Generally, is the amount in a "Make an Offer" expected to be LESS or GREATER than the opening bid?

[fubart54]

I've always assumed that the amount in a "Make an Offer" was to be LESS than the opening bid.  

Recently, more than one seller has expected the amount in a "Make an Offer" to be GREATER than the opening bid.

Generally, is the amount in a "Make an Offer" expected to be LESS or GREATER than the opening bid? 

THANKS!

[te_1556]

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@fubart54 wrote:

I've always assumed that the amount in a "Make an Offer" was to be LESS than the opening bid.  

Recently, more than one seller has expected the amount in a "Make an Offer" to be GREATER than the opening bid.

Generally, is the amount in a "Make an Offer" expected to be LESS or GREATER than the opening bid? 

THANKS!

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eBay announced that a Make Offer is added to an auction-styled listing whenever the starting price is higher than the average sold prices. eBay also says that an offer must be LESS than the starting price if there have been no bids, and that once bidding begins, all offers are canceled:

If you have an auction-style listing with Best Offer, bear in mind that:

• If you receive a bid, current offers and counteroffers will be declined automatically and buyers won't be able to make any additional offers on your item
• If a bidder retracts their bid, the Best Offer feature will be re-enabled
• If you received an offer that was higher than the current bid, the buyer who made the offer will have to place a bid

[te_1556]

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@te_1556 wrote:

If you have an auction-style listing with Best Offer, bear in mind that:

• If you received an offer that was higher than the current bid, the buyer who made the offer will have to place a bid

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1. You can't receive an offer if there's a bid already.

2. So "higher than the current bid" actually means "higher than the starting price".

3. Duh.

[nobody*s_perfect]

eBay's original expectation was that potential buyers would make offers LESS than the opening bid price.

But sellers' interpretation of this option has basically been the opposite: They have already set the opening bid at the lowest amount they'd be willing to sell for, so they won't consider offers that aren't MORE than the opening bid price.

[jump.for.joy]

Speaking as a seller, if you're going to make an offer on an auction listing, then it should be higher than the minimum bid amount. That's because you're trying to get me to end the listing early, and miss out on the chance that later bidding would raise the selling price.

Auctions are different than fixed price listings in this situation. Fixed price or best offer, the listing is almost always going to end for less than the asking price. With auctions, the listing is expected to end for the starting price or higher.

Speaking as a buyer, I'm not going to make an offer on a listing unless at least one of two things is true:

1. I feel the asking price is too high, or
2. I don't want to wait a week or so for the auction to end.

Otherwise, I would just buy it or bid on it when the auction is nearly done. So, which of those (or both) is the case would impact how much I would offer. Might be higher or lower than the opening bid.

[te_1556]

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@te_1556 wrote:

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@fubart54 wrote:

I've always assumed that the amount in a "Make an Offer" was to be LESS than the opening bid.  

Recently, more than one seller has expected the amount in a "Make an Offer" to be GREATER than the opening bid.

Generally, is the amount in a "Make an Offer" expected to be LESS or GREATER than the opening bid? 

THANKS!

---

eBay announced that a Make Offer is added to an auction-styled listing whenever the starting price is higher than the average sold prices.

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Recently, eBay began adding Best Offer to fixed price and auction-style listings. Based on previous tests, we found this feature drives higher sales conversion, especially in cases

when the starting bid or fixed price is set higher than the recommended price.

In auction-style listings, the option for a Best Offer disappears after the auction receives its first bid.

http://community.ebay.com/t5/5/5/ba-p/27622691

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@te_1556 wrote:
eBay also says that an offer must be LESS than the starting price if there have been no bids, and that once bidding begins, all offers are canceled:

If you have an auction-style listing with Best Offer, bear in mind that:

• If you receive a bid, current offers and counteroffers will be declined automatically and buyers won't be able to make any additional offers on your item
• If a bidder retracts their bid, the Best Offer feature will be re-enabled
• If you received an offer that was higher than the current bid, the buyer who made the offer will have to place a bid

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1. You can't receive an offer if there's a bid already.

2. So "higher than the current bid" actually means "higher than the starting price".

[7606dennis]

Frankly, eBay's adding the "Make Offer" option to auction style listings is, in my opinion, an error in judgement on their part.  Owing to the potential for legal complications for the seller in some states, I would advise any seller to check their state's auction laws before accepting any offer outside of the normal bidding process.

With regard to making an offer for less than the starting bid, it would render the minimum starting bid ineffective as reserve.  Of course, in keeping with the first paragraph of this reply I would advise sellers to be cautious in the acceptance of such an offer.

[mudshark61369]

@fubart54,

There have been some interesting answers including ebay's original recommendation on Auctions w/ Best Offer, which was misguided IMO.   

Most seasoned sellers start auctions at the least amount they are willing to accept, unless they that know that starting an auction at .99cents, will end with the item selling at near to the trending price or higher.   Those sellers usually will not place Best Offer on their auctions, or if they do, expect a much higher offer than the starting price.  They would do that rather than go through the End item to sell to the highest bidder process.

IMO most sellers who add Best Offer to an auction, are inexperienced, so you should check their feedback profile, to see if they are new to selling.  Many new sellers run into issues because of their inexperience. Because of that unless you are willing to hand hold them through the transaction, you may not want to bid or make an offer.

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

eBay's original expectation was that potential buyers would make offers LESS than the opening bid price.

But sellers' interpretation of this option has basically been the opposite: They have already set the opening bid at the lowest amount they'd be willing to sell for, so they won't consider offers that aren't MORE than the opening bid price.

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Which seems entirely reasonable to me.