While I understand this, I think that an owner still should be somewhere in the ballpark when it comes to the player(s) real value that they want to acquire. Sure, I can see starting low and negotiating, but there is a fine line between starting low and offending the other owner. You need to make at least a serious first offer if you want to complete a deal.
The problem with this is that most owners value "their" players more than they should. So, for many people who are looking to make trades this is almost impossible. Any negotiation is going to start off with a low offer because you have to start somewhere. Like you've said, it's a fine line between starting low and offending. It's also a moving target because in 1 league an owner may value a player far more than another league you play. So, why get offended at all? I never let trade offers offend me for this reason. Actually, I think it's funny when people let it bother them. Why would it bother you? Just hit reject and move on. Sometimes I'll just flat out say to someone, "I appreciate you're interest but my value on player X seems to be much higher than you would expect and I don't see us getting a deal done." Sometimes people aren't trying to nessecarily pull one over on you, they just genuinely haven't got a clue on what value you have on a said player. Sure, sometimes they are trying to pull one over on you but that is rare IMO. The thing is the control is always in your hands if you are receiving the offer. Getting upset about it is silly IMO.
I disagree. We all have access to consensus rankings- we all have SOME idea or feel for what the market value is for out players. If you send an offer to trade a guy who is ranked WR30, you should expect others to value them somewhere around WR30. The fact that you consider him WR15 is absolutely immaterial.Similarly, if you're trying to aquire a RB ranked in consensus rankings as RB12, then it doesn't mean a darn thing that you think he should be RB20.
The reasonable approach to trading is to determine who on your roster you value at or below consensus and try to use them to aquire players you value at or above consensus. It's neither reasonable nor prudent to send out random offers trying to trade a guy you value ABOVE consensus for a player you value BELOW consensus. We aren't talking about counter offers here. You want my RB I consider RB10- I'm going to ask for a RB10 pricetag even if he's ranked RB 20, but I'm not going to be insulted by an RB20 offer. You want to buy my ranked RB10 with an opening RB20 offer- that's bad enough, but don't combine that by assuming I agree that your WR30 is actually WR15.
You can't ignore market value when opening trade talks.