eBay make an offer bs

[Snapolit1]

I agree a ridiculous offer like $2 should be ignored.

But if a card most recently sold for $1200, and you've listed it at $1850, and someone offers $800, that's a reasonable first offer.

If no negotiation process was envisioned you'd get one offer and not 3.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I agree a ridiculous offer like $2 should be ignored.

But if a card most recently sold for $1200, and you've listed it at $1850, and someone offers $800, that's reasonable first offer.

If no negotiation process was envisioned you'd get one offer and not 3.

Just because the offers are available doesnt mean the seller has to entertain them. When you sell a house and most contracts there is room for a 'counter offer' but you are never guaranteed that you will get one even though there are spaces on the contract.

I would assume if someone listed a card for 1800 when the last one sold for 1200 that they would deem an offer of 800 too low and potentially worthy of no response honestly. Just my opinion.

Sometimes if you contact them by email and say 800 Direct....that may be worth 900-1000 to them and they may counter you in an email at least..

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

Just because the offers are available doesnt mean the seller has to entertain them. When you sell a house and most contracts there is room for a 'counter offer' but you are never guaranteed that you will get one even though there are spaces on the contract.

I would assume if someone listed a card for 1800 when the last one sold for 1200 that they would deem an offer of 800 too low and potentially worthy of no response honestly. Just my opinion.

Sometimes if you contact them by email and say 800 Direct....that may be worth 900-1000 to them and they may counter you in an email at least..

I guess that's not how I look at it. In that circumstance I am telegraphing (in my mind at least) to the seller that I have more movement and will up my initial offer one or two times.

If the seller shows some actual movement down towards what the market has generally valued the card at I will come up more.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I guess that's not how I look at it. In that circumstance I am telegraphing (in my mind at least) to the seller that I have more movement and will up my initial offer one or two times.

If the seller shows some actual movement down towards what the market has generally valued the card at I will come up more.

When you make an offer there is a place where you can put a message. Sometimes you can say 800 'but have some room to move' Sometimes that allows for a better chance of a response. Some buyers quote recent past sales which i know annoy sellers as well

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I agree a ridiculous offer like $2 should be ignored.

But if a card most recently sold for $1200, and you've listed it at $1850, and someone offers $800, that's a reasonable first offer.

If no negotiation process was envisioned you'd get one offer and not 3.

you may perceive an offer 1/3 lower than recent sale as reasonable...others may perceive this as a lowball offer.

[darwinbulldog]

Question: What happens if the seller counters with $1250 and while they're waiting for your response someone else offers $1400. Is there any mechanism that prevents the sale from going through at $1250 at that point? Or can the first "bidder" scoop it up for $1250 while the $1400 offer is sitting there unnoticed?

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Question: What happens if the seller counters with $1250 and while they're waiting for your response someone else offers $1400. Is there any mechanism that prevents the sale from going through at $1250 at that point? Or can the first "bidder" scoop it up for $1250 while the $1400 offer is sitting there unnoticed?

seller sees all the offers and can pick and choose. Also remember just because someone offers something, some ebay ids have a reputation of not paying. So there are circumstances that the highest offer may not be accepted.

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

seller sees all the offers and can pick and choose.

So the $1250 offer is suspended until the seller "sees" (opens?) the $1400 offer?

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

So the $1250 offer is suspended until the seller "sees" (opens?) the $1400 offer?

any offer that is submitted to the seller that has not expired/not been accepted is sitting there for the seller to accept. The seller could accept a 1250 offer even if a 1400 offer was submitted that the seller chose not to view but it would be hard for the seller to view the 1250 offer without seeing the 1400 offer.

[Luke]

The seller and person making an offer are always going to see the negotiation differently. The seller could just as easily have come on here and made a nearly identical thread about people making them lowball offers. Neither party would be right or wrong necessarily.

Everyone looks at BIN negotiation differently in my experience. I look at it like David. I make my best offer the first time like the rules state, but I know not everyone does that.

If I was the seller with the $1500 list price and received an offer of $800, I wouldn't look at that offer as the start of any kind of negotiation I want to bother with. Ideally the seller would turn it down rather than let it sit though.

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

any offer that is submitted to the seller that has not expired/not been accepted is sitting there for the seller to accept. The seller could accept a 1250 offer even if a 1400 offer was submitted that the seller chose not to view but it would be hard for the seller to view the 1250 offer without seeing the 1400 offer.

Understood, but that isn't relevant. In the case I described the $1250 price was offered to (not by) the buyer. And then another interested party offered $1400 to the seller.

[orly57]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Question: What happens if the seller counters with $1250 and while they're waiting for your response someone else offers $1400. Is there any mechanism that prevents the sale from going through at $1250 at that point? Or can the first "bidder" scoop it up for $1250 while the $1400 offer is sitting there unnoticed?

