Not responding to offers - Neutral

[slati_2013]

A couple of weeks ago I responded to a discussion here about how to respond to feedback. My position was if I will not accept the offer I will not respond or decline. Well, a buyer sent me three offers. After the third one I decided to block him because I figured it would not end well. I never got around to blocking him. Then he paid full price for the item. I expected it not to end well. It did not. The buyer left the following feedback:

"Communication with the seller is non-existent. he proposed to make him direct offers after three times no response. A chance that the delivery was carried out well"

I think that was a Google Translate or kind, but the buyer's point is clear. My question is should I bother trying to get it revised or removed? He is not really wrong. I did not respond. I however think there was no need to leave a neutral. I am surprisingly not really upset because I blame myself for this. 

[lakefor94]

@slati_2013 

A neutral does not hurt anything unless you respond and it brings attention to it. 

If I have offers enabled, I normally counter or decline. I rarely block anyone due to a lowball unless their account vetting warrants blocking.

[broto_64]

You could check that buyer's feedback "Left for Others," and I could be wrong but I have a suspicion it wouldn't have ended well even if you had replied to the offer requests... 

[slati_2013]

Yes, I have decided not to respond to it. I doubt eBay will do anything about it anyway. 

[therogue-trader]

I wouldn't try to get it revised or removed, just chalk it up as a learning experience.  Doubt that eBay support would do anything as no policies are being broken by the buyer and the buyer clearly wasn't pleased with the lack of response so not sure why they would be willing to revise.

[slati_2013]

Well, you are right. The buyer is in Canada and seems to have an issue with sellers who don't communicate with him. He has left a few neutral about that and a neutral with a sarcastic comment about being pleasantly surprised at having to pay customs clearance fees in addition to shipping costs. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@slati_2013 

I would not do anything about the neutral. As you say, you brought it on yourself.

Going forward, I would suggest you review your "no response" to offers policy.

If you have "Make Offer" as a buyer option, why would you not respond to offers that your listing solicited? It is easy and not at all time consuming to decline or counter offer. And frankly, it is both polite and professional. So, I'm trying to understand what rationale you have for soliciting offers and then ignoring them unless they meet your amount? 

And if you have a definite minimum amount in mind, perhaps you would be better off setting that at the time you set up the Best offer...that way, if the buyer makes an offer that is below your minimum, he sees an auto denial....he isn't left to guess. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying this because I think the risk of a neutral or a neg is really really high if you don't respond. My point really has nothing to do with feedback. It has to do with basic business....you may have a good reason for not responding, which is why I'm asking.

[slati_2013]

As I explained a few weeks ago when I made offers in the past and they were declined, I kind of took it personally. I know I should not, but I do,  so my rationale which I know many will dismiss as absurd is by not rejecting an offer I spare the buyer the horrible feeling I used to get when my offer or counteroffer was rejected.

My approach now will be to reply with a counteroffer of what I will accept. Hopefully it will end with that. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@slati_2013 Thanks. I don't think I read your post from a few weeks ago. 

Yes, I think you will be better off...and so will your buyers...if you counter offer (or even deny).

For what it's worth:

My rule of thumb is: I deny offers below 50% of my asking price. Above 50%, I will generally counter offer. On occasion I've countered even for under 50% offers, and have sometimes ended up with a sale at a reasonable price (often with a bit of back and forth). Some sellers have a lot of built in wiggle room, some don't. It depends on one's margins. Also, as with most sellers, I am more likely to accept a relatively low offer if the item has been listed for a long time. But that, too, has exceptions.

[soh.maryl]

Your message is confusing.  First, you are talking about responding to FB.  Then about responding to offers. If he bought and paid, didn't you send it?  Feel free to ignore this, whatever it is.  That buyer doesn't understand that there is no requirement that a seller respond to offers.  But I still do not understand your message.  

[slati_2013]

I am talking about when a buyer sends you an offer and you do not respond. The buyer sent me three offers. I did not respond. Then he paid the full price for the item and I shipped it to him. The buyer left a neutral because he was not happy I did not respond to any of his offers.

This buyer in question looking at feedback he has left for others expects responses to his communications and leaves neutrals whenever he felt the seller did not communicate with him. 

[chapeau-noir]

---

@slati_2013 wrote:

As I explained a few weeks ago when I made offers in the past and they were declined, I kind of took it personally. I know I should not, but I do,  so my rationale which I know many will dismiss as absurd is by not rejecting an offer I spare the buyer the horrible feeling I used to get when my offer or counteroffer was rejected.

My approach now will be to reply with a counteroffer of what I will accept. Hopefully it will end with that. 

---

Dial that down from "horrible" to "oh, well" and it's easier.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

All of my listings which have Make an Offer were created with it long ago.

Most of them have automatic reject and accept levels and the buyer gets an answer.

I no longer respond to offers on listings which do not have Make an Offer, unless it is one of my repeat customers. And those buyers rarely buy at the listed price especially since I block most of them. I would never accept the amount in their offer.

All too many of those lowballers want me to waste time on a negotiation. I prefer to waste my time in other ways.

[robbie31415]

By not responding to offers buyers feel ignored.

The feedback seems like a reasonable and legitimate experience.

I do offer BO on my listings and do worry that by someone getting rejected and paying more will ultimately leave them to being negative about the transaction.

Because I don't want to deal with BO anymore but want to offer it, My Auto reject and Auto accept are only different by 0.01%

[ajs_coins_and_alchemy]

My go to policy for offers is pretty simple. I "love" to hit the decline button. I will not counter an offer unless I find it to be a remotely reasonable starting point. I know what the most discount I'm willing to give is, so if you're far from that, I'm not going to start a negotiation there, because it sends the wrong message.

Most items, I won't give anymore than 10% off. Maybe 12.5% ... some items are hundreds of dollars so I'm willing to knock a fixed amount like $25 or $50 off which is only a couple percent.

So if you offer me 40% off, I hit decline. 30% off, decline. 25% off decline. I probably won't counter unless it's 20% or less off. If you offer me 40% off and I do 10% off you expect to meet in the middle, I'm not budging. Why should I waste time starting there. It all sends the wrong message.

Some will defend the buyers in these cases and some will call me nuts. I price my items fairly, I'm not 40% overpriced, I'm not going to give a 30% off market value price, I'm pricing items at a slight premium, a 10% discount puts it +/- market price.

Here was a recent experience that affirmed for me that I NEED to use the decline button:

Item listing price $425.

Buyer offer: $300

My Counter: $375

Buyer offer: $320

Me: Decline

Buyer: $350

Me: $375, Firm

Buyer: $360

Me: Decline

Buyer 5th and last offer able to be sent: $370

Me: Decline

The fact this buyer wasted 5 offers, and came within $5 of my price but refused to pay my price, told me everything I needed to know. Had I began declining originally, I would've been better off. I likely sent the message that I was negotiable by countering at the very beginning. For the record, I later sold the coin for $375 to someone else who was very very happy to pay that price. It was a really nice coin. I've learned that "Decline" button is your friend. If a buyer is offended, that's their fault for offering well below market values. I'm not trying to run a flea market.

Call me unreasonable, defend low-balling buyers, defend the "principles" of eBay, we all have our negotiation tactics, I choose to respond to offers in the manners that I do and it works very well for me. I would never let an offer just expire as a seller, I find that to be a tad rude. I understand and respect that buyers let offers expire, they're not obligated to respond