OK, who's wrong?

MSRP was around $750 IIRC. If he doesn’t want to take your offer, just move on… there will always be another one along shortly. And I think he will get what he is asking for it, or very close to it.

Cheers,
Brad

-- Brad in FL - In Dog I trust... everything else is questionable

I send emails like that from time to time. I probably wouldn’t have captiolized “way”, but i see noo issues otherwise. That said, I would suggest you don’t bother following up or engaging if the first try doesn’t work.

I don’t have an opinion about whether his or your price is fair for this item but personally, if I think someone is low-balling, I may not bother responding either. In fact what I have done to someone who I thought was rude or insultingly low was counter with a higher amount. And when I am the buyer and I think their price is way over its value (to me), I don’t bother wasting my time (or theirs) trying to convince them they’re wrong. I just keep looking for someone whose price is in the ballpark of what I want to spend.

-- Nathan, TX -- Hire the lazy man. He may not do as much work but that's because he will find a better way.

So, couple things – definitely NOT engaging him anymore. I was just surprised at the level of attitude I got. Maybe I shouldn’t have done the “WAY” but honestly I didn’t even give it a thought. I had hoped that giving some background on how I came to the price would have shown I wasn’t just being a jackass.

As far as the MSRP, I heard it on a couple things I saw, including the “best jointer under $600” in the fine woodworker link.

I guess I’ll keep looking…

I bought a 6 inch Jet Jointer a few years ago and paid $300 for it. So…your offer may not be out of line. Probably was to the seller. Maybe he is waiting for a sucker. There is one born every day – WC Fields! :-)

-- Handcrafted by Mike Henderson - Channelview, Texas

Lucky he didn’t tell you OK, then when you got there to pick it up tell you he just sold it for 275.00.

Personally I don’t start out negotiations insulting someone by telling them their price is WAY high.
If I wanted to make an offer, I would start off by telling them I would be willing to give them 250..
and see where it goes from there. Sometime they say OK, sometimes they may counter,
no one insulted either way.

I think it was a little out of line and would have probably did the same as he did.
But also I understand this is Craigslist and, well, I’ve heard worst.

Don’t bother him. It’s hard to perceive how others will interpret your email. Regardless, the “WAY” thing was a little out of line, if you were trying to be nice. I’m sure you figured that out by now.

It’s unfortunate that he won’t negotiate, however you never really gave him an opportunity with the wording of your e mail. The only thing to do now is wait. If, after a month, it’s still there, he may come to his senses. I had a planer purchase work like that once. I drove out and we couldn’t agree on a price. I went home feeling frustrated for driving out there, but felt I had made a fair and competitive offer. Well two week later he e mailed to say he would accept my offer. He had become more motivated to sell in those two weeks. This probably won’t happen to you, it sounds like you hurt his pride a little. Still, if it’s there in a month, you might send an e mail starting with…”Listen, I wanted to write to apologize for my last message…” If it’s not, I guess someone just got taken…

My two cents.

-- When you earnestly believe you can compensate for a lack of skill by doubling your efforts, there is no end to what you CAN'T do

This is caitalism. The seller sets the price not the buyer.

This is caitalism. The seller sets the price not the buyer.

But in capitalism, the buyer can refuse to purchase if the buyer sets too high a price…

-- Herb, Florida - Here's why I close most messages with "Be Careful!" http://lumberjocks.com/HerbC/blog/17090

Nobody’s right or wrong. Something is worth what a willing seller and a willing buyer agree on.

Well maybe Carloz is wrong.

-- Alaskan's for Global warming!

I see ads on CL frequently where I think the price is out of line. But I’ve never sent a message explaining that, even if it was something I might be interested in. Mostly because I’ve always suspected it would end like your venture did. So I guess I’m not sure you were out of line with your thoughts on value, but maybe with the message.

-- Our village hasn't lost it's idiot, he was elected to congress.

I use to sell stuff on CL a lot and I personally got sick of all the crazy welfare idiots on there that are trying to get something else for nothing. Your only thinking about your one email while the seller probably gets several emails a day offering him that little for something that to me looks lik it would be a steal (or at last a really good deal) for $250. A new harbor freight version of that is more than your offer and a new porter cable small jointer is 200 at lowes.
He probably shouldn’t have gotten so teed off at you and he was a little rude but personally I think 250 was a little low and your email telling him that it wasn’t worth was much can be a hair insulting.
The better way of doing it would have been to email and say “I seen your jointer in CL and it looks great. If you could do 250 let me know and ill come pick it up”
Last year I posted my 2014 Honda civic on CL for sale. The car lot already offered me 12k trade in and it booked for 14K (with nothing for sale within 100 miles of me for under 13.5) and mine just had 25000 miles. You would be surprised how many folks offered to “take it off my hands” for $8-10K. In my area ppl wanna act like you aint eating tonight unless you sell to them for about half of what it is actually worth. Point being the seller is dealing with a lot of nuts and probably got rude with a few folks and you just happened to be one that he did…

-- Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might

Not only do I get ridiculous low ball offers for stuff, but the scammers are insane. Sure, I’ll take more than what it’s worth and then pay the difference to someone else, yep, i’m really that stupid.

-- A good day is any day that you're alive....

The adage of ”...used price should be 50% of “new” price…”, does NOT mean 50% of the original +10yr ago price. It means 50% of what a NEW TODAY PRICE of an equivalent jointer is currently selling.

Inflation applies to both used and new equipment alike. Food for thought…

-- HorizontalMike -- "Woodpeckers understand..."