Venting About Low-Ball Bidding

I put all my stock up for sale, for private bidding, and I did not put a minimum bid, because I'm willing to let things go pretty cheap, since I have so much to sell.  I'm regretting that.

I can understand new people making bids on my horses that are really low, because they haven't been here long enough to know what they are worth.  They probably haven't even figured out yet what makes a horse valuable.

But I've got people who have been here longer than me making bids of $1000 or lower for National level horses, with high conformations and good colors and an impressive showing record.

I'm also seeing what people do with the few low ball offers I generously accept.  They turn around, jack up the price, and sell it again.

I realize it's my own fault for not setting a minimum bid, but I figured if I did that, people would just bid that low figure.  Just because I am willing to go fairly low, doesn't mean I wouldn't rather get a price closer to what the horse is truly worth.  And I am getting some bids that are more like I was hoping - high enough to show they know what my stock is worth, but low enough to be a really good deal.  I really appreciate those bids.  I feel like I won't get them if I give a minimum bid.

Now I have to decide if I really want to go through all nearly-500 head of horses in my ranch and put a minimum bid in.  I knew I'd get some ridiculously low bids, and I thought I could just shrug it off, and I do for those who are too new to know better, but I'm finding myself more irritated than I thought I would be when someone who should know better pulls this stuff.

These may be pixel ponies, but I put hours of my very real time into making them the best horses I could.  I want them to go to people who understand their value, not someone who wants to make a quick profit off my time and effort.

I get that!! :D 

setting minimum bids is a hassle, so i just make a note on my main page that i'll delete bids that aren't at least 1/3 of the asking price. then i do it and don't feel bad :p

Thats a good idea Kahzie 1

I completely agree with you, and I know as a seller it is extremely annoying. I'm new myself, so I don't completely understand the struggle to set horses for sale just yet (I'm not to that point with my horses. Either I keep them, or they go to the RC as most are just foundies anyways), so I am sure that just creates even more of a hassle and makes it double annoying. 
However, you do have to look at the buyers point of view. Yes, you want to be polite and respectful of players and have the knowledge of a good horse and all the time the took to create that product in mind when bidding. (I appreciate you being understanding of new players. I've been playing for a little over a month, however I do believe I've figured out by now what makes different pixels valuable.) But my point is, as the buyer, you're looking to buy a nice horse for as little as possible. If you're able to get a steal for almost nothing, that is what most people are going to do. That is how sales works in RL. People in real life buy steals then resell for a profit. 
Even though I do believe I understand the game enough (after playing daily since the beginning of August, talking to players, reading game guides, etc), I haven't gotten to the point where I can sell horses and make money. So right now, the only income I have is from the games tent, wish fountain, and whatever my horses make in shows. When I go looking to buy some horses, I'm going to try to get the best horse I can for as little as possible in order to save money. It sucks, I know (I play other sim games where these things happen to me all the time), but as the buyer it makes sense. 

I would suggest doing what Kahzie suggested, or just taking the time and setting a minimum bid in order to protect yourself from being ripped off. 

I do think of the buyer.  I've let many of my horses go for a ridiculously low price.  I take into account how long someone has been playing, how much money they have, all sorts of things.  I know people want a deal and I'm willing to give it to them.

But no, real life is not like this.  A National level horse has over 1,100 stats.  According to the game standard of $10,000 per 100 stats, a horse at that level should cost over a million dollars.  That's not taking into account color or conformation, which can raise a price.  I'm getting offers at $1,000 or less.  Say you go to an art auction, and there's a painting by a famous master artist that is projected to be worth a million dollars.  Would you go and bid $1,000?  Would the auctioneer even allow you to start the bidding that low?  The answer is no, of course not.  If you appreciate art but don't have the money, you go find paintings that fit your budget.  You don't try to bid on a world-class work of art.  And if you have the money, you make a bid that is appropriate for the thing you are looking to buy.  Lower than the projected worth, yes.  Look for a bargain, yes.  But you still start at a price that takes into account the quality of the item you are looking to purchase.

I've had people give low ball bids that have more money than I do.  They can afford a more reasonable price.  They certainly have been around enough to know what that price is.  

You know, I'd even be willing to work with someone, if they messaged me and explained why they wanted my horse but couldn't offer a reasonable market value.  I can afford to give a boost to someone who is struggling and I would be happy to do so under the right circumstances.  But I never get that.  I get a lot of people asking me how low I would be willing to go, and when I tell them, they say "OK!" and then go ahead and place a bid of a few hundred dollars.

You say it makes sense to the buyer to do this.  But it doesn't.  What makes sense is for someone to communicate with the seller, to explain why this is all they can afford, to work something out.  That's what might actually get them the deal they want.  There is no way they are going to convince someone to sell them a high quality horse for less than one from the Equine Center just by throwing out a bunch of insultingly low offers.

