A few years ago, I made an offer to buy a one word .com domain name. My offer was reasonable, but it was a bit lower than I felt the wholesale value was in order to be able to negotiate a bit with the seller. The domain registrant counter-offered a bit higher than what I offered.
Ordinarily, when I receive a counter-offer that is very close to my offer, I will accept it. I don’t want to lose a deal trying to get a marginally better deal. I’ve lost too many domain names trying to save a few dollars.
In this case, though, I thanked the seller for his counter-offer, declined the offer, and I completely walked away.