A "clever-er" way of bargaining for non-negotiable items on Carousell

Not sure if you have encountered this on Carousell, but here's a little trick some buyers might use to negotiate for lower price in a sneaky manner.

Buyer : "Negotiable?"
You : "Nope, sorry. Prices are already very low, so it's fixed."

If you sell a few items, this buyer will then ask you whether you can give a discount if he buys both item 1 and 2.

Let's say both items cost $10 each.

"Well sure," you say. "in this case, how about $2 off in total?"

"okay, I will transfer payment later" says the buyer.

1 or 2 days later...

"Hi, sorry I decided that I need only item 1, will pass on item 2. I have transferred $9 to your account."

If you are not sharp enough, you might just miss it and let the deal pass.
But well if you are sharp or your margins are really tight, you will realise that this buyer has on his own accord, taken a $1 discount even though he is just buying one item (a previously non-negotiable one at that)!

What do you do? 

Cancel the deal?
Ask him to top up the $1? He might just say, alright, refund me the $9 I transferred you. Do you want the hassle of transferring back or just let it pass since it's just $1?

Clever isn't it? You can try it as a buyer, it might work!

When "Brand New" is Old-New

Some sellers on Carousell loosely label the condition of their goods on sale.

Sometimes I come across listings which the terms "Brand New", "mint", "still very good condition" are used to describe items which look like it has been used, neglected or even dusty. These sellers certainly have low standards and are not smart enough to clean up their items before taking photos of it.

Other dimwitted or dishonest listings that I have come across:-

"Brand new" yet followed with the line "used for one time and realised that it is not suitable for me, hence selling it off". 

Hello? Used one time is not BRAND NEW anymore, alright? If I try my briefs and sell it to you because I worn once but it is not suitable for me, would you dare take it as brand new?

"Brand new" and "bought last year but never used" used together in the same listing. 

1 year old item you still consider brand new? And you want to sell at brand new retail price? I might as well buy it from the shops.

"Opened once to check and placed it back" 

Who knows what you did with the item after you opened? Use it a few times, wipe it and pack it back nicely in the box, then sell off as brand new? Haven't you heard of "Once opened considered sold?"

"Not used"

I once did a trade with a guy who claimed that his item is "not used" which I presumed it to be brand new since I am trading another really un-used and brand new item with him. Ended up, when I reached home and checked it, it looked used and I guess he meant that he didn't used it anymore or don't have use for it anymore - that's why it is "not used'. Duh...

"Mint"

I believe some sellers thinks the word "mint" refers to the sweet and not the condition. I have seen photos of "mint condition" items with oxidised metal parts or thick layer of dust. If this was my item, I would consider it as "beat up" or "neglected"....

So moral of the story is, never trust the word description since "new-ness" is subjective. Best is to carefully check the condition of item in person or ask for more photos of "actual item" to ensure that you are not paying "brand new" price for a "used" item.

Happy shopping!

Wah you place is very far, can deal nearer?

Seriously, my place at the heart of City is considered far???

Where do you come from?

Oh please, you don't have any right to tell me that my place is far if you are staying in CCK or Pasir Ris or Boon Lay ok? From your place to anywhere else in Singapore is far and that is your own problem.

This is Singapore, how far can it be? 

Don't use it as an excuse to get out of an agreed deal.

Worse are the buyers who expect you to travel to meet them for an item costing just $10 or less. Hello, wake up your idea can? MRT 2 ways easily $2. Left with $8. Then time taken to travel? Might as well give you for free and you come and collect?

"I have to lower my offer to cover my cab fare...."

I have encountered 1 buyer when I was selling a bulky item.

The price listed was $35.

Buyer : Hi where do you stay?

Me : xxx (somewhere in city)

Buyer : Wah so far leh, I stay Sembawang. Can you deliver it to me for free? If not, I can only offer you $20 cos I need to take cab to collect this bulky item from you. 

Me : Aiyoh, so poor thing. Why not you take a cab down to my place and collect, I will give it to you for free. Leave your contact number, I will contact you....

Buyer : Oh really? That's so nice of you! Here's my contact xxxx xxxx. I am free most days.

CCB! You stay ulu Sembawang go anywhere also far lah. And you really believe there is a thing as free lunch? I guess you believe in fairies and elves...

So you thought I really so kind? Of course not lah! I am just baiting for the contact number so that I can blacklist in my phonelist in case of future enquiry from this same idiot! 

In the end, I sold it to Cash Converters for $5. Yes it is low, I feel more shiok.

I'd rather donate to Salvation Army collection bin in Pulau Ubin than to sell at a low price than let such Carousellers get a good deal out of it. 

