blocked a lowball buyer today and his wife bought the same item tonight
Ok, so early today I blocked a buyer for offering 1.00 for a sports card that I had 1.29 on, so I declined his offer, then he messages me "How low will you go?"...I messaged back its only 1.29 and then I blocked him...well tonight it sold and when I was printing out the label I noticed same address and same last name with a females name, so now I'm worried they will leave me bad feedback because I blocked the male earlier, really ? you can't just pay the 1.29? I'm a top rated seller, so not sure if they leave bad feedback about me blocking him over lowballing if it will ruin my 100% feedback I work very hard to keep and now might be ruined over a 1.29...stressed out now...if that happens what advice can anyone help me with.
Thanks
53 comments
iamalwaysright
·2 years agoListing price $0.01 OBO
What would you do if you saw this 😀
covetmodern
·2 years agoThere's a lot to unpack here. First, I don't mean any criticism of how you operate your eBay sales. That is your choice. I personally don't have time to get bogged down with small value listings or risk negative feedback over a $1 or $1.29 card. Just seems like a lot of risk in my opinion.
2nd, I don't like the idea of lowball offers, but I also don't consider 22% below asking price a lowball offer, especially when your talking about $1.29 to $1.00. $1.00 seems like the reasonable line in the sand at that price point and I would expect that is where most buyers would make a reasonable offer in their mind. What is your threshold for being lowballed? I always consider what that number is that a reasonable buyer would look at my asking price and make an offer. Since I sell higher priced items, if I am asking $129 for an item, I would expect reasonable offers down to $100. If I'm going for $120, I'm going to ask $149, not $129. That's just me. Unfortunately, here is no magic rate that sellers accept as reasonable offers. The next seller might accept an offer at 50% below asking.
3rd, I'm curious (no answer requested) how you are making a profit other than through charging several bucks above your shipping costs. If I was spending a lot of time answering offers for $1.29 items and blocking "lowball" offers on items I make 50 cents or $1 profit on, I would have to reconsider what I'm doing. I say this because that is exactly what I'm doing right now. It is worth my time, expense, headaches to sell 20 items for $25 profit each or better to sell 5 items at $100 profit each?
gail5176
·2 years agoWhy did you block him over asking what your lowest price is? Seems unnecessary
bashort
·2 years agoI just ignore what I consider to be lowball offers and it is not unusual for the low baller to end up paying your asking price. I do not really see the problem with someone trying to get something at a lower price,
robbie31415
·2 years agoI mean isn't that what adding 'best offer' is?
Basically saying send me something lower and I will consider it. I don't think buyers are sending higher offers.
This seller should turn off best offer. Instead of getting all bothered when someone actually uses it.
I also font think most consider 20% Discount to be a low ball offer. I usually label them low ball at 50% or lower.
yuzuha
·2 years agoExactly. That's precisely WHY I turned off Best Offer-- because it advertises to buyers that my listed price is not my actual price. All that does is encourage people to play "how low can you go?"
robbie31415
·2 years agoI agree.
Best offer should only be used if willing to lower price.
I personally send an offer if they offer BO when I buy because might aswell try and save a little money.
I offer greater than 20% off all the time. Some deny, some accept, some counter. Even when I'm willing to pay full price.
I personally have BO on all my listings and deal with plenty of actual low ball offers.
Like someone sent me an offer on a dvd I have listed with free shipping for 6 dollars. They offered me 3 dollars. 3 dollars doesn't even pay for the media mail shipping at 3.92.
But you know what. I'm thankful for that offer because I've heard rumors the algo helps you out if offers happen. So u just send them an apology I can't accept with 5% counter offer and move on with my life.
josephb555
·2 years agoThere was no need to block him. You should have just declined his offer. When you accept offers you have the option of accepting or declining the offer. Even if he were to offer 1 cent. He has the right to make any offer and you have the right to decline it if it is too low. You should not have blocked him since he violated no rules.
onefootflipper
·2 years agoSomeone doesn't have to violate any rules for you to put them on your block list. You can put anyone you want on it for any reason. Some sellers literally block every single person who ever messages them.
gloryglorygifts
·2 years agoI'm a little confused here...... how and where do you see a bidders name and address? I don't do auctions but I thought they were blind until the bidder wins.
If someone paid for it you ship it to the address provided.
cardsforauction
·2 years agolol I lost a sale one time over 1 dollar. If I recall the person offered 24 dollars and I countered with 25 plus I was selling the item with free shipping. I did not hear from them again, crickets . . . Well, sure enough, it sold a month later for a lot more. I think it was like $35 or some where in the ballpark of that price.
gone.c-33
·2 years ago Seller checks box to allow offers on listings
Buyer sees this and makes an offer.
Seller:
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·2 years agofarmalljr
·2 years agoFretting over ONE buyer that MIGHT leave neg feedback is a waste of your energy. ANY buyer at ANY time can do that. 99% of buyers don't look at your feedback anyway, AND you also can respond to feedback, politely, explaining your side.
