So anyone who talks to me on a half-decent regular basis would know that I often dream of being a minimalist (silly want of buying things getting in my way!) and I thought one of the easier clutter-like items I could remove from my collection would be my Simpsons DVD’s. 11 seasons is a lot of shelf space for something I’ve pretty much memorized by now, so I don’t really *NEED* to have them on the shelf.
Went onto some used CD/DVD to get a feeling for what they sell for at the current time used, checked craigslist to see what other private sales were going for, and sort of… priced accordingly. I don’t want to go to a used cd/dvd store because I know I’ll end up regretting the sale and feel “ripped off” so a private sale or I’ll keep my “clutter.” If you’re wondering, it’s Seasons 1-11 on DVD + The Simpsons Movie, and I’m doing my best to sell it as one lot for ease of headache.
Then I get the following (kind of shock-to-the-system email early Wednesday morning) and was actually quite surprised and insulted by it.
Hi there,
I’m interested in taking those Simpsons DVDs… but your valuation is absurd.
First off, seasons 1-6 are so common, you couldn’t even sell them at a used DVD store — they don’t want them.
You wouldn’t get $5 for 1-4.
Maybe $5 each for 5 & 6.
I’ll do $70 for the lot
Jeff
So… I feel like he’s insulting and attacking me for me wanting to sell my DVD’s. And at the same time he wants me to buy them. And he’s offering me 56% of my listed “bulk” asking price. While not quite wide awake and definitely somewhat riled up, I do my best to politely decline his offer, that while I understand budgets are a concern to many, I would only be able to accept a sale price of 80% of my asking price as a final offer. And not that it’s even any of his business, but I explained that I came to the prices based on what I’d seen similar DVD’s and DVD sets selling on Craigslist and used DVD stores.
Then I get this (and he put all the emphasis in, really.):
I don’t want to be rude, but it has nothing to do with my holiday budget.
it has to do with a reasonable valuation of the product in question
and your pricing system is grossly inflated
expecting 70% of a price you paid 5-6 years ago
reflects a lack of understanding of the used DVD marketplace
again, you could take them all to a used DVD store,
and they wouldn’t even buy seasons 1-6
for any price
they would just say no.
meaning you couldn’t even get $5 for the lot of them.
I’ll go as high as 80.
and that’s my final offer.
or they can continue collecting dust on your shelf
Jeff
I really couldn’t think of anything more to say that would have been polite.
I sent a simple short email basically said “I already gave you my lowest offer. Happy holidays.”
This Jeff guy has valid points, don’t get me wrong. But he went about it totally the wrong way. The low-ball price I can understand, when buying I try to do it too (although of all the offers I’ve received, his initial offer was definitely the lowest) and I’ve had some pretty cold emails, but this was probably the first time I’ve ever had someone insult me first, then offer me a (really low) price in the next line.
And that’s why I complain about it here. Because I can.
And it makes me giggle that a few hours later someone else is offering to buy the lot for my asking price. I have to wait until January, but heck why not, it’s only like a week away!
