Anyone else seeing this? I accepted a counter offer and the listing did not end.

[sandysbangers]

This situation has happened to me at least 5 times over the last month: I automatically send an offer to a potential buyer when they watch one of my listings. The buyer sends me a counter offer, which I then accept.

Normally what should happen is that the listing will close and I will get notification that the item sold and is waiting for payment. But sporadically over the last month that is no longer happening. The listing remains open and I get no indication that I accepted the offer. If I looked at 'Review Offers' for the item in question I can see that I accepted an offer, other than that it's a live listing. Most of the time that buyer pays for the item and I will then see a notification that the item has been paid for and can be shipped, but not always. Several times I have had to directly message the buyer asking them if they see a sold listing on their end.

Anyone else experiencing this? I asked eBay about it via phone call with Customer Service about a month ago and they said they would open a tech ticket, but since then I haven't been given a reason why this is happening.

Would love to know I'm not alone and this is a feature I wasn't aware of and not a bug.

[prolific_author]

This has now happened twice to me in the last two months. And EACH and EVERY time, the buyer has elected not to pay once the counter offer was accepted. Why ebay allows buyers to provide a counter offer without having a payment method on file to charge if the offer or counter offer is accepted is beyond me. The most recent occurrence was on 8/11/2024 when I reminded a buyer that their counter offer was accepted. The response to me was that they decided not to purchase the item. After a prolonged conversation with an ebay CSR, they told me nothing could be done. Which leads me to believe that ebay purporting that bidding and offers are legally binding is nonsense. And the explanation I was given for why the listing remained available: "It allows someone else to purchase the item from you." The weird thing is that in both cases, nothing ever showed up in seller hub as awaiting payment. Ebay is pathetic and I'm really getting tired of the excuses. In another thread, the "best solution" was to go to buyer management and require buyers to provide a payment method. That was already selected so I guess it doesn't apply to accepted counter offers. 

[ckimodog]

@prolific_author 

This is an old thread from January 2024.  The OP selected their best answer, so I doubt they'll reply. 

Should you have any questions or concerns it is always a good idea to start your own thread to get the help and advice for your specific issue. 

[prolific_author]

I don't need advice. I need ebay to come up with practical solutions. I also know when the thread was posted - seven months ago isn't that long, the best answer was wrong, and whether or not the original poster responds is really not something I care about.

[original_otis]

This garbage is still happening. Why can’t I even just message the buyer that made this offer and see if they’re planning on paying?

[siamjane8]

This new way of handling offers and counter-offers sems to be their way of addressing the unpaid item "problem"......unfortunately all it did was create more confusion and add to the unpaid item problem because nobody even knows if they accepted or won an item. no notifications are sent to either person and you must "look" at your offers page to even know if it was accepted.

    All this did was overcomplicate the process- add more steps than needed and now we are loosing sales to people who would normally pay!

    The problem before was a bad buyer problem- people who bid or accept offers with no intent to pay.......that is the problem that needed addressing- now the system just confuses good buyers that intended to buy and pay.

     I am a full time seller and run a business and have been on ebay for 25+years...... 3 days ago, we accepted an offer on an item and the ONLY message we got was "sorry- this item was sold"!!!!!, it was not until 4 hours later that i noticed in my offers page- the item was sold TO ME because the offer was accepted-it was just waiting for my payment.   In the end, it all worked out but what a screwed up, backwards, confusing, over complicated way to make a buyer seller transact.   I wish it would just go back to the way it was b4 and just work.

     I buyers continue to buy items and not pay-just notify them and suspend their account. we dont need bad buyers on the platform anyway.

[low.uk9]

Hello, 

i am also experiencing the same issue. I have accepted a counter-offer as a seller. Listing still active. I have the item listed as collection only but payments are either on collection or through eBay. I want to ask the buyer about either paying on collection and to arrange a date for collection. The trouble is the listing is still live but "awaiting payment" and there is no way of contacting the buyer so how can I arrange collection and payment in person? 

[ckimodog]

@low.uk9 

This is an old thread from January 2024.  The OP selected their best answer so it's doubtful they'll reply.

This is also a  US community discussion forum.  You are located in the UK. What applies in your country concerning eBay may not apply here in the US or other countries.  You may be better served by logging out of ebay.com and logging back into ebay.com/uk/  Here's your community forum link that may be helpful:

http://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Discussion/ct-p/13

Good luck getting the help and advice you need. 

[machgogogo]

I wasn't aware of this change. Doesn't seem to logical to me, but I'm old...