Basic contract law of offer and acceptance. Whichever offer is accepted first forms the agreement. So if the seller countered at 1250,but accepts someone else's 1,400 offer before the 1250 guy accepts, then the 1400 deal goes through because there was no acceptance on the 1250 deal and therefore no contract.

[D. Bergin]

I've been getting lots of offers lately, on stuff I DON'T have "Best Offer" on.

Auctions AND Buy It Nows.

I usually politely decline, but it does get annoying sometimes and I don't always respond.

I understand if you put "Best Offer" in your listings you should respond, or at least set a ceiling to automatically decline an offer.

What's the etiquette for responding when you're NOT trolling for lower offers?

[Northviewcats]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

I've been getting lots of offers lately, on stuff I DON'T have "Best Offer" on.

Auctions AND Buy It Nows.

I usually politely decline, but it does get annoying sometimes and I don't always respond.

I understand if you put "Best Offer" in your listings you should respond, or at least set a ceiling to automatically decline an offer.

What's the etiquette for responding when you're NOT trolling for lower offers?

I have been encountering the same situation. Almost all of my eBay sales are on simple "buy it now" transactions. However, I do get offers frequently. My policy is to always respond to the offers in a timely fashion, even if they are unsolicited. Sometimes I will even send the buyer a counter offer and we will make a deal. I don't think that I am obligated to respond in this case, but I do because to me it makes good business sense to be polite to all potential customers. Maybe the buyer is being unreasonable with this offer, but that doesn't mean that we won't connect on another item in the future.

The same is true with inquiries on the BST. It doesn't hurt to be polite and respond to PMs, even when you see that you are not going to make a deal. I know that it is difficult sometimes when a buyer is telling you that your item is not worth your asking price. It is also hard to be polite when we are busy, or stressed out. I certainly am not perfect in my correspondence with customers, but overall, I believe that successful sales is all about building relationships.

Best regards,

Joe

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

I've been getting lots of offers lately, on stuff I DON'T have "Best Offer" on.

Auctions AND Buy It Nows.

I usually politely decline, but it does get annoying sometimes and I don't always respond.

I understand if you put "Best Offer" in your listings you should respond, or at least set a ceiling to automatically decline an offer.

What's the etiquette for responding when you're NOT trolling for lower offers?

IMHO if you are not using the OBO feature you are indicating that you are not interested in offers and unsolicited offers are the equivalent of spam and may be ignored. I state in the listing itself that I don't want offers and am not interested in ending the auction early, so don't bother. Yet yesterday I got an email offering me a lower price on a card I was selling with a BIN. I ignored it and relisted the card.

If you are using the OBO feature and you don't want to bother with the bottom feeders and grinders, set the automatic decline option with a floor below which you don't want to be bothered. If you don't want to hear a $800 offer on a $1500 item, set the floor where you will hear an offer.

If you are using the OBO function and you do not set a floor on the item via the auto-decline mechanism you are indicating that you will consider any offer and the proper etiquette is to respond to them all. You are not under any obligation to counter an offer, especially a lowball one, but you should respond.

You also have to consider the raw numbers. I completely understand the give and take on an expensive card but if you are going to grind on a $10 card you're an ass-clown and as a seller I don't want to deal with you.

Now as to the OP, any offer of less than 50% of the BIN is not realistic if the real value of the item is closer to 75% or more of the BIN. What you are telling the seller is that you are either:

--A bottom feeder looking for a stupid seller;
--A tire kicker who never makes a deal unless it is as a bottom feeder; or
--A grinder who loves to negotiate and will do so endlessly.

Sellers do not like dealing with any of those characters. I am not saying the OP is one, just that if you make offers like one, you will be treated as one. I have a love-hate relationship with the 3 strike limit on the OBO function. Sometimes it would be nice to have 5 options to offer but I also understand how a seller doesn't want to spend an inordinate amount of time on a negotiation.

Another category of offeror I don't care for is the guy who waits until the listing is over then makes the offer. Make the damned offer while the item is posted, not once it is already gone. Once the listing is over the offer is spam and it should be treated as such.

Needless to say, none of the above pertains to people I know, just to the anonymous eBay troll.

[Snapolit1]

Adam: I hear you. Every case is different. It's always been my assumption that when someone lists a card to take offers they are basically conceding that their asking price is not realistic. In many cases a 50% offer out of the box is highly unrealistic. But not if the seller is asking $9,000 for a card that just sold for $6000 last month at a major auction house. In that case I think $4500 is a reasonable first offer.

All depends.

