Two Buyers Interested In Same Item in Lot

[nekok-71]

I have a listing for a lot of 3 books (volumes 5 + 6 + 7) and then I also have two different buyers message me within the same hour that they were interested in just volume 7. Right now I'm talking to the buyer who messaged me first, but I haven't responded to the second prospective buyer.

I've already sent Buyer 1 a verbal offer, but haven't messaged Buyer 2. I'm waiting to see if Buyer 1 will accept my offer, but I'm worried that I'd leave Buyer 2 hanging with no response. 

My current plan is: give Buyer 1 the rest of the night to accept the offer. Before going to bed, let Buyer 1 know that I have another Buyer interested in the item. If they're still wishy washy, respond to Buyer 2 in the morning.

Do you agree with my plan? What would you do in my situation? If Buyer 1 buys the item, how would I break the news to Buyer 2?

[klhmdg]

I would let both “buyers” know you have others with interest in the item.

 If you are willing to split it up send an offer to both and who ever buys 1st gets it…

[tdumonde2014]

I would send offers to all interested buyers and the first to accept wins. Let all buyers know that there are a number of interested buyers and an offer has been sent to each one of them.

[lepke1979]

People are too flaky to wait. Send to both. Change listing to allow offers if it isn't already (or send via messages if you're able to) and tell them I'd be OK with this amount. First one to send offer in that amount wins.

[luckythewinner · Accepted solution]

---

@nekok-71 wrote:

Do you agree with my plan? What would you do in my situation?

---

I would never have made a "verbal" offer to buyer 1; that is not how eBay works.

That aside ...

You have two buyers who seem interested in an auction item, and yet you seem far too eager to settle for an offer price.

IMHO that sounds like an item that should be auctioned off, with a starting price equal to the best offer you have been given (or made) thus far.

Let them fight it out. You don't need to "talk to" the prospective buyers. Let the buyers talk to you - with bids.

[cat20sew]

You may end up without a sale if you let the first buyer keep you waiting for her answer. You tell the first buyer take it or leave it since she knows you have other buyers waiting to buy it.  The other buyers will loose interest if you keep them waiting too long.

[lonebuck-books]

It depends.  If I just listed the set and already got two offers that means the set is desirable.  I would probably say not to splitting the set up if that was the case.  If however the set has been up for a while with little interest I would go ahead and split the one volume out.  I would send both people and offer with a note letting them know that there are other people interested.  Put some sense of urgency in it and let the first to accept it be the winner.  The old "if you snooze, you lose" method of sales.  Remember, the only one who can leave feedback is the buyer, not the ones who missed out so you really have nothing to lose if you let them fight it out.

[nekok-71]

You described my exact situation -- I've listed the set for a while with no offers, just today there is two people who was interested in the same one volume from the set. Another person in this thread also mentioned setting up an auction and let the two bid so I wouldn't even need to continue waiting for their messages. Thank you for your advice! 

[doug_5857]

I would  do as luckythewinner has mentioned.  auction it off and sell the other 2 later. Let them bid over it.  Good Luck.

[nekok-71]

---

@luckythewinner wrote:

---

IMHO that sounds like an item that should be auctioned off, with a starting price equal to the best offer you have been given (or made) thus far.

Let them fight it out. You don't need to "talk to" the prospective buyers. Let the buyers talk to you - with bids.

---

You make a good point about bidding, it saves me this entire trouble of messaging. Thank you, I will remember that! 

Both of them had approached me asking, "Are you willing to sell volume 7 and for how much?" How would you have responded? Ask them what they'd offer and then set up an auction that starts with the lowest best offer?  

[southern*sweet*tea]

---

@luckythewinner wrote:

---

@nekok-71 wrote:

Do you agree with my plan? What would you do in my situation?

---

I would never have made a "verbal" offer to buyer 1; that is not how eBay works.

That aside ...

You have two buyers who seem interested in an auction item, and yet you seem far too eager to settle for an offer price.

IMHO that sounds like an item that should be auctioned off, with a starting price equal to the best offer you have been given (or made) thus far.

Let them fight it out. You don't need to "talk to" the prospective buyers. Let the buyers talk to you - with bids.

---

I'm not an auction fan at all, but ^^THIS^^

I know that's what I'd do if the same thing happened to me.

[mr_lincoln]

@nekok-71   What I have found over the years is to not reply on waiting for a Buyer to respond in order to make a decision in a case like yours.  The more you keep things in your control the less work you will have to do, not to mention worry.  I think another member suggested putting the book up for Auction but another approach is to simply let each Buyer know you don't want to break the set up that you have ... because if you want to get rid of ALL three books they can buy the set and throw out what they don't want or resell them at their end.

If the set of three books is still for sale and someone else comes along and buys the whole thing then the 2 Buyers you are working with now are both left out in the cold.

[luckythewinner]

@nekok-71 wrote:
Both of them had approached me asking, "Are you willing to sell volume 7 and for how much?" How would you have responded? Ask them what they'd offer and then set up an auction that starts with the lowest best offer?  

---

IMHO you should never leave other buyers waiting on the sidelines while you deal with one buyer. If that one buyer backs out, you may lose all your buyers.

If I am willing to sell an item for $X, I should not care which buyer pays $X. So instead of sending an offer or negotiating, I simply lower the listing price and let everyone on the planet have a crack at it. The first one in wins.

In your specific case, I would have one of these two things:

Option 1:

"Because of the interest in this item, I have created a new auction for volume 7 by itself. Here is the link".

Option 2:

"Because of the interest in this item, I have created a new fixed-price listing for volume 7 by itself. Here is the link".

[nekok-71]

---

@mr_lincoln wrote:

another approach is to simply let each Buyer know you don't want to break the set up that you have ... because if you want to get rid of ALL three books they can buy the set and throw out what they don't want or resell them at their end.

If the set of three books is still for sale and someone else comes along and buys the whole thing then the 2 Buyers you are working with now are both left out in the cold.

---

Absolutely! I'm worried about this situation as well. In my case, since I've had the listing up for a while with no other offers, I'm willing to part with one volume and continue to try to sell the other two. If my listing was still fresh, I'd let them know I'd only sell as a set and if I still continued to have no offers, reach out to them again later asking if they were still interested in purchasing a single book. 

[nekok-71]

---

@luckythewinner wrote:

In your specific case, I would have one of these two things:

Option 1:

"Because of the interest in this item, I have created a new auction for volume 7 by itself. Here is the link".

Option 2:

"Because of the interest in this item, I have created a new fixed-price listing for volume 7 by itself. Here is the link".

---

Dang doing it this way really saves all the time and stress I spent babying my inbox, auuugggh. Just send the link and let them bid until a deadline while I work on something else. It takes care of multiple interested people at once without me giving it constant attention. Thank you so much for your explanation!