Discount an item for a remote buyer ?

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xpd

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#324451 12-Apr-2026 09:16

Something I've been seeing more of lately, and even experienced myself recently while selling my gaming PC and just curious as to others views on it... no one is right or wrong.

I had my PC listed on FB for $1700. I'm in Auckland. Someone messaged me and said they'd take it for $1300 because they have drive from Hamilton (and this was just as fuel prices started going up).

My response was "Costs me around $20 to get to Hamilton, why would I want to lose $400 in the deal because of where you are" - as expected they didn't reply.

I've since seen other people posting in retro gaming groups for example, "got this game today, was listed for $200, its worth $400 on Ebay and I got them down to $100 because its a 2.5hr drive for me to pick it up"

I don't understand why a seller should lose money because of how far the buyer has to travel to get the item. As a buyer, yes, of course getting the item at 50% less the asking price is a score but on the other side, I don't get it.

I just bought an RC car on TM for $200 that was worth $600, there was no way I was going to try and get an even better price because I had to drive to get it. If its already a deal.......

Thoughts ?

XPD / Gavin

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Stu

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#3480148 12-Apr-2026 09:21

Thoughts? The price is the price. I don't care where you live. You either want to buy it or you don't. Especially at the unrealistic expectations you mention. $400 discount for $20 fuel? Stop wasting my time. Bah humbug.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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Goosey

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#3480149 12-Apr-2026 09:23

It’s just the standard haggle.

you can always say, “sorry, no”. Or just build in haggle to your asking price, hence the concept of a “reserve price”.

another way is to have a pricing tier….buy now and shipped to buyer vs buy now and pick up from seller.

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#3480152 12-Apr-2026 09:47

Where the buyer lives is not your problem the price is the price!

RunningMan

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#3480159 12-Apr-2026 10:28

xpd:

I had my PC listed on FB for $1700. I'm in Auckland. Someone messaged me and said they'd take it for $1300 because they have drive from Hamilton (and this was just as fuel prices started going up).

Perhaps charge them a storage fee for the extra time you need to hang on to it because they're not picking up immediately. $400 seems fair in this case.

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#3480164 12-Apr-2026 11:17

xpd:

I've since seen other people posting in retro gaming groups for example, "got this game today, was listed for $200, its worth $400 on Ebay and I got them down to $100 because its a 2.5hr drive for me to pick it up"

This makes sense only if the seller is in a location where they cannot or do not want to market and sell the item themselves for its full value. You see this on television all the time where dealers will buy something for half what it's worth from a barn in the countryside and resell it with a significant margin where the buyers actually are or through their connections.

I have a few DVDs that are worth a bit of money. One box set is listed on eBay for more than $US200. I couldn't sell my copy for anything like that because the shipping would be high and I cannot sell it locally due to the lack of a certification sticker and probable lack of local demand. In that context, selling the item for a discount to make it worthwhile for a remote user makes some sense.

If you're selling an item that can be reasonably shipped from one location to another or could be sold locally to someone willing to collect, and you are not involving a dealer, then no, there should be no expectation for any sort of discount because they buyer is far away.

freitasm

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#3480197 12-Apr-2026 11:48

That's just people trying to get it cheap and list it again for the actual value they expect to collect.

You don't have to accept lowball offers.

"No" is a complete sentence.

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#3480207 12-Apr-2026 12:55

If it isn't worth it to you at the advertised price, don't buy it. The cost to get it into your hands is a factor in that.

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#3480215 12-Apr-2026 14:24

It’s just haggling. That would be a no from me. Not up to you to worry about their transport problems. Sell it for whatever you think is a fair price unless you want to get rid of it.

edit: I always give good deals to start with and have given lots away free but yeah that’s for sure a low ball bargaining tactic which is fine but you needn’t feel you have to play that game.

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#3480220 12-Apr-2026 15:03

JayADee:

Not up to you to worry about their transport problems.

A couple of years ago I bought something from a place in Germany. It weighed maybe 6-7 kg and I think I paid around 35 euros (directly to the vendor) to get it over here. They sent it, but not without a guilt-trip email telling me that it actually cost them 65 (or whatever).

I checked their website again a couple of weeks later and they were still listing 35 euros for delivery to NZ.

cddt

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#3480276 12-Apr-2026 21:08

It's yet another form of haggling. They're just trying to put an excuse on offering a lower price.

Scott3

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#3480292 13-Apr-2026 00:07

It's just haggling / negotiation.

Assuming one doesn't entertain sob stories, and sell stuff for below what they deem to be market value (I don't as they are typically impossible to verify, and not my concern anyway), the reason for a discount is requested is irrelevant. I am not taking pricing advice from a counterparty...

So all it comes down to is an offer and acceptance / decline / counteroffer...

Of the person in Hamilton, it is likely true that they value the inconvenience / time & vehicle running cost of getting an item from another city is likely genuinely worth $400. But if the seller isn't interested at the reduced offer, then the deal won't happen. (note many people don't have access to subcompact hatchbacks or EV's)

In this case the perspective buyer was in a major city, so for something as mainstream as a PC, likely has local buying options.

OP is also in a major city, so has a decent pool of local buyers.

The above starts to fall over with small town's. I did A four hour round trip (I have an EV, and no RUC's in aussie yet, so vehicle running costs are low), to pick up a used heat pump dryer, saving about AUD400-500 vs a local equivalent. Value of the product was depressed in part due to it's location. I didn't mention where I was coming from, but the seller immediately accepted my offer at 4/5ths of asking price. And even accommodated me picking up at 11pm (I forgot I had a time zone to cross when I set out).

Similar deal for rural buyers. Unless you get really lucky and somebody in your local area is selling an item at a low price to entice city buyers to drive out, if you want something, you need to drive into the city at your cost, and pay city prices.

Ultimately the person in the small town has to carry the Burdon of this, as buyers / sellers in big cities have a decent market.

-----------
I have just set up a house with a significant amount of used stuff in a city of 700,000. (with a city of 2.8m 1:20 drive away).

Multiple trips into the bigger city to get what I want at an attractive used price that was not available locally. Plus that 4 hour round trip for the tumble dryer.

And I had an about 5 hour round trip to the far side of the big city, largely because an exact pair of my standing desk came up for sale AUD 600+ cheaper than a new one, and having a matching pair looks great. Also was able to pick up up a genuine roof rack for my car at about $500 less than new retail in the same trip where there was none available locally.

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#3480305 13-Apr-2026 07:56

i'll just give a single word reply to the offer - "Pass." if feeling a little cheeky you may ask, "can you get it for $1700 within a mile from your location?".

factoring the cost of petrol to pick up the item is only a factor if the item is available to the buyer at the advertised price without having to travel as far.

should a hotel in paris be cheaper for us because we have to travel from NZ?