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Why do so many sellers not understand the concept of make offer?
All of these had the make offer function on their listing.
Offered $25 on a thing of printer toner from a seller that was listing it for $29.99, they came back with $29.59.
Offered $21 on a $24.99 item. Offer expired, I reached out to the seller, and they said "oh no, we could not possibly sell it this cheap". No "cheapest I could go is $23". I guess they didn't want to barter...
Offered $5 on a $7.99 item, offer declined. I come back with $7, seller messages me saying "are you poor or what?". I messaged them and they said "making offer is only for buying in bulk, at least 20 pieces". Um no..that's what VOLUME DISCOUNT is for. This was also a hard to find part for a radio, why the heck would I need 20 of these?
I feel like the make offer function is a waste of time anymore, and sellers think it boosts their listings so they turn it on and not actually take any offers.
kh-shakhib
·1 year agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
dall_ca_mgyztnz2p
·1 year agoIt boosts the listing if you add the make an offer option.
dall_ca_mgyztnz2p
·1 year agoThis happens all the time. Like every single seller who has the make an offer option save one came back with the same response you mentioned. I heard it boosts the listing to add " make an offer. One guy just did it for a 95 dollar product. I offered 85, he said 95, I say 90 he comes back with 94. So I bought it from another seller. They think they are smart but they chase away custimers
mam98031
·2 years ago@quadcitypickers
I completely understand how you feel. As a buyer I feel I'm pretty fair when I make an offer on something. Usually around 10% off the original price or something close to it.
There are sellers that misuse the function for sure. This is something I've complained about before. Some seller use the function with no intention to allow any discount on the item. That is the conclusion I came to.
I think Ebay needs to put some guardrails on this program. Not allowing seller to use the function unless the seller is willing to accept at least 5% off or something. Something reasonable and many just don't accept anything offered except full price.
I am however sorry you have gotten the rude remarks you have gotten from some sellers. That is not right at all. And totally unnecessary. I would strongly encourage you to report sellers that do that. It really is easy to do.
https://www.ebay.com/help/action?topicid=4022
evry1nositswindy
·2 years agoI was just taking an item from my unsolds and changing it from auction to fixed priced listing. Every single time, the best offer is checked. I have to uncheck it. Perhaps some of your sellers had the same thing happen to them. Personally, I hate that. It is optional and I should have to choose it, not have it chosen for me.
mam98031
·2 years agoFrom personal experience, this has never been something I have ran across, but then I don't shop auctions. I stick with Fixed Price listings and the sellers I've come across that are not accepting reasonable offers know they have make an offer on their listings.
evry1nositswindy
·2 years agoWhy don't you take offers?
mam98031
·2 years agoLikely for the same reason you don't or I don't. There isn't room in their pricing. Offers isn't a workable tool for everyone, which is why it is an optional tool. We have lots of tools we can use or pass on, depending on our needs.
robbie31415
·2 years agoSellers aren't obligated to accept offers even if it's turned on.
Sometimes item is already on discount on markdown sale, or the item has hit bottom price.
Some sellers will only accept lower offers based on the zip code. If they offer free shipping and the zone Is 1-4 they might lower price slightly for the potential savings.
There are no real rules for how to use BO, but if you don't like how the seller is using it then it's probably better to purchase from a different seller.
ajs_coins_and_alchemy
·2 years agoDoesn't item/listing specific volume discount max out at 4 items? So discount price set for 4 is same as discount price for 100? ... not sure about the volume discount settings done outside the listing in the marketing/promotions page.
While it may be confusing for someone, especially if they didn't explicitly state it somewhere in listing, seller isn't in the wrong.
itsjustasprain
·2 years agoYes - it maxes out at 4 or more. You can pick a discount for 'Buy 2 and Save' - and then you can also optionally add another discount for 'Buy 3 and Save' and another for 'Buy 4 or more and Save'. Each discount can be up to 80% off.
I know in my selling account I had a glut of examples of an obscure New Old Stock part that no one would likely need more than one of. I priced it as cheap as possible and also decided to offer 20% off each if you bought 2 and another 20% deducted for 3 and for 4 or more. No takers yet. 🙄
steelep2006
·2 years agoI think a lot of this is depending on whether a buyer or seller. Basic negotiating strategies are being taught all the time. Very popular. Too many (IMHO) think it is like haggling in a third world market square. Whether buyer or seller just deal honestly and politely. I act mostly as a seller and never take a low ball offer personally. If the deal doesn't go together, no big deal. There are no secret formulas that work all the time on either side. Politely refuse a "low" offer or counter. But show the other side why. "Here are the latest comps". And the same works for a buyer making an offer. Explain why.
