eBay

arizonablues2 · ‎08-01-2022

Is it me, or do people not understand how Best Offers work? This isn't the housing market where we bid up, lol. Can someone reach out to sellers to explain that?

stainlessenginecovers · ‎08-02-2022

@arizonablues2 wrote:
Actually no that's not how Best Offers work. That's why they're Reserves.

That is always correct.

If I have an item on Auction for $100 (no BIN) and no bidders with 1 day left to go, I may entertain an offer for $75 at that time.

But if I have a bidder for $100, I'm not in the least bit interested in your $75 offer.

Best Offer would be 'lower' for an Auction with no bidders close to the end

Best Offer would be 'higher' for an Auction that has bidders.

Best Offer would be 'lower' for a Buy It Now only listing

powell-memorabilia · ‎08-02-2022

@soh.maryl wrote:
Believe it or not, I do understand how best offer works. The issue here, I thought, was a definition of "Best Offer".
In the real, not online world, if I see something, a car for instance, listed for $2500 "or best offer", I would assume that I can offer less, like $2400, and the seller might accept it. So responders here are saying that, on eBay, if an item is listed for a certain price and the best offer feature is enabled, I would have to offer MORE than that price? If I were willing to pay MORE, wouldn't I just bid that amount? What I wanted to know is: does Best Offer really work differently on eBay?

It is not different on eBay. Think about the real estate market that we’ve seen over the past 12 months. Didn’t you ever hear of a house that was going to be on the market, expected to see a bidding war, and a buyer comes in with a best offer that is above the listing price?
that is the exact same idea here. The buyer is making a best offer to cancel the auction, and effectively create a fixed price by it now. A best offer on a true fixed price item is one where you can make an offer that is below the listed price, as the seller expect to receive a maximum of his listed price. If sellers start auctions at the lowest price that they are willing to except, those sellers would never entertain a best offer and that is below that auction starting price, only higher.

powell-memorabilia · ‎08-02-2022

@soh.maryl wrote:
And I'm sorry, but that has to be my last post on this thread.
Am still confused about the interpretation of BO on eBay, but, once the name calling starts, I'm done.

Is anyone calling names? Maybe some thing has been edited out by the moderators, I see this to be an entirely respectful thread.

krazybouthorses · ‎08-09-2022

I've made offers on fixed price listings and almost every time my offer was declined because the seller wanted their asking price (I know this because I asked). One seller told me that they felt their asking price was reasonable because they were paying for shipping.

Then what's the point of having "best offer?" If you don't want to sell your product for less than you're asking price, don't use the "best offer" option?

varebelrose · ‎08-10-2022

@krazybouthorses wrote:
I've made offers on fixed price listings and almost every time my offer was declined because the seller wanted their asking price (I know this because I asked). One seller told me that they felt their asking price was reasonable because they were paying for shipping.

Then what's the point of having "best offer?" If you don't want to sell your product for less than you're asking price, don't use the "best offer" option?

It simply depends on the seller and their business model. Plenty of sellers do use, and accept reasonable offers. But there are many sellers that have eBay add "best offer" to their listings without their knowledge or consent (yes, it is documented and happens regularly); those sellers are obviously not going to be accomodating to offers that were not solicited by them.

rcaspindle-4 · ‎10-20-2022

You should still consider the offer - what if the 'bidder' does not pay ???

rcaspindle-4 · ‎10-20-2022

I have had problems with best offers - to the point that I feel "why bother" and I start looking for another BIN with no best offer - or a BIN ad with best offer (but since the BIN price is one that I am willing to pay - I just click BIN and pay for the item. It saves a lot of time and headaches that way.

farmalljr · ‎11-27-2022

@soh.maryl wrote:
So still do not understand. If my best offer is expected to be above the starting bid, why would I not just bid the amount of my offer?

Because if you want the auction to end immediately, you need to offer the seller something better than the starting bid. Otherwise, a seller will just wait. I don't even run my stuff in actions, and I understand that.

Accepting on offer ends the potential of the auction running wild. Meaning the auction may start at 50, but bidders could run it up to hundreds. So why would a seller even entertain an offer for less than the starting bid, when in the least, they will get the starting bid price? A seller is far better off to let the auction run, unless an offer comes along large enough to make them consider ending the auction, accepting the offer.

You know how many times I have seen an auction item not be able to get a $20 starting bid, but before it was over the "thing" sold for 3 times the 20 dollar start? VERY frequently, that's how many times.

stacl_91 · ‎12-10-2023

That was my thought process as well but I'm very new. I have an item with minimum bid of $150 (I see the same item usually going for $200-300). So I did no BIN but accept offers.

The first day I got an offer of $150. I think I should wait and see what bids I get, although I would accept this offer closer to the end of the auction. Do I decline this offer or do I let it expire? What's the implication of each?

kh-vince · ‎12-31-2023

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.