make a very low offer after saying bad things about an item for sale

[alpacinou]

Hello.

Let's say you have a car and you want to sell it. You price it at 50 thousand. A potential customer sees the car and say your car is worth 35 after giving you a lecture about the flaws of the car.

I am looking for a word which means to make a low offer for something after saying many bad things about that item. In my language we have a saying which literally translates to "He is smacking the head of your possession". It means he wants to say bad things to reduce the price.

Is there something similar in English?

I know the word "lowball". Is it offensive because of the ball in it? Can it be used everywhere? Have I used it correctly in this sentence?

Man! That customer kept saying bad things about the car. He wanted to lowball the car / me.

I am also looking for something which means to say bad things about a item for sale to try and haggle and reduce the price.

 

[Raymott]

You can use "talk down the price", but that doesn't specifically mean by pointing out defects. Nor does "to lowball a price": that just means to offer an unrealistically low price. There's no problem with words with "ball" in them. A ball is quite an innocent plaything.
I can't think of a specific term for "talking down the price by pointing out defects".

 

[alpacinou]

I can't think of a specific term for "talking down the price by pointing out defects".

I wish there was one.

 

[alpacinou]

Can I use "lowball" like this?

The potential customer was lowballing the car.

I know this must be correct:

The potential customer was lowballing me.

 

[Raymott]

To be honest, I've never used the term "lowball". It might be American. I don't know the specifics of its use. I don't think you can lowball the car. You can lowball the person selling it.
You could look here:
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lowball.asp

 

[jutfrank]

I've never ever heard the word lowball. It doesn't even sound to me like it should be a verb. Perhaps it's in use in American English.

I'd say it's likely an average BrE-speaker would have no idea what you were talking about, unless there were plenty of obvious context.

 

[GoesStation]

I know the word "lowball". Is it offensive because of the ball in it? Can it be used everywhere? Have I used it correctly in this sentence?

Man! That customer kept saying bad things about the car. He wanted to lowball the car / me.

"Lowball" is the word you're looking for, at least in American English. There's nothing offensive about it or about the word "ball".

Your sentence isn't quite right. I don't have the energy right now to correct it. Perhaps a fellow American will chime in.

 

[GoesStation]

Can I use "lowball" like this?

The potential customer was lowballing the car.

I know this must be correct:

The potential customer was lowballing me.

You don't lowball the thing. "To lowball" is, in American English, to offer a very low price. I'm sure you can find many examples of its use if you Google it.

 

[probus]

You don't lowball the thing. "To lowball" is, in American English, to offer a very low price. I'm sure you can find many examples of its use if you Google it.

I agree. You lowball the seller by offering a low price.

 

[tedmc]

Lowball is usually used with offers and prices.

You could say the defects of the item are taken advantage of/highlighted for bargaining purposes.

 

[probus]

You could say anything you like, but defects in the object under consideration have nothing to do with the concept of lowballing. Offerors may lowball because they think the seller is in a weak bargaining position, or because they want the thing only if they get it very cheap, or for other reasons. A lowball offer is a lowball regardless of the offeror's motives, as Raymott said in post #2.