WHY NOT BLOCK RIDICULOUSLY LOW BIDDERS?

[gorgons-gallery]

I have been a happy seller here for a decade but I got serious 2 years ago. I have about $100,000 in inventory listed mostly in collectables. Most customers, I have found, are honest, reasonable people looking to make a good deal on things they would like to own, however there does seem to be an element of, shall we say..."instigators." These people are trolls who bid a fraction of the asking price on an item in the hopes, either to force the seller to counter significantly below asking price or just to get a rise out of the seller, just to upset the seller for "the hell of it." I have tried several responses, none of them effective in engaging the "instigator" into being an actual customer. Discussion of any kind simply leads to argument, sometimes profanity, (not from me,) a reasonable counter is always declined or countered with another ridiculous counter in turn, and declining outright very often elicits some snyd remark. Regardless, this person is not a customer, he's troll! So I wondered, my fellow sellers, if you will join me in a small revolt and block these trolls from your stores?! You will lose no money, as they don't really wish to pay anything like what you're asking, and perhaps if enough of us block enough of them they will either no longer have access to anything we sell or...they may CHANGE!  Thoughts?

[lamber9347 · Accepted solution]

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@gorgons-gallery wrote:

I have about $100,000 in inventory listed mostly in collectables. Most customers, I have found, are honest, reasonable people looking to make a good deal on things they would like to own, however there does seem to be an element of, shall we say..."instigators." These people are trolls who bid a fraction of the asking price on an item in the hopes, either to force the seller to counter significantly below asking price or just to get a rise out of the seller, just to upset the seller for "the hell of it." I have tried several responses, none of them effective in engaging the "instigator" into being an actual customer.

 I'm sorry but I have to disagree and don't see this as you do. I also sell mainly in collectibles and I have always had make an offer on every one of my listings. I'd estimate some 65% of my sales are from offers. I also utilize the tools that eBay sets up for free, like placing an auto accept and an auto decline for any amount below what I'm willing to accept. That's it, period. I have only once received a comment from someone who received an auto decline, just one time in 20 years of selling on here. Those are pretty good odds to me. 

I still do not get why some sellers just get so riled up or take such a personal offense to a low offer. You are not obligated to accept it. You aren't breaking any TOS by refusing an offer. You can always counter. You have the ability to set up your auto decline. A low offer just means the buyer is trying to see if they can get the seller to let it go for a really cheap price. That's all, it's not a personal vendetta against you. 

I'm sorry that some of your own counters have ended up unsuccessful, some of mine have also but I've never had an argument with a buyer about any of my counters. Actually when I counter I typically never hear back from them. I rarely have to do that anyways because I have my auto declines all set up every time so I don't get to see those low offers. Maybe that's why I'm never bothered by them, because I don't even see them. 

Again I'm sorry that low offers are bothering you so much but you should try the auto decline and if you already have tried that and continue to receive angry messages, perhaps the items you specialize in are attracting a certain crowd? Might be something to have a look at. Best of luck to you....

[gorgons-gallery]

No offense taken from you. I asked for opinions. Auto-decline is a possibility, certainly, but it reduces your flexibility to respond. I have over 1300 items running and you have 3? Not sure you understand the problem.

[mudshark61369]

@gorgons-gallery,

Since you are selling mostly vintage items using the auction format, why are you using the Best Offer Option as well?  The only reasons I can think of for doing that are, you're using the quick listing tool which forces best offer on you, or you are unsure if your starting bid price is too high.

In looking through your listings, I do see some items I am very familiar with as collectibles, that have starting bids that are way over trending prices. 

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

The poster with 3 items seems to understand the problem and the answer.

• Don’t take things personally
• use the tools provided
• you can not control the behavior of others
• you never know who you can learn from