Best Offer in Clothing mostly a waste of time...

[goldrushfinds]

From first hand experience and following other clothing sellers, it would appear to me that unless you are selling very high end clothing, that Best Offer is a losing proposition. Why you ask. Margins are already so low, that there is not much room for negotiation. Additionally, the vast majority of offers are way below asking. You may sell many more items, but is it worth it when making a $5-$10 profit. Also, I think to buyers it signals, hey I'll take a lot less. Anyone using this feature in the clothing category to good effect?

[m60driver]

Extending a best offer for any low price or low margin item is usually a waste of time unless you are just trying to get your money back or create shelf space, both valid reasons to extend best offers for such items.  

[yuzuha]

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@m60driver wrote:

Extending a best offer for any low price or low margin item is usually a waste of time unless you are just trying to get your money back or create shelf space, both valid reasons to extend best offers for such items.  

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Yep. I did one recently because it was a large item that took up a lot of space, so I was willing to take a little less just to have it gone. I got it out of there, the buyer was happy, it was a win-win.

[inhawaii]

I think ALL best offer listings are a waste of time. 

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

It depends. First, the seller decides on margins. (as they say, you make your money when you buy). The seller who pays $6.00 for an item he sells at $15.00 has a certain amount of wiggle room, the seller that buys that same item for 60 cents has a lot more wiggle room. 

I don't sell exclusively in clothing, but I get offers, and yes, some are lowball....some I decline and that's the end of it, others we go back and forth and I get a sale with a satisfactory profit margin. I am often pleasantly surprised how many buyers start really low but eventually come around to a decent price.

And, missing from your analysis are other costs a seller may have: If you are paying for storage, if room is tight, if cash flow is slow, there are a lot of factors that can come into play when you are actually running an ebay store as a business that produces a significant amount of a seller's income. There are times when it makes sense to make less profit in exchange for improved sales velocity, so that hopefully that profit can be put into acquiring better inventory at better prices. 

One thing I've noticed over the years:  There are sellers who focus on each item and its "profit" (often hobby sellers or part time sellers who aren't really dependent on ebay for income), and there are sellers who focus on the business as a  whole. (often people who are either full time or trying to become full time, and who are actively growing their business.) Nothing wrong with either approach, it just depends on what you're goal is.

[luckythewinner]

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@goldrushfinds wrote:

Best Offer is a losing proposition. Why you ask. Margins are already so low, that there is not much room for negotiation. 

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If your margins are low, the same is true for any item in any category. 

[coolections]

So now that you know best offer (for you) is a losing proposition then just quit using best offer. If you list something for $10 but planned on accepting $8 then just list it for $8 instead. IMO best offer should only be used for higher priced items with an asking price of at least $50 or more.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@luckythewinner  And of course, the flip side of that is true as well: If you bought with sufficient margins in mind, you will have room for negotiation ( and room for running a sale or issuing a coded coupon, etc.)  Doesn't matter whether its clothing or something else. 

If a seller is having trouble sourcing at prices that provide strong margins and/ or strong sales velocity, the solution is to develop a new sourcing strategy, not to complain about sales tools, when it is the seller's underlying sourcing strategy that doesn't support those tool. The tools are neutral. It's the seller's costs and desired net that are the issue. Either that, or as @coolections said, price everything at the lowest price possible that still allows a decent net profit, to try to increase sales velocity.