eBay

bigmotormania · ‎06-27-2017

Good morning, everyone.

So, I received an offer last night, it's WAAAAY below what I have the item posted for but I can also afford to accept, and I was wondering if accepting offers had any impact whatsoever on listing placements.

I know this is a stretch and more than likely not the case, but I was curious if anyone has experience with accepting offers and then noticing an increase in sales or if it generally stayed the same regardless.

With the severe draught of sales going on, and my only sales coming in small sudden bursts and then 5-10 days of no activity whatsoever, it would be nice to know if accepting some of the low ball offers might actually help me a bit or not, not placing any bets, though.

Bigmotormania

divwido · ‎06-27-2017

Well, sometimes they help.

If someone makes a low ball offer-counter back with a more reasonable price.

If they come back with another counter-about two dollars above the first offer-refuse the offer and block them.

But many buyers will accept that offer.

So yes, it is worth it. Think of it more as a negotiating option. More so now that buyers getto make so many offers.

Good Moms let you lick the Beaters.

Great Moms turn them off first.

badwolf12 · ‎06-27-2017

Well, an offer on an item will give it a little boost in search. I know that's not what you're asking though.

If sales are tough and you're still making a profit then either accept it or counter a little higher. Or sit and wait to see if it generates any more interest and another offer. Do you prefer the quick sale or the risk of either getting a better offer or not selling it?

I've never heard that making a sale boosts your overall search placement as a seller unless it's for a MQ GTC listing. I have watched videos from eBay employees explaining search and this scenario was not mentioned that I can recall. Maybe others have more info.

keziak · ‎06-27-2017

I have never heard that accepting offers has any bearing on subsequent placement or sales.

southern*sweet*tea · ‎06-27-2017

Unless you just really, really, really need a sale, send them a counteroffer. They'll either accept, counter back or decline/ignore.

As to listing placements, I have found that the more I sell, the more I'll be seen (views and watchers tend to pick up), so yes it may help in that respect.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

victorjunkman55 · ‎06-27-2017

Accepting offers may help your bottom line, but I don't believe it has anything to do with your listing placements. Counteroffer your buyer, you can always get a few dollars more. Good Luck to you.

bigmotormania · ‎06-27-2017

Hm... I see, thanks for all the replies. Didn't expect to get so many so quickly.

I'll throw out a counter offer and see where that gets me. I'm not super desperate for the sale but it would certainly help a fair bit.

Bigmotormania

7606dennis · ‎06-27-2017

Frankly, with eBay's convoluted search system, I have no idea if accepting low-ball offers helps to get better placement. It shouldn't, in my opinion, but who knows?!

Only you can decide if an offer is worth accepting or not. While "lost leader" items have been used by many retailers in the past, I'm doubtful of the usefulness on eBay.

As mentioned by another poster, making a counter offer might be a good way to go. However, I wouldn't accept any offer merely to make brownie points with Cassini.

"It is an intelligent man that is aware of his own ignorance."

dtexley3 · ‎06-27-2017

I don't accept low ball offers, they just seem to encourage more low ball offers. I price my items fairly aggressively and the are usually the first or second in the list for BIN lowest price + shipping.

I will respond with what I think is a reasonable offer that I can accept, but usually they will not purchase at the higher price.

Member of the Grumpy Old Man crew

vintageista · ‎06-27-2017

I have heard that "unaccepted offers" might help boost your search results as it seems to make it more desirable if someone does make an offer & you counter but if the counter is not accepted or cancelled by buyer, it sits there awhile (until the listing expires). Not sure if that is true and no way to really test it!

A method that I often use to increase views in search is to REVISE over an older listing, a lot of times when doing this, I seem to sell the older listing fairly soon...so it somehow must help! I have had it happen too many times to be just a coincidence!

xgoblazersx · ‎06-27-2017

I don't generally accept offers; especially if it's less than a certain percentage. The few times I have, they invented an issue, or asked a billion questions. People like that are problematic wanting something for nothing. I would just ignore. It's just rude to ask less than (for me) 30%.

forestthrutrees · ‎06-27-2017

@divwido wrote:
Well, sometimes they help.

If someone makes a low ball offer-counter back with a more reasonable price.

If they come back with another counter-about two dollars above the first offer-refuse the offer and block them.

But many buyers will accept that offer.

So yes, it is worth it. Think of it more as a negotiating option. More so now that buyers getto make so many offers.

I have offered that occasionally. Sometimes accepted sometimes not. I never noticed an increase or decrease in sales before or after. I even get offers when I don't even have BO as an option. But you never know. I guess that's what the buyer is thinking.

RRR

nubian_treasures · ‎06-27-2017

If you did not set up your listings as Best Offer, don't even entertain any offers. Politely tell the potential buyer that you're not accepting offers. Your listed price is the lowest you will accept.

In the past, it used to be against ebay policy for a buyer to make an offer if the listing didn't have the Best Offer icon.

I had listed 3 items for auction 3 times and each time a potential buyer wanted to make an offer to buy all three items. Each time I told them that I wasn't accepting offers. On the third time listed, eleven minutes before the auction was to end, they made a final attempt since they saw that the items still had not sold. I still refused to accept their offer. They ended up buying all three items and was kind of a pest. They paid. I sent the item and placed them on my blocked bidders list. People who make offers see to be too demanding. I have no time or tolerance for impatient buyers.

**********************************************************************************

Non payers should get unpaid item strikes and be added to block bidders lists. Period.

luckythewinner · ‎06-27-2017

@bigmotormania wrote:
So, I received an offer last night, it's WAAAAY below what I have the item posted for but I can also afford to accept, and I was wondering if accepting offers had any impact whatsoever on listing placements.

Generally speaking, a seller who did this would have more sales, a higher sell-through rate, and more sales-per-view.

But IMHO the improvement in placement would be miniscule and certainly not worth taking a bath on an item.

bigmotormania · ‎06-27-2017

I just counter offered with a price that I deemed more... reasonable.

I was mostly just curious as I didn't know whether or not there was a placement factor determined by accepted best offers, especially considering the way eBay wants as many sales as possible (at least one would think) and people who are more... flexible, when it comes to best offers and have a track record of accepting offers or at least working with counteroffers can be seen as making sales where there might not usually have been one based on price.

I don't know, was just a thought.

Bigmotormania