Up to 90% of offers now declined or left to expire :(

[maxretro76]

I am growing concerned with this new trend of sellers choosing to ignore sales opportunities!! Recently i had my final offer of 50c less for a dvd player from the uk quickly declined. Royal mail would have been screaming for the missed opportunity of $50 postage. Also a chinese item for 20c less was instantly declined by ebay auto feature. Many are also left to expire with no counter-offers or response from sellers. What is the point of having a best offer feature then? It seems that many people would rather watch their items gather dust or be stuck on storage shelves. The only other thing i can think of is maybe they are testing the market?? Rather than roll coins down a hill in protest, could someone tell me what the hell is really going on ???

[*tippy*toes*]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

I am rather more interested in the OP's reasoning for keeping on making offers but ultimately going elsewhere and paying more for the item instead of paying the full price.

At least the (non)seller has dodged a neutral/negative which he surely would have received from the OP who gives neutrals for sellers not leaving feedback if he cannot find anything else to complain about.

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That's actually an interesting point about the feedback Lyndal. I know it's not right, but maybe the seller ignored the OP because he read the feedback and didn't want to risk it. I know I always check feedback if there is time before an auction ends. Even if someone hits BIN I'll check their feedback left for others to see if they could be a potential risk. I look for patterns of refunds or non arrivals. If someone sends an enquiry, I check their feedback.

I only leave feedback once a month, so I'd probably get bad feedback from the OP for not leaving it as soon as the item was posted. Some buyers have to wait 4 weeks, others only a few days, it depends on when in the month they bought. I get around to it eventually. The buyers that have contacted me and demanded it get added to my party list and don't receive it at all.

Some buyers place an obscene amount of importance on feedback, even more importance than the item, but so do some sellers. Not for receiving it, but not allowing people who leave bad feedback to buy from them if they can avoid it. I wouldn't say I'm obcessed with buyer feedback left for others, but it could mean the difference between them buying from me and me cancelling their bid and blocking them.

All that said, the OP's seller could just be a pratt! Maybe if the OP could give us an item number or a title name it might help to see if there is anything strange going on. It could be that as someone else said, the seller didn't know best offer was ticked and could have no offers written in the description.

[chameleon54]

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@brerrabbit585 wrote:

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@digital*ghost wrote:

I'd agree with you in some cases, but not in instances where my offers were completely ignored. If sellers want people to go ahead and buy, they should show some common courtesy, I'd be much less likely to buy from a seller if they ignored offers, whether intentionally or not (which I wouldn't know either way) - I haven't used best offer in years, but when I did, even if I outright declined an offer I'd do it fairly quickly and with a brief but polite message (I declined the silly ones without counter-offering because I didn't feel like the potential buyer was taking me seriously, which doesn't inspire me to negotiate). 

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Perhaps the sellers concerned didn't think the OP was taking them seriously either, so they didn't bother responding to the third/final offer.

What I have a problem with is the buyers who think I'm desperate enough to sell to them for a big discount when I don't even have offers enabled on my listing.  Then they get upset when I block them and insist they've never been rude.  The reason I block them is simply because I don't want them as a buyer.  I wonder whether they try and bargain with all the b&m shops they go into, and how quickly they'd be shown the door if they did?

I assume by 'good sellers look after their customers' the OP means that good sellers always give a discount.  What about the buyers looking after the good sellers by not trying to twist their arms up their back and take the food out of their mouths?  Ah, silly me, I forgot ALL sellers on ebay are supposed to be desperate for sales.

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ONE HUNDRED KUDOS FOR YOUR POST

PS. I just put a buyer straight onto my BBL list today without even responding to their silly offer. I dont have the " best offer" feature on any of my listings. If some numbat wants to offer me less than half the BIN price, I dont even want to talk to them........ GO AWAY, you are more trouble than your silly offer is worth.   !!!!!!!!

[digital*ghost]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

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PS. I just put a buyer straight onto my BBL list today without even responding to their silly offer. I dont have the " best offer" feature on any of my listings. If some numbat wants to offer me less than half the BIN price, I dont even want to talk to them........ GO AWAY, you are more trouble than your silly offer is worth.   !!!!!!!!

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I get why you would do that in cases where you don't even have best offer enabled, but realistically that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

One of the last times I used the Best Offer function, the seller responded after a short while and politely explained why they were declining my offer.

I immediately bought two at full price, received them, and left glowing FB. 

Like I said, common courtesy can go a long way. 

