this is a suggestion for eBay that i have submitted to eBay for several years to no success. (i have also suggested the send offer function for years before it was finally implemented.)
the main idea is for sellers to be able to send offers to 2nd -6th-ish highest bid for a past auctions.
I find this to be one of the biggest barriers to entry for regular people selling one off items or used items.
for example a guy with rare old collectible tool that they don't make anymore, he wants to get rid of it so he looks up the tool on eBay and sees one sold at auction 8 months ago for 100$, and there were 10 bids on it and 2nd place bid was for 90$. So he would send a picture and offer of his tool to the 2nd place bidder for 90$. and so on with the lower place bidders depending on how low he would be willing go. it could even be a higher than 90$ offer if he thinks his tool is in better condition.
the problem is for the bidders on rare or unusual items. if they lost, and these things only pop up once or twice a year they could give up and not be actively looking when the next one comes around.
this also works out for the seller who wants to sell something obscure, but is unmotivated to actually go through the hassle of making the listing because he knows a weird once a year item doesn't have a strong chance of those same bidders finding his listing. but if he has a way to send an offer to the bidders directly then he knows he has a better chance to sell.
this could work just as well for buy it now items and is especially true of industrial items. for example a building owner has a breaker go bad, but its an old breaker that isn't made any more and he gets real lucky and finds the only one listed on ebay and buys at a "buy it now" price. then 6 months later he gets an offer for the same breaker at a reduced price, so he buys it as a spare.
obviously this doesn't work for the mass produced china stuff but for used, industrial, obscure, and especially for collectibles this would turn every loser bid or buy it now item in to a "looking for add" that sellers could see and reach out with offers.
of course this function would need to be something the bidders could opt into or turn off completely otherwise the the volume china sellers would bombard people with crap, and also you would be keeping bidders anonymous.
basically when you lose bidding on a 1984 bob ross lunch box, you get asked if you would like to receive offers from sellers with the same or similar items. and then a week later you get an offer for a 1986 bob ross lunch box, for your bid price.
I don't know, I've got lots of ideas on how to put guardrails on this thing, but in general I think this would be a good idea. Any thoughts on why this wouldn't work?
