Is is politically incorrect to bargain?

I currently own a 2560 plot which is deeded to group. I like where I'm located, it's actually a pretty good mainland area with no adfarms as far as I can see with my 64 draw distance. I've recently decided to tier up and want to increase my plot to a 4096. Right in front of my land are 3 512's for sale....each for $L5280 (or maybe 5880, can't remember offhand and I'm at work not inworld), and I am seriously coveting them because they would give me just what I want. I can't do anything as far as buying until Saturday, because that's when my tier is due, and I don't want to tier up until it falls in the next cycle. My question is...if those 3 plots are still avaiable, would it be foolish of me to offer the owner (same seller on all 3 plots) $L15,000 for all 3 plots at once? It's only $L840 less then they're asking, but I have no clue as to whether or not doing that is frowned upon or acceptable. I know someone will say that the difference isn't that much, but I will have exactly the $L15,000 on Saturday. If they say no, I can manage to pay full price, and I'm not trying to be cheap. It's just a nice round figure for the plots, and still more than what some other 512 plots are going for right now.

I don't see a thing wrong with asking. The worst that can happen is they'd say no.

P2

That's what I was thinking and hoping. I didn't figure it would be a bad thing, just didn't want to be labeled an SL idiot because I dared to even ask for a lower price on land.....lol
Thanks!

There's no reason not to ask. Worse thing that could happen is "No".

It's a buyer's market right now. I think most land sellers would be happy to make the sale, even if it's for a little less than their asking price.

There's nothing wrong with bargaining. You're a customer and they have a product for sale. Actually, if I was selling a parcel, I would rather get a good proposal from a potential buyer, than having parcel for sale for months eating tier.
Go for it, and good luck...

Bargaining is half the fun of buying anything expensive...

The majority of the world bargains...it's we Americans that are so hell-bent on a set price. Do you know, for the fun of it, I will sometimes bargain at stores...all kinds of stores. And believe it or not, sometimes they DO take my offer...even at big chain stores. I'm not kidding. True story.

when I was buying my first parcel, I sent a msg to the owner asking if he would come down to a certain amount. He said no, and I ended up buying the parcel for the full price, but I felt better knowing that I did try getter it for cheaper. lol

but, in your circumstance with it being all three at once, i bet you'll have better luck!
Ashe

When I bought my land I asked the seller for his best price and he took L$2,000 off the price. Ask!

It is always appropriate to bargain. Offer them L$14,000, there are only two answers they can give you and on of them is "YES"!

If they say "No", offer them L$15,000.

But even in the US real estate transactions are bargained, not at a set price, unless market conditions really favor the seller.

Yes, real estate is different...I guess that's the tie-in...silly me...of course. What I was trying to stress is there isn't enough bargaining going on all over.

I'm going to talk A.C. down to L$8 on her L$10 items

Thanks everyone for your answers! I didn't think it would be out of line, but didn't want to do something socially unacceptable in SL and make the landowner mad so he/she RAISES the prices...lol. I am panting after those parcels, and keeping my fingers crossed that they're still up for sale on Saturday. But intend to play it quite cool and calm..kind of "take it or leave it" attitude" (learned that in sales negotiation training for work...lol)



It's true. We don't dicker or bargain much in the US. But also learned that this is more possible than I would have thought in the real world. If you don't ask, you don't get, (which I can apply to my current SL situation, I gues...lol). I once had an outrageous bill at a hotel for 3 phone calls home, and it was one state away from where I was at, at the time. It was $30 for a total of 10 minutes in calls. I talked to the front desk, explained that my cell phone battery was dead and I forgot my charger, and I didn't realize the bill would be so huge, just wanted to talk to my hubby and kids, yada, yada. Then just stood there patiently while the desk clerk went into all the extra charges they get from the phone company. When I just smiled, said "wow, I can't believe they impose all of those fees on you, etc.", he reduced the phone bill by 2/3's. Only ended up having to pay $10, so it can work in RL, too.
(um, care to name any of those large chain stores, Michael?....lol)

Oh, one more thing to add to this. If I purchase the land on Saturday, which is the day my tier is billed, then my tier won't increase until October 15, which is my next bill date....correct?

I believe so, but it might be safer to wait until the next day to be sure.

Just agreeing with the "bargaining is okay" crowd. I have been purchasing land in my home region as it comes available, and have bargained down the price on nearly every parcel. In fact, one guy whose asking price was 50 L/m admitted to me that he priced it ridiculously so that only serious buyers would ask him about it -- I didn't understand his reasoning, but he accepted a perfectly normal price for it, so I was happy.

That said, be prepared for a bad reaction too. It only happened once to me, where the guy totally attacked me for even asking. Turns out he is famous for being a complete d***wad, but it really freaked me out at the time.

But aside from that one person, everyone has been quite happy to sell. Negotiations sometimes have to go back and forth a bit, but as long as you keep it friendly and respectful, you should be fine.

I managed to bargain down a few 16m when the land market was taking a dive. Got them for 6l/m rather than a 600l/m that they'd been offered for, but only when I explained that I was adding to existing land rather than buying to put ads up.

That said- I had 4 offers of that sort rejected- 2 by no reply 1 by a higher listed price than I was willing to go (It was originally not for sale) and 1 by a firm refusal from the owner.

Just don't take any "no" to heart =)

thats not the worse thing that could happen

if they know you are interested in them, cuz they are in the same sim you are in, asking might make them raise teh price on them each by another 500 or 1000


that is if they are 'any good at this game'


but even so i would ask, i have done it a few times and even bought parcels that were not even for sale just by asking/offering for it

Ohhh you are the Poopmaster!!!

That's what I was worried about. But I'm still going to give it a go if they're even still available this weekend. Just hope he/she doesn't read the forums. If they won't come down, I'll somehow manage the asking price if they stick to it. But if they go higher.....well, there are plenty of parcels available. I just didn't want to have to move to get my total land of a 4096 pacel. But, hey, you gotta do whacha gotta do.

That is, of course, until you lot come to a foreign country on a cruise ship! *grin*
Then it's "Nice Rolex! How much? 2 grand? How 'bout I give you $700? What? You don't want my money?"

That was, of course, a gross generalization.

Wait until your bill date says October 15 in your "My account" settings.

Careful! Make sure the date has changed on your account page to October 15 and they have billed you for September BEFORE you tier up!