eBay

dina4680 · ‎10-19-2022

I have an item up for auction. No bids but I got 2 different offers for slightly higher than starting bid. Is this some new method that buyers are using? I never saw this before.

itsjustasprain · ‎10-19-2022

@dina4680 wrote:
I have an item up for auction. No bids but I got 2 different offers for slightly higher than starting bid. Is this some new method that buyers are using? I never saw this before.

Buyers are free to send you offers anytime through Ebay messages even if you do not actually have a Make Offer button in the listing. They are hoping they can persuade you to end the auction and sell to them before the price goes higher than they want to pay. I would assume that if you are getting offers like that then it will be very worthwhile to let the auction run to its end. Just invite them to bid.

That is not the same as getting offers higher than a Fixed Price where the interested party could just buy it at that price instead. Those offers are scams hoping to lure you into shipping using fake payment notifications for whatever ludicrous price they are offering.

vintage-camerastuff · ‎10-19-2022

If I see something on ebay that I want but has not yet been bid on I will offer an amount that I believe is reasonable. I have made purchases this way. not many but a few.

fern*wood · ‎10-19-2022

In addition to the fact that offers can be sent without "best offer" being offered, I see a few of your auctions actually have "best offer" activated.

dina4680 · ‎10-19-2022

Indeed and those were accidents. They are using the Best Offer button. But for higher than starting bid. I found that unusual.

dbfolks166mt · ‎10-19-2022

As others stated this may be a legitimate offer and the buyer simply wants you to end the auction early and sell it to them or they don't want to wait out the timeline for the auction to end. The other potential is it is a lead in to some type of scam or it's a sport bidder having fun. Look at the feedback and account info and see if they appear to be a reputable buyer or if their account is just a few days old although that is not always a definite indicator.

If you have OBO enabled on the auction you can simply accept the offer. You cannot require immediate payment on an auction yet and there is always the chance that the individual may not pay but after 4 days you can cancel the order for non-payment and relist. If you do not have OBO enabled on the auction you have a couple of options.

a_c_green · ‎10-19-2022

@dina4680 wrote:
Indeed and those were accidents. They are using the Best Offer button. But for higher than starting bid. I found that unusual.

Not for auctions, it isn't. They want to make an offer that will persuade you to end the auction before bids are received. (In most categories, once bids have been made, the Make Offer button disappears and any pending offers are automatically declined.)

In my buying account, I often make offers in such cases, hoping to grab the item before anyone else starts bidding. Sometimes I win, sometimes I don't.