No need to stress about it.
The ONLY time I ever look at feedback, is if I suspect a seller is drop shipping from China. Other than that, who really cares what a seller's feedback is? Buyer protections mean I have absolutely NO worries about buying here. I will never lose money as a buyer here. Ebay protects me, Paypal protects me, and my bank protects me. Your feedback means a big, fat, nothing here. My concerns as a buyer are covered.
binar_warehouse
·2 years agoHave you ran your numbers? Seen a couple of listings where you lose money ( packing, fee, shipping is more than the price you list).
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoThe sports cards and coins are mostly bulk sales, not to mention they bring up my stores totals
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoI have .99 and 1.49 stamps and postcards for that, so I hear you. In postcards most people buy one, in stamps most people buy several at once and combine shipping. The money is made when purchased en masse, not one at a time, but I can't stop someone from buying just one.
C.
onefootflipper
·2 years agoI seemingly can't do ANYTHING to make people buy more than 1 card at a time. My all card store has 11,000 cards, all buy 1 get 1 free. 90 percent of the customers don't even take the free card.
inhawaii
·2 years agoThere is a item I sell quite regularly, i'm shipping one out as we speak.
The item sells for $6.
Shipping is $5 for the first one and $1 for each additional.
For the life of me I can' t understand why people just buy ONE, but they do.
onefootflipper
·2 years agoMy under 1 pound shipping rule is 5.99 for the first item and $1 for each extra item. Same thing, almost no one will ever buy a second item.
soh.maryl
·2 years agoIf the OP is listing items at $1.29, maybe he doesn't care about running the numbers.
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoCoins and sports cards is all I sell for 1 to 3.00, the rest of my stuff is average priced....like I said I have buy 5 and get five free on those items, so yes I have them low priced....omg!!!!
onefootflipper
·2 years agoI was previously a card specialist.
Those 99 cent shipped cards you actively lose money sending them out.
The 1.25 plus shipping cards you clear all of 62 cents on and that is IF your cost of goods and supplies are 10 cents per order.
You cannot list and ship cards with a 62 cent margin fast enough to make any sort of money at all. Even to make $12 an hour you would need to be able to list 20 cards and ship 20 cards in the same hour, except it is worse, low dollar cards have such a bad sell through rate that 3/4 of them will never sell so you actually have to list 80 cards and ship 20 cards in the same hour to end up with $12. And this doesn't count any time to actually find the cards in the first place.
rainbowcomicsandcards
·2 years agoIf I allow offers I will sometimes set a lowest acceptable amount. I then have a template I just cut and paste that advises them to make the offer via the listing and if its too low it will auto decline and that is the lowest we are willing to go. I just send that to anyone who emails asking like this and don't bother blocking them unless they keep emailing.
dhbookds
·2 years agoAs you've realized having B/O on a $1.29 item was a mistake..........silly to even to think about.
To forestall a neg..........I would include a "I'm sorry I blocked your husband on this item" note in the package....saying that my brain obviously wasn't in gear when I put B/O on the listing and when I refused and blocked his offer........ You could also say you will refund the entire amount when the item is received...... Do NOT refund until after you mail it......or it could look like an Out of stock.....
All you can do is all you can do..........
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoThank you....some of you are so nice and helpful 😊
soh.maryl
·2 years agoNot sure I understand. Why not just ignore the offer? At either $1.29 or $1.00, you can't be making any money.
Plus why would someone with 1009 FB be worried about the possibility of one negative FB? Guess I don't understand the current seller climate on eBay.
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoI guess not.... once again it's not about the 29 cents....its about the gall to ask for less then 1.00.
soh.maryl
·2 years agoWhen you're allowing offers on your items, are you aware you can set your requirements so that an offer below a certain amount is AUTOMATICALLY declined?
inhawaii
·2 years agoI can't figure out what is more intriguing,
a buyer who offers 29 cents less than the asking price,
or a seller who declines a offer 29 cents less than the asking price,
or a seller who blocks a buyer for offering 29 cents less than the asking price.
whorunbartertown
·2 years agoLooks like you've already gotten great advice. One more thing that I can think of is to check the "wife's" Feedback Left For Others. Hopefully, there won't be a string of negative Feedback. If there is, your suspicions will be confirmed; if not, you're likely in the clear.
robbie31415
·2 years agoBlocking over 30 cents ?
Lol okay.
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoBlocking because, who has the gall to make an offer on 1.29.....ridiculous if you can't afford 1.29, then you shouldn't be shopping, and it wasn't 30 cents, he messaged me asking me to go lower....the 29 cents wasn't the issue, the issue was even offering less then a dollar....and I'm not the only one who blocks low ballers....so this shouldn't be nothing new.
bauble-babes
·2 years ago@atlasesattic "Blocking because, who has the gall to make an offer on 1.29."
