Make offer question

[yooner-ama]

Hi,

i have intentionally disabled Make Offer on my listings. Right now I have someone interested in one of my listings who is messaging me offers. I told them I would like to wait for end of auction and if no bids I will consider their offer. That didnt stop them and they got back to me with yet another offer. Do I have to respond again? I was polite when I declined first offer.

Thanks ! 

[luckythewinner]

---

@yooner-ama wrote:
Also if I dont receive bids by end of auction I would relist as BIN with her offer price snd notify her. But now I am bugged by the messaging

---

According to your initial messgae, you told the buyer you "would like to wait" and after it ends will "consider their offer". If you were intending to close the door on offers, IMHO that message certainly sends mixed signals. You never said "no" - you only said what you would "like" and "maybe". 

And if the offer is at or above your minimum bid, IMHO there is no point in telling them to wait until the end and see if there are no bids. You simply remind them that the only way to win it is to bid. 

[lacemaker3]

---

@te_1556 wrote:

---

@lacemaker3 wrote:

I think that the policy is  awkwardly formatted, which is causing some members to misinterpret it. The policy is stated:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/selling-buy-now/adding-best-offer-listing?id=4144&st=12&p...

If you have an auction-style listing with Best Offer, bear in mind that:

• If you receive a bid, current offers and counteroffers will be declined automatically and buyers won't be able to make any additional offers on your item
• If a bidder retracts their bid, the Best Offer feature will be re-enabled
• If you received an offer that was higher than the current bid, the buyer who made the offer will have to place a bid
• This option isn't available in these categories: Cell Phones, Motors, Real Estate, Tablets, and Tickets

---

It should be read like this, {with a bit of explanation added in blue}:

If you have an auction-style listing with Best Offer, bear in mind that:

♦  If you receive a bid:

• current offers ...
• If a bidder ...
• If you {had} received an offer that was higher than the current bid, the buyer who made the offer will have to place a bid  {because their offer was declined when the first bid was placed}
  

♦  This option ...

---

Wondering can you step us through this? Say bidding was set to start at $100:

1. Starting bid set at $100

2.

3.

4.

---

It's not that hard, but you have edited out some words that should have been kept. Try this:

♦  If you receive a bid:

• current offers and counteroffers will be declined automatically and buyers won't be able to make any additional offers on your item
• ...
• If you {had} received an offer {before the bid} that was higher than the current bid, the buyer who made the offer will have to place a bid  {because their offer was declined automatically when the first bid was placed}

---

Of course, this does not mean that the member who made the offer is required to place a bid. It just means that if they want to buy the item, they will have to do so by bidding and winning the auction.

[a_c_green]

---

@te_1556 wrote:Wondering can you step us through this? Say bidding was set to start at $100:

Okay, the following gets a bit sticky, so pull up a chair and make yourself comfortable.

1. Starting bid set at $100
2. Customer A places a bid ($100 or more). If a Make Offer button or BuyItNow price was available, either or both go away.
3. Customer B sends the seller a message offering $200. Seller responds that B must place a bid of $200 on the item, as there is no other way to conclude with him as the buyer; it's now a straight auction. That's the gist of the clause in red that we have all been discussing.

Once B makes his $200 bid, one of two things will happen, depending on A's original bid. 

• If B's maximum bid is greater than A, the price will rise to A's maximum price plus one increment, and B will take the lead. For example, if A had bid $150, the price will rise to $152.50 in B's favor.
• If B's maximum bid is less than or equal to A, the price will rise to B's maximum price plus one increment, but A will remain in the lead. For example, if A had originally bid $250, the price will rise to $202.50 in A's favor.

If B's bid turns out to be the same as A's maximum, the price will rise to that number, but A will remain in the lead. B needs to exceed A's maximum bid by at least one cent to take the lead.

So basically, B can offer $200 to the seller via messaging once the auction is in progress (i.e. it has one or more bids), but there is no mechanism remaining for the seller to sell directly to him for $200. The seller has no way to arrange a direct $200 sale at that point. B's only option is to win the auction at whatever the final price turns out to be.

There is some logic to doing things this way. For example, if A's original maximum bid was $250, that won't be revealed unless or until someone else exceeds it. If B offers $200 via messaging and the seller had some way to accept that after a bid had been received (which he doesn't), the seller would be unknowingly cheating himself out of an additional $50, and A would be seriously ticked off as well, wondering what the whole point of bidding on eBay is if that's going to be the result.

So the mechanisms for haggling a direct purchase price are removed from the auction once a bid comes in. You can have a fixed or negotiated price, or you can have an auction, but you can't have both. They'd be working at cross-purposes to each other.

[lacemaker3]

---

@a_c_green wrote:

---

@te_1556 wrote:Wondering can you step us through this? Say bidding was set to start at $100:

...

