Unsolicited Offers

[Keropi]

Going through my old e-mail again, I was reminded as to one of the reasons why I prefer not having my cel galleries be too easily accessible.

Once I got an e-mail that contained five words and a link. It said:

How much for this cel?

[link to my cel]

It's funny looking back at this now, but at the time I found it to be just a little bit annoying.

Anyone ever get a message like this?

One time I got an e-mail that said something like this:

Hi,

I offer you $150 for your cel. How would you like to sell it to me? It's a good price.

(even though the cel cost me $265)

[zerospace]

Yes, I've definitely gotten my fair share of those over the years. They're good for laughs if nothing else . I still like keeping my gallery accessible, because I appreciate others who do the same. I also don't use galleries to window shop the way that some obviously do, but I actually enjoy just visiting collections that I admire.

[sletia]

Sometimes unsolicited offers work. It got me http://sletia.rubberslug.com/gallery/in ... mID=238060 after all.
It doesn't hurt to ask, you know. *shrug* If you see something you really want... why not ask?

[Captain Haddock]

Yeah I don't think some people comprehend the notion of tact. I've made a couple of such offers myself over the years, but always end with something like 'I completely understand if you don't want to sell just contacting you on the offchance... etc'. That's all it really takes. But that is apparently beyond some people. Only had one or two myself though,

It's a shame because like keropi it puts people off displaying their galleries, even people like Rick at Anime Link doesn't show his cels in a gallery because of this exact reason.... Can you even imagine what a massive trove that gallery would be!!!

[theultimatebrucelee]

eh, I can see random offers being annoying, but only the low ball ones(which reminds me when I get more cels I should update my gallery somehow). I'd be really happy to sell to a offer thats double of what I paid for, and I'd sell any cel in my collection for that kinda offer since I'll never get any good deal anyways

maybe just put a huge NFS banner on the site, or just label a ridiculously high price on all the cels. 150$ is a good deal? counter offer him a good deal at 500

[Captain Haddock]

I think theultimatebrucelee (man had to copy and paste that one!) the problem Keropi is pointing out isn't offers full stop. More people making either stupid offers or/and then flinging a tantrum when they're rejected. Just a basic lack of manners really.

[genomexec]

Really, any e-mail with bad manners is annoying.

But don't close your gallery! I get so sad when cels disappear forever.

[darksuzaku]

The most annoying thing i see of unsolicited offers is people being rude when asking.

The 2 examples that Keropi shows are very good. When you contact a cel gallery owner for the first time you can't act as if he/she is your private cel dealer showing you a catalog with items for sale.

"How much for this cel?" -> Many people would consider this as an insult if the first e-mail you receive from someone sounds like that. It means someone has mistaken your beloved cel gallery with an online store.

"I offer you $XXXX for your cel. How would you like to sell it to me? It's a good price." -> If you are still going to play it the rude the worst you can do is offer a lowball price. This only makes the insult double, or even triple (they treat your gallery as a store, they offer a low price for your beloved cel and sometimes even try to convince you it's a good deal). If someone is so desperate for one of my cels and want to approach me this way they better be prepared to offer an outrageous amount that i can't refuse.

A minor issue about unwanted offers is that sometimes you receive too many, and that can be annoying too, but most of the times this can be avoided with NFS tags or similar....

I always wondered why is so hard for people to make a first "diplomatic" approach. Something like: "Hello, you have a nice gallery ..... There's specially a cel that i love very much and i was wondering if could make you an offer for it. If so please let me know as i believe i can make you a good offer."

I still remember the most "offensive" offer i ever received. It was a trade offer for my favorite Crest of the Stars cel. The e-mail was something like: "I will give you 2 grade A cels for your grade A cel. It's a great deal that you shouldn't refuse. Since i have had bad experiences in the past i ask you to send me your cel first". Yeah, you read right, that was his first e-mail and he wanted me to send my cel first. Oh, and i didn't even get the chance to pick 2 cels from him, he already e-mailed the 2 images of the cels he was trading. A great deal indeed, for him.... those images didn't belong at all to cels of a quality similar to mine. I was enraged by that e-mail but i preffered to respond more diplomatically with something like: "I'm sorry, but like you, i also prefer quality before quantity." Never heard from him again.

