eBay

neveriiold · ‎06-05-2017

I thought it was only at yard sales and on Craigslist that shoppers want everything for nothing. I am findng the same mentality on eBay now. I have been selling for about 10 years through various avenues and have never seen anything like this. Have a brand new in package $175 quilt for sale on Craigslist (right now won't even think about listing it on eBay because of shipping costs) and am asking only $40. Email I get yesterday only asks, "How low will you go?" Really? I know some people like this "game," but I am really tired of all the lowball offers.

rolenboy01 · ‎06-05-2017

@18704d wrote:

" ...if you find something at a yard sale and the seller is asking $1.00 and you know you can make $5.00 off it, it is immoral to ask that seller to take less. "
--------

I disagree.
If the seller agrees to a 50 cent offer, then the offer and acceptance was mutually 'moral'.

btw
has anyone in this thread acknowledged that perhaps some of these "cheap" people may have financial problems like unemployment, and need to keep a roof over their family's head and food on the table?

That may be why they're offering $25.00 for a $100.00+ item
Because every extra spare dollar they can squeeze out of the purchase price, may help them pay their rent or utilities on time.

jmtcw,
Lynn

If they are that hard up for money they probably shouldn't be shopping for wants at all and instead be shopping for needs with the little money they do have right? It makes perfect sense for them to lowball so they can try to make a profit for something they shouldn't be shopping for in the first place? that doesn't compute, if they want to resell they need to hit the pavement and find their own stock in person, if you lack the bankroll you shouldn't be shopping on eBay for resell.

neveriiold · ‎06-05-2017

If someone is struggling to feed his family, he doesn't need to be looking at $175 quilts then does he? That is what thrift stores are for.

And, no, I don't agree that your proposed scenario is moral. Some sellers may think the "buyer" (like you suggested) may be having financial difficulties and may be willing to help him or her out. I think they may feel differently though if they knew the "buyer" was trying to make as much money as possible off of him (the seller). Big difference in my opinion. When I had garage sales I was much more willing to "negotiate" with neighbors or people I knew were having trouble making ends meet. I am less eager to help the dealers (many of whom who ride around in their expensive cars) make more money. Sorry.

southern*sweet*tea · ‎06-05-2017

**general reply not intended for any particular person**

Lowball offers don't bother me, and they shouldn't bother any seller. This is business. You're here to sell stuff and not stroke your ego. Get an offer you don't like or want, decline it, counter it or ignore it and move on. Everyone is different and everyone has their own reasons for offering what they offer. It's nothing to take offense over.

I guess I just don't get it.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

coolections · ‎06-05-2017

@rolenboy01 wrote:
You just told people to overprice an item to allow for haggling though, now you are saying they are pricing items too high lol wut?

@rolenboy01

Reading must not be your forte. I never said to overprice or gouge. Asking $80 for a $175 like new item is reasonable. The haggling part is up to the buyer to lower them down to $50.

coolections · ‎06-05-2017

@rolenboy01

So you think you can decide what a buyer should buy or not buy ? Maybe the buyer wants the quilt because they can get it cheaper in the summer and be warm in the winter ? It is not up to you how a person spends their money or what a person is willing to pay.

rolenboy01 · ‎06-05-2017

I can control what they buy from me by not accepting their low ball offers.

18704d · ‎06-05-2017

"If someone is struggling to feed his family, he doesn't need to be looking at $175 quilts then does he? That is what thrift stores are for."

-------------

You do understand I'm saying, that someone trying to feed his family

could be buying a $175.00 quilt, for .. say ... $25.00

because his sole goal is to resell it for .. say .. $100.00

which nets him 75.00 profit to feed his family.

Right?

Lynn

Lynn

You love me for everything you hate me for

.

southern*sweet*tea · ‎06-05-2017

@18704d wrote:

"If someone is struggling to feed his family, he doesn't need to be looking at $175 quilts then does he? That is what thrift stores are for."
-------------

You do understand I'm saying, that someone trying to feed his family
could be buying a $175.00 quilt, for .. say ... $25.00
because his sole goal is to resell it for .. say .. $100.00
which nets him 75.00 profit to feed his family.

Right?
Lynn

<snarkasm>No because he would then be advancing himself, and poor folks aren't supposed to do that. They're supposed to know their place </snarkasm>

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

moo*cow*corner · ‎06-05-2017

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:
**general reply not intended for any particular person**

Lowball offers don't bother me, and they shouldn't bother any seller. This is business. You're here to sell stuff and not stroke your ego. Get an offer you don't like or want, decline it, counter it or ignore it and move on. Everyone is different and everyone has their own reasons for offering what they offer. It's nothing to take offense over.