If you want to make big money write a book on the subject. OK, just kidding. Kinda.
reallynicestamps
·2 years agoI believe that Best Offer (not "make" offer) has been added to many listings without the seller's knowledge.
However, the Seller who is willing to consider offers can also set up parameters for Accept/Don't Accept.
So if the seller wants at least $90 for their item, but would be happier with $100, they can set up Best Offer to accept anything over that $90 and- this is the important part- reject automatically any offer under $90.
The buyer whose offer is rejected gets a polite notice from eBay encouraging them to try again.
That the notice works is shown by an Accepted Best Offer I will be shipping today, where the acceptance came on the third offer. (We are shown the offers that were not accepted when we accept one.)
There is no reason to get your panties in a twist over lowball Offers. Just make sure you never see them.
simba6
·2 years agoSellers often have an inflated idea of the value of there wares. I just put the item in my watch list. You often get an offer that way from the seller. They tend no to discount much however.
farmalljr
·2 years agoSome of the responses in this thread a hilarious. You have "mentors" and sellers here that have no clue about selling. People are quickly forgetting that buyers are key.
Just like the OP being upset at sellers who LIST with a BO option, but are not actually taking offers ..... What do you think BUYERS think of that? Only a blockhead would not realize it ticks off buyers, YOU aren't getting the sale, and LIKELY the buyer will just go to another platform. DUH. If you don't want offers, that's fine. DON'T list with offers if you don't want them. If you are, and you are not accepting offers, it's bait and switch, and sales will and do suffer because some sellers are stupid when it comes to playing games here.
Sellers here are their OWN worse enemy. Buyers are not going to play stupid games. Buyers are not going to kiss a sellers backside. I swear, most sellers on this board must be closet cleaners and like looking at the piles of junk they have laying around. It's painfully obvious many people who are "sellers" here are a complete joke and do not take selling serious at all. Unless someone is buying, you aren't selling. You are just storing junk if you are not selling. If eBay went back to making everyone pay listing fees every month, it would clean out half or more of the sellers here. Most people are not serious about selling. Billions of listings and most of it is not selling. Get rid of these items that do nothing but hang around by charging listing fees, and there will be no problems with search.
ten_o_nine
·2 years agoMany sellers use bulk editing to enable best offers, as manually editing thousands of individual items is impractical. This means that some items may be priced at a loss, and sellers must carefully consider each offer. While most sellers want to sell their items, they may still decline an offer if it's not acceptable, even if it's just a penny less than their desired price. It's important to recognize that sellers have the discretion to accept or reject offers based on their own business needs and pricing strategies.
On the other hand,
A significant number of buyers fail to grasp the 'Make Offer' concept, example, offering $7 on a $7.99 item. While the 99c difference may seem trivial to sellers, they become more concerned with the buyer's intent to repeatedly negotiate over a small amount. Busy sellers prioritize efficient transactions and don't have time for prolonged back-and-forth haggling over pennies.
plumeriabreeze
·2 years agoDepends a bit on the price point, quantity etc. Best offer needs to be improved a bit. There are some things that we might be "giving away" at the buy it now price if 1ea so we do not want a lower offer for 1ea. If you want to buy 100 of them where we can ship all in one box we might take a larger percentage off. A $7.00 widget shipped for free might net us $1 after fees. You might offer $3.00 for 1ea which would be in the negative if we shipped so we would decline. We might gladly accept $3.00ea for 100ea all put in one box.
cardsforauction
·2 years agoThe reasons the seller does that in my opinion may be one of the following:
1. They messed up on their item listing and accidentally put "Make Offer" on it.
2. They are testing the waters to see how much interest there is in their listing, so they put a tiny "spec" offer, for example the BIN is $190 and they come back with $189 to counter your offer.
3. Lastly, the seller might be a jerk. Just ignore the seller's item listings unless you decide paying their price or perhaps full price is worth it.
toysaver
·2 years ago"Why do so many sellers not understand the concept of make offer?"
