Using Best Offer- What is the smart way to do it?

[bonnie-lass]

If I opt to use the best offer option should I use those automatic options to refine it,  auto accept or auto reject? What percentage of the BIN price?  Keep accept and reject near the same price? Ignore the auto options and just wait to hear from potential buyers?

I'd just like a bit of a tutorial from those who use it, or have. Thanks for any input.

[sam9876]

Best Offer is the same as shooting yourself in the foot.

[bonnie-lass]

Best Offer is the same as shooting yourself in the foot.

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I have cute toes so I shouldn't use it at all? lol

[ed8108]

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@bonnie-lass wrote:

If I opt to use the best offer option should I use those automatic options to refine it,  auto accept or auto reject? What percentage of the BIN price?  Keep accept and reject near the same price? Ignore the auto options and just wait to hear from potential buyers?

I'd just like a bit of a tutorial from those who use it, or have. Thanks for any input.

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Use the automatic options available.

[magsmg101]

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@bonnie-lass wrote:

If I opt to use the best offer option should I use those automatic options to refine it,  auto accept or auto reject? What percentage of the BIN price?  Keep accept and reject near the same price? Ignore the auto options and just wait to hear from potential buyers?

I'd just like a bit of a tutorial from those who use it, or have. Thanks for any input.

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I use the best offer feature for items I am not exactly sure of value or are items that have been re-listed several times.

I use auto reject if the offer is under 20-30%

Be aware that buyers can send an offer via message even if you do not have the feature enabled.

[lost-lizard-trading-company]

It depends on what you are selling, how well it sells, how many similar sellers there are, what your costs are, and what the market will bear.  I mostly sell books and media items and I love Best Offer, but grit my teeth everytime I get a crazy low-ball offer (you need a thick skin to use it).  

BO is best when selling items for which you have an advantage (cleaner, crisper, autographed) and few competitors.  Remember, while your item is waiting out it's 30 days for as buyer, it's likely that other sellers will swoop in and list at a lower price.  BO can give you a bit of an advantage without constantly re-evaluating / changing price.  

When first listed, I set my price based on other similar items on eBay and other sites.  I almost always set an "I will accept price" and seldom set a reject price.  If the item cost me very little or has been in inventory for a long time, I may set the accept price reasonable but rather low.  If I set a reject price level, I must keep up on the other prices (racing to the bottom).  I seldom think in terms of per cent off prices.

If you include shipping in your price, make that clear in the listing and when replying back to an offer.  Some low-ball offers will barely cover the shipping component.  

If I have an item that cannot accept a very low price, I do not use Best Offer.  

eBay damaged the BO process when it added up to 4 BO tries to get it right.

Best Offer is a good tool, but its use is somewhat of an art.  

[mikeystoyz]

I use best offer.  I have an auto-reject for about 20 percent lower than my price.  I use it to give my foreign buyers a break on shipping.  I have free media shipping and it costs me 4 dollars per 2 lbs.  I knock off 4 bucks no issues when they as because they pay the 2lb shipping rate.

[scottish_kat]

It really depends on the item, where it came from, and what your particular selling approach is.  I never use auto-accept because I have few enough items that I have time to consider offers individually.  

For auto-reject:

If I paid money for the item with the intention of re-selling it, I calculate the cost, e-bay fees, paypal fees, and see what the "break even" point would be.  Then I set the auto-reject somewhere above that.

If I'm selling something I owned, I calculate the bare minimum to make money (so again, ebay, paypal fees, usually shipping in there too) add the smallest amount I would ever agree to make from the item, and set the auto-reject there.

Of course, if you enjoy haggling and talking to people you can deal individually with every offer.  Some people have the patience and the skills to talk someone up from a lowball offer.  I, personally, do not, so I spare myself any offer that is under what I might actually consider. Your milage may vary.

[southern*sweet*tea]

I love best offer.  The majority of what I sell is only worth what someone wants to pay,  and my costs are negligible, so I'm open to all offers. Doesn't mean I accept them, just that I'm open to them.  I don't use the blocks.  I want my items to move, not hang around forever collecting dust on the virtual shelves. If this stuff is sitting here, I'm not making money.  The vast majority of the offers I receive are quite reasonable.  

Every now and then I will have some higher priced items that I don't do best offer on, but for the most part I use best offer, but only around 20-25% of the items I sell even have offers made. They just sell outright.

[poppyswag]

Never had much luck with it, I actually prefer fielding offers through messages, did that for years. I use calculated shipping so I always write plus shipping in listing in the details box just in case there is a glitch and they think it's free.

Seems like mostly the 30% lowball offers which is annoying as others have pointed out. The thing with setting limits is they could put a dollar less than what you would accept and you don't know it. I don't sell volume so it's not a problem for me to look at each one. 

[myboardid]

To the OP - It depends a lot on the type of item you sell, and what you paid for it vs. the asking price.   I have a good amount of competition in my categories.  I pay wholesale (plus shipping) for my items, list them just below the going eBay price so I am the lowest priced seller, then add best offer.    Since I am already the lowest, I set my auto-decline at 5-10% off the listed price and do not use the auto-accept.  I personally find it not to be worthwhile for any item below a listing price of $25 after I've calculated all the expenses. 

Be sure and figure out all your expenses - item cost, eBay fees on the item and the shipping, postage, packing materials, etc, so you make some profit at your lowest acceptable price.  

Your costs will be different from mine so I would expect you to use BO differently.  But over all I do find it a useful tool.  And like another poster mentioned above, on most of my sales the item is just purchased outright and the BO ignored.   

[7606dennis]

In my opinion, the smart thing to do is not use it, but if you enjoy haggling go ahead.  I would probably suggest making sure you have enough wiggle room in your asking price and develop a thick skin since you will undoubtedly be seeing some low ball offers.  Thin skinned people that get upset easily usually find that haggling isn't for them.

[unicorn_house]

I always Set best offer on my listings. I don’t set a minimum because sometimes buyers test the waters by sending a lowball offer to see if you have auto decline set up. I’ve had someone offer $15 on a $75 item and they accepted when I countered with $73. I’ll price my item on the higher end and accept reasonable offers. I don’t get offended or annoyed at the lowballs, that’s just a waste of energy.  And I always always counter, even the lowest offers. A lot of the time people just want to negotiate, and usually I can get them up to a price I’m happy with. IMO if you’re auto declining you’re missing out on sales.