Hagglers

[nwhiker]

I listed a futon frame on Nextdoor.

Just the frame, alas. We had the futon out for less than a week and BamBam peed all over it. He was sneaking under the tarp to do so. He did that on the couch too. Nothing is working. A Final Trip to the vet is going to be under more serious consideration. I just don't know what to do, and it's very difficult living with no soft surfaces. Anyhow. Back to the futon frame.

So. Frame listed on Nextdoor. I did offer to deliver in the local area, since I can, and I want it gone.

Woman gets back to me, asks for dimensions. I detail them.

She responds a while later and says great, gives a place we can meet, and... offers me $40.

Just. Fuck. This. Shit.

I don't haggle/bargain. EVER.I despise the concept, I don't like doing it, I find it contemptible. People talk about how "fun" it is. I don't find it fun, I find it disgusting. I read stories about people haggling their way across the world, and loving the "game" and it makes me sick to my stomach. And yes, I grew up in part in Tunisia. I never bargained there either.... my sister and mother, who both love to, would do any shopping where haggling was assumed or I'd just do without. I have bought cars without haggling as well. Went in, told them what we were willing to pay and that amount was always reasonable, and walked out if they didn't meet our amount. If they'd still been around when I was needing a car, I'd probably have bought a Saturn, since I love the concept of "this is the price" when it comes to things.

I guess it boils down to the fact that I feel that you bargain with people you have power over, people you don't respect, or who you think are too stupid to know how much to ask/what to pay for an item. This can be mutual contempt in some ways, though the power dynamic of who can afford to walk away vs who needs to make the sale is often not.

So now I'm ghosting this woman. I just don't know how to respond. With something snippy, but then I have to meet her to deliver the futon? I don't want to take the $40, it's truly not the $10, it's the casual contempt of not treating me like a equal partner in the transaction. I know some people would take it, or would respond with a 'no, the price is firm', but either way, she's put me in the position of feeling scummy about a transaction.

If she doesn't have the money, and $10 would make a difference, then message me and state that. But a casual tossing out of a price that is less than the one stated? Nope.

So now I'm stuck. Dh is irked with me for not dealing with this. I'm upset because I don't see great options.

All over $10.