Make offer in a listing does not always mean the seller wants to accept offers. It can mean they didn't realize it was set as a default and have no clue how to remove it.
caribbeanrock
·2 years agoSeems like a waste of time if they want to only counter off and reply for a 50 cent difference. But I can tell you when it comes to counter offer reply time they really don't give sellers enough time. If they offer at night and we're asleep on top of that 8 hours and then a couple more hours we still don't get to our ebay account and then we might get to it the next day , it expires before we notice it. They only give you two days.
Most of us are just regular people or businesses that just work office hours and we don't keep our notifications on all night long because it will alert constantly. Not everyone is on there eBay store everyday. Very short counteroffer time
postcardcountry
·2 years agoI do best offer on some items.
However, I set a minimum amount so that any offer that matches or is higher gets auto accepted.
I also set it up so any offer below that amount is automatically declined.
I have a listing buddy who does best offer on most of her items. yes, the folks who offer 75% off do annoy her. And sadly, a lot of the best offers she accepts turn into non-payers.
richard1rst
·2 years agoActually as others have noted eBay frequently turns it on without our knowledge.
Would you walk into a Brick and Mortar store and try to negotiate the prices? There are many of us here who came from that background and that mindset carries over with it. I owned and ran a B&M store for decades. On average a B&M store makes a net profit of about 10% on sales. Then the tax boys grab half of that.
There are two conflicting attitudes on eBay: making sales and making profit. The two are frequently mutually exclusive.
Aside from the obvious cost of inventory and eBay fees there are a whole slew of expenses that non-business types don’t even consider but business accounts must allow for: Warehousing, insurance, utilities, vehicle maintenance, amortization of equipment that needs to be periodically replace or updated, an allowance for returns and INRs, false SNAD complaints, salaries, state and federal taxes including social security contributions and mandatory contributions to the unemployment fund, ---- well the list just goes on.
When you offer me a price of 10-20% below my asking price you are asking me to sell it for a loss. I won’t do that.
It is beyond presumptuous for you to try to tell me what I must sell my products for and then come on here and whine because you can’t get your own way.
monster-deals
·2 years agoI got an offer the other day on a 1 day old listing for 75% off.
Buyer's message was "never hurts to ask"
Actually it did hurt to ask because you got BBL'd.
chevymontecarlo88
·2 years agoWhy not just put a minimum on your Best Offer? Seems silly to allow a Buyer to offer any price just to end up blocking them. Any inquiry (best offer, message) is an opportunity to close the deal.
Some of my best customers that i have had for decades now began with them being "Low Ballers" on gear i was selling. With a little communication and qualifying, buyers sometimes will buy from you. Sometimes if you establish a relationship with them, they may become repeat buyers.
monster-deals
·2 years agoTo me it is an opportunity to remove problematic buyers from my life forever and give them to someone else.
chevymontecarlo88
·2 years agoEveryone has the right to approach potential sales however they want. I can respect that.
The point was that instead of adding a step after the offer (by declining and blocking) why not set up your listing with a Best Offer Minimum price? I have had offers that i have declined only to have them purchase my items later at the Buy it Now price.
By not having minimum on Best Offers, some could argue that you are encouraging low ball offers.
monster-deals
·2 years agoI'm encouraging problematic buyers to out themselves by giving them the opportunity to offer.
In my 27 years of ebay experience a buyer offering $350 on a $1000 item is someone coming back later for a partial refund.
No thanks.
chevymontecarlo88
·2 years ago"In my 27 years of ebay experience a buyer offering $350 on a $1000 item is someone coming back later for a partial refund."
I get it. If someone was offering me pawn shop pricing for my item i may choose to block them as well.
mam98031
·2 years agoIMHO it would be better to put a minimum on the Make and Offer function for certain listings. Then the seller doesn't even see the ridiculous offers.
mr_lincoln
·2 years ago@quadcitypickers
I have never used Best Offer other than a few times eBay had it turned ON as a default on creating a listing. I do get messaged offers at times and reply with either what I am willing to sell something for or passing because the offered price is too low.
I have used the Send offers eligible feature with some success, but the price I send is price I am willing to sell an item for.
I would be fine if eBay eliminated Best offer altogether. Granted Buyers would still message Sellers asking if they would sell for less and change their listings but that would be a Seller's choice.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoI would assume that as a seller yourself, you understand that sellers aren't required to accept offers or to counter. You probably also are aware that sometimes ebay adds "make offer" by default and the seller never intended for the listing to have a b.o. option. If a seller notices the default offer setting, they can uncheck it, but often, it goes unnoticed.