[Captain Haddock]

Your right there genomexec don't close your gallery because of tools.

[zerospace]

More people making either stupid offers or/and then flinging a tantrum when they're rejected. Just a basic lack of manners really.

This is exactly what I took his post to mean . I'm not against unsolicited offers, but when I do send them (and I have), I do so with a lot more tact than "how much do you want for this cel?" Sheesh. Though I have to say, I have gotten offers written exactly that way. *sigh* It's about tact and politeness. It doesn't take much time to sit down and write a kindly-worded offer to someone, nor does it take much effort not to throw an almighty hissy fit when such an offer is declined. Using good manners shows respect, that's all.

[cutiebunny]

I've always thought that the purpose of an unsolicited offer was to be offered the chance to acquire it if the owner chooses to sell. I've emailed people in the past like this. I compliment them and ask them to keep me in mind if they choose to ever part with it. I honestly don't think that there's anything wrong with this type of email. And I keep notes of who is interested, so that, if I ever do choose to sell, I can give them a heads up.

As others have said, the issue is tact. Ordering people to sell you an item creates the opposite desired effect. The last people I would sell to are those that demanded that I sell to them.

My favorite unsolicited offer went something like this -

"I saw that cel on Mandarake but was unable to bid on it because the system wouldn't let me. If I had been able to bid, the cel would not have ended for the price you paid for it. I am willing to pay you double what you paid for that cel. Let me know where I can send the payment."

Although I wrote a polite response, I should have informed this person that I had not finished with the paint fumes and would get back to them sometime next ............xxxxxxxxxx.

[zerospace]

Wow, cutiebunny... I thought I'd received some pretty arrogant offers, but that one definitely takes the cake!

[Ryouko]

I never mind offers... even if I'm not willing to sell at that time, if I ever change my mind I like to offer that cel to whomever went out of their way to let me know they would like to buy it. The majority of my cel sales have been this way.

[Tabbykitty]

I too have been the recipient of many unsolicited offers over the years, mainly concerning a certain majin vegeta cel lol, but sometimes others in the DBZ flock. As a rule, I generally try to be polite and say something along the lines of "I have no intention of selling X cel at this time, as it means a great deal to me. If that changes, I will contact you."

However, there was one guy that sticks out. He wanted to buy my Majin Vegeta cel, and sent me a mail to the effect of "Will you sell this to me, here is my offer." I declined, only to get a response that truly surprised me. His return email called me greedy, and accused me of just trying to get more money out of him-and that I should be nicer to a fellow collector and sell him my cel since it was a good offer. (This was also after a rambling paragraph about how he was a student and didn't exactly have the money right then). I tried to stay polite, reiterated it wasn't for sale, and pointed out that calling someone greedy is not the best way to convince them to do what you want. After several other rambling emails, I put him on ignore.

The vast majority of "Will you sell X cel or Y cel" have been generally polite, and I try to respond as such. We're all collectors, and while some are scams, some are real inquiries from folks. Just remember, politeness is key, and if people turn you down...it's because they really just don't want to sell!

[teggacat]

cool, another interesting topic
I've gotten alot of people asking about selling cels
from my gallery,for the most part the requests have
been rather polite, downright friendly even, I've not
really experienced some of the unbelievable rudeness
that some of you have,a few requests were rather pushy but
I just made it very clear that a particular cel Was Not for sale,
and my gallery is not their easy corner store,
if they kept bugging me I considered
it fair game for me to make a jerk out of them,
and depending on my mood at the time I can be
quite rude when pushed It's too easy to just not answer
back and ignore them when the opportunity to laugh at them is in my face