What is up with all these Low ball offers and am I out of line blocking these buyers?

[juststuffisell]

I have a 90's minnesota vikings ball cap I threw up on ebay given football season is starting. It's actually in excellent condition, hard to find, and the only reason I didn't toss it a year ago. Yes, I have had it for at least 18 months, no biggie to me. Anyway, I threw a best offer on it thinking maybe 10 bucks. I have it listed for like 14.95 which I think is reasonable given when I did the listing one like it sold for 20 bucks used.

Anyway, I got an offer yesterday for 5 bucks from a guy. I thought it was quite insulting so I just declined it. The guy immediately offers 6.50 so I declined it and blocked him. Speaking of which, I have seen the same stuff with some LP's where people are offer 2 bucks for a 20 dollar LP and 10 bucks for a 50 dollar LP, 100 bucks for 180.00 is spot gold jewelry. Simply because sales are so bad on eBay right now, doesn't mean I am desperate - which I am not.  Irritate maybe, but far from desperate.

The guy was still able to email me after I blocked him...which I thought they could not do. Said he really wanted the hat. I was thinking, if you really wanted the hat you should have just bought it or made a reasonable offer.

So was I out of line blocking these low ballers? And what is up with the rampant low ball offers?

[emerald40]

Why not just auto decline any amounts under what you are willing to accept?

But imo, if you offer best offer, then expect offers.  Buyer is not out of line, imo.  I would not have blocked him.

[jason_incognito · Accepted solution]

So the guy offered $5 and then when you declined he offered $6.50....

You had a live one, that likely would have bought..... but you chose to refuse the sale and block him? 

I always counter. What does it hurt? If you were thinking 10 bucks, why didn't you counter at 12? 

Why block?

I had a $500 item. She offered $200. I countered, she countered and we ended at $440.....

I had a $300 item. Started at $200. We eneded at $270......

[midnight_mystic]

This is why I don't use Best Offer. That, and the fact that IP is not R with Best Offer.

"The guy was still able to email me after I blocked him...which I thought they could not do."

It seems that there is some loophole that allows buyers to continue to contact you through the listing that they originally contacted you through or transacted through, even if you block them later. I have found that making a completely new listing (not relisting or Sell Similar) is the only way to put a stop to it.

"So was I out of line blocking these low ballers?"

You can block anyone you like for any reason. But like another poster pointed out, if you continue to use Best Offer, you're going to continue to get lowballers. You can either stop using Best Offer and use BIN with IPR instead (which is what I recommend—if you're willing to sell the hat for $10, why not just list it for $10?), or you can set rules to auto-accept/auto-decline offers.

[juststuffisell]

I have done the same dance, I am probably more just irritated with it at this point...

[pburn]

When he offered $5, I would've countered at $16.95.

(Kidding, of course, for those of you who aren't able to see the satire font I'm using. LOL!)

I don't think most buyers really realize that a bid that low is an insult to the seller. I think they're using that approach that they make a really low offer and, after much back and forth, you'll end up somewhere in the middle (or thereabouts). I think some sellers have the perception that offers should be kind of a one-time opportunity--maybe two offers at most. I don't think it's worth much time to do an extended back-and-forth over a $14.95 item. If the item is $500 or $300, like another posted cited, fine. But $14.95? Not worth it.

I also think you have the right to block any buyer you choose. There are a bazillion buyers on eBay. They're like buses . . .

[kitschy*loot]

If I make a low offer, I'm not trying to insult anyone, I'm trying to get a deal that I can afford. My pockets are filled with lint most of the time, but I still like to buy things I am interested in.

Normally if I see something with a much higher price than I can afford, I won't bother to make an offer, but here and there I do make a low offer and the seller takes me up on it.

Instead of being insulted, a seller might consider the fact that the other party simply doesn't have a lot of cash to spare. 

[tunicaslot]

OP - most of the time - buyers that use BO on the few items I use it on give a respectable offer or they are in the ballpark and I only have to counter by a few bucks - but then you get the lowballers and at least the ones I get - many are resellers. Just had one who offered me a lowball off to end an auction early. I declined and was surprised when the item didn't receive any bids - but I had a misspelling in the title and I'm sure search didn't pick it up so relisted it at BIN after correcting it and raised the price as there's not another one like it for that group.. 

