eBay Make Best Offer Etiquette

[hockeyflow33]

I base my best offers off of what has been recently sold, sometimes I add a note with why I sent over that offer. If a seller is at double the going rate it's not my fault they aren't up to date with the current market.

 

[Patriot666]

I base my best offers off of what has been recently sold, sometimes I add a note with why I sent over that offer. If a seller is at double the going rate it's not my fault they aren't up to date with the current market.

I think a lot of sellers are hoping for that extremely wealthy person who just stumbles on their listing and doesn't care what it costs. Like oooohhh look a Terminator endoskeleton....Cinemaquette? never heard of them...$10K sounds good. Click. Bought.

 

[evenflow]

If i sell something and get a low ball offer, i typically just counter with an offer that is one penny less than the buy it now. Usually gets the buyer annoyed and i get a laugh.

 

[Pixelpiper]

I make an offer for what I consider is a fair price. Sometimes it may be only 20% of the asking price. It's not my fault if a seller is asking something off-base and doesn't know how to use eBay's auction list options. What bugs me is when I offer to buy 100 or even 500 of something and a seller barely comes down at all on unit price saying they're not making much money on the item as it is. If that's the case, don't sell those items, after the work of packing and shipping they're losers. I know such sellers are full of crap because I'm familiar with wholesale on some of these items when buying 1000-5000 units.

 

[Jeffl20]

I never use the Best Offer if I sell anything and I don't use much anymore if I'm buying something. I had several people who would be selling something at 25 and I'd send in an offer of 18 or 19. They would come back with 24. Stuff like that, which I find annoying.

 

[Patriot666]

I'm in the middle of haggling via best offer right now...

 

[Pixelpiper]

I had a good experience with it recently which I neglected to mention. Seller was asking $150 plus shipping. I offered $130 (still expecting to pay the same shipping). Seller agreed to the price and also removed the shipping. Nice.

 

[FriendlySamurai]

Ive only made these kind of offers twice. First time I came in fairly low and they accepted- when I got it in it was nowhere near described so I ended up getting my money back. Second time the seller came back like $1 cheaper. Moron.

I have no problem lowballing when the ebay seller is way overpriced. They charge $165 for something I can get for $135 retail I'll offer 115-120. Also if theyre a seller that has thousands of feedbacks Ill shoot low because theyre a store and possibly looking for fast turnover. When I see make an offer, to me that means "I need to sell quick and am willing to take a hit"

 

[Patriot666]

The hardest thing about bidding on rare collectibles is finding a reference price point to come up with an offer. I wish the "Sold" filter went further back in history.

 

[hockeyflow33]

I never use the Best Offer if I sell anything and I don't use much anymore if I'm buying something. I had several people who would be selling something at 25 and I'd send in an offer of 18 or 19. They would come back with 24. Stuff like that, which I find annoying.

From a sales perspective the best offer gives you a leg up if other items are close in your price range and you have direct access to the buyer. You can offer it direct, etc

 

[SAB]

'Etiquette' is hard to know when it comes to 'best offer'

I have a pair of signed 97 playoff worn Karl Malone shoes from ebay.
I offered 40% of asking price, hoping I wasn't being insulting and wanting to open negotiations .... 2 days later the seller just accepted and sent me the Paypal invoice

 

[chengda85]

I love when I make an offer thats like 250 for a $300 item and the seller counter offers me $299, wow $1 dollar off what a great deal. I've had lots of sellers do this for some reason.

 

[Buttmunch]

I love when I make an offer thats like 250 for a $300 item and the seller counter offers me $299, wow $1 dollar off what a great deal. I've had lots of sellers do this for some reason.

Yeah, I just don't get that. I mean, why even bother with a make an offer option? As a seller, when I put up a BIN price with a make an offer option, I list the BIN price at some of the higher ending prices of the current selling prices for that item. And if I get an offer what I'm actually expecting it to sell around, I'll take it. If they're too low, I'll make a reasonable counter. I don't get why its so difficult for a lot of people to get that. I do wish they'd let you make more than 3 offers if the buyer and seller are still negotiating.

 

[Patriot666]

Yeah, I just don't get that. I mean, why even bother with a make an offer option? As a seller, when I put up a BIN price with a make an offer option, I list the BIN price at some of the higher ending prices of the current selling prices for that item. And if I get an offer what I'm actually expecting it to sell around, I'll take it. If they're too low, I'll make a reasonable counter. I don't get why its so difficult for a lot of people to get that. I do wish they'd let you make more than 3 offers if the buyer and seller are still negotiating.

I agree.

 

[Pixelpiper]

This is the root of the "problem" right here. It's not so much low-ball offers as it is that most sellers using OBO (not just on eBay) don't know what that means nor how to price their items. If you have an absolute pricing floor you're not willing to go below and you want to start asking for that exact price or only a few dollars above it, then do not state OBO. A seller should either have no minimum price in mind, or specify the asking price reasonably higher than their minimum - even substantially higher so long as it's not an unrealistic number that would cause people to ignore the sale.

Here's an example... Let's say I'm willing to take between $250 and 300 at a minimum for a particular item, many of which sell for similar prices. There will always also be outliers priced higher, so I go for a similar higher asking price of $350 - OBO. This leaves room for a buyer to put in an offer and get a deal they feel good about, and the seller to get what they're comfortable with, neither party feeling insulted nor cheated.

 

[Collectorcol]

I've contacted a few sellers offering 'Best Offer' to be told the price is firm

 

[Pixelpiper]

I've contacted a few sellers offering 'Best Offer' to be told the price is firm

There's no hard and fast rule to identify stupid without first interacting with it unfortunately.

 

[xipotec]

I have a 100% positive feedback score of 700....

Best offers are exactly that an "offer" . Maybe people making the offer may not have any idea of the value of the item....only the value to them personally.

I always reply to very low offers with a polite "no" and a little education on the current reasonable offer I have already declined.... (No sorry, I cannot accept 10.00 for this Boxed 1979 Millennium Falcon.....The last offer I declined was 100.00, and the buy it now is 350.00)

works well...

As far ad when I do the offering, I always Low ball....why? you never know what current offers (or lack there of) have been sent. I recently purchased a figure listed in several auctions at 400-600 Buy it Now, and the wonderful seller and I negotiated to a price of 249.00....This was for a DX06 figure....guess which one??? Still boxed, limited edition version....perfect shape...

Never hurts to ask.

A seller who counters with a dollar discount should be ignored unless you were prepared to pay the buy it now anyway and its a rare find..

 

[hockeyflow33]

A seller who counters with a dollar discount should be ignored unless you were prepared to pay the buy it now anyway and its a rare find..

I always reply with a penny less when someone sends me a ridiculous lowball offer. I just had someone offer $100 for a statue that routinely sells for $450-500. Why even waste people's time with that garbage?

 

[Collectorcol]

Don't use 'Best Offer' then