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I want to call your attention to this article from one of my favorite sites, Lifehacker called Get Better Deals Online by Breaking the Seller’s Confidence. While not a scam in the truest sense of the word, this money saving advice does involve playing a physiological trick on the seller and is a bit, well, shady.

To quote the article,

If you see something you like on Kijiji, Craigslist, or whatever equivalent, try using two (or more, if you have the patience) email accounts to make the poster think their item is worth less. Make a really low-ball with the first account, and if they decline shrug it off and respond saying it isn’t worth it. Then, offer a better but still low-ball price with the second account.

So there’s nothing illegal going on, just a little mind game where you make the seller think there is a demand for the item at a lower price when that demand is really just you on another account. If a person had more then one account on a site like eBay or Bonanza, they could do this same thing just as easily.

Is it moral? Would you, as a seller, fall for this?

You can read the article in full here.