Well now, that would be a Buyer who sees a Seller's Best Offer option on a $1.29 item, wouldn't it?
retro_entertainment_collectibles
·2 years agoBut how do you know and measure "Gall."
For all you know its Junior, he's 14 and dad let him use account to buy the card as Junior just shoveled up two feet of snow on the driveway. Just because nobody here underage is supposed to be transacting I can assure you that's not the case and the same stands true of social media usage. Never know who is on the other side of a conversation... For example on Twitter oh, "X" now you can be screaming or say something inappropriate to a 12 year old whos not even supposed to be there and his rights/parental rights under law trump "X's" terms of services.
Maybe Dad is trying to teach his boy how be frugal and then gets blocked resulting in all sorts of distress in Junior so Mom goes and buys it. People bandy around terms like "Lowball" which is extremely unsophisticated yet have no idea of circumstances and shouldn't use it even if they did. Lowball in this context is slang, the original term comes from Baseball, throwing the ball low often considered as an "action" to hurt the batter.
If that same young lad mowed the lawn or shoveled you're driveway for all of a playing card you'd think him "What a sweet boy. Here take the card and this one too and here's five dollars."
Our entire nation is at stake due to banter terminology exciting and/or enraging folks whereby sensible folks (Team Normal as Bill O'Reilly calls them) vote based on which party isn't the worst choice setting a very low bar in the process. That versus demanding better. America's potential downfall isn't due to government, its due how to citizens treat one another no matter their differences.
lilyswan2
·2 years agoif you enabled best offer, why not counteroffer with what you are willing to accept? that way it's possible you're happy and so is buyer...
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoLike I said in my post, I declined the dollar offer, so what irritated me is he messages me....how low will you go? I thought someone was playing a joke on me at first, as for make an offer I didn't realized I had make an offer on such a low priced card not thinking anyone would send an offer on 1.29.
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoYour other post says you deal in coins and collectibles... it's normal for haggling to happen here. You're stressing too much over nothing. If they start off with "how low will you go" I tell them "make an offer" if they make an offer then ask my best price, I tell them the best price (knowing in mind what they thought a good offer was).
C.
the-hook-and-the-loop
·2 years agoYou don't have to fulfill the order. You blocked this user and they circumvented by using another account in the household. Call eBay or contact them on FB/Twitter/X and have them look at the two usernames. Explain what the buyer did and see what they suggest. Probably will have you cancel the order by selecting problem with buyers address. Block the wife too. Good Luck!
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoThank you...
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoI already printed out the label, it might be too late
campanaelia
·2 years agoJust ship it. You're wasting so much energy on a cheap item. Personally I wouldn't block a buyer for a low ball offer, I usually tell them the least I will accept.
sin-n-dex
·2 years agoDon't worry about it. My take on this, he offered $1, you didn't accept, he wanted to know your best price, and you blocked him. In all likelihood the extra 29 cents wasn't going to break him and he just really wanted the item and got his wife to buy it because you blocked him. I doubt you'll get negative feedback over it, but if you do, that's when you can bring up the circumventing the block situation to get it removed. Hopefully it won't come to that.
Ship it out with the tracking eBay provides (if you use ESE) and hope for the best. Over small money it's too much to worry about all of this. If it were me, I'd just pay the 1.29. If you had best offer, I'd probably make you an offer, and be a bit miffed if you blocked me after inviting my offer. He probably just wants the item.
C.
campanaelia
·2 years agoIIRC the minimum offer you can make is $1 , so that was already the lowest possible. On something that was only $1.29 already I would of been embarrassed unless it was for a larger quantity.
I've used the Best offer option many times to make purchases due to BIN prices that are too high in my opinion. Sometimes sellers have the BO option available and I use their BIN price if it's reasonable enough. Sometimes I've even offered up to 50% less and the sellers have accepted because they knew their price was ridiculous. I also normally try to buy thing in bulk so if they have free shipping they can save on that too and factor the combined shipping into the offer price. So BO can be a good option to make sales. As a seller I probably sell half my items through negotiating offers.
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoI have best offer on most of my stuff, but now the small stuff like coins and sports cards will be BIN.
😊
playwithitagaintoys
·2 years agoDon't worry about it. Just provide good service and ship it out. You have no choice really. Hopefully they are not petty enough to leave a negative.
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoThank you very much
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoIt's things like this that made me quit using the BO option LONG ago. How much sense does it really make for you to use the BO on low priced items? Just list it as BIN/IPR and save yourself some time and headaches.
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoThank you I will definitely bulk edit all of them tomorrow as BIN no more offers
rugerskick
·2 years agoI find sending offers to watchers is way more fruitful and less drama than best offers.
atlasesattic
OP2 years agoThank you 😊
cypress.grove
·2 years agoTotally agree!!!! Life is so much easier.
fern*wood
·2 years agoDid you have best offer enabled on this listing? If so, I don't understand the outrage about receiving an offer.