Best price?

"What's your best price?"

I am sure you have met buyers who still sends you enquiries about your best price, no matter how clearly you have stated in your description that "price is fixed" or "non-negotiable", etc.

For some its clearly blatant that they are cheapskates. For item less than $5, still want to bargain $1 or $2? This is the reason why I avoid selling cheap stuff on Carousell. The frustration of entertaining idiotic Carousellers is not worth the money received!

Do you know what is a Best Price?

Then there is those who knows how to ask for best price but do not understand the meaning of "best price".

After stating your best price, (that is if you are kind enough to give a discount), the fellow proceeds to negotiate some more...

(Assuming original price 1 piece $15)

Buyer : Hi, whats your best price for 2 pieces?

You : $20

Buyer : $15?

They are just trying to lower the bar, then negotiate further. I can bet the following would happen if you have answered "$15" in the first place ...

(Assuming original price still 1 piece $15)

Buyer : Hi, whats your best price for 2 pieces?

You : $15

Buyer : $10?

Now you get it? Never trust a buyer who ask for your best price because no matter what, they will already have a "best price" in their mind.

In fact, of so many buyers who have asked me for a best price, hardly any materialize into an actual transaction. These are cheapskate Carousellers who ask this question.

So how to deal with "Best Price" buyers?

So you are new to selling on Carousell and you find negotiations very difficult for you.

Let me give you a life hack to handle such Carousellers.

The simple way is to answer them as such.

Buyer : Hi, whats your best price for this item.

You : How about you offer your best price to me via "Chat to Buy" function?

This way, you can sieve out the non-serious buyers and save your time haggling with people who won't buy.

Secondly, if they make an offer and you accept (because it is higher than your "best price", heehee), they cannot escape. If they don't complete the deal at THEIR offered price, then you have every right to issue them a bad rating...though be prepared to be given one in return from vengeful buyers.

Fly Aeroplane

"What is Fly Aeroplane?"

The term "Fly aeroplane" or "Flying aeroplane" is from the chinese phrase "放飞机" or Hokkien "Phang Puay Kee".

Releasing the aeroplane

"放飞机" (literally translated to "release aeroplane") means to fail to show up or turn up for a date, usually without prior notification.

"放飞机" should not be confused with "打飞机" (literally translated as "beating the aeroplane") which is a slang for masturbation.

"打飞机"  is what some dead Carousell Buyers do when they can't afford the things they want to buy on Carousell.

Beating the aeroplane

Dead Buyer

I am sure many of you have come across the ubiquitous dead buyers on Carousell.

"Confirm buying, bro!"

Those who ask plenty of questions about item, payment and deal venue and time, machiam like 101% confirm buying. Some even has the cheek to tell you, "Yes bro, confirm I buying", "I message you later when I on my way to your place"

Died on the way to meeting place for the deal

Hours, days later, this buyer probably met an accident on the way to meet you and died along the way to hospital...or so it seems because at the rate of Carousell buyers dying, there are many dead people every day killed by Carousell alone.
If you are lucky, you are still at home and have not set off to meet the person.
If you are unlucky, you meet those who confirmed time and place with you, then simply don't turn up and don't answer your call.

Personally, I have met 2 of such dead buyers.

Cause of Death : Exhaustion

The first one confirmed the time and place with me, just 30 minutes prior to meeting time. So I guess he was on the way since he gave me such a short notice. 10 minutes prior to the meeting time, being the punctual and responsible Carouseller that I am, I set off from my home to meet him at the designated place nearby.
5 minutes before time, this idiot messaged me and said "Sorry bro, can't meet you. Very tired. Another day can?" WTF? And yes, there is no "another day" because he died from exhaustion that day.

Cause of Death : Died on the way

The second one arranged and confirmed with me the time. He was driving to meet me at my location. Which is good for me, since I don't have much to lose.

Right up to 10 minutes before the scheduled time, I asked him whether he was coming, he can even replied that he is nearby and trying to ask me for directions to my place.

Again, being the punctual and responsible Carouseller that I am, I went down and waited for him since he could be here anytime. From 10 minutes before our appointment time till 20 minutes after our appointment time, there was no reply. Not wanting to sound desperate, I did not bother to call him and went back to my house.

Many days after, I have not heard from this guy. Presumably dead, I somehow miraculously resurrected him much later....

How To Resurrect A Dead Buyer

Carousell is so powerful, it allows you to de-clutter your home, earn some side income and even save lives - resurrect lives to be exact.

Here's how I did it.

