Question about how to handle an offer

[nicethings321]

Hi. I am a relatively new seller, and on the first item I listed, and which I accepted, I received a "phony" offer where the buyer didn't pay, but tried to engage me off the eBay platform.  Luckily, I didn't do that, and when I sought advice on the community forum, I discovered that this is a common occurrence. But the experience made me wary of unsolicited offers. Currently, I have an item listed (334804421213) as an auction, and have received an offer for it for $45. I haven't responded to it (yet), because of my prior experience. But today I see the same buyer made a normal bid on the item for it's starting auction price, $25. That makes me think this buyer is serious (and has a 100% positive feedback rating too). Of course, I would like to sell the item, and would take the $45 offer, and would be willing to forego the rest of the auction. But can I do that? I can't find information regarding this. And also, if this is possible, is it wise? Or will I just be getting into another situation where the offerer doesn't pay? I need to figure this out within 2 hours, because that is when the offer will expire. Thanks very much.

[comics-scifi-collectibles]

@nicethings321    If your auction doesn't have the best offer option then you can't accept an offer on it.  

You would have to end the auction listing and then relist it as a fixed price at the agreed-on amount.

I personally never end my auctions early because most of the bidding action happens in the last hour/ minutes and I could be leaving money on the table. Also, eBay frowns on ending auctions early as it disappoints your other bidders.

In my experience buyers want to end an auction early for one of two reasons. #1 They are afraid that the bidding will go higher. #2 They are going to try and scam you.

You can set up buyer requirements so that when a buyer makes an offer they have to pay immediately if you accept it.

https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

[nicethings321]

Hey, thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. I'll let this one play out. Lots of little questions like this pop up for me, so it's nice to get the help.

[woodland_gnome]

You can't accept the offer.   Once a bid has been made Best Offer ends, and all pending offers expire immediately.