[brerrabbit585]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

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@chameleon54 wrote:

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PS. I just put a buyer straight onto my BBL list today without even responding to their silly offer. I dont have the " best offer" feature on any of my listings. If some numbat wants to offer me less than half the BIN price, I dont even want to talk to them........ GO AWAY, you are more trouble than your silly offer is worth.   !!!!!!!!

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I get why you would do that in cases where you don't even have best offer enabled, but realistically that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

One of the last times I used the Best Offer function, the seller responded after a short while and politely explained why they were declining my offer.

I immediately bought two at full price, received them, and left glowing FB. 

Like I said, common courtesy can go a long way. 

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I hear what you're saying, DG, but what I'm trying to say is that it depends on the seller's situation whether they reply or not, including the type of items they sell.  Some sellers work on volume and don't have time to respond to every little thing, others have learnt that responding to certain questions is a very poor use of their time.  There's nothing to say you HAVE to reply if you don't like the offer, and if the sellers decide they don't want to do business at any price with people who start low then perhaps they deliberately don't reply in order to discourage said buyers from making further offers.  

If the seller is prepared to take $18 for an item priced at $20, there's absolutely no reason they should feel obliged to reply to everyone who offers less than that.  If they're busy (whether through ebay sales or from another job) it doesn't always pay to spend time answering every single offer and question.  I used to feel obliged to answer every single question but these days I'm learning to let a few go because it's just not a good use of my time.

What I object to in this thread is the OP's attitude of thinking the seller OWES them a reply and their assumption that sellers are missing out on a sale by not selling to THEM, and that sellers are all desperate enough that they should be falling over themselves to welcome buyers with open arms, regardless of what they offer.  In other words, they think it's a "buyer's market".  It might be a buyer's market in some areas but it definitely isn't in all areas.

Why do they think the sellers are missing out on a sale by not replying or selling to them?  Is the item still sitting there six months or a year later?  So what if it is?  Some of us aren't fussed about selling everything within a week of listing it because we know we'll get our price eventually.  Some sellers are busy enough without needing to sell everything straight away, and a lot are prepared to wait if they know what something's worth.  I'm not just talking about business sellers.  I have a friend who's been clearing out heaps of personal stuff and she doesn't need to sell it all at once or to sell for less than what it's worth.  It's just a case of waiting for the right buyer with some things.

I'd imagine most sellers who invite offers would be less inclined to accept them from overseas buyers because of the extra fees on postage.  The OP made a comment about Royal Mail screaming at the missed opportunity of $50 postage (50gbp perhaps?) but I wonder whether the seller was so eager to contribute the extra fvf's and pp fees on postage to ebay's and paypal's coffers?  The extra fvf's would mean they're already forgoing a lot of the item price without offering an extra discount.

The reason I block most buyers who make unsolicited offers is because of their condescending attitude - they think I should be grateful to them for offering to take something off my hands.  I don't get many unsolicited offers but when I do it's almost always one of my best items that I can easily get full price for.  In my eyes, making unsolicited offers is just plain rude and I usually ignore them.  Why should I sell to a rude person when I can sell the same item to a courteous person instead?  

I've set myself a sales target and I have no problems reaching it so I see no point in wasting my time or my energy in replying to rude people.  I know it's a bit different for sellers who have offers enabled on their listings but perhaps they too have decided to have a life rather than bending over backwards replying to offers of less than they're prepared to sell for.  If I miss out on a sale, someone else will always buy it, and other sellers could also have the same attitude.  Why should we chase people that we don't want as customers anyway?  Yes, there might be some who turn out to be okay, but is it worth spending hours on replies to offers if a seller has found that overall it's mostly wasted time?  Better to put that time into other more profitable areas.

You might disagree but I consider offering 25% off the price on any item to be cheeky at the very least.  If there's something in the description as well about making an offer because they want to get rid of it, that's a bit different.  If someone is prepared to be rude or cheeky then they really shouldn't be surprised if they're ignored.  It's not at all the same thing as at a market - the seller is there at a market and it takes a lot less effort to reply (usually no extra effort, as is the case on ebay) plus the seller can more easily see the attitude of the buyer.  I don't believe in rewarding bad behaviour and whenever I've had offers from people with an attitude problem at a market I refuse to sell on principle.  I find the words used are usually a dead giveaway as to their attitude, eg. "I'll give you $X" rather than "Would you take $X?"  One indicates that they think they can dictate the price, the other recognises that the seller is in charge because they own it, and they know that standing over people isn't the best way to get what you want.  Courtesy is a two-way street and if someone is rude I feel no obligation to answer them at all, even if I sometimes answer.

