The trouble with making an offer...

I never find offers insulting. In fact I enjoy finding out why a certain price was offered. Maybe it's because I'm out of touch. But usually, it's a dealer or someone trying to get a cheapie.
Other times it's hilarious crap like when a guy offered me 150 euro less for a tritium era skindiver that I had at a very reasonable price(based on ebay sold listings). I asked him why and he said(the lume in the lolipop seconds hand was not original) that is what the relume was going to cost. Sure. I don't think it would have cost that even if he had it done with actual nos tritium. And who on earth would waste nos tritium on a 200 euro diver?
I'd love to never sell anything but sadly, it doesn't work like that..

Over the years I have found that if I'm truly interested in a watch and it's in the game, price wise, then an offer of no less than 90% of the asking price has always been considered a fair offer. I'm not saying that it's always been accepted, but never ignored.

That was what I was think
That was what I was thinking. Some offers come disrecpectfully how come if I am selling at $100 for example I receive $50 $60 offers? And item is in lowest price among other sellers !? So better be reasonable.

My dad always said “bears make money, bulls make money, pigs get slaughtered.”

I try to set an item right around what I’d be happy with and not worry about it selling too quickly.

I personally dislike haggling. I also price things where I think it's fair.

There's a saying, not sure exactly how it goes ..

You want the cake and it it too! ...

................ 😀

If I want a watch and I think it is fair I pay the price no questions asked. If the watch is over priced I just move on. If the buyer asks my opinion I take the Janet and Fred approach, explain my point of view and try to come to a fair price.
If I happen to get an exceptional good deal then lucky me, I would not worry about the ifs and buts, I am here to enjoy watches not worry about a few quid here or there.

I want the biggest slice of cake for the lowest price!

I scour the web for past transactions. Of course there's a spectrum but if I can get a price from a year or more ago, I think it's more than fair.

Patience is hard to learn when there are dozens of examples, at least for the popular Omegas.

I had to learn patience when waiting to find exact Buescher trumpets or flugel I wanted to buy. Waiting years, in that case.

Too bad I don't feel much like playing any more. :-\

Absolutely of paramount importance if one wants to continue dealing with flippers, brick and mortar sellers, or for that matter vendors at markets. Be a big boy/girl and take your lumps once in a while. Believe me this is the fast lane to getting shown the better stuff and making sweeter deals. The sellers will give preference to you down the road. No one wants to deal with a complainer or cry baby.

Truer words were never spoken.

All of these insights are extremely valuable, coming from experience. There's no correct way; there's only the approach that works for you. Whatever else it is, buying and selling is also a skill that gets better with practice.

I posed a similar question a couple of years ago: https://omegaforums.net/threads/responding-to-will-you-end-your-auction-early-for.86943/. I humbly suggest you follow the action through all three pages, even if only to admire how instantly @time flies was able to recognize my hapless attempts to remember Nudie Cohn.

I had an interesting experience recently, dealing with a buyer. Long story short, after several last minute 'ghostings', I was approached by someone who had previously complimented the piece - they just wanted to chat about it, which was fine. They explained they were new to collecting with a single watch so I just gave some general friendly advice; research the seller not just the watch, check your locations when buying online, etc.

Then he made an offer, which included a partial trade I would just end up moving on (I'd tried the model previously), I explained that while it wasn't an unfair offer, it wasn't for me. They thanked me, and that was it. A week later they dropped me a message, 'hi how'ya doin' sorta thing. Then, "well, maybe I could..." add fifty+ email exchanges back and forth, me pointing out some of the things they should watch out for, and in the end, they went for it at just under my asking and ended up writing me a thank you note for the help along the way.

Just kinda served to remind me that sometimes buyers don't mean to be 'cheap' or rude, they just don't necessarily know what they're looking at or sometimes, what they're looking for.

As a buyer I ask questions, and as a seller I always try to welcome them.

Except for the guy who wanted one of my mint dress Seikos from the 60s because "it's a good size watch for a girl; I don't wear anything smaller than my Invicta" (I kid you not, he not only said it but had the jingly jangly thing flopping all over on a too-large bracelet) - the comment plus a total offer of about 18, maybe 20% of my asking price...I had no time of day for that guy. 🫨