Regarding the Ebay thing,
It's not really the point I was getting at, but as a side discussion I guess, I can't really say the woes of the seller impact me in any way... If selling it for anything less than its list BIN price means he takes a loss on it somehow, by all means he shouldn't do that. But then again, he also shouldn't imply he'll negotiate either. That's just stupid on his part.
But, to my point, if you're listing a BIN of $10 and then you list Make Offer as an option, but anything less than $10 is now not worth your time... that makes zero sense then. And that gets back to my main question then that, if you're not willing to negotiate
at all, why list Make Offer on your auction then? The seller's reply to my $5 offer was simply, "It's got XYZ in the lot, I think $10 is a sufficient price". Again, this makes zero sense, and seems to me like wasting time for wasting time's sake. *shrugs*
To put it in a more real world context, I have bought quite a few cars over the years for "work cars". I use scrap value of a junked car as my base price to work off of, and how far up I'm willing to come from that price, but that is what I can get out of the car should it turn out to be unfixable. And I make my offer, and they make theirs (or don't... Some guys get offended and won't negotiate), and you go from there. I'm sure they have bills, and problems, and this and that, but they also have a car out of inspection for 2 years with holes you could put a toddler through in it. It's not my problem and I'm offering them something more than they'll get at a junkyard for it. If they're not willing to negotiate on that, that's fine, but they shouldn't say in their Craigslist listing "Negotiable" under the price they're asking then.
I'd have taken a counter-offer to my $5 offer on the auction, but he didn't give it... Possibly just a situation of someone being so offended they would rather get nothing than something, I don't know. But regardless of all that, I don't put myself in the place of the seller, as I am not the Ebay charity guy as a buyer. I can only pay what I view it's worth, and they're either interested in talking about it, or not I guess... sad on his part if he'd refuse anything, but fine. I just found the listing having Make Offer on it to be, ultimately, silly. He wasn't interested in that option being used.
In regards to the Amazon thing, I've never really had much issue, and Matt, I did take it to Amazon, but kind of on accident.
I started a chat just to ask them why the seller would ask me to cancel the order, told the rep all the details, etc. They escalated it though because that struck them as fishy, and Amazon seemed genuinely annoyed he listed an item then claimed not to have it. So I ultimately go them involved, but I only wanted to know if I were to cancel the order myself (as the seller oddly requested) if it somehow could come back on me in some negative way. They force the seller's hand, and he had to cancel the order and remove his listing ultimately. It was my first "odd" situation. The item in question has risen in price in the last year or two, and it may be that which made the seller regret the listing being left up. And by the by, he was indeed forced to remove the item. So there's that, at least.
Anyway, I'm watching their store now and plan to report them if it pops back up for an inflated price. I doubt it does much good, but hey, I feel this person was shifty on this, so piss on them.
Dave, I've had probably a 50/50 (or close) rate of success using Make Offer on Ebay... I tend to buy customizing junk or diorama junk that way, or a lot of things from Asia have that in the listings, and I find it's because they know they got it for 5 finger discount or very cheap at least, and I wind up doing well... It's all in what you're willing to pay, and willing to walk away from the negotiation over. I always just take into account the retail prices if I know them, their shipping offer, if I want more if they have more, etc. Whatever factors I can, basically, and ultimately what it is worth to me, to own whatever worthless thing it is I'm trying to buy.
I negotiate at the local toy show, always, and usually find guys will talk... It's usually bundling stuff together to get a lower price, but I've had 99% success at the toy show. Only one guy ever was a douche about negotiation, and he doesn't set up any longer. I can't fathom it's because he seemed to sell so little, and asked a mint for every random POS he had on his table. Friends who set up at the show all generally feel the same way... Negotiation leads to sales, and you never want to leave heavier than you showed up with toys.