Can a Buyer send an Offer via Ebay Messages if "make an offer" option is not on listing

[sharondisneyfan1991]

Hello,  If SELLER does NOT have "make an offer" on the listing, can the BUYER send an offer via ebay messages? If so, does the Seller still have to respond within the same timeframe as if you were sending it via the "make an offer" option or is it different because you not using the "make an offer" option?  If it is OK to send an offer to a Seller via messaging and Seller accepts my offer, does the seller have to relist the item with the amount we agreed on so I can purchase it?   Then do I run the risk of someone else buying it before I do?    Thank you for your help.

[etacarina11]

no this is not allowed.

[takikawa4]

There's nothing in the "Make an offer" section that would prevent that now. At one time, there was. This is what it now says:

If the Make Offer button doesn't appear in the listing, the seller may not be interested in receiving offers. If you do contact a seller to negotiate price or terms, you shouldn't make offers to buy the item outside of eBay. Doing so violates our offers to buy or sell outside of eBay policy.

[woodland_gnome · Accepted solution]

It is no longer expressly against the rules to make an unsolicited offer (as long as you make clear you are not soliciting an off-eBay sale--eBay is cracking down very hard on those).  The seller is under no obligation to respond to you (s/he is not even required to respond to an actual Best Offer and may let it expire without response).  The seller would have to revise the listing if possible or end the auction early without a winner (incurring an extra fee and ticking off existing and potential bidders) and relist, without any guarantee that the offeror would buy.

My advice to sellers is to either invite the offeror to bid or add the offeror to the seller's Blocked Bidder List.  Someone making such an offer does so because a) s/he doubts that the amount offered would win if the auction went to the end and/or b) is i.) chronically and/or ii) situationally impatient, so it is rarely in the seller's best interest to accept such unsolicited offers which disrespect the seller's choices in listing the item the way s/he did.

[myboardid]

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@sharondisneyfan1991 wrote:

Hello,  If SELLER does NOT have "make an offer" on the listing, can the BUYER send an offer via ebay messages? If so, does the Seller still have to respond within the same timeframe as if you were sending it via the "make an offer" option or is it different because you not using the "make an offer" option?  If it is OK to send an offer to a Seller via messaging and Seller accepts my offer, does the seller have to relist the item with the amount we agreed on so I can purchase it?   Then do I run the risk of someone else buying it before I do?    Thank you for your help.

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Yes, you can make an offer.  Some sellers consider it rude. 

No the seller doesn't have to respond to you.

On a fixed price listing the seller could just change the price.  Someone above me already explained the issues if it is an auction.

Yes, of course you run the risk of another buyer getting it before you do.  The seller is not committed to sell to you until you pay. 

[etacarina11]

i thought making a offer through messaging wasnt permitted ?

[kensgiftshop]

I don't offer Best Offers, but I had a guy contact me a couple weeks ago asking if I would take a lower price on an item? I told him that I would take it, so I just changed the price and he bought it. I told him that I had another of the same item I was about to list and ask he wanted it also? He ended up buying both items and I was happy with it.

[airsheep]

A seller had two small collectibles and I was torn between them, plus I thought the price was slightly high.  They were not offering OBO.  I contacted them and asked if they would be willing to sell both of them to me at about 10% off, if they didn't get any bids by the time the auction ended.  The auctions ended without bids, the seller offered to put them up on a special auction for me, seller sold their items to me and I got two nice additions to my collection.

[rolenboy01]

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@etacarina11 wrote:
i thought making a offer through messaging wasnt permitted ?

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It's been permitted for quite awhile now.

[7606dennis]

If I understand things correctly, eBay has done a complete 180 with their policy regarding making offers when the Best Offer option is not included in the listing.  Of course, they've also stepped up their bot enforcement of what they consider to be attempts to make deals off eBay.  Bit of mixed signals, if you ask me, but this is eBay.

Personally, if I haven't included the BO option in the listing and you send me an offer in a message you end up on my BBL.  With regard to the 48 hour time period for replying to Best Offers, since the offer is made outside of the BO protocol and sellers are not required to respond to messages, I wouldn'tthink that the 48 time period would apply.  However, this being eBay where logic and rational thinking don't seem to apply, who knows?!

[castlemagicmemories]

The rules have changed.  It used to be that if a seller did NOT have Best Offer on the listing, it was a violation to ask as Ebay told you that if the seller did not have Best Offer on the listing, this meant they were not interested in receiving offers.

However, now, whether or not the listing has Best Offer on it, buyers are allowed to message the seller with an offer.  But many sellers hold to the old, if it doesn't have Best Offer on it, I am not interested rule.

So you can message, but the seller may not respond or even be interested, and you could end up on that seller's BBL.

Seller can revise a fixed price listing, or end the auction with you as high bidder, or relist at auction end if no bids at the price that was agreed upon.

[chrysylys]

Isn't there a way now where a 'send' offer' link can be sent via messages?  My mind goes a bit fuzzy at times, but I seem to remember discussion of it here on the boards.

[chrysylys]

Thought so:

Sending an offer

If a member asks a question about an item listed in a fixed price format, you can send an offer to the member to invite them to purchase the item at a lower price. The offer is good for up to 48 hours, when the listing ends or until you cancel the offer, whichever comes first.

You can send an offer for any fixed price listing, as long as the listing is active, does not use variations and is not listed in the Motors > Vehicles category.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/private_offer.html

[kim_y_buran]

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@etacarina11 wrote:
no this is not allowed.

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That policy had been rescinded some time ago.

Yes you can make an unsolicited offer, but there's a good chance that the seller will respond by banning you.

[abcelectronics_isimn]

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@etacarina11 wrote:
i thought making a offer through messaging wasnt permitted ?

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They changed the policy