Done Dealing with Low Ball Offers and Low Ball Buyers

[vintagecraze50]

Is it just me or do many others on here have some of the most difficult transactions with these people asking for big discounts on items. In my experience a huge percentage of these people end up being partial refund scammers, not as described critics who want another deep discount after they get the item. I swore I would block each and every one of these from now on but got soft on this one recent transaction and here we go again with these people. My strategy from now on is to block each and every low Ball offer. No exception from now on.

[linda7913 · Accepted solution]

Yes, it has happened to me too. I don't have Best Offer on my listings, yet I get messaged by someone asking if I will take an offer of 50% off my listing. If they are out of the USA, I just thank them for their interest and tell them I don't ship outside the country. If they pursue it, I block them and mark the listing as question answered. I recently received a message from a "buyer" saying it would be great for me to "give them" my item. Their eBay id was immediately placed on the BBL.

I used to stress out when receiving questions that wanted discounts rather than asking legitimate questions about my item they were interested in. After reading other comments from sellers on how they handled solicitations from people wanting discounts irregardless of no Best Offer choice, I have learned to block questionable buyers and move on. If it makes you feel like you were wrong to sell your items because of some inconsiderate people, you're not wrong, they are. So, keep your blood pressure under control, calmly go to the Blocked Bidders (Buyers) List, enter their eBay id, and move on. There are some really fine buyers out there. Don't let the bad apples and bad manners of others ruin a great experience.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Best offer has 'automatic' minimums that YOU can set; and SHOULD set.

Then, you will NEVER see any 'lowball' offers. 

Problem solved. 

[murph1727]

Just ... say... no. Honestly, I laugh when I get lowball offers! To quote Judge Judy, (in reference to these buyers)---"you're a moron".

[chapeau-noir]

I've found that people who beg for big discounts are more trouble than they're worth - not just here, either.

[reallynicestamps]

It's a corollary of Aspirational Buying.

The idea of AB is that the more you pay for something, the more it is worth.

With that mindset, the less you pay for something, the less it is worth.

If the seller will reduce the price, the buyer thinks he could have got it even cheaper and feels cheated.

And strikes back by being a Bad Buyer- with false claims and demands for partial refunds.

With Best Offers, which are a useful marketing tool, we have a simple defense.

We can set parameters.

Any Offer below a certain amount is politely and automatically refused by the program.

Any offer over a certain amount is accepted and invoiced immediately, so the customer is there when the Offer is accepted, making it easy to pay.*

And those two amounts can be a penny apart.

So if you have an item you would sell for $90, you could list it at $100 and set your refusal at $89.99 and your acceptance at $90.00.

The buyer is happy to get a bargain. The seller got their 'real' price.

Note that Immediate Payment Required is not compatible with Best Offers. Choose which is most important to you. If your price is firm go with IPR.

Note that Best Offers on Auctions disappear with the first bid. The bid you see is not the bidder's maximum bid which might even be higher than the acceptable Best Offer.

But basically, bottom feeders are horrible customers. Many years ago a poster dubbed them "armed bargain hunters".

*A side effect would be a little egoboo to the customer-"They accepted fast! They like me!"

[dbfolks166mt]

     There are a couple of reasons I quit using OBO many moons ago the low ball offers was one of them. Ditch the OBO and simply ignore any unsolicited low ball messages that you may get. 

[vintagecraze50]

We use buy it now exclusively in our store. The buyer bought an item that is listed on many other sites for over 500 bucks. They got it for around 220 because our  initial cost for the item was low. And wanted to move inventory. They were working over another seller on Etsy for the same item. Their loss as we have no problem accepting their return and giving them a free shipping label so we can relist at the going price again of around say 450 to be lower than the competition. The buyer is a dumbo. 

[movieman630]

You gotta love those people.  I had a guy offer me $8 on a $15 car part (based on competitor prices) made of cast iron that I have to ship in a Priority Flat Rate bubble mailer for $8.30. 

INSTANT BBL!

[movieman630]

I usually will entertain low (not insultingly low) but low offers on things if I research it and find that someone has it listed around that price.  If it's comparable to mine and mine has been listed for a long time I usually take the offer and move on.  Just another inventory item and more free shelf space for something more valuable.

[inhawaii]

I hate the term "lowball offer" because it's so subjective.

What might be a lowball offer to one may not be a lowball offer to another.

Here is what I found based on information I gathered over the years from this board.

51% or more of asking price = OK

50% or less of asking price = Lowball Offer

[ms.rodriguez*]

Sometimes a lowball offer is meant to get you to meet them somewhere in between. I try to NOT to get mad. I set my items with a best offer option but when I relist, ebay insists on taking it out. Since I relist in bulk, I don't always get a chance to edit each one.  Keep in mind, that in some cultures, making offers is a very common practice. It's actually expected and the store owners there know it and price their items a bit higher so that they can negotiate with the buyer.  Count to 3 and send them a counter offer of your lowest price.  Before you send that offer, edit the listing to reflect that lowest price.  Also make sure that they are not sellers too.

If the buyer has a lot of feedback AND they sell too , that would make me very mad. Since I can't cuss them out, the best revenge is to completely ignore their email.  I can imagine them checking their devices constantly to see if I accept or will send them a counter offer.   

[weatherloach]

You can block whoever you want, you make your own policy, it's your account. We get messages asking for a $20 item plus shipping for $5 with free shipping. We laugh and decline politely, most go away. On 1 occasion a low baller kept low balling higher and higher us until he/she BIN at full price. Two got real nasty, one said that he could get the same item on Amazon for half price! Why are you bugging me when you can get this deal somewhere else, We again laugh! Another called us scammers for being so high and refusing his pennies on the dollar. The 2 nasty ones we got last year when we politely turned down were blocked, that's it.

Remember they are resellers so your $150 item if bought for $50 from you might get listed for $200 after they get it.

Weatherloach

[vintagecraze50]

There is a lot of wheeling and dealing these days from resellers on here i would imagine, especially if an item is a hot item, an expensive everwhere else item. They can get really aggressive about this.

[reallynicestamps]

Again,  a good reason to set those parameters so you don't even see the lowballs. Easier on the ego and the ulcers.