Reverse buying

[jonathankirkland]

Wouldn't it be nice if you could setup 'reverse buying' listings on ebay? Now maybe this is something more suited towards CL, but I'm not sure why it couldn't work on a national scale.

Say I am looking for an item but I want to pay $100. There are probably 10-15 of said items currently listed on ebay but all are $125-200. It would be nice to post a listing to say "I will buy X item for $100" and then any of those sellers or others could just sell the item to me at that price if they wished.

I suppose the problem with it might be there'd be too much back and forth about specifics and etc? Instead of "here's what you get" in a listing, you and the person selling would have to make sure you're on the same page when you are buying the item and they are telling you they have what you want?

And yes obviously I would say this would have to be in a different part of the site all together, not mixed in with the auctions & buy now listings.

I dunno I guess there are more logistics to it I am not thinking about, but it was just an idea that pops into my head from time to time. I guess it would be harder to control and people could illicit bad/illegal things or something? *shrug*

[luckythewinner · Accepted solution]

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@jonathankirkland wrote:

Say I am looking for an item but I want to pay $100. There are probably 10-15 of said items currently listed on ebay but all are $125-200. It would be nice to post a listing to say "I will buy X item for $100" and then any of those sellers or others could just sell the item to me at that price if they wished.

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eBay used to have "Wanted"  listings, but they were seldom used. 

The other issue is that buyers want the final say over what they buy and who they buy from, espoecially for used, unique and collectible items. So it would really be nothing more than an offer from the seller - and if you think about it, isn't that what eBay already is? Offers from sellers to sell at a specific price?

Besides, if a seller has an item listed for $125 and is really willing to sell for $100, the seller can accomplish the same thing without the need for a new system by simply lowering his price to what he is really willing to sell it for. 

[2013grotz]

No real point to "Want Ads" on a place like this.  99.99% of the time, you can just search and find whatever it is.  As for the rest of this, this (logically) would be taken care of through the communication of the buyer and seller.  As always, there's always the risk of the seller not wanting to budge from their price.

But basically, the system already takes care of something like this.

[hiszi-73]

I applaud your decision and wish you well. And I admire your tidy house... wish I had one. Good luck.

[jonathankirkland]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@jonathankirkland wrote:

Say I am looking for an item but I want to pay $100. There are probably 10-15 of said items currently listed on ebay but all are $125-200. It would be nice to post a listing to say "I will buy X item for $100" and then any of those sellers or others could just sell the item to me at that price if they wished.

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eBay used to have "Wanted"  listings, but they were seldom used. 

The other issue is that buyers want the final say over what they buy and who they buy from, espoecially for used, unique and collectible items. So it would really be nothing more than an offer from the seller - and if you think about it, isn't that what eBay already is? Offers from sellers to sell at a specific price?

Besides, if a seller has an item listed for $125 and is really willing to sell for $100, the seller can accomplish the same thing without the need for a new system by simply lowering his price to what he is really willing to sell it for. 

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Yeah I suppose you are right. I just feel like a lot of the time there are items that seem to sit at a certain price, but don't really sell at those prices. Sellers are either stubborn or a lot more patient than I could be in their position. 😄 For me I'd rather just sell things for what people buy them for. Not a cheap price but somewhere in the range of the 'going' rate.

Supply/demand is the ultimate decide of course.

[luckythewinner]

Another issue I see with a system like that is that re-sellers could flood it with millions of low-ball "I'm willing to pay $50 for your iPhone 11 Pro" ads in hopes of scoring cheap items they can flip. So there would need to be a cap or a time limit.

And just think of the fraud buyers. Now they won't have to work at all - just post a want ad offering way too much for a Macbook Pro, and their targets will come to them. 

[redmodelt]

Find listings with Best Offers and make an offer. 

[lacemaker3]

As @luckythewinner  said, there used to be a Wanted section on eBay.

It didn't work as intended, even before it was ended. The results were either off-eBay transactions, or spam.

Most buyers want something very specific, they are usually looking for a high end item, and often they know exact what options and details they want. I used to watch the Wanted ads because I was selling high end horse tack at the time. The responses were posted on the want ads, as links to eBay listings.

I saw a lot of requests for high end saddles, usually a specific brand, model and size to fit both horse and rider correctly. They got lots of responses, but I never saw a single response that was what the want ad had described. Invariably, the responses were for cheap (meaning worthless) saddles which should never be allowed within 6 feet of a horse's back, knowing the kind of damage and injuries they would cause.

In addition to the fact that with most of the want ads that resulted in sales, the transaction was never completed on eBay (so it was a way to avoid paying eBay fees), most the responses to the ads were just spam.

[dirk12955]

I agree with Lucky.      Same old scam in reverse.     Instead of crooked "sellers" selling something worth $500.00 for $100.00 we'd be covered up with crooked  "Buyers"    paying    $1,000.00 

Personally,   I'd love a way to advertise on ebay that I'm buying.     There are things that I need and other things I ALWAYS need.     

[jonathankirkland]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

Another issue I see with a system like that is that re-sellers could flood it with millions of low-ball "I'm willing to pay $50 for your iPhone 11 Pro" ads in hopes of scoring cheap items they can flip. So there would need to be a cap or a time limit.

And just think of the fraud buyers. Now they won't have to work at all - just post a want ad offering way too much for a Macbook Pro, and their targets will come to them. 

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Yes you are so right, thank you. 😄

[jonathankirkland]

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@dirk12955 wrote:

I agree with Lucky.      Same old scam in reverse.     Instead of crooked "sellers" selling something worth $500.00 for $100.00 we'd be covered up with crooked  "Buyers"    paying    $1,000.00 

Personally,   I'd love a way to advertise on ebay that I'm buying.     There are things that I need and other things I ALWAYS need.     

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Well honestly with ebay's current climate, crooked sellers really are of no concern. It's the buyers with all the power via ebay's MBG. Only with the fake tracking # scam are the scam sellers making it difficult for buyers these days.

[jennifer4967]

My example are these Stanley cups everyone is talking about. I'm trying to get one color, always sold out from the real store.

Not I come near and they want to charge double the price of the item, them , $15 for shipping.

But I'd like to say... If your willing to let me buy for $10 plus the retail value, and you pay shipping, get in touch with me. 

[evry1nositswindy]

2year old thread!