I have a unique document from the FDR White House, left to me by an aunt who assisted the president's press secretary all through WW II.
Yes, Uncle Sam wants every interesting item (the justification therefor being by an un-codified principle of "replevin") but solid provenance gives me ownership.
So, here is the question: when I contact dealers in that slice of collectibles, SHOULD I SPECIFY ASKING PRICE --- OR HAVE THEM GIVE ME AN OFFER ?
If you can back up that opinion with solid game theory support, I would appreciate such additional information.
Yes, Uncle Sam wants every interesting item (the justification therefor being by an un-codified principle of "replevin") but solid provenance gives me ownership.
So, here is the question: when I contact dealers in that slice of collectibles, SHOULD I SPECIFY ASKING PRICE --- OR HAVE THEM GIVE ME AN OFFER ?
If you can back up that opinion with solid game theory support, I would appreciate such additional information.
You can easily get info on past auction sales of similar items. Don't get your hopes up too high though.
O.P. here ---- Thanks to you five helpful members for those suggestions. Because the Smithsonian museum is just a short ride from me, I will probably try the curator-opinion first. I will bail out of this thread, skipping future comments on more replies, but I will read them all. Adios, dudes and dudettes.
The sound strategy behind asking them to make you an offer is this. You first want them to declare what the item is worth to them. Otherwise, you risk selling the item for less than it's actually worth to them should you name a price first. Leaving money on the table, as business people like to say.
If the other party knows anything about negotiating, they will hit the ball back in to your court by asking you to first name a sales price. This could seem like an reciprocating impasse, however, the onus to go first ultimately falls on the party soliciting the transaction. For example, if someone were to come up to you on the street and ask you if you would sell them your car, the onus falls on them to make you an offer. Which you can accept or reject. If instead, you were advertising that your car were for sale the onus falls on you to first name a price and accept an offer at that price. People will usually pay more than they first offer to buy, but will not pay more than you first offer to sell. In the end, parties knowledgable about the value of an item will reach a deal fair to both. A lack of knowledge is what leads to one party being being taken advantage of by the other.
Know this too. Whatever is the starting figure for either party, assume that they are expecting to settle on a figure something less than that. So, never begin with your best offer. Everyone wants to feel like they negotiated a good deal (whether they actually did, or not) by getting the other party to compromise a bit, so leave pricing room to allow for them to feel that way so to close the deal.
Last edited:
Last edited:
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.