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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 6, 2018 11:29:36 GMT -5
I saw a kinda nice slab for cheap at 18.00 with make an offer. I offered 15. They came back with a counteroffer of 17. Now, why the hell bother with make an offer to save a buck? I have gotten some really sweet deals before, though. What about you?
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Sept 6, 2018 11:50:27 GMT -5
I've been using Make Offer recently.
I've been dealing with a group of Chinese sellers & get accepted at 60-70% of Buy-it-Now price.
With that group of sellers, I've never been turned down or been offered a compromise price.
Lynn
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 6, 2018 11:58:27 GMT -5
I've been using Make Offer recently. I've been dealing with a group of Chinese sellers & get accepted at 60-70% of Buy-it-Now price. With that group of sellers, I've never been turned down or been offered a compromise price. Lynn Great! I have more often had better luck than no luck at all, but I consider my offers reasonable, too. |
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 6, 2018 12:02:21 GMT -5
I made an offer on an item last week that was buy it now priced at $29. I offered $22 expecting them to counter somewhere in the middle. Nope they must have been insulted so they countered me at $28.50. If someone does not want to barter they should not offer the make offer option at all. If they know $25 is the lowest they will take then just list it as an auction with a $25 starting price.
Chuck
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 6, 2018 12:05:42 GMT -5
I made an offer on an item last week that was buy it now priced at $29. I offered $22 expecting them to counter somewhere in the middle. Nope they must have been insulted so they countered me at $28.50. If someone does not want to barter they should not offer the make offer option at all. If they know $25 is the lowest they will take then just list it as an auction with a $25 starting price. Chuck I agree. It's ridiculous to come down less than 5.00 or so -depending on the price. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 6, 2018 12:07:43 GMT -5
Funny- I was insulted by their counter offer, so I counter offered with 15.50 and a note that said- why make an offer for 1 dollar less?
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 6, 2018 12:08:39 GMT -5
I made an offer on an item last week that was buy it now priced at $29. I offered $22 expecting them to counter somewhere in the middle. Nope they must have been insulted so they countered me at $28.50. If someone does not want to barter they should not offer the make offer option at all. If they know $25 is the lowest they will take then just list it as an auction with a $25 starting price. Chuck I agree. It's ridiculous to come down less than 5.00 or so -depending on the price. I have had some offers go through without a hitch really quickly at really good prices. I am pretty sure the seller has the option to auto accept as long as the offer is above a set price. Like you can list it at $29 or best offer but you can set it to auto accept any offer over $26. Chuck |
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 6, 2018 12:10:27 GMT -5
I agree. It's ridiculous to come down less than 5.00 or so -depending on the price. I have had some offers go through without a hitch really quickly at really good prices. I am pretty sure the seller has the option to auto accept as long as the offer is above a set price. Like you can list it at $29 or best offer but you can set it to auto accept any offer over $26. Chuck I have seen that a lot, but not recently. I wonder if they still do it. I liked it. It was easy to see where they stand. |
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Sept 6, 2018 12:16:55 GMT -5
Funny- I was insulted by their counter offer, so I counter offered with 15.50 and a note that said- why make an offer for 1 dollar less? I think you have 48 hours to accept or counter their offer. You could have been a stick in the mud and waited 47.5 hours before making your $15.50 offer. I think that stops them from accepting any other offers during that time. Chuck |
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Post by grumpybill on Sept 6, 2018 12:40:19 GMT -5
One time I saw an item listed at $125 that I felt was worth ~$100. Made an offer of $85 expecting to meet somewhere in the middle.
My offer was declined without a counteroffer, so I sent another offer of $95...and got no reply.
A few weeks later the item was relisted at the same price. After another few weeks it was relisted at $100. I was still pissed about the no reply, so I didn't buy it or make another offer.
After several more relistings the asking price dropped to $75 and I bought it. The idiot lost money by not responding to my 2nd offer.
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 6, 2018 12:41:31 GMT -5
One time I saw an item listed at $125 that I felt was worth ~$100. Made an offer of $85 expecting to meet somewhere in the middle. My offer was declined without a counteroffer, so I sent another offer of $95...and got no reply. A few weeks later the item was relisted at the same price. After another few weeks it was relisted at $100. I was still pissed about the no reply, so I didn't buy it or make another offer. After several more relistings the asking price dropped to $75 and I bought it. The idiot lost money by not responding to my 2nd offer. LOL!!!! |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2018 12:59:22 GMT -5
I think the old rule-of-thumb was that both buyers and sellers should expect discounts of about 10-20% to be acceptable for offers.
I personally find the make-an-offer feature off-putting. I suppose it indulges some folks who actually LIKE to haggle, but as a buyer I'm unlikely to want to go through any more hoops than necessary or wait for a response - even an automated one - from a seller. If the make-offer thing is next to the price, I figure that the seller has bumped up the price and wants me to play a guessing game as to what is the price s/he'll accept. I have to want something VERY badly to bother. I'm more attracted to fixed price items that show a % discount price.