If there's a b.o. option and the seller declines it, that's his prerogative and for buyers to expect to be entitled to discounts is a good way to end up on BBLs.
And FWIW, when I have lowball offers I decline without any comment to the buyer. (Your $5 offer on a $7.99 item is 37.5% off-more than 1/3 and insulting! In fact, yesterday, I declined a $7 offer on a $40 item.)
chariot_badges
·2 years agoYes.
I sell a LOT on BO button. I never go lower than 20% and usually 10%.
And that is built into price.
Probably half of my sales involved a BO.
If I get an offer of 90% off I counter with 10% off.
If I get another offer that is stupid low - I ignore it and put 'buyer' on BBL.
mam98031
·2 years agoI'm confident the OP is aware of this and I don't think that is at all their complaint. There are far too many sellers that use Best Offer to draw buyers in, but then no matter what reasonable offer you make is declined. I have experienced this myself many times.
it does not appear that the OP was making any real Lowball offers. Those are understandable to decline IMHO. But look at the value one seller came back with when the OP offered $25 on a $29.99 item. The seller counter with $29.59. A whole 1% discount.
chevymontecarlo88
·2 years agoSome sellers add Best Offer options to test the waters. They may not want to accept offers less than what they have it listed for but leave the door open to offers if they change their mind. That does not mean they are required to respond to the offer with a counter nor does it require them to decline the counter.
buyselljack2016
·2 years agoUnderstand your point on some but,
Seems they did want to barter ..................$23. (8 %)
$5 offer on a "hard to find" $7.99 item (37.5% off) would have gotten no response from me other than a new buddy. (but I do agree that their reasoning was odd)
I don't list with "offer", but when someone messages about an item I will often use the "reply with offer" at about the eBay minimum 5%. My items are competitively priced, and I do not give big discounts. To me, giving more than 10% is an indication that the item may have been priced too high to begin with.
frecklesfinery88
·2 years agoYou are always going to have those who offer the lowest to see if you'll come down at all. If they offer you something ridiculous, say $5 on a $16 item. Just decline it and move along your day. It all depends on your item and only you know how quickly you want to move it out of your shop.
At the end of the day you are the one who is either storing it or shipping it out.
farmalljr
·2 years agoThis is a very good reason to charge listing fees. I would advocate for no more stores. If you want the benefits of a store, then make it 19.99 a month but all listing are charged a fee month. Bigger sellers should get a cut rate on the cost, but every listing should pay a fee.
Every listing takes up eBay's server space. Every listing adds to the clutter in search. Forcing sellers to pay a fee for a listing is going to make them get serious about selling, or pay for the privilege to take up eBay's server space to look at their listing that will not sell. How many months/years are sellers going to pay for something to just sit and hope for a sale? My bet is the fee would eliminate MUCH of the clutter and games seller's play here.
dhbookds
·2 years agoEvery listing takes up eBay's server space. Every listing adds to the clutter in search. Forcing sellers to pay a fee for a listing is going to make them get serious about selling, or pay for the privilege to take up eBay's server space to look at their listing that will not sell. How many months/years are sellers going to pay for something to just sit and hope for a sale? My bet is the fee would eliminate MUCH of the clutter and games seller's play here.
I agree with what you say, but disagree with the conclusion to re institute insertion fees. Insertion fees would take the pressure off Ebay to deliver traffic/sales.......giving them an income stream no matter how low total sales become. I think it would be a real indication of desperation.
babyers88
·2 years agoall personal "feelings" aside, some sellers may only negotiate penny's, other may negotiate more that's just how life is........
just because you "feel" like they should do more it is not a requirement....
gone.c-33
·2 years agoeBay will often activate the make an offer button on sellers’ listings without their knowledge.
On top of that, depending on prices fluctuating or on seller’s motivation level for selling on a particular day, a seller might be open to offers at the time of listing but not later on.
Jusr like sellers should feel any type of way about buyers sending lowball offers, buyers shouldn’t feel any type of way about sellers’ answers to their offer.
You win some you lose some.
itsjustasprain
·2 years agoI was going to point that out. I was helping someone recently work their way through the simplified listing form and noticed that (if I remember right) the Make Offer slide switch was default On.
