Category: Buying & Selling

Pricing is the part of selling most people guess at. A little structure turns it from a gut call into a decision you can defend.

Set three numbers before you list

• Asking price — where you start, slightly above your target
• Target price — what you genuinely expect to get
• Walk-away price — below this you would rather keep the item

Writing the walk-away number down before the first offer arrives is what stops you from negotiating against yourself at 9pm on a Tuesday.

Anchoring works, but only within reason

A slightly high asking price gives room to negotiate and makes the eventual sale feel like a win for the buyer. Set it too high and you get no messages at all — and a listing with no engagement drops down search results.

Odd pricing signals negotiability

A price of 500 reads as firm. A price of 475 reads as calculated, and often attracts fewer lowball offers than a round number does.

When to take the lower offer

Take it when the buyer can collect immediately, has a solid transaction history, and the gap is smaller than the cost of another two weeks of holding the item. Time has a price too.

Most listings that sit unsold fail for the same three reasons: a vague title, poor photos, and a description that hides the details buyers actually care about. Fixing those costs nothing.

Write a title a buyer would search for

Buyers search the way they speak. “Sofa” is invisible; “3-seater grey fabric sofa, 210cm” matches what someone types when they know what they want. Put the brand, model, size and colour in the title where they help.

Photograph honestly, in daylight

• Shoot near a window, never with flash
• Include one wide shot and three or four detail shots
• Photograph the flaws deliberately — scratches, stains, worn corners
• Show scale by placing a common object next to the item

Buyers who can see a flaw in the listing rarely bring it up as a complaint later. Buyers who discover one on arrival usually walk away.

Describe the boring details

Dimensions, age, why you are selling, whether you have the original box, and what condition the item is genuinely in. A description that answers questions before they are asked cuts your message volume dramatically.

Price against completed listings

Look at what similar items actually sold for, not what other sellers are currently asking. Asking prices tell you what sellers hope for; completed sales tell you what buyers pay.