Actually statistics show that the final price is most likely to be closest to the first offer. That's why you should start things off with a ridiculous lowball. I can't be fucked looking up the recent paper that demonstrated this, but it makes intuitive sense - if you are the buyer and the seller make a high first offer, it seems inappropriate / insulting to then offer them an extremely lowball offer. The first offer sets the ballpark of the perceived value of the item.
This is totally correct, but applies only if you take for granted that the transaction will occur.
A cold offer like the one we're talking about has this difference that the transaction will occur only if both the buyer and the seller agree for a price.
Let's consider all the possibilities (from the seller point of view) :
If seller names a price first :
-- If it is way higher than what buyer has in mind, the sale won't occur. Seller has just lost an opportunity to sell (unless he is sure he doesn't want to sell for less than that price, but that's not the case for what we discuss in this thread)
-- If it fits what buyer has in mind, seller has been lucky and will sell for that price.
-- If it is less than what buyer has in mind, then buyer won't say anything and accept the offer. Sale will occur, but seller could have sold for a higher price.
If buyer names a price first :
-- If it is way higher than what seller has in mind, sale will occur and seller has just made more money than he expected.
-- If it is what seller has in mind, sale occurs and everyone's happy.
-- If it is less than what seller has in mind, sale won't occur, but seller hasn't lost an opportunity anyway.
Of course I simplified the potential situations, as I didn't consider the opportunities to negotiate.
But keeping it simple, it is quite obvious to see what situation is best for the seller.
So in that situation (you receive a cold offer to buy something you were not currently selling, but might sell if you're ok with the offer) wouldn't you prefer your potential buyer to name a price first ?