---

OK, I would do the step-by-step a bit differently. Not that the previous answer is wrong, this is just a different way of looking at it.

1. An auction listing has a starting price of $100.
2. A member makes an offer for the item. The seller may (or may not) have made a counter-offer. There may be more than one offer and/or counter-offers active on the listing, from several members. The offers or counter-offers may be for more or less than the starting price.
3. A member places a bid on the item. All active offers and/or counter-offers are automatically declined (by eBay's code). No more offers/counter-offers can be made. The current price on the listing will be the starting price (the bid may have been for a higher amount).
4. If any of the members who had an offer/counter-offer still want to buy the item, they will need to place a bid(s) and win the auction in order to buy it. They will have to outbid the first bidder and any other bidders to do this. The listing may end for more or less than the offers that were submitted before the bidding started.

It doesn't really make any difference if the offers were for more or less than the starting bid. Either way, they are cancelled automatically if/when a bid is placed. However, if a member wants to encourage the seller to give up the chance of the price going up during the bidding, and accept their offer, then they should make an offer that is more than the starting price. 

Most sellers understand that they should set the starting price at the lowest price they are willing to sell the item for. Given that basic fact about eBay auction listings, it makes sense that  if you're going to make an offer on an auction listing, it should be for more than the starting price. Otherwise the seller would do better to wait and hope that there will be some bids placed. 

Of course, if the potential buyer feels that the starting price is too high, then they are free to make an offer that is less. They should understand that the chances of the seller accepting the offer are not as good, but they can still do this.

[yooner-ama]

Right. I would list again BIN w first offer. Initial offer was even lower than second offer. Im thinking the buyer wants it fast in case bidders start the bidding process.

[yooner-ama]

In my case the first offer was like $5 more than auction starting price. Im not that eager to sell asap. I prefer waiting. If no bids then I have to honor my reply about the BIN with first offer. Im fine with that too. I dont understand though why the repeat messaging with even higher offers. I made myself clear with my intentions to wait out the auction.
And “Make Offer” feature is not enabled.

[Anonymous]

---

@ste-9405 wrote:

---

@myjunqueyourtreasure wrote:
I have no idea why anyone would think a seller would be open to receiving an offer for less than the starting price on an auction

---

It's actually ILLEGAL to accept an offer above the opening price to end an auction (using auction terminology).

If an item is offered at auction, you must take bids and sell to the highest bidder: This is why eBay cancels all offers as soon as bidding begins, to stay legal.

---

Hi @ste-9405, this is incorrect, as an offer can be at any price. Once a bid is placed, any open offers or counteroffers are automatically denied to avoid any conflicts with the auction process. You can check out my response to you on another thread that elaborates on this topic, here.

[*madison]

---

@yooner-ama wrote:
Also if I dont receive bids by end of auction I would relist as BIN with her offer price snd notify her. But now I am bugged by the messaging

---

I would block that member. Pushy people are often trouble in the end.

[lacemaker3]

tyler@ebay , thanks very much for updating this policy to make it more clear. 

I think it was a good idea to change the order of the bullet points, as they did. I would have made that suggestion, but I didn't have any way to contact you back! (I thought about it when I originally posted this, but I didn't want to change the wording of the policy at all, just try to clarify it.)

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/selling-buy-now/adding-best-offer-listing?id=4144#section...

[tyler@ebay]

Glad I could get it pushed up to them @lacemaker3 - thanks again for the great re-word!

[7606dennis]

---

@ste-9405 wrote:

---

@mam98031 wrote:

---

@ste-9405 wrote:

---

@myjunqueyourtreasure wrote:
I have no idea why anyone would think a seller would be open to receiving an offer for less than the starting price on an auction

---

It's actually ILLEGAL to accept an offer above the opening price to end an auction (using auction terminology).

If an item is offered at auction, you must take bids and sell to the highest bidder: This is why eBay cancels all offers as soon as bidding begins, to stay legal.

---

Please link the actual "law" this breaks.  

---

Dennis will be along shortly, but you should do the research, to avoid contamination.

---

Actually, it does not violate any state's auction laws, that I know of, to make an offer for an item being sold at auction.  However, if the seller were to accept an offer made outside of the normal bidding process once the bidding has begun without first withdrawing the item from the auction sale, it could lead to claims of the auction not being conducted in good faith, which in some state's may be deemed to be fraud.  Bidders have the right to expect auctions to be conducted fairly and in good faith.  

Of course, as eBay's system is set up to remove the option to make an offer and void any pending offers not yet accepted, there is not a real legal issue.  Unless, of course, a seller agreed to an offer outside of the system without first ending the auction without a winner.

I always urge any seller using the auction format to check with their state's governing agency over the conducting of auction sales before accepting an offer.  This is particularly important for any licensed auction business since a complaint by a bidder of an auction not being conducted in good faith could put their license and thus their livelihood at risk.