The Message That Almost Made Me Quit Marketplace
Three years into reselling, I had a vintage Roseville Zephyr Lily vase listed at $165 on eBay. It was a fair price — comps supported it, the piece was in excellent condition, no chips, no repairs. A buyer sent this message: "LOL $165 for an old vase?? My grandma had one of these and it was junk. I'll give you $25 and that's generous."
I typed out a response that was... let's say not professional. Thankfully I didn't send it. But I stewed on that message for the rest of the afternoon. I was irritated while packing other orders. I was short with my partner at dinner. One rude message from a stranger on the internet hijacked my whole evening.
That was the moment I realized I needed to change my relationship with lowball offers — not just my response strategy, but my emotional reaction to them. Because if you let lowballers get inside your head, this business will grind you down.
Why Lowballs Hit Harder Than They Should
Logically, a lowball offer is just a number on a screen from someone you'll never meet. But it doesn't feel that way, and there are real reasons for that:
- It feels personal — you sourced that item, cleaned it, researched it, photographed it, wrote the description. When someone offers $25 on a $165 item, it feels like they're saying all that work is worthless.
- It questions your expertise — you know the value. You checked comps. And now some stranger is implying you're delusional about what your item is worth. Even when you know they're wrong, it stings.
- It accumulates — one lowball is whatever. But when you get three in a day — $15 on a $60 item, $30 on a $120 item, another $25 on the same $165 vase — the frustration compounds. By the third one, you're ready to throw your phone at the wall.
- Rude messages compound it — a lowball offer of $25 is annoying. A lowball offer of $25 with "lol nobody is paying that much, this is used garbage" is infuriating. The offer itself isn't the problem — it's the disrespect attached to it.
Understanding why lowballs trigger you is the first step to not letting them. Once I recognized that the frustration was about ego and accumulated stress — not about the actual offer — I started handling them much better.
Reframing: What a Lowball Offer Actually Tells You
Here's the perspective shift that changed everything for me: a lowball offer is a buying signal. A terrible, poorly calibrated buying signal, but a buying signal nonetheless.
Think about it. That person:
- Found your listing (your SEO/title is working)
- Looked at your photos (your photography caught their eye)
- Read enough to be interested (your description was compelling)
- Took the time to compose and send a message (they want this item)
They did everything except offer a reasonable price. That's actually pretty close to a sale. Compare that to the thousands of people who scrolled right past your listing without a second look. The lowballer is more engaged than 99% of people who saw your item.
Now, I'm not saying every lowball is a potential sale. Some are genuinely not serious. But I've closed enough deals that started with an absurd opening offer to know that writing off every lowballer is leaving money on the table.
My actual numbers: in the past 12 months, I've received about 95 offers that I'd classify as genuine lowballs (under 50% of asking price). Of those, 22 turned into completed sales after counter-offers, at an average of 78% of my original asking price. That's $3,400 in revenue from offers that initially made me want to hit "decline" and forget about them.
The Scripts That Actually Work
After years of experimenting, I have four response templates that cover virtually every lowball scenario. I keep them in a notes app on my phone so I can paste and tweak them in 30 seconds instead of composing a fresh response while annoyed.
The Simple Counter (For Offers at 40-60% of Asking)
"Thanks for the offer! The lowest I can go on this piece is $145. Let me know if that works for you."
That's it. No explanation of why their offer is too low. No justification of your price. No education about what Roseville pottery is worth. Just a polite acknowledgment and a firm counter. I use this response for about 70% of lowball offers, and it works surprisingly well. About 30% of people come back with a reasonable counter-offer after receiving this.
The key is the tone. "Thanks for the offer" isn't sarcastic — it's genuine. Someone showed interest in your item. That's a good thing. Responding with warmth rather than defensiveness keeps the door open.
The Value Add (For Offers at 50-65% Where the Buyer Seems Uninformed)
"Thanks for your interest! This is a Roseville Zephyr Lily pattern from the 1940s — these typically sell in the $150-180 range in this condition. I could come down to $150 if you're interested."
This works when the lowball seems like it's coming from ignorance rather than rudeness. Not everyone knows what things are worth. Some buyers legitimately don't realize they're lowballing — they just don't know the market. A brief, non-condescending mention of the item's value context often moves these people to a reasonable offer.
