Make and offer garbage.

[x321654]

Sorry for the whine, but more than once I've made a seller an offer and they've come back with a counter offer that's 50 cents (or less) of their original asking price.  So why do they have the make an offer button?  Do they get some kind of bonus by having it?


I've voted with my money (I don't buy from them), but its such a waist of time.

[lyndal1838]

If an offer is rejected it is counter productive to offer less if you are serious about buying the item.

What makes you think a seller is going to accept a lesser offer if they have already rejected an amount?

[chameleon54]

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@boggo58 wrote:

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@x321654 wrote:

Sorry for the whine, but more than once I've made a seller an offer and they've come back with a counter offer that's 50 cents (or less) of their original asking price.  So why do they have the make an offer button?  Do they get some kind of bonus by having it?


I've voted with my money (I don't buy from them), but its such a waist of time.

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I never offer more, if i put a offer in and its rejected i just keep offering less!

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What a strange thing to say !!!.     No wonder sellers get frustrated with SOME buyers who choose to use ( read abuse ) the offer system to make ridiculously low offers and just generally waste everyones time.

 Looks like one more for the special list.

[springyzone]

boggo said:

I never offer more, if i put a offer in and its rejected i just keep offering less!

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I never do that, but I do get frustrated with some sellers who have the Make an offer button on their listings.

I never make really low offers. Never. My offers are always close to the asking price. The last time I made a couple of offers on an item, going up to within 50c of the full price and was rejected.

Yet a few days later, I saw that seller with exactly the same item marked at 10% off-selling less than my offers had been! Go figure.

If sellers are not interested in very close offers, then don't have the Make an offer button on their listings in the first place. Easy.

It doesn't create interest, it can just put buyers' backs up if an offer within 2% isn't accepted.

[chameleon54]

As a seller, I can appreciate where you are coming from. It stands to reason that there are just as many sellers who are being a bit silly about the best offer process as buyers. One of the main problems is that ebay AUTOMATICALLY include the best offer button as the default setting in the listing process. Unless a seller notices and physically unchecks the box, the listing will appear with the best offer function included. Some sellers may not know how to alter the settings and many just would not notice it is automatically included.

This happened to me recently and I only noticed the error once the ridiculously silly offers started to roll in. If thats the sort of buyers best offer attracts, I can live without it.

I dont use the best offer feature but still get offers regularly. My most recent, a couple of days ago was a $30 item with $14.50 postage. The hopefull buyer offered $10 plus postage.   GET REAL !!!!

[cathyjoyjoy]

Yet another confusing thing ......... look at all the various interpretations from both buyers AND sellers as to what "best offer" actually means ........ sigh.  And the fact that it does appear to be a default for some listings and it's not easy to find out how to remove it ....... that's just crazy.  But at least I now have a better understanding of the broad meaning of 'best offer'.

[springyzone]

chameleon said:

I dont use the best offer feature but still get offers regularly. My most recent, a couple of days ago was a $30 item with $14.50 postage. The hopefull buyer offered $10 plus postage.   GET REAL !!!!

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I think it is really rude of buyers to message a seller with offers for any item that is just listed in a regular way on ebay.

Usually on ebay, the listing price is the minimum the seller is hoping for, or that is how I interpret it.

Gumtree is a different matter but even there, I make close offers. I've been a seller myself and find very low offers to be insulting, they put my back up.

[chameleon54]

Just an update. The item mentioned in last post sold today for the full $30.00 plus postage  Gotta win some   

[*tippy*toes*]

A few weeks ago I listed an item that I'd bought then decided I didn't really want. As I wanted to get rid of it quickly, I listed it at auction with the start price of $16.99 + $8 postage, which was cost price with the ebay fees tacked on. 

A few days later I got a message from a buyer with an "offer". $5 with "free" postage. I wasn't going to reply but in the end I did and said that it's an auction, not a best offer so I'll be letting the auction run its course. 

There was a bidding war and it sold for $32. I checked that buyers feedback left for others and promptly put him on my happy list. Most of his feedback was negging sellers for not accepting best offers. With insulting offers like that, what does he expect?

[springyzone]

At $5 and providing free postage, wouldn't that mean you were actually out of pocket after paying postage fees? I'm pretty sure they would come in at over $5.

And of course if the parcel was not registered, who knows, the buyer might claim not received and then he would get all his money back as well.

The man has rocks in his head if he thinks any seller would be tempted by his 'offer'. Better to donate it to a charity than sell like that.

And woohoo, glad you sold it for $32 plus postage. I hope he saw that!

[*tippy*toes*]

I most definitely would have been out of pocket! It was parcel post which as you know is more than  $5, so would have been paying out of my own pocket. He must have thought I came down in the last shower. 

Even though the eventual buyer could have bought it at a shop for half the price,  without paying postage, they were stoked with it, gave me great feedback and 5 stars for everything. I figured there must have been a good reason for her not to go out and buy it. Maybe mobility issues or even something like agoraphobia. Who knows?