Seller declined my 50% higher offer, sold item for listing price instead....

[lamber9347]

Sometimes I shake my head at how sellers can be their own worst enemy. I submitted an offer of $18 on a $9 auction item, that advertised accepting offers, which is 50% higher then the opening bid. There were no bids at that time and only two days left for auction ending. Seller declined within 1/2 hour so this wasn't an automatic decline but purposely declined. I figured the seller really thinks item will be involved in a bidding war and go much higher. 

Today the auction ended with only one bid, for the opening amount of $9. I'm wondering how much this seller is slapping themselves over this blunder. Had they countered my offer with $20, I'm certain I would have accepted it. Had I declined any counter then this would just have been a gamble for the counter, but receiving an offer for 50% higher then opening bid so close to end of auction just seems so ridiculous to me. 

I have item on my watch list so it will tell me if seller relists. I'm fascinated to watch and see what happens.... 

[vintage-car-magazines]

Ignore the part I said about max bid. 

The item ended with a bid but there was no bid when the offer was placed.

[bkb1942]

As a seller, I just had similar sale. Item listed at $10 auction and got offer of $30. I accepted but thought it wouldn’t be paid. After it was paid, I felt guilty because they paid so much. Funny, it was doll item, too.

[robxznyc]

Why stressing yourself out with a last minute bidding war when you can use a free sniper service like Gixen to do it for you? You are most likely bidding against machines anyway. 

[robxznyc]

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@lamber9347 wrote:

I wrote my standard, "Thank you for considering my offer. Have a great day." 

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I'm sorry but the purpose of your action is obvious without saying. But what drives your action or your intent is what needs to be said. A private seller has the freedom to sell their properties to anyone they choose and financial reward isn't the only measure. It's more rewarding for me when I feel my items can really benefit someone and I can only find out by them telling me. 

[lamber9347]

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@robxznyc wrote:

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@lamber9347 wrote:

I wrote my standard, "Thank you for considering my offer. Have a great day." 

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I'm sorry but the purpose of your action is obvious without saying. But what drives your action or your intent is what needs to be said. 

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Okay I really like that suggestion. I have done that in the past but for items that were, more intimate. One time I was making an offer for something that I wanted for a bday gift for my Goddaughter so I added that into my message. The seller later sent me a message asking if she liked the gift to which I replied with a photo of her using the item. So I get your point. For this instance it didn't seem appropriate as this was only for doll clothing. Thank you for your comments though....

[lamber9347]

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@bkb1942 wrote:

As a seller, I just had similar sale. Item listed at $10 auction and got offer of $30. I accepted but thought it wouldn’t be paid. After it was paid, I felt guilty because they paid so much. Funny, it was doll item, too.

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Don't feel guilty at all. You obviously listed at a fair price and the buyer purchased at the price they were willing to pay. That's how this is supposed to work. Kudos to you....

[ersatz_sobriquet]

Did ebay add that "make an offer" button to the seller's auction? Maybe the seller rejected the offer because it is ebay strong-arming them, so they reject all offers on their auctions on principle. 

I don't fret over $9. If I had such an auction, I would let it run because the amusement of a possible bidding tinsy tiny bidding "war" is worth it. I'd shrug off a $90 mistake, I'd shrug off a $900 mistake with some self-chastisizing. It's a $9,000 mistake before I'm swearing at myself. 

I just don't think $9 is even worthy of a discussion. 

You had the opportunity (assuming you weren't blocked after the offer) to make a bid and you failed to do so. 

[mudshark61369]

@lamber9347,

We will never know the reason why the seller declined your offer, but one reason no one has brought up yet may be, the the seller is newish or inexperienced and uses the quick listing tool which forces Best offer on their listings. If they have/ had other items listed checking to see if all of them had Best offer on them could answer that question.

If they do not want to receive offers that could be why they declined.    Since they did decline the offer with about 2 days left, why didn't you place a bid, you might have won the item for $9.50  Just because they declined the offer doesn't mean you were blocked after all. 

  "I have item on my watch list so it will tell me if seller relists. I'm fascinated to watch and see what happens..."

If the seller's profile doesn't show any indications of cancelling transactions that may be an exercise in futility. You never know though.

[funkyfreshmike.2013]

Why didn't you just bid on the item at 9 ?

[soh.maryl]

So, just idle curiosity:  Do you plan on biddng if it's relisted? And how much?

[7606dennis]

If the offer was made on an auction style listing, once a bid is placed all offers become void and the option to make one is removed.  The seller is no longer able to accept the offer at that point.  That is how the system is set up to work.

Under the auction laws of many states, if the seller were to accept an offer outside of the bidding process they could find themselves facing legal repercussions if the bidder filed a complaint that the seller failed to conduct the auction in good faith.  While eBay, being a venue, may not be subject to the same restrictions as the auction business conducting the auction, the seller may very well be.

Franky, the addition of the BO option to auction style listings was, in my opinion, ill advised.  

[7606dennis]

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@lamber9347 wrote:

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@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

Guys, this was an AUCTION with a BO, not a straight BIN/BO.

The whole point of an auction with best offer is to offer a price HIGHER than the start price. The seller declined because he thought he would get a bidding war and go above the OP's BO, but it didn't happen.

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Yes I totally get that. This was the reason why I sent my offer for double what the opening bid was, that no one had bid on with two days to go. I get that it's a gamble for sellers. Obviously this seller thought they would get more from the auction, which is why I was saying I'm expecting them to relist it. They must be smarting at turning down a sure bet for double and only getting opening amount. Those are the choices that some sellers chose to make....

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It is probably not a matter of the seller declining but rather one of him not accepting and the option to accept being removed once a bid was placed on the item.

[lamber9347]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

So, just idle curiosity:  Do you plan on biddng if it's relisted? And how much?

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No, it was more of my curiosity was all. Plus I was being sarcastic a bit as well. None of this was a big deal, I posted about it more for a conversation starter and I actually did find it amusing. Thank you for asking though. 

[lamber9347]

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@funkyfreshmike.2013 wrote:

Why didn't you just bid on the item at 9 ?

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In hindsight I obviously should have, so my bad on that....

[lamber9347]

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@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

I don't fret over $9. If I had such an auction, I would let it run because the amusement of a possible bidding tinsy tiny bidding "war" is worth it. I'd shrug off a $90 mistake, I'd shrug off a $900 mistake with some self-chastisizing. It's a $9,000 mistake before I'm swearing at myself. 

I just don't think $9 is even worthy of a discussion. 

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LOL, thank you that made me laugh. I do admit that I am a penny pincher. If I were the seller who turned down an offer for a higher amount than my item sold I would have smacked myself for it. Even at $9, yep I would. The slap would not be hard mind you....

If I lost a sale for $90 I would be looking at how I allowed that to happen and try to make sure I avoided that ever occurring again. If I lost a sale for $900, well that wouldn't be pretty at all.... If I lost a sale for $9000, call the men with the white jackets time....