The opening position in any negotiation is the weaker position. The person who opens lays their cards on the table first, and it gives the other person a chance to react to, rather than predict, the first person's position.
Buyers have the power in a down economy on commodity items, but if they open the negotiations they cede some of that power to the seller.
What you're describing is a way to get the buyer to open. What ended up happening was that he left $10 on the table he wouldn't have if you had opened with the price you usually get.
If he had said to you instead, "Well, I need to get a fair price too, because I have to make a few bucks off this deal, how much are you thinking?" then he puts it back in your court and you're pretty much forced to open. You might have caught an inexperienced buyer, or caught an experienced one off guard...or you might have left money on the table by not countering a little higher. It's really hard to say.
You might have said to him, "You know, $30 is a pretty fair offer, but being that these have a value of $20 each retail, I'd like to get $40 for the set." Never know, he might have gone for it.
In the end, it's knowing what the real market is for what you have to sell, being confident without being confrontational, and trying to achieve a win-win situation where everyone feels like they got what they needed. If you go in unprepared, you don't really know how well you did. And if you end up working with someone regularly, sometimes they will throw you a bone, sometimes you should throw them a bone, and it all comes out even over time.
--Geoff
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