How come no matter how cheap I price my items, if best offer is on, buyers still want it cheaper

[richard1rst]

Because you are as much as saying that you will accept less than the stated price and they take you at your word. TURN IT OFF !!!!!

[southern*sweet*tea]

Sellers want the highest price they can get, buyers want the lowest, that's how it usually works. I price high and take best offers. Very often I get the full asking price.  Lowballers are rare, but if I do get one I just counter back at a price I want and most of the time I'll get it.

[davescollectables1978]

Because capitalism is all about getting what you want for the cheapest possible price if you are a buyer and selling for the highest possible price if you are a seller. Giving a "best offer" basically tells the buyer "you can get a better deal from me". I never pay full price from a person who offers a best offer. I want the lowest price I can possibly get.

[chapeau-noir]

@pigeonpicker   Offering items at next to nothing, putting them on markdown AND then a best offer makes you look very desperate.  So yeah, that will bring out the cheapskates - they want you to give them the item for almost free but will also be the first to complain about everything.

Get rid of the best offer or the sale.  Raise your prices then have a sale or best offer.  But all three is just not a great idea.

[reallynicestamps]

There is a thing called aspirational marketing.

Instead of trying to appeal to the cherry pickers and cheapskates, you choose the buyers who are looking to improve their collections, upgrading from spacefillers and adding scarce items.

The best part of aspirational buyers (for a seller) is that they like their purchases more if they pay more for them. And they don't feel they have been cheated -while the bottom feeders think they could have spent even less.

Gather your bottom end listings into larger, more pricey lots and sell at higher prices.

But if you can offer Free Shipping, offer Free Shipping. Even the aspirational buyer loooooves free shipping.

[johnrj1226]

When you  are showing a discount price and  a best offer option your are advertising to  shoppers make any offer you wish,  I would "ditch the best offer,  As people like to haggle.  Haggling is commonplace in many countries of the world  - Japan they  like to have at least 3 time negotiations on a single purchase and the markets in Mexico it is  a "game" have had  sellers chase me down the street with even at the "lowest" price that they were asking that I refused and  got a  $2.00 (US) shoes shine for  75 cents - gave 'em a buck - we were both happy.

[espresso-store]

The answer is simple.  Customers end on Ebay for finding dirty cheap pricing and sellers that make 0000

on most sales only Ebay makes the money that is the problem and you will see it as soon as you have normal rates you won't sell anything on this site. Avoid Ebay move on

[espresso-store]

This is true this is Ebay you make 0 just moving money around till you just  case or a fraud customer ad you lose it all. This is how they want sellers making 0  and then move to the next stupid seller

[coolections]

The better question is why would a buyer not want to make an offer when they know they can get it cheaper ?

[inhawaii]

If i am interested in a item with a "make offer" option and the listed price is $10.

I will never buy it for $10.   Would you?

[soh.maryl]

WHO wants sellers making 0? Doesn't eBay make its money on sellers' making money? 

When I see an ad for a used car for $2500 OBO, I assume that the seller will possibly accept less.

When I see an ad on eBay for a pair of shoes I like for $65 OBO, doesn't it make sense that I figure that seller would accept less also?  

[luckythewinner]

How come no matter how cheap I price my items, if best offer is on, buyers still want it cheaper

Because turning "Best Offer" on is like hanging a neon sign on your listing saying "You can pay this if you want, but I am willing to accept less". 

[firesteel_surplus]

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@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

Sellers want the highest price they can get, buyers want the lowest, that's how it usually works. I price high and take best offers. Very often I get the full asking price.  Lowballers are rare, but if I do get one I just counter back at a price I want and most of the time I'll get it.

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@pigeonpicker 

There is some great advice in this thread for you, but this one is what works for me. I can't say I price high, but I do my ebay market research and then price maybe a bit above average ebay sold prices and then put best offer in. I'd say about 80% of my sales sell at full asking price.

Figure out a price that you think is a FAIR market value on ebay and price accordingly. Raise your prices if you have to. I rarely...RARELY...use sale prices. If the buyer wants it cheaper, they can send an offer in. If they like the price, they can buy now.

Evidently 80% of my buyers like my price.

Mike

Firesteel Surplus

[dnasilver]

Maybe if the items actual value is 10 times or greater, we might pay the 10 just so we don't lose the opportunity.  Other than that, it is minus 22 degrees this morning.