Making Offers on eBay

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by Happs, Jun 23, 2019.

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  1. Happs

    Happs Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    A lot of sellers on eBay do not have the "make offer" option selected for their listings. Let's say a seller has 10 CD's individually listed that are selling for $5 each plus shipping which they will combine, and you are interested in purchasing all 10. If a potential buyer sends a message to the seller and selects the "Make offer" option via the eBay messaging system on each listing and indicates he/she will offer $4 for each one, and the seller agrees, how would the seller change the price to $4 for each CD after you have placed all items in the cart and are at the checkout screen?

    When sellers indicate they combine shipping in their listing, I have clicked on something to the effect of request a total from the seller at checkout to where the seller adjusts shipping when buying multiple items. Would it be the same procedure (request a total from a seller at checkout) if a seller indicates through the eBay messaging system they will accept a lower price?

    Just want to make it clear this is when using the "Make Offer" option through the eBay messaging system for fixed priced listings--NOT items that already have "Make Offer" prominently displayed in their listings.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  2. starfieldroad

    starfieldroad chew up your love then swallow

    so I checked a listing, selected the MaO option in messaging for an item which does not have MaO enabled and ebay displays:

    The seller hasn't enabled offers for this item. See if they'll consider — send a message with your best price.

    so I assume that your message to them will require the seller to respond with an offer which you would then accept. this is complicated by the multiple listing aspect of things - which then might require invoicing adjustment from them.

    if you come to an agreement in advance then it might be easier for them to end the existing 10 listings, then create one new listing just for you which you then purchase.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  3. Matthew Tate

    Matthew Tate Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia
    i just want to say a best offer is the best offer. I hate when I see something listed for a month. make an offer. its not accept and I see the item listed for months after that. I made an offer on it and that is clearly the best one they got
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  4. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    I know how you feel but it just means they'll be stuck with it. Some guy has an original JC3 preamp listed on Audiogon forever. One guy I know made a very reasonable offer on it. Seller refuses and frankly, the offer was more than I would've paid for it. It's still there. Some people are weird that way.

    Makes just as much sense as when I see stuff retailing for $300 that's on eBay and Amazon by sellers for 2-3x as much. Why? Sometimes, it's best not to even bother trying to make sense of it.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  5. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Being the best offer doesn't immediately translate into an offer a seller should accept. Clearly some things are overpriced, but sometimes the item is just waiting for the right person to buy it.
     
  6. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    If the seller hasn't enabled offers for an item, you are free to message away, but the seller is under no obligation to respond to your offer on that item at all. Adding the MaO option was just another way of eBay trying to insert itself into the transaction.
     
  7. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    More like a way for eBay to increase the # of transactions.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  8. SoporJoe

    SoporJoe Forum Resident

    Location:
    British Columbia
    I hate when people try to make offers on items that I don’t have offers on.

    If I wanted to take lower offers I’d enable it!
     
  9. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    I have made offers on items that were accepting offers. The cellar either declined my offer or counter offer something that I was not willing to pay.

    I would later see that item for sale for the amount that I offered at a later time. At that point I may have lost interest in the item or have founded for more reasonable price and and purchased that. Had the person accepted my offer they would have sold it but now they need to hold on to it longer because they didn't want to sell it at that price at that time.

    Sometimes even before I commit to purchasing any title I will reach out to the seller and say listen I'm interested in many of your titles would you consider putting them together for me? I have several sellers that makes special auctions just for me. They set the cost unreasonably high with a make offer option and let me know what they're willing to accept. Of course I agree and they create the auction. I make the offer. They accept. I send the money they send me the lot of CDs.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  10. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    I could've sworn I read on this forum how sellers were "forced" into accepting offers ?
    Well, it just happened to me, and I'm glad I was at my computer when the email came in telling me THEY had just flipped the Make An Offer button ON to help me sell...a $13.00 item for $6.50 ?!?!?!
     
    Bingo Bongo likes this.
  11. Francophile50

    Francophile50 The man with the satisfied ear.

    Location:
    Concord,CA
    I think there are algorithms that once I look at something eBay contacts me later and says the seller is accepting offers make an offer to get what you're looking for. I was just looking at it and I was deciding and passed on it but they want me to buy everything I look at.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  12. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    They added a prompt that didn't used to be there about me making an offer to a perfect stranger, just because the poor SOB clicked the Watch button ?
    No !
    I even ran it by a friend here, and he agreed, if he got a message out of the clear blue from a seller on eBay, just because he clicked the Watch button, it'd be a WTF ? moment for him too.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  13. starfieldroad

    starfieldroad chew up your love then swallow

    as a seller, this option has helped me closed some sales.

    as a buyer, I am quite happy to get a message that says "you watched it at $25, the seller is now offering it at $20"
     
  14. Professor Batty

    Professor Batty Forum Resident

    Location:
    Anoka Mn
    I've given up on them after having making one and then having the seller think that my "best offer" is the starting point of negotiations.
    What part about "best" doesn’t he understand?
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  15. Joe Lopez

    Joe Lopez Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tacoma, WA
    I've gotten offers from sellers whose items I've merely looked at. Haven't made an offer, haven't "watched" the item. It's a bit creepy really when the offer pops up.
     
  16. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    noname74 likes this.
  17. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Yeah, I got a Byrds CD that way the other day. Seller'd kept it at $15 for a while but bumped it down to $10, and that was the point at which I was ready to pounce! :)
     
    Matthew Tate and starfieldroad like this.
  18. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    There's a CD I'm interested in that has "Make an Offer" active but not BIN - it's otherwise an auction that starts at $4.

    I offered $3 and the seller declined.

    I offered $4 and the seller still declined.

    Does the seller expect people to make offers higher than the opening bid? So far no one has bid on the item...
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  19. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    A lot of people don't take the word best so literally. They see someone's made them an offer, they'd rather dicker.
    Personally I'd rather they dicker than shut me out completely after one offer.

    My BIN prices are already lower than what the others are asking, I'll be damned if I'll be giving stuff away.
    Buyers don't think about Pay Pal fees, eBay fees, shipping costs, and packing materials, that's on us as the seller.
    I have no wiggle room after the first price I set because there were already nine listings for the same gold CD I'm trying to sell !!!!!!!
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  20. Ctiger2

    Ctiger2 Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    Of course they are. It's an auction, so they're hoping it get $10-$20. I wouldn't accept an offer at the opening bid price either. Bid on it.
     
  21. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    I dunno - just seems weird that you'd offer BIN for a price that's presumably much higher than the initial bid.

    I mean, I get it in theory: the "make me an offer I can't refuse" concept. But unless it's a really desirable item, I think most people would take their chances with bids and hope they can get it for the $4 initial bid vs. $10 BIN.

    Plus, if the item's that desirable, it'd get bids right away and then BIN would go bye-bye.

    Seems unusual to see offers available for auction items anyway. Seems like 99% of "make an offer" items are already BIN... :shrug:
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  22. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    They likely are, as eBay tries to shove that option down the throat of a seller, whether we want it or not !

     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  23. Tim Crowley

    Tim Crowley Forum Resident

    Location:
    Lyndonville, VT
    Worst that'll happen is you won't get it; Life goes on.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  24. Professor Batty

    Professor Batty Forum Resident

    Location:
    Anoka Mn
    I don't mind my best offer being rejected, but I don't have the time to deal with constant negotiations about every eBay purchase, including multiple follow-up emails.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  25. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Aw, gimme a break. Everything is creepy nowadays, according to some. A stranger saying hello is creepy. A haircut is creepy. A breeze is creepy. :rolleyes:
     
    BluesOvertookMe and Matthew Tate like this.
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