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 6, 2018 13:14:16 GMT -5
I think the old rule-of-thumb was that both buyers and sellers should expect discounts of about 10-20% to be acceptable for offers. I personally find the make-an-offer feature off-putting. I suppose it indulges some folks who actually LIKE to haggle, but as a buyer I'm unlikely to want to go through any more hoops than necessary or wait for a response - even an automated one - from a seller. If the make-offer thing is next to the price, I figure that the seller has bumped up the price and wants me to play a guessing game as to what is the price s/he'll accept. I have to want something VERY badly to bother. I'm more attracted to fixed price items that show a % discount price. If the price is good, I usually won't haggle- I'll just buy it now. If it's inflated and I really want it- I'll play. |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Sept 6, 2018 17:21:26 GMT -5
The first few years of eBay everything was sold in the auction format only, which worked great for medium to higher valued items. But not so well for lower value items because having to pay listing fees every 3,5,7 or 10 days for slower moving low-dollar items made them impractical to list. But then eBay begin offering the optional "Buy-It-Now" fixed price format at a reduced listing fee (compared to the auction format fee) which solved that problem and made selling low value items practical. I sold a ton of surplus furniture hardware this way.
But once eBay introduced the Best Offer function many buyers began expecting sellers to take offers on fixed price item listings even if the seller wasn't using the Best Offer format option. And some buyers even began expecting sellers to take offers to stop auction format listings and sell the item for a negotiated price, and would get POed if the seller wouldn't and refuse to bid.
None of the CEOs of eBay have ever seemed to understand the psychology of auctioning or selling. IMO all the "Best Offer" function accomplished was to contribute (along with other factors) to turning what had been a great sales platform into an internet flea market/third-world bizarre.
And in addition to how the Best Offer function changed the mindset of buying, now we have many sellers listing used items at ridiculously high prices, often even higher than new cost - and taking offers. Sure every seller likes to get as high of a price as they can when selling, but to the occasional potential buyer scanning eBay listings this gives the appearance of eBay being a den of thieves and crooks.
Larry C.
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Post by woodman on Sept 6, 2018 17:29:13 GMT -5
The first few years of eBay everything was sold in the auction format only, which worked great for medium to higher valued items. But not so well for lower value items because having to pay listing fees every 3,5,7 or 10 days for slower moving low-dollar items made them impractical to list. But then eBay begin offering the optional "Buy-It-Now" fixed price format at a reduced listing fee (compared to the auction format fee) which solved that problem and made selling low value items practical. I sold a ton of surplus furniture hardware this way. But once eBay introduced the Best Offer function many buyers began expecting sellers to take offers on fixed price item listings even if the seller wasn't using the Best Offer format option. And some buyers even began expecting sellers to take offers to stop auction format listings and sell the item for a negotiated price, and would get POed if the seller wouldn't and refuse to bid. None of the CEOs of eBay have ever seemed to understand the psychology of auctioning or selling. IMO all the "Best Offer" function accomplished was to contribute (along with other factors) to turning what had been a great sales platform into an internet flea market/third-world bizarre. And in addition to how the Best Offer function changed the mindset of buying, now we have many sellers listing used items at ridiculously high prices, often even higher than new cost - and taking offers. Sure every seller likes to get as high of a price as they can when selling, but to the occasional potential buyer scanning eBay listings this gives the appearance of eBay being a den of thieves and crooks. Larry C. I have used the make an offer function a number of times and have had no problems doing so. Sometimes offer was declined , sometimes a counter offer was offered. sometimes it was accepted. different strokes for different folks! |
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 6, 2018 19:57:56 GMT -5
Coming down $1 is plain stupid. When I see something I like and believe the price is too high, I will make an offer of what I think is reasonable. Most of my ebay purchases are buy it now and not lapidary. The last make an offer purchase of lapidary I made was for a 1 inch thick stefoinite slab. The seller disclosed the faults, I made an offer and it was accepted. These small discounts on slow moving buy it now items is also stupid.
The new seller who stiffed me on my horse canyon purchases had a reduced buy it now, make an offer item. It was way over priced and I made and offer of 99 cents on order to communicate with the seller. It was automatically rejected, so there is a parameter on lowest offer to be conveyed to the seller. I was buying some cigars (not ebay) that were make an offer. I made a low offer and was rejected. I raised my offer and it was accepted and now whenever I am interested in the same cigar I start with accepted offer which is the least I ever paid.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,722 
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Post by Fossilman on Sept 7, 2018 9:16:03 GMT -5
I make more offers than bidding.... Only got turned down once....I guess I get lucky and they take my offer!
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,432
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Post by Wooferhound on Sept 9, 2018 14:09:07 GMT -5
I sell on eBay fairly frequently, but I know how much I want for the items and always post good deals. I don't play games accept offers, but I have a hard time telling eBay that. The Offer check box is hard to find or labeled funny. I always state in the description that I Do Not Accept Offers.
Last month I offered $325 for a $350 item and was accepted.
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zekesman
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2016
Posts: 637
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Post by zekesman on Sept 11, 2018 11:38:51 GMT -5
I recently bought two meteorite slices, one I wanted badly and one thin square to make a ring. I made an offer with an explanation that the one I wanted was about all I could afford to spend and offered 1/2 on the thin square. He accepted and told me the only reason was because of my note. Vic
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 13, 2018 12:11:24 GMT -5
I made an offer yesterday on 5 coffee cups. Asking price was very fair, $40 including shipping. I offered $30 because I could use them but didn't need them because I already had some of the same cup. They countered with $35 and I sent a friendly note that $30 was my buy price. I haven't heard back.
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