I sold that exact Roseville vase to a buyer who initially offered $50. After I sent a version of this response, she came back at $140 and we closed at $150. She later messaged me that she didn't know Roseville was collectible — she just thought the vase was pretty and took a shot at a low price. She's now bought four more items from my store.
The Firm No (For Offers Below 30% or Repeat Lowballers)
"Hi — thanks but I'll have to pass on that offer. My price is firm at this time. If anything changes I'll let you know!"
Clean, polite, final. No counter-offer because the gap is too large to bridge. I use this for the $25-on-$165 type offers. There's no point in countering — the buyer and I are in different universes on value. But notice I'm still polite. No snark, no "lol nice try," no lecture about how their offer is insulting. Professional to the end.
The Ignore (For Rude or Hostile Messages)
Sometimes the best response is no response. If someone sends "this is overpriced garbage, I'll do $20" — I don't reply. If someone sends a paragraph explaining why I'm ripping people off — I don't reply. If someone uses profanity or personal insults — I don't reply, and I block them.
Engaging with hostile messages is never productive. You won't change their mind. You won't feel better after arguing. And on platforms like eBay, heated message exchanges can get both parties flagged. The block button exists for a reason — use it without guilt.
The Emotional Toolkit
Response scripts are only half the battle. The other half is managing your own reaction so the lowballers don't drain your energy and enthusiasm for the business. Here's what works for me:
The Three-Second Rule
When I see a lowball offer, I don't respond immediately. I read it, close the notification, and do something else for at least a few minutes. Sometimes I'll go photograph an item. Sometimes I'll package a shipment. By the time I come back to the lowball offer, the initial flash of irritation has passed and I can respond professionally.
Early on, I'd respond within seconds of reading a lowball — and those responses were always worse. More defensive, more wordy, less effective. The brief pause doesn't just save you from saying something you'll regret, it actually produces better business outcomes because your counter-offer is strategic rather than emotional.
Batch Your Offer Responses
I check and respond to offers twice a day — once in the morning, once in the late afternoon. I don't respond in real-time. This serves two purposes: it lets me batch-process the emotional load (dealing with five lowballs in a row becomes routine when it's a scheduled task), and it keeps me from being reactive throughout the day.
When offers come in as push notifications on your phone, every lowball interrupts whatever else you're doing. Turn off offer notifications or set them to silent. Check on your schedule, not theirs.
Remember Your Numbers
When a lowball gets to me, I pull up my sales dashboard and look at my monthly revenue. Last month I did $6,800. This lowball offer of $25 on a $165 vase represents, at worst, a $165 sale I haven't made yet. That's 2.4% of my monthly revenue. I'm spending emotional energy on 2.4% of my income. That perspective helps.
I also look at my acceptance rate on offers. About 60% of offers I receive are reasonable and lead to sales. The lowballers are the minority. It just doesn't feel that way because the lowballs are the ones that stick in your memory.
Separate Your Identity from Your Inventory
This is the big one, and it took me years to internalize. When someone lowballs you, they're not attacking you as a person. They're making an offer on an object. Your Roseville vase is not you. Your pricing is not your self-worth. Your business is not your identity.
I know resellers who take every lowball personally because they're emotionally attached to their sourcing skills and market knowledge. "How dare someone offer $25 when I know this is worth $165" is really "How dare someone not respect my expertise." Once you separate those two things — the item's value and your personal expertise — lowball offers lose most of their emotional charge.
When to Engage vs. When to Walk Away
Not every lowball deserves a response, and not every buyer is worth your time. Here's my framework:
Engage When:
- The offer is at least 40% of asking — there's enough room to negotiate toward a mutually acceptable price. Someone offering $70 on a $165 item might accept a counter of $140.
- The buyer asks a question with their offer — "Would you take $60? Is there any damage on the bottom?" Someone asking questions is interested and gathering information. They might just be testing the waters on price.
- The item has been listed for 30+ days — stale inventory benefits from any engagement. An offer of 50% on a 60-day-old listing might be worth considering, especially if you've already dropped the price once.
- The buyer has positive feedback/history — on eBay, I check the buyer's feedback score before responding. A buyer with 200+ positive feedback who sends a low offer is usually a bargain hunter who'll pay a fair price. A brand-new account sending a $25 offer is more likely a time-waster.
