On the selling side, nearly everyone pads their asking price to some extent. So it's assumed that they will take less, and it's just part of the game. If someone asks me what's the lowest I'll take, then I'll usually tell them. I don't see it as any kind of character flaw on their part.
From the buyer's perspective, I fall into two camps. If what your selling is priced reasonably and I want it, I buy it. No haggling, no fuss, no muss and it's a done deal. If I feel that your price might be high then I'll generally ask if there is any wiggle room. If that's followed with the standard "make me an offer" , I generally won't do it but it really just depends on the asking price. If we're close, I'll sometimes throw an offer but if you're asking asinine prices then I won't. Doesn't mean that I'm not a serious buyer, but I firmly believe in never pricing another person's merchandise. At that point, I usually ask them to throw a number out that they can live it and if that number works for me then I pay them. If it doesn't, then I thank them for their time and walk away. If they want to ghost me after I ask for "the price they can live with", so be it. No skin off my nose, but chances are I won't try to deal with you again. Just like those that say people who won't make an offer are not serious buyers, it works both ways in my opinion. If you're a seller that's so easily offended by a question, then I probably don't want to deal with you anyway. Cash spends the same everywhere and I've learned that unless it's something super special or rare, it'll eventually show up for a price that I'm comfortable paying and I don't mind waiting. However, if you keep insisting that I make an offer, don't get your panties in a bunch when I finally do because you can bet your ass it's going to be low.