We don't know whether the OP left a message with their offer and how it came across, but I do know that their attitude in this thread wouldn't make me want to sell to them - even if they offered more than my asking price!

[springyzone]

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@chameleon54 wrote:

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@brerrabbit585 wrote:

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@digital*ghost wrote:

I'd agree with you in some cases, but not in instances where my offers were completely ignored. If sellers want people to go ahead and buy, they should show some common courtesy, I'd be much less likely to buy from a seller if they ignored offers, whether intentionally or not (which I wouldn't know either way) - I haven't used best offer in years, but when I did, even if I outright declined an offer I'd do it fairly quickly and with a brief but polite message (I declined the silly ones without counter-offering because I didn't feel like the potential buyer was taking me seriously, which doesn't inspire me to negotiate). 

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Perhaps the sellers concerned didn't think the OP was taking them seriously either, so they didn't bother responding to the third/final offer.

What I have a problem with is the buyers who think I'm desperate enough to sell to them for a big discount when I don't even have offers enabled on my listing.  Then they get upset when I block them and insist they've never been rude.  The reason I block them is simply because I don't want them as a buyer.  I wonder whether they try and bargain with all the b&m shops they go into, and how quickly they'd be shown the door if they did?

I assume by 'good sellers look after their customers' the OP means that good sellers always give a discount.  What about the buyers looking after the good sellers by not trying to twist their arms up their back and take the food out of their mouths?  Ah, silly me, I forgot ALL sellers on ebay are supposed to be desperate for sales.

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ONE HUNDRED KUDOS FOR YOUR POST

PS. I just put a buyer straight onto my BBL list today without even responding to their silly offer. I dont have the " best offer" feature on any of my listings. If some numbat wants to offer me less than half the BIN price, I dont even want to talk to them........ GO AWAY, you are more trouble than your silly offer is worth.   !!!!!!!!

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I find it breathtakingly rude that any person would offer a seller less than half price on an item that doesn't have any Make an offer available. In fact even when make an offer is available, it is still insulting.

I felt the same way on gumtree with people who tried to hustle me-offer 25% and say I'll pick it up this morning. Not even asking if that is convenient. I give them short shrift too!

I think on most make an offer items, the most you would normally, realistically expect to save would be maybe 5-10%. Offers under that are probably wasted & could put the seller offside.

[lyndal1838]

A few years ago I would have agreed with you springy....5-10% of would be quite a decent discount.  However I found out differently.

I used to buy jewellery from an American seller....quite pricey silver and enamel pieces and I picked my pieces very carefully because they were expensive....I would have bought more if his prices had been lower.  For a long time he was a small to medium sized seller then he. added the Make and Offer feature and his sales picked up.

I usually made an offer of 10% discount and was always pleased when my offer was accepted.   Then I realised that some of his pieces were going for much higher discounts so I went higher too.   I was regularly getting some lovely jewellery for 30% discount....on one occasion I made a typo and ended up offering closer to 40% off.  When I realised what I had done I fully expected the offer to be refused and was all set to make a second offer but to my surprise it was accepted.

I often wonder how his sales would have gone if he had lowered all his prices by say 10% because they really were top dollar before discounts.

[digital*ghost]

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@brerrabbit585 wrote:

If the seller is prepared to take $18 for an item priced at $20, there's absolutely no reason they should feel obliged to reply to everyone who offers less than that.  If they're busy (whether through ebay sales or from another job) it doesn't always pay to spend time answering every single offer and question.  I used to feel obliged to answer every single question but these days I'm learning to let a few go because it's just not a good use of my time.

What I object to in this thread is the OP's attitude of thinking the seller OWES them a reply and their assumption that sellers are missing out on a sale by not selling to THEM, and that sellers are all desperate enough that they should be falling over themselves to welcome buyers with open arms, regardless of what they offer.  In other words, they think it's a "buyer's market".  It might be a buyer's market in some areas but it definitely isn't in all areas.

Why do they think the sellers are missing out on a sale by not replying or selling to them?  Is the item still sitting there six months or a year later?  So what if it is?  Some of us aren't fussed about selling everything within a week of listing it because we know we'll get our price eventually.  Some sellers are busy enough without needing to sell everything straight away, and a lot are prepared to wait if they know what something's worth.  I'm not just talking about business sellers.  I have a friend who's been clearing out heaps of personal stuff and she doesn't need to sell it all at once or to sell for less than what it's worth.  It's just a case of waiting for the right buyer with some things.

