eBay

chapabargain · ‎05-10-2021

I've been shopping on eBay for a while. Recently I have noticed a new phenomenon. Lets say I make a $15 offer on a $25 item, instead of the seller countering $20 the sellers simply decline my offer (not auto-decline).

Even on a $500 item if I offer $400 many seller wont even bother making a counteroffer.

What's going on here?

maxine*j · ‎05-13-2021

@chapabargain wrote:
@lamber9347 I usually include a note also.
I would have told that seller "told you so"...after I get the item...😂

Yes, I think you would have.

=

releasethekraken_1 · ‎05-13-2021

@transamcc wrote:
I have read the best offer process numerous times and "Ignore" is not listed as an official option. It is only those #$%@ sellers who do so!

You must have missed option 3:

After receiving an offer, you have 48 hours to choose how to respond. You can:

Accept the best offer and end the listing
Respond with a counteroffer
Let the offer expire. This will happen automatically after 48 hours or when the listing ends, whichever comes first
Decline the offer

mudshark61369 · ‎05-13-2021

@transamcc,

You replied to 7606dennis:

"I have read the best offer process numerous times and "Ignore" is not listed as an official option. It is only those #$%@ sellers who do so!"

Here is a quote from one of ebay's Best offer policy pages.

After receiving an offer, you have 48 hours to choose how to respond. You can:

Accept the best offer and end the listing
Respond with a counteroffer
Let the offer expire. This will happen automatically after 48 hours or when the listing ends, whichever comes first
Decline the offer

Letting an offer expire, is basically saying a seller does not have to respond without actually saying they can "ignore" it. They could just as easily have said disregard, pass up or let pass.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/adding-best-offer-listing-using-reply-offer?id=4144

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)

transamcc · ‎05-13-2021

WOW! With that update, Ebay has caved in to the #$%^@ sellers who IGNORE offers! Another deterioration of the platform in favor of greed and sellers' overdeveloped sense of entitlement. Is okay, when when they force all of you into MP I intend to be gone anyway. Am fed up with the extra login to checkout via PayPal and the ebay "your payment is pending" delays. I use ONLY PayPal for online buying. Then there are the sellers who do nothing about shipping my item until after their weekly payout from MP, by changing their handling time profile. It seemingly is okay to ignore offers, ignore buyers , and ignore shipping standards at will now

noodlezon · ‎05-13-2021

As a seller, there are a lot of factors.

We have best offer on the majority of our things. Some factors for a decline include (and a couple reasons outlined below are meshed together, or go hand in hand)

- We just listed the item that day or very recently, and while we try to price fairly in line with sold comps already, we get offers too low. If the item has been sitting awhile, we're more inclined to haggle more. Less so on new listings we just researched and saw what the market was doing.

- Low ball offers. Like many others mentioned here, if the offer is too low, we might just decline all together because we are too far apart in expectation. We have put minimums on some things, but inevitably we then get messages from buyers asking why we immediately decline, instead of us being able to decline with a message and friendly reason why.

- I am, essentially one person running many aspects of customer service, sales, shipping, listing on here. We have 500+ items, ship and list daily, and run other platforms for us as well. Yes this is my job, and yes the offers are important and result in sales, but sometimes I just can't get to every single offer, explain why, keep going back and forth. This is where the minimum offer is very helpful for our account, but I understand how it could be frustrating as a buyer.

Hopefully that helps shed some light.

transamcc · ‎05-13-2021

Option 3 did NOT exist for the first 15 years I was here. That is a new update since Christmas at the earliest. Happy New year to the sellers who IGNORE offers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

releasethekraken_1 · ‎05-13-2021

@transamcc wrote:
Option 3 did NOT exist for the first 15 years I was here. That is a new update since Christmas at the earliest. Happy New year to the sellers who IGNORE offers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That option has existed since Best Offer was introduced.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I win!

7606dennis · ‎05-13-2021

@chapabargain wrote:
@7606dennis Then use auto-decline?

Personally, I prefer to simply ignore and let them expire. If I actually wanted to entertain offers I would never use auto decline since that would mean that I didn't actually look at the offer.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

soh.maryl · ‎05-13-2021

It's understandable that that would be infuriating; however, don't dwell on it too long. Those things will happen. If you don't allow it to affect your equilibrium, you'll be really much better off.

bestforward34 · ‎05-13-2021

Every time I try to respond with a counteroffer I just get an error message, thus making Accept or Decline my only option.

transamcc · ‎05-13-2021

It was not actually printed in official policies until the most recent updates. Only the others were. Sellers have been doing it for years though. Been here since 2005. I was one of the posters on the boards that was recommending that sellers not responding to offers should receive defects for each of their non-responses in the original 48 hour time frame. As soon as best offer variable time frames came onboard, I have limited all of my offers to 1 day duration so I never have to deal with the seller who sits on it for 48 hours without responding. I usually will never make an offer unless the seller has near perfect feedback, is about the same price, or only slightly higher AND faster delivery than the competitors.

lgl11 · ‎05-13-2021

There was an auction for an item I wanted. There was a make an offer button. I made an offer. Seller ignored the offer. (No big deal) Sniped item at the end of the auction. I won the item at the sellers low ball starting price. I won the item for less than my offer. Happy days for me.

BTW, sellers have no obligation to accept or counter an offer. Especially a low ball. If you make one, make it reasonable.

releasethekraken_1 · ‎05-13-2021

@transamcc wrote:
It was not actually printed in official policies until the most recent updates. Only the others were. Sellers have been doing it for years though. Been here since 2005. I was one of the posters on the boards that was recommending that sellers not responding to offers should receive defects for each of their non-responses in the original 48 hour time frame. As soon as best offer variable time frames came onboard, I have limited all of my offers to 1 day duration so I never have to deal with the seller who sits on it for 48 hours without responding. I usually will never make an offer unless the seller has near perfect feedback, is about the same price, or only slightly higher AND faster delivery than the competitors.

So you were wrong then too. Congrats.