If you don't ask, you don't get!
On one of my sites I sell a product (actually a website template for oscommerce) for £19.99 which is about $40 or so. Yesterday, I received an email;
I want to buy this for $10 USD
Thanks, {Name removed}
I was quite surprised to receive this as hardly anyone will send such an email. Either the buyer can afford and pays, or cannot afford it and moves on elsewhere. Not many people have the cojones to say "I'll give you $y".
Anyway, my response, after mulling it over;
You can have it for £19.99 (or $38.57 usd). Within 8 working hours of
correct payment being received, I will send a download link. Paypal address
for payment is {removed}
I was tempted to say OK as a reward for him, but that would not be fair on the previous buyers of that particular template.
I haven't heard back yet 
However, this set me to thinking – I wonder just what percentage of sellers would accept any $ amount in order to make a sale? Probably a good percentage I'd have thought. The next time I want to purchase a product, I'll try it out.
Comment by Gabriel — February 16, 2007 @ 4:25 pm
Well, you did the right thing.
I don't know much about products, but for services, it is the worst idea to lower our prices.
Most of clients that bargin are bad clients.
And you're right, it wouldn't have been fair to the other clients.
Comment by Dave — February 16, 2007 @ 5:37 pm
The worst thing that can happen is they say no.
Comment by Dave J — February 16, 2007 @ 10:44 pm
We've just been through a bartering exercise with a guy who wants us to design sites for a set fee i.e. up to 50 pages which may include flash etc etc. There's no doubt he can deliver the work and has an impressive portfolio of clients for whom he does marketing projects.
However he really does think we should work on any project at the same pre-set fee irrespective of content!
He can't understand why we said no! – twat. Sadly some poor bugger will probably fall for it. If people don't value your work, move them on before they waste even more of your time.
Dave J
Comment by Oli Allen — February 17, 2007 @ 5:51 pm
What, exactly, about what he did deserves a "reward"? He values your work at the time it took him to write a 9 word email, and $10 – not even worth the hassle to reply IMO.
Comment by Dave J — February 18, 2007 @ 2:49 pm
The diplomatic blow-out related to post 3 above:
It would have been easier in two short words of course!
"Thanks for the feedback. We've discussed again and concluded that we are unable to offer an "all-in" package of the type you require. This will avoid any disappointment in future.
We would be delighted to work for you on a "per job" basis which we would quote in the normal fashion and commensurate with the individual project scope. Each job is different and hence fundamentally requires different levels of input – hence difference in price. However, the concepts already discussed, e.g. use of "Contribute" or other CMS still hold and give you a method of keeping development prices down should you wish to work with us. We would of course commit to timescale on a job-by-job basis following review of other work commitments.
We are committed to developing web sites that are stylish but also legally compliant and to the highest web authoring standards – we already offer these services at very competitive prices (typically well below the larger local design agencies) and hence it would be unrealistic to reduce further".
He wasted about a day of our time – we still have to get better at spotting them coming!
Comment by gary — February 20, 2007 @ 12:36 pm
I just like people who have enough confidence to ask for a discounted price. Most people won't do it.