On the other hand I have sent offers to newbie sellers and they respond as expected for a Make Offer process. So I think they learn the Make Offer routine along with everything else and perhaps think that it is just standard operating procedure (to have Make Offer on your listings) and not actually an option that you are entitled to turn Off.
I do not use it in my selling account because I know what I want to fetch for my items. There are plenty of cheaper examples out there if someone does not want to pay my prices - but I like to think that mine are worth what I ask for them. If I put Make Offer on my listings it seems like I am telling everyone that they would be silly to pay my asking price because I obviously have a secret lower price that I would be willing to take instead.
winterpalace25
·2 years agoAll of your offers were quite reasonable. I usually figure that if a seller has Make an Offer enabled, they should at least be willing to come down 15% if not 20%. My husband recently made an offer of $20 on a $24 item that accepted offers. The seller countered with a $.49 discount. We looked elsewhere. I usually offer with a discount of 20% because that's what I figure on as a seller. Most of my offers are accepted.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoI disagree that all @quadcitypickers offers were reasonable.
For you to think that sellers with offers enabled should come down 15-20% means that those sellers probably overpriced their items to begin with.
"I usually offer with a discount of 20% because that's what I figure on as a seller. " - My opinion is that you overprice your items to give buyers a false sense of savings. (But in fact, your listings don't even have a b.o. option!)
winterpalace25
·2 years agoI don't use Best Offer on my listings because of the reasons you suggest. But when eBay allows me to send offers because someone has shown some interest, I sometimes offer 20% if I have had it listed for a long time, and 10% otherwise. I make sales about half the time. If someone has Make an Offer on their listing, I offer at 15- 20%. If they reject it, fine. I may buy it at full price.
farmalljr
·2 years agoIronic since you don't accept offers? Why do you think sellers should offer you any deals when you don't offer buyers any deals? Yes, ironic.
Most sellers here are over priced and they come here crying about not getting sales. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out, but apparently many sellers are clueless.
If you aren't willing to take at least 10% less, then you aren't really taking offers. I am sure in the algorithm that your traffic gets shut down when sellers do this. eBay is not wasting time with sellers who do not sell. Why would you give traffic to someone who will not sell things that make you fees? Views do not pay the bills, sales do.
Far too many seller here who are not serious about selling. They are just playing games.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoWhy do you think sellers should offer you any deals when you don't offer buyers any deals?
I see nothing "ironic" the OP's stance at all. The OP does not entertain offers, so he does not put Best Offer on his listings.
The OP's point is about sellers who DO put Best Offer on their listings but seem to have no intention to accept anything but an insignificant discount (ex. 40 cents on a $30 listing).
farmalljr
·2 years agoYeah no. It IS ironic that a seller who does not use BO on ANY of their listings, talks about what they figure an offer should entail. Then complains when sellers are not even really giving a discount. THAT is ironic. Because the OP themselves DO NOT entertain offers.
mam98031
·2 years agoIt is quite possible that the seller that does not allow Make and Offer doesn't have their items priced high enough to allow for taking offers. They already price their items low enough in consideration to their costs.
What a Make an Offer button tells me on a listing is that the seller has the item over priced, so make an offer. Right or wrong, as a buyer that is what it says to me.
mam98031
·2 years agoWhat? Why if the buyer is also a seller must they use an OPTIONAL tool? It isn't "ironic", there simply is nothing that says or even suggests that a buyer who is also a seller can't purchase from another seller using some type of promotional tool unless they also use it. Now that would be ridiculous.
While your opinion is that "most sellers here are over priced" the fact of that is you have no idea as you don't know what price another seller is paying for the inventory they are selling. You are guessing and presenting yourself to have knowledge of things in which you do not. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, I have no problem with that at all. But you can't accurately speak for "most sellers" on something like this.
"If you aren't willing to take at least 10% less, then you aren't really taking offers. " Now that is a valid point, but there is no requirement for this yet and their will likely never be a requirement like your opening statement, nor should there ever be.
"I am sure in the algorithm that your traffic gets shut down when sellers do this." Please share then where this info you are "sure" of comes from? Since Ebay has no rule on this, you are not likely to be correct.
retrogames10000
·2 years agoI like your rant about offers - and that you don't accept offers on your listings either.
Perhaps the seller is soured from the offer experience!
Personally, I am planning soon to turn off offers entirely once I lower prices and set my final price for items.
Offers are exhausting, frankly