I guess I just don't get it.

Me neither. I've had other sellers tell me I'm gouging customers by simply asking what the market will bear for any given item. Like I owe people a bargain or something. They yell, "But these people have families and bills to pay!" Like I don't?

Sometimes I haggle and sometimes I don't. Both buying and selling. It's an art to know who, when, how and how much.

Pieces I LIKE have higher prices. I don't mind if they stick around a little longer. There's times my bottom dollar is directly proportional to how bad I want it GONE. I call this pricing system 'junquer math'. It makes little sense to my uber-sensible husband, but there ya go.

Déjà Moo: The strange feeling that I've heard this bull before...

plumbingspecials · ‎06-05-2017

I have been trying to get ebay to understand why this is happening, too. You know on listings that have the "Make Offer" option, the buyer can counter 5 times or more now. I've been flooded with lowball offers and only one sale came from all of it this past week, because this gives buyers the mindset that they can haggle and haggle and they expect you to give them a low low price no matter what your cost.

I think the original three attempts was plenty. Now, it's just a bunch of non-serious buyers who are trying to get something for nothing.

Ebay so far has disagreed with me, claiming they are trying to make a "fair" marketplace for buyers and sellers alike. Fair is when a seller doesn't LOSE money just to make a buyer happy. Fair IS when an amount can be agreed upon and both parties can walk away with a good transaction.

southern*sweet*tea · ‎06-05-2017

@plumbingspecials wrote:
I have been trying to get ebay to understand why this is happening, too. You know on listings that have the "Make Offer" option, the buyer can counter 5 times or more now. I've been flooded with lowball offers and only one sale came from all of it this past week, because this gives buyers the mindset that they can haggle and haggle and they expect you to give them a low low price no matter what your cost.
I think the original three attempts was plenty. Now, it's just a bunch of non-serious buyers who are trying to get something for nothing.
Ebay so far has disagreed with me, claiming they are trying to make a "fair" marketplace for buyers and sellers alike. Fair is when a seller doesn't LOSE money just to make a buyer happy. Fair IS when an amount can be agreed upon and both parties can walk away with a good transaction.

ummm, decline and block? Auto-reject?

If you lose money on a sale, how can it be the buyer's fault?

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

retrose1 · ‎06-05-2017

@18704d wrote:

"If someone is struggling to feed his family, he doesn't need to be looking at $175 quilts then does he? That is what thrift stores are for."
-------------

You do understand I'm saying, that someone trying to feed his family
could be buying a $175.00 quilt, for .. say ... $25.00
because his sole goal is to resell it for .. say .. $100.00
which nets him 75.00 profit to feed his family.

Right?
Lynn

Then the poor buyer, buying something that isn't selling for $40 at a time when none of them are selling because of the season, as an investment, and his family is going to starve waiting for the months to roll around until people are paying much more money to keep warm.

Sorry, I have known plenty of people who have lived hand to mouth reselling stuff, and they do not have $25 to spend on something they can not sell right then and their $25 is tied up for months and they can not be sure that they can even recoup their investment. It does not happen.

What usually happens is that they make sure they know the times the thrift stores set stuff out and are there then for first pickins and go for the items that are $5 or less hoping for the big score.

Besides, the ship cost to get that $25 quilt makes the profit margin smaller and smaller, any starving family would go for bigger bucks.

(*Bleep*)

timemachine777 · ‎06-05-2017

@neveriiold wrote:
I thought it was only at yard sales and on Craigslist that shoppers want everything for nothing. I am findng the same mentality on eBay now. I have been selling for about 10 years through various avenues and have never seen anything like this. Have a brand new in package $175 quilt for sale on Craigslist (right now won't even think about listing it on eBay because of shipping costs) and am asking only $40. Email I get yesterday only asks, "How low will you go?" Really? I know some people like this "game," but I am really tired of all the lowball offers.

Tell them that it's a typo, and that it was suppose to be 140.00, but that you'll honor your mistake and sell it to them for 40.00

neveriiold · ‎06-05-2017

Yes, I totally get what you are saying. You haven't read my earlier posts. I think this called taking advantage of people. If some sellers want to sell their items so low, that is their choice. I choose to sell nice products at fair prices. I am not here to finance someone else's business.

plumbingspecials · ‎06-05-2017

I do those things (duh!)... and I don't lose money.
What my point is, in reference to the OP's original question, is that ebay is creating this climate for buyers to believe that they are entitled to buy something for less than fair market value. And they get upset if they DON'T get the deal they're looking for. It's very counter-productive for the site, as a whole, to create this "us vs them" attitude in the marketplace.