Why maybe you should block any offer you don't accept

[iamalwaysright]

I don't have OBO in my listings. I don't accept any offers, that's why I don't have OBO. I've been getting buyers message me with offers. I decline them by a 'no thank you.' I've gotten a handful of the buyers end up buying the full price and coming back with not as described returns. They end up saying it's not worth that full price, saying they originally offered a lower price but I rejected it, they sometimes give many reasons why like nitpicking at quality, mail carrier took too long, yadda yadda. Are crazy xmas shoppers on here early this year or something? I guess so since USPS are charging holiday rates now.

[gurlcat]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

I didn't always reply to all my offers, there were alot that I ignored before. Until I got a few purchases and ready to ship items with buyer notes 'hey I messaged you an offer of $10 lower than this price'. That's when I decided to reply short and quick to all offers.

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I just find that weird, like I'm not accusing you of making it up, but I can't figure out what would be the point of someone writing that after they already paid the full price.  Like what could they expect, for you to REFUND that amount because they had asked you for it and your non-reply was an unspoken acceptance or something?  I guess I could picture one nutjob doing that, but you say "a few" and that makes me wonder if it was just the same nutjob using multiple accounts.  

Anyway if you feel you must reply something, I would not go with "No thank you" as that really could come off as curt.  It's what people say about things they don't like, as in, "Having my mother in law move in?  NO THANK YOU" lol.  Maybe just say something like, "I may lower the price on this item at some point, but for now the price is firm, thanks for your interest."  

[iamalwaysright]

That was about less than 5 times randomly scattered in the last 5 years before I started to reply to every offer. I just ignored the buyer message just like I ignored their initial offer. Honestly can't remember if they came back to me with anything or not.

[stubbornoaf]

re-reading your response and original post, I think I misunderstood your OP. You weren't asking what you should do about best offers in general, you were asking about recent best offers and trying to figure out why they seem extra intense lately.

To answer you, If I had to guess and without knowing what you precisely sell, I'd assume it was...hmm...probably shouldn't discuss with precision here... but basically people preparing for what they fear is an upcoming disaster or long winter and-or costs they fear will go up in relation to that..

It could also be just regular scammers rotating in....Saw some petty shoplifting at the grocery store, the other day. Depressing. Like kids stealing candy...the candy isn't expensive and they don't need it, so why are they stealing it....just depressing, I think.

[island-city-gifts]

I've actually clicked on some listings not long ago which did not have "Best Offer" on them, and eBay provided a link to "negotiate a better deal" which is contrary to eBays' Bad Behavior Policy. Seems a bit ironic to me......

[jbpots]

Unfortunately eBay is often still seen as a "yard sale" type of venue to buy and sell stuff. Many don't realize that Amazon is a lot like eBay in that there are millions of independent sellers on Amazon just like there are on eBay. 

  Anyway, it is the nature of most people that buy from flea markets or yard sales to try to negotiate the price of items even if they know that the asking price is really good to begin with. What erks me is when I have the lowest price on the planet for an item, and a buyer will ask if I would take less, and they usually offer a ridiculous price. I try to tell them politely that if they will search for the exact same item that I am selling and sort it by condition and lowest to highest price, they will see that I already have th lowest price, so there should not be a need to lower it. After I explain that to them and try to get them to see that I have a great price, and they still try to get me to sell it for less, I block them for sure. That's just being unreasonable.

  It also is amazing about some of the sob stories that I get when they ask for a lower price. Like they don't have much money, or they are buying it as a gift for a poor person. It might be true, but I would be willing to bet that most of the time they aren't telling the truth. 

[rugerskick]

This is why more accurate historical feedback on buyers would be helpful.  But sellers cannot leave that for others to see.  Only buyers get to leave more accurate feedback and sometimes lie in the feedback.

If a seller gets a weird vibe or feels the sale couldgo sideways, they can always call ebay and aso for the trust and safety people to help them out and see if theres a buyer history problem with transactions.  Often they can help confirm for a seller the buyer appears to be genuine and not have a history of negative issues.

[chapeau-noir]

@stubbornoaf     Apropos of nothing but you have the best account ID!

[downunder-61]

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@toysaver wrote:

Far easier and less stressful to block the minute they make an offer when it's not listed with offers accepted.

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Totally.