I'd imagine most sellers who invite offers would be less inclined to accept them from overseas buyers because of the extra fees on postage.  The OP made a comment about Royal Mail screaming at the missed opportunity of $50 postage (50gbp perhaps?) but I wonder whether the seller was so eager to contribute the extra fvf's and pp fees on postage to ebay's and paypal's coffers?  The extra fvf's would mean they're already forgoing a lot of the item price without offering an extra discount.

The reason I block most buyers who make unsolicited offers is because of their condescending attitude - they think I should be grateful to them for offering to take something off my hands.  I don't get many unsolicited offers but when I do it's almost always one of my best items that I can easily get full price for.  In my eyes, making unsolicited offers is just plain rude and I usually ignore them.  Why should I sell to a rude person when I can sell the same item to a courteous person instead?  

I've set myself a sales target and I have no problems reaching it so I see no point in wasting my time or my energy in replying to rude people.  I know it's a bit different for sellers who have offers enabled on their listings but perhaps they too have decided to have a life rather than bending over backwards replying to offers of less than they're prepared to sell for.  If I miss out on a sale, someone else will always buy it, and other sellers could also have the same attitude.  Why should we chase people that we don't want as customers anyway?  Yes, there might be some who turn out to be okay, but is it worth spending hours on replies to offers if a seller has found that overall it's mostly wasted time?  Better to put that time into other more profitable areas.

You might disagree but I consider offering 25% off the price on any item to be cheeky at the very least.  If there's something in the description as well about making an offer because they want to get rid of it, that's a bit different.  If someone is prepared to be rude or cheeky then they really shouldn't be surprised if they're ignored.  It's not at all the same thing as at a market - the seller is there at a market and it takes a lot less effort to reply (usually no extra effort, as is the case on ebay) plus the seller can more easily see the attitude of the buyer.  I don't believe in rewarding bad behaviour and whenever I've had offers from people with an attitude problem at a market I refuse to sell on principle.  I find the words used are usually a dead giveaway as to their attitude, eg. "I'll give you $X" rather than "Would you take $X?"  One indicates that they think they can dictate the price, the other recognises that the seller is in charge because they own it, and they know that standing over people isn't the best way to get what you want.  Courtesy is a two-way street and if someone is rude I feel no obligation to answer them at all, even if I sometimes answer.

We don't know whether the OP left a message with their offer and how it came across, but I do know that their attitude in this thread wouldn't make me want to sell to them - even if they offered more than my asking price!

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I understand where you're coming from as well, and some things I can certainly agree with, but I want to reply to a couple of things that I've bolded here.

Re: sellers having no reason to feel obliged to respond to an offer - how about because the buyer has comitted to purchase the item via making an offer, if that offer is accepted? It isn't like the buyer can just ignore the fact that they have pending offers, because they don't know if it's something they're going to have to pay for or not. That means for up to 2 days, they are left to sit and wonder.  I'm not saying there should be an overwhelming sense of urgency to the situation (if they need it quickly, buying / paying straight away is always the better option), but if a seller isn't prepared, or doesn't have time, to follow-through on the admin of offering something, maybe they should start thinking about whether offering that is conducive to their business plan and operation. There will always be silly offers, that's part & parcel of inviting people to make offers. 

Re: offers at 25% below the BIN price - many sellers will accept offers at that kind of discount - I routinely did, other sellers have, and as lyndal has since mentioned, she would regularly receive higher discounts. If a buyer has had frequent success with offers at this level, why wouldn't they keep starting there? Why would they think a seller would be offended by the offer if so many accept them at that level? This isn't about an individual seller's preferences, opinions, experiences etc, this is about the average buyer experience, which in turn becomes what many of their expectations are based upon. If anyone wants to blame someone for that, then they should blame all the sellers that have accepted 25%+ discounts via offers. 

I know the market stall analogy wasn't perfect, in fact I have often said comparing real life or B&M retail situations to online retail is problematic, but like I said, I didn't use it to compare one to the other or to suggest the situations were identical, I used it to try and get people to understand aspects of the buyer's decisions that some indicated they couldn't (understand). 

And, as the3coopers would often say*, you don't behave coureously because the other member is a nice person, you do it because you are. (*Or words to the same effect). Sure, sometimes I ignore messages, there's undoubtedly a right time for silence and silence can speak volumes, but if sellers just ignore any and every form of contact they don't feel worth their time, that can speak volumes, too.