eBay: people who ask for discounts on fixed price listings

Mark17 · #1 09-20-2025, 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fandom0610

Theres nothing wrong with that at all. Who wants to pay full price? Thats like you going to a car dealership and paying sticker. Nothing wrong with some negotiation and majority of the time if you make a decent offer itll be accepted.

But people don't go to a grocery store and ask the pimple-faced teenager stocking the shelves "What's your best price on these oranges if I buy 5?"

And there's no negotiation at a fast food drive through, or hardware store, or gas station. So, maybe nobody likes to pay full price, but there are many arenas where paying full price is simply how it's done.

I'll respond to reasonable ebay offers, but I'll rarely budge for that reason. If the offer is close, then the buyer can go all the way to full price.

Gorditadogg · #2 09-20-2025, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark17

But people don't go to a grocery store and ask the pimple-faced teenager stocking the shelves "What's your best price on these oranges if I buy 5?"

And there's no negotiation at a fast food drive through, or hardware store, or gas station. So, maybe nobody likes to pay full price, but there are many arenas where paying full price is simply how it's done.

I'll respond to reasonable ebay offers, but I'll rarely budge for that reason. If the offer is close, then the buyer can go all the way to full price.

Lower priced items that are sold in volume aren't negotiated individually because for the vendors, it wouldn't be worth the time and expense to do that. Maybe that's the case with your ebay store, too. Fast food chains and supermarkets almost always have special sale prices, though, for their customers who are looking for a deal.

On the other end, higher priced goods, like autos and furniture, are usually negotiable because the profit to the seller is significant enough.

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jayshum · #3 09-20-2025, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

Lower priced items that are sold in volume aren't negotiated individually because for the vendors, it wouldn't be worth the time and expense to do that. Maybe that's the case with your ebay store, too. Fast food chains and supermarkets almost always have special sale prices, though, for their customers who are looking for a deal.

On the other end, higher priced goods, like autos and furniture, are usually negotiable because the profit to the seller is significant enough.

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There's also a cultural aspect to it. In some countries, the price on just about everything is negotiable. In the US, only certain things have become common to negotiate on.

rlevy · #4 09-20-2025, 10:00 AM

I put an item that had a BIN of $225 with no "best offer" on my watchlist and the next day received an offer from the seller with an 8% discount. The offer was good for 4 days. I responded to the seller that I appreciated the discount but that the price was still too high and asked if the seller could do $170 (75% of the original price, or 83% of the new offered price). The seller didn�t respond, so on day 3 I declined the offer with a message saying I had asked the seller if they could do $175 (actually increased my offer a bit) but hadn�t heard back. They didn�t respond to this message either.

To me, it isn�t about whether the price is fair or not for the item, but the anonymity of the internet allows sellers to do things that they wouldn�t normally do if they were set up at a show. You wouldn�t just ignore someone making you a reasonable offer for an item at a show, you would respond with some sort of answer (i.e. �no, can�t do that�). In this case, the seller is an experienced seller with a 100% positive feedback of over 7,500, yet couldn�t take the time to respond to a potential customer. To me, it is just plain rude and bad business. But I guess the seller just doesn�t care. Remember, they offered me a discount first.

Rick

Eric72 · #5 09-20-2025, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlevy

I put an item that had a BIN of $225 with no "best offer" on my watchlist and the next day received an offer from the seller with an 8% discount. The offer was good for 4 days. I responded to the seller that I appreciated the discount but that the price was still too high and asked if the seller could do $170 (75% of the original price, or 83% of the new offered price). The seller didn�t respond, so on day 3 I declined the offer with a message saying I had asked the seller if they could do $175 (actually increased my offer a bit) but hadn�t heard back. They didn�t respond to this message either.

To me, it isn�t about whether the price is fair or not for the item, but the anonymity of the internet allows sellers to do things that they wouldn�t normally do if they were set up at a show. You wouldn�t just ignore someone making you a reasonable offer for an item at a show, you would respond with some sort of answer (i.e. �no, can�t do that�). In this case, the seller is an experienced seller with a 100% positive feedback of over 7,500, yet couldn�t take the time to respond to a potential customer. To me, it is just plain rude and bad business. But I guess the seller just doesn�t care. Remember, they offered me a discount first.

Rick

It�s possible the seller had the �automatically send offers� feature turned on for that item. I�m not condoning the fact they ignored your message, though.

rlevy · #6 09-22-2025, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eric72

It�s possible the seller had the �automatically send offers� feature turned on for that item. I�m not condoning the fact they ignored your message, though.

That may have been what happened, but the funny thing is that if the seller had responded with any type of answer turning my offer down, I probably would have accepted his offer. That's why I waited 3 days before declining. Now, I have moved on.

Rick

Eric72 · #7 09-22-2025, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlevy

That may have been what happened, but the funny thing is that if the seller had responded with any type of answer turning my offer down, I probably would have accepted his offer. That's why I waited 3 days before declining. Now, I have moved on.

Rick

Yep, not even responding to your message was poor form...and it cost him the sale.

Even when people probably aren't going to like my reply, I always make it a point to respond. It only takes a moment to send a "sorry, no" message when people ask for steep discounts. A few times, they've bought them item anyway and told me, "it never hurts to ask."

Fandom0610 · #8 09-26-2025, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark17

But people don't go to a grocery store and ask the pimple-faced teenager stocking the shelves "What's your best price on these oranges if I buy 5?"

And there's no negotiation at a fast food drive through, or hardware store, or gas station. So, maybe nobody likes to pay full price, but there are many arenas where paying full price is simply how it's done.

I'll respond to reasonable ebay offers, but I'll rarely budge for that reason. If the offer is close, then the buyer can go all the way to full price.

Lol...buying sportscards is not a "Arena" where you pay full price unless you really need the card. Thats not how its done and has never been that way. You dont go to a cardshow and not haggle with the seller. Thats how it's been done.

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