Bad enough eBay often slip the BO in the listings on the sly, if they insist on advising buyer's how to over ride a seller's terms regarding NO OFFERS - I would not give a rats how many peeved buyer's ended up on my BBL.

[gurlcat]

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@jbpots wrote:

  It also is amazing about some of the sob stories that I get when they ask for a lower price. Like they don't have much money, or they are buying it as a gift for a poor person. It might be true, but I would be willing to bet that most of the time they aren't telling the truth. 

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     Now see, I might actually appreciate a decent sob story even without knowing if it's true or not.  But I NE-VER get those!  I seem to draw the people whose keyboards or touchscreens zap them for every character stroke or something, like a single incomplete sentence without capitalization or punctuation, not even a question mark to indicate they are ASKING FOR something.  Like: 'give u 40'  -Uh, no 'u' won't, and 'u' won't even get a reply from me. 

    Oftentimes, they're not even making a specific dollar amount offer, just something like "give me discount please" .  I think some of them just paste their 'discount' phrase to tons of sellers for items they like, to cast a wide net and see how many fish they get, because I've gotten the same short phrases from the same buyer for different listings on the same day, lots of times.  This is why I feel zero guilt or worry about not replying.   If they put less time and thought into asking me for a favor than it takes for me to click the notification and then their message, I'm not wasting one more second on them.  TIME IS MONEY!  

[stubbornoaf]

Yeah, I like it, too, thanks.

2nd account so I had more experience as to what I wanted to be called. I think I opened my first account in 2001.

First was deleted by me a long while ago. I deleted it because I wasn't using ebay at the time and it seemed like a liability to have something that could be hacked like that if I wasn't using it. And Ebay has since added that 2-step verification, which I very much like.

That 2-step verification is also good for finding the phone when you don't have an extra phone, but do have a PC 😄

[stubbornoaf]

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@stubbornoaf wrote:

The other day, I messaged a seller about an item with no bids or watchers which was obviously not working because they had the wrong photo. They haven't responded, but looks like it's still there and still  with a photo that doesn't match their product described...

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Just a follow up. I did get a message back and they thanked me for the heads up on the error. Listing is still there and still wrong, but seller is now aware, at least.

[kokutenkato]

Agree. 

After a few examples I learned it just not worth to deal with.

[slippinjimmy]

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@island-city-gifts wrote:

I've actually clicked on some listings not long ago which did not have "Best Offer" on them, and eBay provided a link to "negotiate a better deal" which is contrary to eBays' Bad Behavior Policy. Seems a bit ironic to me......

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All of these things apply to buyers AFTER they have committed to purchase (paid or requested a total) not before.

[inhawaii]

I had that happen to me just the other day. I was going post about it. I was going to ask sellers if they fear retaliation from buyers who were denied an offer.

I do not offer best offers or make offers.  A buyer messaged me and made me an offer that I politely delined. Moments later he bought the item at full price.

The thought crossed my mind ... what if this person is mad that his offer was declined and causes trouble later? I don't,  but do orher sellers block users who they deny offers?

[island-city-gifts]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

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@island-city-gifts wrote:

I've actually clicked on some listings not long ago which did not have "Best Offer" on them, and eBay provided a link to "negotiate a better deal" which is contrary to eBays' Bad Behavior Policy. Seems a bit ironic to me......

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"All of these things apply to buyers AFTER they have committed to purchase (paid or requested a total) not before."

The Policy doesn't state that and can apply before or after purchase. I have confirmed twice with 2 different eBay CSR's that it applies prior to purchase, as I've had 2 different buyers harass me repeatedly for discounts I politely declined when BO wasn't offered, and both CSR's confirmed it was a violation of policy and directed me to the policy, which I screenshot and included, and both suggested I block them to stop the harassment.

"Requesting a Total" is not a commitment, it can still be cancelled or not paid, regardless of any defect it would incur by doing so.  At checkout, it states when you click "Pay Now", you commit to the purchase. Prior to that, there is no commitment.

    The line of the policy "requesting the Seller hold your item to pay later" directly applies PRIOR to purchase, it hasn't been paid for. It's also poorly worded as it's not "your item" until it is paid for.

    The line of the policy "requesting to use a payment method not offered at checkout" would apply prior to purchase as well.  They would be requesting to pay in a different manner prior to purchasing it.

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