ..." is wrong?
Yes, if I'm explaining why I did something, "I have to do ..." is wrong. It has to be, "I had to do ..."
I have to write something now.
I had to write something last time I posted.
One has to write something.
 
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