how do you make an offer

[agia2692]

Hi all,

I am interested in an item and it has the "make offer" button.  The item is rather expensive and I want to make an offer but don't want to be offensive. How do you make a reasonable offer and not be ridiculous or offend the seller.

I realise this may seem naive and dorky but I believe in honesty and fairness.  

Does anyone have any advice?

[ekrabappel]

@lyndal1838 - sometimes it is necessary in cases where the seller has different items that you want to make offers on.  A seller may take 15% off for a single item but give 20% if buying 10 items.  By offering 20% off using the Best Offer button the seller will reject it not knowing that you are looking at multiple items.  It would be handy if you could place several items in a temporary cart and send an offer.  'Bundle and Save' as Dave from American Pickers would say.

[davewil1964]

In this instance the OP is after a single item, however.

[4channel]

---

@lyndal1838 wrote:

That is not a good idea Michelle....ebay may interpret that as trying to trade off ebay and both the buyer and seller may face sanctions.

Better to keep it within the Make an Offer function.

---

I don't think that ebay would necessarily interpret miechelle's suggestion as an off-ebay trade attempt.  And I think michelle's suggesting that this would be the accompanying an offer. It's not a bad idea actually.

EXAMPLE

Item:  $25
Offer: $15
Note with offer, "Well, here is my offer. I don't have a lot of money. So if you don't take this offer, what would your minimum be?
Reply: "Anything over $18"

This is how it goes down sometimes.

[papermoon.lady]

You can possibly also have a look at the seller's completed listings to see if the item has been relisted a few times. Sellers tend to accept lower offers when they had to relist an item a few times because they want to get rid of it.

[dvd.horder]

---

@michellebartley wrote:
Ask seller via a message to them what would be the minimum amount that they would accept for the item.

---

thats a  good idea michelle ......i will give that a go my self.....have tried it a couple of times..... sometimes it works

[springyzone]

---

@michellebartley wrote:
Ask seller via a message to them what would be the minimum amount that they would accept for the item.

---

I am not sure that is necessary. Isn't that basically what the Make an offer is for?

I think (and this is from memory, has been a while since I bought this way) that when you make an offer, you can also add a message.

If you wanted to suss out the lowest acceptable amount, you could add that in your message. Something along the lines of-if this is not acceptable, what is your lowest acceptable offer?

My concern with asking a seller directly is I am not sure how honest an answer you would get.

eg say I had something on sale for $30 and you asked me my lowest acceptable amount, if I replied anything above $20, then you can be pretty sure any buyer hearing that is going to offer exactly $20, or maybe $20.50.

They certainly are not going to offer $25 or above, which may be what I am sort of hoping for, even if, in a pinch, I will come down to $20.

A seller's mind can change too, over time.

But if your first offer is rejected, you know then that it is definitely too low. Just raise your offer to a mid point between lowest and highest offers you intend to make and see how that goes.

My experience is in most cases, sellers aren't going to sell for 40 or 50% off. There may be occasional times a seller will, but if you offer very low, you risk wasting a bid.

[4channel]

---

* * *

---

@michellebartley wrote:

Ask seller via a message to them what would be the minimum amount that they would accept for the item.

---

@dvd.horder wrote:

thats a  good idea michelle ......i will give that a go my self.....have tried it a couple of times..... sometimes it works

---

Well, with michellbaarley's idea dvd.horder, it could crate a reply from the seller and get a vocal interaction. I  have noticed this in sales, that technique creates a pathway. Watching American Pickers, you can see this in action.

[lyndal1838]

And it could potentially see both the buyer and seller suspended by ebay for trying to trade off ebay.  It has happened before.

[4channel]

---

@lyndal1838 wrote:

And it could potentially see both the buyer and seller suspended by ebay for trying to trade off ebay.  It has happened before.

---

Nowhere talking about trading off eBay lyndal1838!

This is talk about using the process within eBay but employing a well used sales technique. I think it was cool of michellebartley to suggest the lower offer technique. Seller would reply back as they do often with "sorry, I can't accept that" etc. but with a possible / probably suggestion of doing a better offer. I like it when michellebartley comes up with a nifty pizzazz type of idea on various occasions.She's down to earth too.

[lyndal1838]

I know it is not an off ebay transaction but unless the offer is made through the Make an Offer link ebay has been known to decide that the buyer and seller are trying to trade off ebay.

It has happened before and no doubt will happen again if members continue to do it.

It does not worry me at all but I feel sorry for a seller who gets one of these offers and a suspension because a buyer has ignored the rules.