eBay

angel_lic_2000 · ‎02-22-2018

A potential buyer wants me to change my listing and add “buy it now” so they can get my item now for a particular price. I told them no, since I already had another bidder. Eventually they became the high bidder, but I’m still not sure it’s ethical. Plus, it may actually go higher before bidding closes. Any suggestions or words of wisdom?

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎02-22-2018

You can't add a BIN after a bid and whether they're high bidder or not, it's unfair to your other bidders and watchers.

The general comment around here is that nobody ever makes a special offer in YOUR best interest. Usually these offerers know something and the listing ends up higher than the offer.

plumbingspecials · ‎02-22-2018

No. Do not let buyers tell you how to run your listings. Never.
I had a guy contact me yesterday because his offer was auto-declined. I obliged him once and sent an offer that I would accept. He then argued with me, "I told you what my budget was for this item, I cannot pay what you are asking, that's only 9% off!" (It was actually ten percent off, but whatever...) It's my product and I'm not going to go below what I will accept, I think 10% and free shipping is not a bad deal. His budget concerns are not my problem. Should I take less in commission because he has a budget? Flabbergasted by the audacity. But I digress...
Today, he asked me why I blocked him. Well, derrrrrrr.

fern*wood · ‎02-22-2018

I don't see it as being unethical. I see it as possibly sneaky, if they think they know more about the value than you do, or it may be impatience because they just don't want to wait for an auction to end. Plus, if you already have a bid then it isn't fair to them, since you would have to remove it to add a BIN.

I've agreed to do this before when requested, if I have no one else interested and I'm fairly confident in the value. I've also turned them down. I just email nicely either way.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎02-22-2018

You can't add a BIN to an auction even if you remove the bid. If it had one originally a retraction or cancellation will bring one back but you cannot add a new one.

tryno2 · ‎02-22-2018

I don't have a problem with them making an offer but I won't cancel a bid to accept their offer. Most of the time they will get a polite answer but I have had idiots offer $10 on a $100 listing. They don't get a polite answer, they may get a counter offer of $200 and then blocked.

slippinjimmy · ‎02-22-2018

@angel_lic_2000wrote:
A potential buyer wants me to change my listing and add “buy it now” so they can get my item now for a particular price. I told them no, since I already had another bidder. Eventually they became the high bidder, but I’m still not sure it’s ethical. Plus, it may actually go higher before bidding closes. Any suggestions or words of wisdom?

What is is that you're not sure is "ethical"?

Is it the buyer asking for something or you turning them down?

All I see here is that a buyer asked for something and you declined. Seems like the end of the story to me.

Back in the days when I ran mostly Auctions this happened on a regular basis, I would occasionally accept such an offer but more often decline as you did for the same reasons. Of course I would also encourage the buyer to bid high if they wanted the item, if they won that's great, if they merely pushed up the closing price that's also great.

fern*wood · ‎02-22-2018

@the*dog*ate*my*tableclothwrote:
You can't add a BIN to an auction even if you remove the bid. If it had one originally a retraction or cancellation will bring one back but you cannot add a new one.

I just tried to revise one of my auctions and it was allowing me to add a BIN as long as it was 30% more than my starting price.

thallidguy · ‎02-22-2018

@angel_lic_2000wrote:
Plus, it may actually go higher before bidding closes.

This is the key point. A lot of bidders wait until the last day, or even the last minute, to bid. Bidders who use sniping services literally wait until the last second.

the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth · ‎02-22-2018

It's letting you add a BIN to an auction with bids? That is terrible! I guess Ebay really does want to lose all the auction buyers.

fern*wood · ‎02-22-2018

@the*dog*ate*my*tableclothwrote:
It's letting you add a BIN to an auction with bids? That is terrible! I guess Ebay really does want to lose all the auction buyers.

I didn't say my auction had bids, but I mentioned earlier that the OP would have to remove any bids to do this.

I was responding to your statement: "You can't add a BIN to an auction even if you remove the bid." If the bid is removed, then I feel sure it could be added.

muttlymob · ‎02-22-2018

I was responding to your statement: "You can't add a BIN to an auction even if you remove the bid." If the bid is removed, then I feel sure it could be added.

Unless things have changed, the features that disappear when a bid is placed do not come back when the bid is retracted or canceled. The BIN goes away (in most categories) when a bid is placed. Not just when a bid is active.

frazlan_ch4oikm · ‎02-22-2018

I completely agree!
I am so tired of all of the excuses I have heard as to why buyer's want an item for a particular price. I have had messages like "this may not fit me so I think it should be cheaper, and this is used so I am only paying this much, or even I don't have the money so this is my max" Do not give in, most of the time it is just people trying to get an item for a cheaper price than its true value. Sometimes I have even declined someone so many times that they end up coming up and paying the price that i agreed to sell it for.

brandofathaue0 · ‎02-22-2018

Did he/she push up the closing price or did he/she win it for less than the original offer amount? I make offers on auctions left and right close to birthdays - fair offers, I might add. This assuming BIN listings for the same item(s) are either unavailable at a decent price OR unavailable altogether!

You win some, you lose some, right?