Accept an offer different from my listing

[djjjbuff]

I listed an item and it has gone through a few cycles without selling.  A buyer offered me my minimum bid with free shipping, and I am going to take that.  How do I conduct that transaction?

[slippinjimmy]

There are probably a few ways....

One that would work is to change the shipping on the auction to Free and then tell the buyer to bid the minimum.

Once they have bid you can end the Auction and choose "sell to the current high bidder".

Or

 Just have them bid, end the auction as above and do a partial refund for the shipping that was charged.

The first option is "cleaner".

[nobody*s_perfect]

You can't revise a listing that has an active offer or counteroffer, so it's not possible to change the shipping cost in the listing to "free." You'd have to decline the offer, then revise the shipping cost in the listing.

Or you could figure out the shipping cost to the buyer's location, subtract that amount from the minimum bid amount, and then make a counteroffer for that net amount but be sure that the buyer understands that he'll have to pay for the shipping.

[ms.rodriguez*]

Tell the buyer that shipping is NON-NEGOTIABLE.  Anytime, I get an email from a potential buyer requesting free shipping, I do not even respond.    Make sure whenever you sell on ebay, the price that you get leaves you enough to have a small profit. Otherwise, you are wasting your time. You might as well give the stuff to goodwill or a shelter.

[mtgraves7984]

If it was the thermostat, looks like you worked it out. Good going!