Walk Away When:
- The message is hostile or rude — no amount of professional response will turn a hostile person into a good buyer. They'll be difficult through the entire transaction.
- The offer is below 30% of asking — the gap is too wide. Engaging just wastes your time on back-and-forth that won't end in a sale.
- You've already countered once and they haven't moved — if you counter at $145 and they come back at $30 again (yes, this happens), they're not negotiating. They're anchored to their number and won't budge. Move on.
- The same buyer lowballs across multiple listings — serial lowballers are using a volume strategy. They send $20 offers on fifty $100+ items hoping someone will bite. Don't be that someone. Block and move on.
Dealing With Rude Messages
Lowball offers are one thing. Rude messages are another. And unfortunately, they come as a package deal sometimes. Here are real messages I've received (paraphrased slightly) and how I handle them:
"Nobody is going to pay that price, you're dreaming" — I don't respond. The sold comps prove otherwise, and I don't need to prove it to a stranger. If the item sells at my price next week, they'll never know, and that's fine.
"I can get this at Goodwill for $5" — Great, go get it at Goodwill then. I don't say this (tempting as it is). I just don't respond. If they could get it at Goodwill for $5, they wouldn't be messaging me.
"This is way overpriced, I've been collecting these for 20 years" — This one used to get to me because it challenges my knowledge. Now I recognize it for what it is: a negotiation tactic. Someone claiming expertise to make you doubt your pricing. I either ignore it or send a simple "Thanks for your interest — my price is based on recent sold comps. Let me know if you'd like to make an offer."
Profanity or personal attacks — Block immediately. Report on the platform if it's egregious. Life is too short, and platforms take harassment seriously when reported.
The common thread: I never match the energy. If they're rude, I'm either silent or polite. Never sarcastic, never defensive, never rude back. Not because I'm a saint — because it's better business. A snarky response might feel satisfying for five seconds, but it can lead to retaliatory negative reviews, false claims, or a platform dispute that eats hours of your time.
The Mindset That Changed Everything
A reseller friend of mine who does about $15K/month shared her approach and it stuck with me: "I run a business. Lowball offers are part of the business. I don't get mad at shipping costs. I don't get mad at platform fees. I don't get mad at lowball offers. They're all just costs of doing business — some cost money, some cost patience."
She treats lowball offers the way a store owner treats a customer who walks in, browses, and leaves without buying. You don't chase them out the door yelling about wasting your time. You just help the next customer.
That reframing helped me enormously. Now when I get a lowball, my internal response is more like "not this one" rather than "how dare they." It's a non-event. I decline, counter, or ignore based on my scripts, and I move on to something productive.
Practical Habits That Reduce Lowball Frequency
While you can't eliminate lowballs entirely, a few practices reduce how many you get:
- Price accurately from the start — items priced way above market attract more lowballers because buyers perceive room to negotiate. If comps show $150-180, price at $165 — not $225 hoping someone will offer $165. Inflated pricing invites lowballing.
- Use auto-decline thresholds — on platforms that support it, set auto-decline — similar to eBay's Best Offer threshold settings — so offers below 50-60% never reach you. You never see them, never get annoyed, never waste time. On my APMTSales storefront, I set minimum offer thresholds per item so only serious offers come through.
- Include condition details and comps in your description — when buyers can see that your item is priced in line with recent sold comparables, informed buyers offer accordingly. The lowballers will lowball regardless, but you'll get more reasonable offers overall.
- Respond to reasonable offers quickly — buyers who send fair offers and don't hear back within a few hours often lose interest or buy elsewhere. Prioritize responding to reasonable offers over stewing about lowballs. The good buyers deserve your energy more than the lowballers.
What I Wish Someone Had Told Me on Day One
If I could go back and talk to myself when I was stewing over that $25 offer on the Roseville vase, I'd say this: the lowballs never stop. Five years in, doing $6K+ per month, I still get them regularly. What changes is your response — both external and internal. You develop scripts that handle the business side efficiently. And you develop the emotional calluses that keep a $25 offer from ruining your Tuesday.
That Roseville vase? It sold three weeks later for $158 to a collector in Oregon who messaged me, "Is $158 the best you can do?" I said yes. She paid within the hour. Professional, respectful, easy. For every lowballer sending rude messages, there are ten reasonable buyers who just want a fair deal. Focus your energy on them.
