Did I just turn down a good deal? Or was someone trying to rip me off?

[Quail_Antwerp]

I found this add on CL today for chick feeders/waterers.

http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/grd/1190996605.html

I thought the feeders looked decent, but the waterers, well one is rusty and the other just looks filthy, so I figured everything would need to be bleached before I get them.

I have a quad of Buff Orpingtons that DH and I have decided to sell. The hens are only 15 months old and laying, and I know exactly how much each I would get for them at our local auction, or if I sold them outright, and just the 3 hens would cover his asking price for these feeders/waterers. I don't want to split the hens from the roo, so he has to go, too....4 chickens which would sell for more than he is asking for....so I emailed him and offered to trade my quad of BO's.

This is his reply email:

i would just want the hens and would need some cash with them let me know if your interested

I replied:

No thank you. I can sell my Buff Orpingtons outright and get more for them than what you are asking for the feeders/waters. Not going to shoot myself in the foot by giving you JUST the hens plus cash for feeders/waters when I can sell all 4 as a group and buy those same items new. I will not split the group.

Thanks anyway.

He then replies back:

hahaha since i can go to meyers hatchery and buy them at 16 or 18 weeks for $12 a bird i dont think you can sell the 4 for over $100 since the big feeder was 29.98 the big waterer was 29.98 the little feeders were $21.99

and when i can buy the same age chickens down the road for $6 each

if your interested in these feeders and waterers then bring $35 cash and there yours

not trying to be a d*** just saying your over pricing them if they were younger i would give you more for them but there old and im sure they dont lay an egg a day still

I just priced them all on TSC...I could buy ALL of them, not counting the rusty one, for $70.96 before tax NEW...I know I would get $40 for my quad of Buff Orpingtons at my local auction...why would I give him my BO's PLUS cash for used ones, when I could sell outright, and put the difference with my hens for NEW ones??????

Or have I just passed up a really good deal?????

I say, let the guy go to Meyers.

And I don't think my 15 month old hens are old! And they are laying an egg a day.

Very tasty eggs I might add.​

 

[debilorrah]

If your instincts told you not to do it then you did the right thing. Anytime something seems hinky, I don't go for it or question it later.

 

[NancyP]

Just my opinion, but he didn't sound very nice to me. I would go for the new ones.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Quote:
Thanks, I didn't really think it was hinky, as much as he wants my chickens for nothing but wants as much as he can get out of used feeders/waterers.

 

[MichiganWoods]

Hatchery raised birds will probably be flightly around humans. I noticed this when I had ordered chicks last November. The ones we hatched were calm and much better at us being around them than the ones we got through Ideal. I don't blame the hatchery at all, but of course they can't spent one on one with their chicks to socialize them. When you raise a small flock, I personally think they tend to have a much better personality. Our Ideal babies eventually came around and are happy members of our family. But buying an already started bird... I dunno how friendly they'd be. So I'd say you are well within your right to charge what you like. Someone out there will pay what you are asking. Interestingly enough, I just had a gal call me an hour ago to ask if I had any baby chicks for sale. Everywhere she's called has been sold out. She had a broody but no fertilized eggs. She's been sitting on duds for a while. I told the gal she was in luck, I had a small batch hatching in 3 days. She's willing to pay what I'm asking for my chicks without complaint. -- Maybe the buyers need the right motivation to not be so cheeky. I did offer some of my grown hens for sale a while ago on Craigslist and got similar responses to yours.

 

[sundance]

If your gut said no, you did the right thing. marrie

 

[Chickenmaven]

The only real regrets I have ever had have been when I go against my gut in order to "be nice." Follow your gut feelings.
Also: DH always says, "Don't enter a negotiation unless you are willing to say no." If you have "gotta-gotta" have something, the other person has power over you. Used poultry stuff is not worth dealing with negativity - IMHO.

 

[patandchickens]

Enh. It's horsetrading. If you don't want to do the deal then don't, but it's never a good idea to dwell on second thoughts

Fact-checking his numbers is pretty irrelevant though, I think, because one of the more popular traditions in bargaining is to make inflated statements about the worth of one's own items and understate the value of what's being offered in trade. This is not necessarily stupidity or lying, just a different convention than maybe you're used to in other parts of life <shrug>

Personally I'd have done the same as you in this case (sell birds for cash, buy new feeders), if that's worth anything

JME,

Pat, having grown up riding at a barn run by a (good, but) very wheeler-dealer horse dealer and his old Irish horsetrader father, and heard a million versions (there and lots of other places) of "ah, this horse can jump six feet with his eyes shut, but that horse of yours, well, I just don't know how much longer she's going to live, you'd need to kick in a lot of cash if you want to do a trade..."

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

Quote:
ROTLF Exactly, Pat! That's exactly what I felt he was trying to tell me!!

hey, I know what I've got!

Thanks!

 

[consdrs]

I wouldn't deal with a person like that. As soon as I get the little funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.... I'm done. cya. There will be another bus coming down the road soon enough.