@luckythewinner wrote:
When a listing is ending and I am not going to renew it, I will generally send a 10% discount offer to interested buyers 48 hours before the listing ends. This has worked pretty well for me, about 10% of those offers result in an almost immediate sale.
But as a buyer, I am noticing that when I watch a newly listed item, I am starting to get unsolicited offers from sellers in the next 24 hours, often with a substantial discount (25% - 50%).
Many sellers on this board report being offended by - and blocking - buyers who make "unreasonable" offers like 50% off, but I am beginning to see that sort of offer being made to me without even asking.
It is getting to the point that when I find an item I am interested in, I am sometimes just watching the item rather than buying ... wondering whether the seller will make me a better offer that I would have dared to make myself.
From the seller's point of view: I can honestly say that rarely do I receive offers that are considered "low-ball." That has probably to do with using the check box for items I list as Buy it Now with the Make an Offer option, where you can set the minimum offer price you are ready to accept on the item. Anything below that being offered is not going to show up in my To Do list on Seller Hub, and I do not care to find out. LOL.
Now, sometimes, people contact me with questions like, "Would you accept XYZ amount for this item?" and if that item was not listed with the Accepting Offers option, I generally decline. I had a rather funny offer the other day, with 30 being offered on a 59.00 item - which I just ignored. I think that eBay buyers are less likely to pay the realistic value of an item, compared with buyers on other sites. Example: A similar pair of Garnet earrings listed here for 29.99 will get a few watchers, but still eBay would tell me I can "Send Offer" to the watchers, at which point I am supposed to offer the pair of earrings for less than that.
I put the same, or similarly designed Garnet earrings on one other site I am also listing on, within 3 days it sells for 59.99 or 49.99 (depending on the design and size of gemstone). This is something I have observed over a longer period of time, and also made me wonder as to WHY this is happening.
Some of the possible reasons are:
- many buyers are also sellers, and if they do not sell things, they do not have enough money to buy things at the asking price, although they love it;
- many buyers are also sellers, and they try to buy cheap, so they can SELL the same thing at the more realistic, higher price and turn some profit, even if just 10 bucks or 5;
- eBay has lost its buyer population (those with cash and only buying here, not selling) due to some reason, and those people are now buying elsewhere;
- the general downturn of the economy which leaves about 75% of the people in the U.S.A. devoid of cash for non-essential goods (although this explanation does not seem to hold much value when I look at the overall buying activity, and not just in the categories in which I am selling);
- the algorithm eBay is using with its AI software exhibiting my items only to certain buyer circles, namely those who have a buying history at an average of 29.99 per order.
It could also be a combination of things.
From those potential buyers I contact with an Offer - approx. 20-25% end up purchasing the item. I do not click on "Accept counter offers" when sending an offer, because I already am entering the lowest minimum amount at which I can sell the item comfortably.
From the buyer's perspective: Very very few auctions interest me. I do not have the time, or the schedule, to sit around and wait of an auction to almost end, then make a final bid. Therefore, I often exclude auctions from the search and prefer to look for sellers who allow making an offer, or at least have a Buy it Now price. I do know of some sellers who offer auctions that start with 1 cent - good for them! They have usually tens of thousands of items listed, and are ready to let go a few of those items for pennies on the dollar, while raking in a nice big sum on most other items (selling those way above the realistic value, in my opinion). This is not something our small family operation could afford to do, but as a buyer, it may work for some people.
I do not detest receiving offers from sellers, when I mark something for my Watch lists. Most of the time, the offers I receive are approx. 20% - 30% below the listing price, and sometimes I bite and get it. Offers sent to me as a buyer that only go down by 5% - 10% will most likely be deleted.
I don't know if any of this is a good response to your questions, but I wondered the same things, so here are my 2 cents.
PW🐿
disneyshopper
