Best Offer

[arizonablues2]

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? 

[arizonablues2]

For example,  if you have a starting bid of $50 and a Best Offer option, guess what? I'm going to offer you less than the starting bid. That's how Best Offers work, not the other way around. 

[klhmdg]

@arizonablues2  That is how Best Offer works on Buy It Now.

On Auction listings Best Offer is to be MORE than the starting bid. Most sellers will auto decline any amount below the auction start price because buyers dont get it!

[gkn29]

---

@arizonablues2 wrote:

For example,  if you have a starting bid of $50 and a Best Offer option, guess what? I'm going to offer you less than the starting bid. That's how Best Offers work, not the other way around. 

---

Actually that is not how best offers work on auction listings. You are expected to offer above the starting bid.

@klhmdg sorry, did not see your post.

[soh.maryl]

I had never really thought about this since I no longer sell, but my interpretation of Best Offer is that, if you list with Best Offer, I can offer less, not more, and you might or might no accept it.

If I was required to offer more, wouldn't I just bid?

For instance, my neighbor has his 2005 Ford Taurus listed on CL for $2200 or best offer, meaning he might accept less.  Isn't that the way BO works on Ebay.?  

[powell-memorabilia · Accepted solution]

---

@soh.maryl wrote:

I had never really thought about this since I no longer sell, but my interpretation of Best Offer is that, if you list with Best Offer, I can offer less, not more, and you might or might no accept it.

If I was required to offer more, wouldn't I just bid?

For instance, my neighbor has his 2005 Ford Taurus listed on CL for $2200 or best offer, meaning he might accept less.  Isn't that the way BO works on Ebay.?  

---

On an auction best offer, you are enticing the seller to accept your offer and end the auction.

[arizonablues2]

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

[arizonablues2]

No, Best Offers are meant to be below what your ideal price is. I can accept offers at any amount below my starting bid. Try again. This is exactly why I started this post.

[arizonablues2]

Yes, that's how they are supposed to work. But people think they're for you bidding up to what They want. That's not how Best Offers work. 

[soh.maryl]

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?  

[powell-memorabilia]

@soh.maryl 

Because any first bid wipes out the best offer option.  

let’s say that there is an auction starting at $10, and you want the item, and fear that it will go for $100.  You make a best offer of $80, hoping that the seller agrees, which immediately converts the auction to a BIN, effectively.

Again, as soon as anyone makes an auction bid, that best offer option is gone, even of the seller would have been happy with that $80.

[soh.maryl]

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? 

[soh.maryl]

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.

[varebelrose]

There is a huge difference between "best offer" on a fixed price ad and on an auction ad.

On fixed price, yeah, you offer lower, you are trying to get a bargain.

On auction, you offer higher, hoping the seller will end the auction and you get the item for less than you suspect it may ultimately be bid up to.

[gkn29]

---

@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? 

---

@soh.maryl 

Totally different concept between auction best offers vs BIN best offers. With an auction best offer, you are gambling that your offer is sufficient to "end the auction early" while not overpaying. For example, you COULD bid the minimum on the auction and wait 10 days for other bids to come in that may never come in, or you could offer more than minimum bid and hope it's enough to persuade the seller to end the auction and sell it to you.

The seller is ALSO gambling that your best offer may be higher than bidding may go

Not to mention it cuts down on the time to wait for payment as well as the time the buyer has to wait for the item by ending it early with an agreed upon bid.

That is the idea behind best offer on AUCTIONS.