Is this seller teasing me?

wishuponastar

I saw a small kitchen item advertised. I offered £5 for it as I felt asking price of £10 was too much for it. Seller said no, as they wanted £10. Fair enough, no problem. I said I'd leave it and i'll try to get another.


Then a few weeks later, seller gets in touch to say they will take the £5 now, if I can collect that week. I'm away and not back for a couple of weeks, so I asked them if they could save it for me. I did say i would be happy to pay for it now though if she could, since she would be keeping it.


Seller eventually gets in touch after another message from me to them after no reply, to say they will keep it for me but only if i pay the £10, which i feel is a bit of a tease. As if she had contacted me a day earlier i could have collected it, but she didn't mention she would get in touch if she hadn't managed to sell it for £10 and if she had done this then i would have said to her to avoid the dates i was away as i wouldn't be able to collect.


I don't have anyone who can collect it on my behalf (as I've recently moved so don't know anyone that much to be able to ask them).


Now i guess i can wait to see if she still has it for sale when i get back but am i being unreasonable by thinking she is teasing me?

Money_maker

She will probably relist it then. Just let her know when you're back and tell her if she still has it, that you'll buy for £5 then.

TBagpuss

you're each 'teasing' the other.

She wants£10 and she wants it gone, you only want to pay £5 but you want her to hang on to it.

Neither of you is doing anything wrong, you're each both negotiating to get what you want.

She may sell it to someone else, or decide that for £5 it's too much hassle, and get rid of it before you return, but if she doesn't,you can contact her then, offer her the £5 and if she says no, walk away.

krlyr

Seller thinks it's worth £10 (or thereabouts), you think it's worth £5.

To negotiate on price, there usually has to be a non-monetary worth to the offer. For example, selling for £5 today to guarantee a sale. She probably feels that holding on to it isn't worth the £5 lost - afterall, she may sell it for £10 in the interim. Or she may perhaps break it while it's sitting about (as perhaps she's selling due to lack of space to store it), in which case she's missed to opportunity to sell to someone else for £5-10 and has to reimburse you your money.

I wouldn't call it teasing, you're just both making offers on the basis of seeing what is and isn't acceptable from the other party. I agree with just waiting until you're back and offering £5 to collect ASAP - if she hasn't sold it then she may well accept your offer this time.