By a stroke of luck, the second buyer mentioned above had made an offer to buy. Since I gave him the benefit of doubt, I did not use the rating systems on him for a few weeks. But since a few weeks has passed and I believe he has also passed away like most other Carousell dead buyers, I decided to leave him a bad rating just for fun to test for reaction - like poking a corpse to see if they still can respond.

True enough, his response to my rating was swift. Coming up with the lamest of excuses on why he didn't show up - his hand phone battery was flat. Oh right, you were so near to my place and you didnt even show up at my location even though I waited an extra 20 minutes for you. Surely your handphone battery was flat but your car still had petrol right?

The classic part is that he even tried to portray himself as the remorseful buyer - offering to pay the item's price to me as compensation. Yah right, talk is free and how are you going to pay me? By flying aeroplane another time? You are not dealing with Primary School kid, you are dealing with the School Principal here. By right he should pay me more, since I resurrect him from the dead.

How to resurrect a dead Carouseller.

Many Carousellers have been resurrected from the dead by other fellow Carousellers before. If you read some of the negative ratings on the dead buyers, you will often see the dead buyers replying with some lame excuses :-
"Sorry, I have my reasons."
"Busy at work thats why didnt answer your calls"

"Handphone battery flat suddenly"
"Suddenly emergency at home, thats why need to rush home"

Some resurrected Carousellers are so ungrateful, they even bite the hand that resurrect them by leaving bad ratings for their saviours.

Carousell ratings is a rich source of entertainment on a boring day.

Trades?

"Trades?"

You may have come across some potential buyers who posed the question to you in your Carousell listing.

It may sound fine if what they are offering is almost on par in value to the item you are selling.

For example a handphone for a tablet with similar market values.

But have you come across the guy who is trying to trade you stuff which even a rag and bone man would not touch, for your spanking new item? 

I encountered plenty when I was trying to sell off a brand new high end earphones.

Although my listing description specifically stated "NO trades", there will always be some who will still try their luck (anyway, its just behind the screen, no face to lose).

Being me, out of curiosity, I will take some time to browse the other party's profile to see what he has on offer. 

Most of the time I will encounter this kind of persons, which I need to warn you about :-

The Scalper

Jacking up the price of a pair of used shoes to $100 and then offering it for trade with a brand new pair of Nike shoes selling for $100 is not a fair trade.

Come on, if you want to offer stuff for trade for someone else's brand new item, at least have some brand new stuff to offer or at least something of decent value. Mind you, value is not something you state on your own junk but the value as perceived in the second hand market, that is, if there is one for your over priced junk.

The Desperado

Stuck with stuff with no takers, this chap just want to get rid of his stuff for something worth some penny. Even if it is something that he wouldn't use nor need to use. At least he has a better chance to resell your item off. 

If you find a use for his stuff, good for you, its a fair trade when both parties are happy.

Just be careful with regards to the true condition and state of his item offered for trade. 

Instead of trading via mail - which I see some female Carousellers doing (and then bitching about the state of each other's item publicly via Carousell rating system) - opt for the safer way to meet up and inspect each other's item before trading. 

If the other party insist on a trade via post instead of meeting up, do be wary, be very wary....especially if your item is really in good condition. But if both of you are lying about the true condition of your items, then both of you really deserve each other!

Still in working condition *ahem* at least there is an image!

The Hustler

I truly wish to warn you of this particular kind of trader and they do exist as I have encountered them personally.

*The item in question is changed but the story is real.

I placed a listing for an iPhone 5S for $xxx. This guy comes along and offered to trade his Samsung S5 phone with me. Nowhere in my description did I ask for a trade for another phone but never mind, I will entertain him since I do not mind trying out a Samsung.

The conversation goes like this :-

Him : "Want to trade with my Samsung S5 for your iPhone 5S?"

Me : "Only if its a one for one trade" (since I am not really keen to "upgrade" to an Android phone)

Him : "No way! You top up at least $200 for my Samsung S5! This Samsung S5 is the latest phone while your iPhone 5S is old model already."

Me : "No thanks, then..." (Hello, since my iphone 5S is old model, why do you still want to trade your so-called latest phone with me?)

Him : "Lowballer, good luck with selling your over-priced iphone 5S!...."

WTF??? You are the one who come and ask me to trade. I have the right to decide what terms I want to trade for - you got the cheek to call me a lowballer? If you think you have a better phone worth much more, go sell it off and then come and buy my phone, goodness sake. You don't even have balls in the first place.

So never be intimidated by such idiots who are just out to scam you because they can't fetch the price they want for their item, so they want to let it off an equivalent value of their exorbitant asking price in cash + goods in kind. 

End of the day, I sold my item at my original asking price to another nice buyer. See?