Can I choose to let buyers make a “Best offer”?

[christians-papa]

Why do sellers waste my time by allowing me to submit best offers and wait for their response when they have no intention of accepting an offer I made a best offer that was 4% lower than the Buy It Now price and they declined my offer about $0.36 really you going to decline my offer over $0.36 I wasted my time I don't like wasting my time

[partial*eclipse]

eBay often adds "Best offer" to listings without the sellers' permission and there's no way for the seller to remove it.  However, if a seller doesn't intend to accept your offer they should reply promptly.

[littleguineapiggy]

Is it through the best offer button in the listing, or email?  If it's the one in the email, sellers cannot remove that.  Ebay automatically puts that in every message.  If it's the one in the listing, sometimes it will not go away no matter how much sellers try.  I've had experience with that.

[7606dennis]

Actually, it is you that are choosing to waste time, both yours and the seller's, by choosing to submit a best offer rather than simply paying the seller's asking price.  The seller has, by including the BO option, agreed to let you submit the offer.  He has not agreed to accept any such offer.

You on the other hand, have chosen to ask the seller to accept less than their stated asking price.  You have also agreed, by using the BO system to give the seller 48 hours to consider whether to accept your offer or not.  So in reality, it is you that decided to waste 48 hours in hopes of getting the item cheaper than the seller's asking price.  You then, come here and accuse the seller of wasting your time by not accepting your offer.

Frankly, if you ask me to give you a price break on something I'm selling and then demand that I instantly accept your offer, my answer is most likely to be no and result in your being blocked from buying from me, at any price, now and in the future.

Of course, those mentioning that eBay, in their dubious wisdom, has been adding the BO option to seller's listings whether they request it or not.  They have also, in some cases I'm told, added it to auction style listings, evidently without regard to potential legal ramifications to the seller.  (Of course, that is a matter for a different thread.)  So basically, you cannot be sure if it is the seller or eBay whom you should be blaming for wasting your time.  In my opinion, the way to avoid any perceived waste of time would be to merely pay the seller's asking price.  

[thatsallfolks]

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@christians-papawrote:

Why do sellers waste my time by allowing me to submit best offers and wait for their response when they have no intention of accepting an offer I made a best offer that was 4% lower than the Buy It Now price and they declined my offer about $0.36 really you going to decline my offer over $0.36 I wasted my time I don't like wasting my time

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You wasted your own time in an attempt to save 36 cents. Let that sink in. Then you wasted more time starting this thread to complain about it.

[castlemagicmemories]

OP, if you don't like wasting your time, just buy it now.

Problem solved.

[jrinam]

that isnt logical!  b.o. is on the listing!  i understand seller may not of wanted it there but it is there! 'i want $xxx but will entertain offers for a quick sale'  so ebay forces it on your ad and your upset with a potential buyer?

[soh.maryl]

There was only a 36 cent difference between the listing price and your offer? 

[7606dennis]

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@jrinamwrote:

that isnt logical!  b.o. is on the listing!  i understand seller may not of wanted it there but it is there! 'i want $xxx but will entertain offers for a quick sale'  so ebay forces it on your ad and your upset with a potential buyer?

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Even if the seller placed the BO option in the listing there is nothing that requires to accept a best offer.  The 'Best Offer" in eBay's BO option refers to the offer the buyer considers his top or best offer for the item in question.  Of course, the seller may not agree that it is an offer he is willing to take.

One thing that some sellers do which I don't agree with is set automatic accept or decline points.  While I can somewhat understand the auto-accept, in my opinion, seller's should at least look at an offer before declining it if they have put the BO option in the listing.  Of course, that doesn't mean that I think they should be required to accept an offer, but merely to look at it.

[jrinam]

sure, seller can receive thousands of offers and reject them all. a $10k car would be a good example for when it could be beneficial. takes a lot of space and the money would make a difference to most so $9k today 'might' be better than $10k in a few monthes.  a $10 dollar rare coin could set in my sock drawer until i die and i would never miss the ten bucks or the storage space, an offer of $9.99 would not motivate me to sell, if anything, i would use it in a vending machine out of spite.

[7606dennis]

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@jrinamwrote:

sure, seller can receive thousands of offers and reject them all. a $10k car would be a good example for when it could be beneficial. takes a lot of space and the money would make a difference to most so $9k today 'might' be better than $10k in a few monthes.  a $10 dollar rare coin could set in my sock drawer until i die and i would never miss the ten bucks or the storage space, an offer of $9.99 would not motivate me to sell, if anything, i would use it in a vending machine out of spite.

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Since even bids on eBay motors are not binding, I'm not sure how a best offer would make much of a difference.  Of course, haggling is the traditional way to deal on cars.  I think it's a hold over from the old horse trading days.

[rapple1066]

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@7606denniswrote:

One thing that some sellers do which I don't agree with is set automatic accept or decline points.  While I can somewhat understand the auto-accept, in my opinion, seller's should at least look at an offer before declining it if they have put the BO option in the listing.  Of course, that doesn't mean that I think they should be required to accept an offer, but merely to look at it

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I use auto accept and auto decline all the time.   If I have a $100 item, I don't consider $5 to be a reasonable offer and I'd rather not waste my time reviewing it.  OTOH, I'm almost always willing to sell an item for 5-10% less than my BIN so why not just let the system save me a little time by accepting it.