Always cracks me up when I see an item on eBay for $9999 that sold 4 weeks ago at Memory Lane or LOTG or Goldin for $5000. News flash: if you were the high bidder the last week in Thanksgiving that means no one out there was willing to pay as much as you did. The idea that there is someone in the weeds who is now going to pay 50% higher than you paid 10 weeks ago seems, well, a tad hopeful.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Adam: I hear you. Every case is different. It's always been my assumption that when someone lists a card to take offers they are basically conceding that their asking price is not realistic. In many cases a 50% offer out of the box is highly unrealistic. But not if the seller is asking $9,000 for a card that just sold for $6000 last month at a major auction house. In that case I think $4500 is a reasonable first offer.

All depends.

Always cracks me up when I see an item on eBay for $9999 that sold 4 weeks ago at Memory Lane or LOTG or Goldin for $5000. News flash: if you were the high bidder the last week in Thanksgiving that means no one out there was willing to pay as much as you did. The idea that there is someone in the weeds who is now going to pay 50% higher than you paid 10 weeks ago seems, well, a tad hopeful.

Sometimes people can pay on ebay cause they can use credit card but dont have cash to pay an auction house that doesnt take credit card, so they can offer more than what a card just sold for...all depends... 4 weeks made a world a difference on some 1951 Bowman psa 4-5 Mantle rookies a few months ago as well.

what is also funny is in the example you cited

" asking $9,000 for a card that just sold for $6000 last month at a major auction house. In that case I think $4500 is a reasonable first offer"

If that card was listed for $4500.00, people would be offering $3000.00 and not conceding that $4500 is already super reasonable (which you agree would just be a starting point of your offer) due to the past sales price and not worth risking losing the card to another person who could offer that same $4500 during the back and forth.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

Sometimes people can pay on ebay cause they can use credit card but dont have cash to pay an auction house that doesnt take credit card, so they can offer more than what a card just sold for...all depends

what is also funny is in the example you cited

" asking $9,000 for a card that just sold for $6000 last month at a major auction house. In that case I think $4500 is a reasonable first offer"

If that card was listed for $4500.00, people would be offering $3000.00 and not conceding that $4500 is already super reasonable (which you agree would just be a starting point of your offer) due to the past sales price and not worth risking losing the card to another person who could offer that same $4500 during the back and forth.

If there was a REALLY good starting price, believe me I'd grab it in a minute at the ask and not risk losing it to someone else. Have done that many many times. Have bought a few cards in the last year really quickly after they were listed bc Iknew someone else would. (Particularly when something has been listed 15 minutes and there are 10 watchers already.)

[scotgreb]

What's the etiquette for responding when you're NOT trolling for lower offers?

I only sell by BIN and sometimes will send an offer back using eBay's "Reply with an Offer" process (I think that's how the button reads)

More often than not, I simply respond; "I appreciate your interest but believe the card is fairly priced"

Scott

[RedsFan1941]

Man ... Lots and lots of assumptions being made.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

Always cracks me up when I see an item on eBay for $9999 that sold 4 weeks ago at Memory Lane or LOTG or Goldin for $5000. News flash: if you were the high bidder the last week in Thanksgiving that means no one out there was willing to pay as much as you did. The idea that there is someone in the weeds who is now going to pay 50% higher than you paid 10 weeks ago seems, well, a tad hopeful.

I understand (and for the most part agree) with what you're saying here, but there are people that might have missed the auction the first time. I used to sell pre-owned vehicles on eBay. I can't tell you how many times I would list a vehicle on eBay, it failed to meet reserve, re-list it with the same reserve and the second time around it sold for more than the reserve. Then, when I compared the bidding history of both listings, some of the bidders were the same, but some were not. In most cases, the winner of the second listing wasn't a bidder in the first listing. My conclusion was that he/she did not see it the first time. Point is, maybe the seller is hoping that the card he bought in ML, LOTG or Goldin for $5000 10 weeks ago (using your example) was missed by someone who wants it and will see it on eBay and buy it? Just a thought.

[KMayUSA6060]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

I've been getting lots of offers lately, on stuff I DON'T have "Best Offer" on.

Auctions AND Buy It Nows.

I usually politely decline, but it does get annoying sometimes and I don't always respond.

I understand if you put "Best Offer" in your listings you should respond, or at least set a ceiling to automatically decline an offer.

What's the etiquette for responding when you're NOT trolling for lower offers?

I'm a buyer that often messages a seller to discuss a potential lower price on an item, even if it's listed as a BIN with no OBO. Why? Because the answer is "no" to 100% of the questions you don't ask. If the initial question is asked in a polite manner, such a response should be reciprocated. Treat others the way you want to be treated.

I also believe all inquiries/offers should be responded to with a simple decline at the very least. Stupid offers are just that - stupid. But just end it, and be done.