The interested buyer emailed me and offered $3 more this time around - which I declined after seeing he's a reseller - buying low and selling for 10X what he pays for things. He emailed me back  What give? and asking why I wouldn't sell it to him at the price I had it up for auction at.  Wait until he finds out I blocked him. 

[eyesacrosstexas]

Best offer allows for any size bids; it is common for people to low ball.  If you don't want to see them, set your minimums.  I personally have had many that low balled; I responded with a reasonable amount that they then accepted.  I've low balled myself; it simply shows me if the person is actually willing to negotiate with a "best offer", or if they simply added it to draw buyers with no intention of allowing it...

[beerman_1001]

I too, take getting low balled personally. 

It's one thing to dicker-that's to be expected. But anything less than a 50% offer is low balling. At least in my eyes. 

Just like if I were a waiter at a nice restaurant, I'd be insulted by a .25 tip. I'm insulted when someone offers me a far less than market bid. 

The thing is, I know of no way to stop it. Dealing with this sort of buyer is one of the costs of doing business. 

[zzydny]

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@kitschy*loot wrote:

.....Instead of being insulted, a seller might consider the fact that the other party simply doesn't have a lot of cash to spare. 

---

By those lights, shouldn't the buyer equally consider that the seller might be doing his best to put food on the table with his sales?  Having little money is no reason to cheap out on a seller; indeed, the seller might need money more than you can imagine.  If you want something, you should expect to pay fairly for it.

As a seller, I also find extreme lowball offers insulting.....no, wait, my personal feelings are that those offers are insulting.  Then I take a deep breath.  My seller common sense says that low offers are an opportunity to close a sale.  Here's what I do:  I make a counter offer at the lowest price that I am willing to accept, and I tell the potential buyer that "this is my best price."  If he lowballs again, I repeat my counter the same as the first time.  I am willing even to repeat it the third time before I finally refuse.  And only if the buyer continues to pester me will I block.

Don't close the door too early to a sale.  And only block if you must.

[city*satins]

It's a mistake to take a lowball offer as a personal insult.

The buyer doesn't know you well enough to insult you.  They're just trying for a windfall. I counteroffer and find most of them settle down fairly quickly and we either reach an agreement or don't.    I don't block them unless they get argumentative in the comments section.

[divwido]

I think best offer is a bad thing.  I"m going with some auctions and most items will be buy it now.  No offer.  One relist and I move them to another site.  I'm tired of the bottom feeders.

[lovefindingtreasures2]

Originally, on best offers, I had them for accept offers of at least such and such and decline any below that.

That did not go well. Unbeknownst to me, buyers were making offers and getting declined, making more offers and more auto declining. When more than one wrote me and asked me what my 'problem with them' was, I realized they thought I was declining them with no explanation, even though their low ball offers I would have declined.

Auto decline leaves no room to work with someone and I am sure most move on. Doing it live gives you, the seller, a chance to close the sale. They want the item, now it just depends on how much you both are willing to negotiate to a price both are happy with.

I left accept offers of at least 'X' and I took auto decline off, put my lowest accepted price and negotiate with any offers below my lowest. I always put a little note with my counteroffers, saying something nice, like, "Great taste, I love this piece too. How does XYZ sound to you?" This has resulted in sales. The true lowballing people move on, especially if they are resellers looking to flip. I sometimes even sell things to other resellers for a low price because I am not able to move them, and they can. Just sold some pins to a guy with a vintage college university collectibles site. I had managed to sell a few of them, but he specializes in them and has the customer base for it. I made him a great deal, even threw in an extra.

Why not help another seller make a few bucks on an item you cannot move? I do it all the time. I would rather move it out, then sit on it forever.

Moral. On best offer, I found having the lowest price I am willing to accept checked, but auto decline is off works best. It goes very smoothly this way and I am not accidentally insulting buyers who do not know how it works. They do take it personally. That insulted buyer might be a repeat customer too, I try to never send anyone away if I can help it.

This is obviously a posting ID 🙂

[websilverjewel]

I've recieved some really lowball offers lately. Like a $20 offer on a $60 item. I don't take it as an insult. Sometimes its another seller testing the waters. I just auto decline the lowballs so it doesn't waste anyone's time. The lowball offers many times still lead to a sale.  I ended up turining that lowball $20 offer into $58 and she took it because she knew it was already a good price. People many times just want to see how good of a deal they can get.