I have almost 500 horses.  It took me over a week just to get them all up for sale at all.  I may yet set a minimum bid, but honestly, it's a lot of work to do something I didn't even want to do in the first place.  I'm not going to get ripped off because I'm not going to accept these bids.  The worst that will happen is that I will continue to be annoyed by how very little people seem to recognize or respect the amount of work it takes to raise these horses.

I posted because I needed to vent, because I knew other people feel the same irritation, and because maybe someone will read this and realize that they need to bid with prices that at least show that they value the horses they're looking to buy.

When I said this is how sales work in RL, I was thinking more along the lines of Ebay bidding or something, not a world class art show. 
However, you said "Would the auctioneer even allow you to start the bidding that low?" the answer is no, because they would start with a minimum bid. 
I just looked at how to put a horse up for sale (I actually wanted to sell a horse whose breed I don't even breed in my barn and thought to take this as an opportunity to learn another aspect of the game) and I noticed that (unless I'm missing something) all you have to do is click for the horse to be put up for sale, then type in a minimum bid. 

I am sorry if you took offence to my comment. I understand you wanted to vent, and I in no way disagree with you. I agreed with you that it is annoying, and said that these things have happened to me before as well and I get JUST as annoyed as you. I was just having a discussion about it; that's all. 
I wasn't doing it to be rude or something. I just wanted to talk about it rather than just commenting a "I agree!" or something. I'm not calling you out for making this post. 

Last edited on 2017-09-17 at 19:21:14 by Saber

I'm not offended.  I'm clarifying.

Art auctioneers (and Ebay) place minimum bids because the piece will have to go to the highest bidder.  If the highest anyone bids is $1k for that painting that is worth a million, they would have to sell it to them.  I don't have to sell to that $1k bid.  When I put my horses up for public auction, I can refuse any bid I don't like.  It's different.  It's more like seeing someone's really beautiful, expensive home that is worth a million up for sale, and going to the realtor and asking "Will you take a thousand for it?"  They wouldn't even bother to refuse your offer, and the realtor would tell you never contact them again.  People don't do that, though.  In general, in real life, people know they have to make a reasonable offer to be considered.

And yes, I know how easy it is to put a horse up for sale.  I've done it many times.  One horse is very easy.  Five hundred horses is an entirely different story.  Especially when I am also having to feed, train, and put all those horses in shows or the riding school.  I'm a single mother with a full-time job.  I literally do not have the time for this, unless I do it just a very few at a time.  It took me almost two weeks just to get them up for sale at all, and that was just a matter of clicking a couple buttons per horse.  This is why I am selling my herd.  It's too time-consuming.  I considered just not playing Equiverse anymore, but I really like the game, plus it seemed such a waste to have all those really good horses locked away in an unused account, when there are people out there who could make use of them.  I worked too hard on them for them to be locked away and forgotten forever.  So I'm selling them, and when they are gone, I will make a smaller, more focused herd.  Until that time, I am back to having to care for this enormous herd of horses, and I need that process to be as streamlined as possible.  Deciding and inputting minimum bids for 500 horses is not a streamlined process.  Which is why I haven't done it, and may not do it ever, even though it would rid me of the annoyance of the ridiculously low ball bids.

I do agree with you on everything! I was just stating the buyers views. Even though it is annoying, there is always going to be those people who will try for a low price, as they want to save their money and don't know what you'd be willing to go for.
I do agree that for a high statted horse, good confo, and good color, bidding less than 1k is ridiculous though, even for just a starting bid. 
I myself will always try to start bids lower (even when I know it isn't going to in anyway sell for that amount) just to get the ball rolling; then as I get outbid, will start increasing my bid amounts. It is just a bidding strategy I use. Perhaps that is what some of the more experienced players are doing as well? Idk why they would start as low as 1k but maybe they know it is just a starting point.
And in their point of view, who knows, maybe the seller would actually accept their bid. Most likely wouldn't, and they know that. But worth a shot.

I hope the selling of the horses goes well though! And they all get some great homes! 

I can totally relate!!!!!! I put a lot of time, money, and sweat & tears into my herds; and it shows by the quality in each and everyone of my horses.


@Confessor - Which is when I do put one of my babies up for sale, I price it accordingly, and also put a minimum bid on each one; but of course, I'm not usually selling more than 50+ horses. Generally, I'm selling 20 horses at the most, so I can see where you're coming from Confessor. 

Just so I know what kind of bids you're looking for, what do you think would be reasonable price for your horses? 

DJ Hoofbeats, a good general price to aim for is no less than the horse's stats x 100. Adding a little more for horses with great condo and good colors.