Here’s why there are so many Facebook marketplace lowballers:
There are a lot of lowball offers on Facebook and other marketplaces mostly because the method has a reasonable chance of success.
Buyers on these marketplaces can save a lot of money by trying a low offer.
The easiest way to deal with them is to stand firm on the price that you have chosen.
So if you want to learn all about why so many lowballers are in the Facebook marketplace, then this is the right place for you.
Let’s get started!
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Why Are There So Many Facebook Marketplace Lowballers? (6 Reasons)
If you have ever tried to sell something on Facebook marketplace, then you know that lowball offers are frequent and abundant.
It can feel frustrating, but it might help to know why it happens so much.
Are they just trolling you?
In some cases, yes, but there are a lot of reasons for a person to send you a lowball offer, and most of them aren’t nefarious.
#1 Flipping Items
Anywhere you can find a marketplace, you’re going to find people who try to use it to make money.
Flipping items is one of the most common ways people go about this.
Surely, you’re familiar with the concept, but I’m going to spell it out just to make sure everyone is on the same page.
When you flip an item, you buy it from someone who is selling.
Then, you try to sell it at a higher price.
You might try to repair or restore the item in some way, but flipping is mostly about finding very low prices to buy things so that you can make a profit when you sell them at a normal price.
This leads to the very obvious conclusion.
Flippers on Facebook market are constantly sending out lowball offers so that they can make a profit off of selling the things they buy for super cheap.
#2 Wayne Gretzky Bargains
You’ve probably heard this quote before, but you might not know that it belongs to Wayne Gretzky, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
This explanation is also pretty simple.
People go with very low offers on Facebook marketplace to see if it will work.
The worst that can happen is that you won’t sell them the item for a big discount.
There’s really nothing for them to lose by trying.
And, if someone agrees to the low offer, then they’re getting a great deal on something they might need or want.
#3 Extreme Negotiation
There’s another philosophy that seems to come up a lot in online marketplaces, and Facebook is no exception.
Most people are at least somewhat familiar with haggling, but few are truly practiced at it.
In general, if you want to haggle, your initial offer will be lower than what you’re actually willing to pay.
You might also assume that the seller’s initial price is higher than what they’re willing to accept.
So, you put in your low offer.
They come down a little.
You come up a little, and the final price is probably fair to both parties.
But, some people don’t really understand the concept all that well.
They think that lowering their initial offer to an extreme level means that the final negotiation will be much lower.
That’s rarely the case.
The seller is only going to lower the price so much, no matter what the buyer offers.
But, when you combine this idea of haggling with the Wayne Gretzky approach, then you get a lot of lowball offers.
#4 Disagreed Value
In other cases, the potential buyer isn’t actually lowballing you—at least not from their perspective.
Facebook marketplace is a bit of a Wild West for buying and selling items.
There are no set prices on anything, and that means that all prices are pretty subjective.
Say you’re trying to sell a used washing machine.
Your opinion on the value of the washing machine is probably based on how much you paid for it compared to how much you used it.
But, to a stranger on the internet, the depreciation that comes from use might be a lot more extreme, even if it’s otherwise a pretty nice appliance.
Basically, you and the buyer completely disagree on how much the thing is worth, and that’s why their offer is so low.
When this happens, a sale is very unlikely precisely because of that fundamental disagreement.
#5 Desperation
You could roll this in with the Wayne Gretsky quote, but the motivation is a little different here.
Imagine that you’re going through hard times, financially, but your refrigerator dies.
You need a way to store food, so you’re going to try to find a replacement on Facebook marketplace.
In this situation, you can only offer what you can afford, and that might be well below the asking price for any items you see out there.
That doesn’t change the situation.
You can only offer money you actually have, so you just keep making offers until someone accepts.
It might take a hundred tries, but eventually, you can get your fridge for your budget.
This kind of tough scenario can be a powerful motivator, and it’s definitely responsible for at least some of the lowball offers you see.
#6 History of Success
While everything above is true, we can actually combine it all into one simple truth.
People make lowball offers because it works.
That doesn’t mean it always works.
It doesn’t even mean that lowball offers work a majority of the time.
But, they do work sometimes.
Since people on the marketplace are willing to take extreme lowball offers every now and then, for many, it’s worth the extra communication to at least try the lowball offer first.
If they really want your item, they’ll agree to a higher price when you turn down the lowball offer.
If they’re only looking to make lowball purchases, then you won’t be selling to them, and they’ll try to find someone who will take the low offer.
That’s really all there is to it.
How Do You Deal With Facebook Marketplace Lowballers?
As you think about the many reasons why people stick to these lowball offers, it can help you understand the best ways to deal with them.
People who are flipping items or are just trying to score a massive deal are unlikely to buy from you if you insist on a higher price.
Negotiating isn’t going to work in those cases.
But, people who are taking their Wayne Gretsky shots might be willing to negotiate, and a lowball offer might turn into a reasonable transaction.
You’ll have to weigh those outcomes in your mind when you decide what to do.
All of that said, you really have three options.
You can try to negotiate.
You can ignore the low offers, or you can double-check your price.
#1 Make a Counter Offer
Since you don’t know why they’re making the low offer, it’s hard to say what the first step should be, but in most cases, a counter offer is normal and reasonable.
They took their shot, and now you can explain that it did in fact miss.
You aren’t going to sell for less than the price you want, and you can communicate that.
If they continue to insist on the low offer after your counter, then by all means block them or take whatever action seems appropriate.
But, if you counter first, there’s a significant chance that they’ll enter into a reasonable negotiation, and you can sell the item.
For sure, you’re going to get people who are committed to the lowball, and plenty won’t respond after you refuse their low offer.
This really turns into the inverse situation of the people making the low offers.
The majority of them won’t buy your item, but sometimes, they’ll take the counter, and then you’ve sold your item.
This works at its best if you really did list the item above the price you’re willing to accept.
You can come down a little and still walk away with the cash you were hoping to get.
#2 Ignore Them
Of course, you don’t have to make a counter to every offer you see.
You have just as much freedom and control over this situation as any potential buyer, and you’re absolutely never obligated to sell when you don’t want to.
More than that, you’re not obligated to have a conversation with someone when you don’t want to.
So, if you’re not in the mood for haggling with lowballers, don’t.
You can completely ignore their messages.
If for any reason that isn’t enough, you can also block them.
It’s an easy way to move past the low offers and focus your attention on serious buyers.
#3 Check Your Price
There’s one other thing you might want to consider.
If you’re only getting lowball offers and no one at all seems interested in your item for anything resembling your asking price, the price itself might be the problem.
There’s a chance that you aren’t being lowballed.
Instead, your asking price is considerably above the current market value.
Keep in mind that markets and values change pretty quickly, so even if the price seemed right last week, it might already be off today.
It’s pretty easy to check the price of your item.
Look up similar items on Facebook marketplace and see how they compare.
You can also use eBay and other online marketplaces to really explore what people are willing to pay for whatever it is that you’re selling.
Best of all, you can often see how much items are sold for, and that will really help you determine your price.
If it looks like you’re well above market value, you can try the Wayne Gretsky approach and leave the price high, or you can bring the price down a bit to try to get some serious offers.