How low could you go and still be "respectful"!!

[200roses]

I often see the "make an offer" button, and wonder

what is a reasonable offer

especially with some sellers being overly insulted when they get a low offer.

For example:

Lets assume there is a toy for $10, $100, $1000

would it be insulting to make an $8 (80%) offer , $80, $800 offer respectively?

How low could you go and still be "respectful"!!

[inhawaii]

I hate the term "low ball offer", i think it's stupid,  but i think we established here on the boards that an offer 50% or less than the asking price is considered a low ball offer. 

[etcism]

For me, your suggested offers are perfectly fine and I would accept those instantly!  I'm in the selling business, not the storage business 🙂

   Other sellers may not though, unfortunately.   

So I can see where it's hard for a customer to know how low to go.  I am not immediately put off my a somewhat lowball offer - I'll just counter and see if they're willing to meet in the middle.

I don't even consider it "respectful" or "disrespectful" - I don't need my customers to bow down to me.  And I accept almost 90% of my offers because 90% of them are fair and reasonable and those that teeter on being a little too low I will politely counter.  I'd say I only get absolutely silly ones like $1 and $2 in about 1 out of 20.  Sometimes I will send my usual polite counter-offer, but sometimes (and this is rare), I just straight up decline.

[wesk_36]

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@200roses wrote:

I often see the "make an offer" button, and wonder

what is a reasonable offer

especially with some sellers being overly insulted when they get a low offer.

For example:

Lets assume there is a toy for $10, $100, $1000

would it be insulting to make an $8 (80%) offer , $80, $800 offer respectively?

How low could you go and still be "respectful"!!

---

There are no guidelines; in some countries, it is considered disrespectful, odd, antisocial, or stupid not to make a low initial offer when playing the negotiating game.

On ebay, a seller can just shrug it off, it's just business.

On the other hand, the seller may not want any offers; there are many complaints about ebay forcing the best offer option on sellers when the seller never listed it that way, nor wanted it offered in the first place.

Now that is disrespectful to the seller to alter their listing, in my opinion. Apparently ebay has no respect for the sellers business or listing preferences. 

Ebay shrugs it off saying the seller doesn't have to accept the offer, but does not address the issue of the seller having to deal with a barrage of offers they never wanted, and sometimes dealing with an angry buyer whose offer is rejected or ignored.

[mam98031]

I don't use this tool on my listings at all because there are just too many ridiculous offers in my opinion.  Anyone that comes through and offers a seller 50 or 60% of the price they have listed I personally think is insulting.

I would never ask for more than 20-25% off the listed price.  And to me that is a lot.  As we know there are costs for listing here and there is paying the seller for their time creating, sourcing and managing listings too.  

But that is just my opinion.

I think what you have suggested is within the respectful realm.  And the seller will likely send you a counter offer which should be fine.

[angelono]

My mom and dad had a brick and mortar store for years. We always gave 10% off for the asking and it is an unwritten rule in our area, everybody did it.  I tried to pay attention last time I set up at the flea market with dad, and most offers were 10% off.  So I guess that is what I am programmed to accept  any more than 15% off and I will decline, because I try to price it to sell to start with.

[pargran3]

I have no idea why sellers get bent out of shape with "low ball" offers.

All they have to do is decline.  Many sellers from what I have seen here on the boards have auto decline set for anything less than 5 or 10 percent. I don't get that either.

It takes a few seconds. There are so many variables. Has the person who made the offer already purchased another item? Making the offer on all 8 quantity?

Same goes with offers that have messages that basically makes the offer on a listing that does not exist (I only want the x in the photo and not the yz and adjust the shipping). So? Not a problem. Just a decline. 

this is business. Sellers have no business being snarky or expecting all lookers to be reasonable etc. etc.

Radine

[chapeau-noir]

It's one thing to low ball - I just won't accept it (particularly since I don't have BO on anything - I run sales with a good mark-down), it's the diss emails that make my eyes roll.   "This is not a current style, the size is not in demand and I don't even know if it will look good on me. Will you take considerably less for this?"

[chapeau-noir]

BTW, my gray fluffy cat has developed an immediate crush on your orange fluffy cat.

[ittybitnot]

I often see the "make an offer" button, and wonder

what is a reasonable offer

especially with some sellers being overly insulted when they get a low offer.

Be advised that EBAY often puts the "make an offer" button on a seller's listing without a seller choosing that option. It used to be that the make offer feature was a "default" blindly awarded to sellers who listed via the app or the quick listing tool.   Now we have been informed that the "make an offer" feature is placed on a listing at the whim of ebay, even if a seller does not want offers and declined to list that way. 

Some sellers are simply annoyed that they have to deal with this when they DO NOT WANT TO ENTERTAIN OFFERS AT ALL. 

[jersey_girl62]

i've gotten some ridiculously low offers and hit decline.  i don't bother to counter.  sometimes they send another offer that's more reasonable, sometimes they don't.

[luckythewinner]

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@200roses wrote:

How low could you go and still be "respectful"!!

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There really is no answer to that question, because you have no idea what a particulr seller's definition of "respectful" is. 

IMHO anyone who shows interest in your item should be treated with respect, but sadly not every seller is wise enough to do that. 

On a venue where a determined buyer can damage a sellers reputation, selling ability and pocketbook, insulting a buyer just because you do not like his offer is taking an unecessary risk. 

[7606dennis]

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@inhawaii wrote:

I hate the term "low ball offer", i think it's stupid,  but i think we established here on the boards that an offer 50% or less than the asking price is considered a low ball offer. 

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Frankly, I've always found people that ask me for a ballpark figure somewhat annoying.  Of course, judging from the Cards/Nationals' game last night I can see some of the Cardinals have trouble hitting low ball offerings from Nats' pitchers.   

[7606dennis]

OP!  What one seller considers insulting may be just what another considers a good stating point.  I would suggest researching the item and determine what you think is a reasonable price for it is and decide from that what you think is a good starting point for the negotiations.  Haggling usually works by the seller asking high, the buyer offering low and they meet somewhere in the middle.